So today went well. I thought I had an 810am class, but it was actually 910am… so I woke an hour early. I got a little less than seven hours of sleep… no good on the first day.
Anyway. I had Intro to Philosophy 100W, which is a mandatory writing course for freshman and transfers. I think that’ll be my most enjoyable class. Theres only fifteen students in all, all from diverse backgrounds in study from education to microbiology to economics to psychology etc. Everyone brings a fresh perspective. We started out the classes by discussing the nature of ideas, what they were, and why they are important. I didn’t take notes this class, mostly because I was being too damn reserved, but from here on out its notes in every class. We’ll be reading good stuff: Plato’s five dialogues, James The Will to Believe, Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals & Ecce Homo, Descartes’s Meditations of first Philosophy, and Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents. The dialogue with Meno reading is due Friday. Should be interesting stuff. I’m so excited to get into this stuff… read, margin note, reflect, repeat. My professor just received his Phd from Vanderbilt… so he’s really pumped to get back in the classroom after spending so much time writing and reflecting. Young guy, a runner, nice and outgoing… thoughtful and articulate.
By the way, its a beautiful day out. bout 78 deg with clear azure skies.
My next class had about 200 students… At first I thought I was in the wrong place because the place was squirming with people, overflowing out of the lecture hall and into the corridors… Intro to Ethics, phil 105. After reconfirming the class with a fellow student who seemed to be falling asleep before we even started, I found a seat towards the front near a group of chatty older students who turned out to be the TA’s. The professor taught at UPenn… seems like a knowledgable guy… a good sense of dry humor as well. We discussed the four main figures of Ethics and their importance: Aristotle (virtue ethics), Hume (Utilitarian Ethics), Kant (deontological/ kantian ethics) and Nietzsche (Egoism). He postponed the reading of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics till next week since we have a recitation on Friday.
Following the ethics class was lunch… which happened to be quite marvelous. A lot better than the last institution for sure. Only draw back was the dense crowds of people… long lines to the food stations and checkout. The food made up for it though.
After lunch I had Dynamic Earth or EES 100.. basically a class to fulfill my natural science and lab requirement. Met some good guys.. had about 150 students in the class. We’ll see how these go.
My last class today was the principles of Macroeconomics with Professor Buckles. Seems like a fantastic guy. The class is massive… probably over 200 students but it was hard to tell. It’s a pretty basic class covering the foundations of economics.. we’ll see.
Anyway. I worked out last night. My muscles need to get in shape fast.. just typing is causing them to strain. wayy outta shape. i’m gonna sign up for a Political science class or a Calculus class for Tues and Thursdays. We’ll see how that all works out.
William Dare 