Journal Guidelines

The journals should provide an opportunity for you (the student) to engage in a dialogue with the ideas presented in a particular segment of the course, especially in the readings. The journals thus provide me (the teacher) an opportunity to listen in to the conversation that takes place between you and the authors being covered in the course.

Substance

The most important thing I am looking for is that dialogue, that back-and-forth movement between you and the authors we are reading. What does this mean in practice? Several things.

• First, this means that you may advance a criticism of the reading, then talk about what the author would say in reply to your criticism, and then talk about your rejoinder to that reply. This is the essential "back and forth" movement of philosophy, indeed, of the intellectual life itself. This is what I want to have occur in the course, and this is what I want to observe when I read your journals.
• Second, there are several things that this does not mean. Two are particularly worth mentioning here:
  • Do not just summarize the readings. A certain amount of short summary may be necessary, but the main point of the journals is a dialogue, not a summary.
  • Do not just vent your own feelings and opinions. You can do that without taking the course. It is appropriate--even necessary--to express your own views, but doing so should be part of a larger process of dialogue in which you articulate the reasons for those views and then bring those views and their reasons into a dialogue with the authors we read and the arguments advanced by those authors.
• Third, in general you have a lot of freedom to explore in your journals. Relate new ideas to your own experience, try out new concepts. Feel free to bring in ideas from other courses as well. If you use any outside sources, please give a reference. Of course, don't plagiarize, etc.
• Fourth, on some journals, you will be given a specific prompt, which is listed in the course schedule for that week.  Be sure to address the question if one is there is a specific prompt given.

On a more personal note, let me add that your journals are extremely interesting for me to read. Some, sometimes many, students don't talk during class. This provides me with an opportunity to find out what everyone is thinking, even if they do not bring up their ideas during the classroom discussions.

Length

The journal entry for each week should be at least two pages, typed, double-spaced. I am happy to read more if you write more, but this is a basic length.

Due Date

The journals are to be turned in immediately before the mid-term exam (first set) and immediately before the final exam (second set).

Please submit the journals in hard copy. Email is not acceptable.