"Race"

Race, contrary to what some of us believe, does not actually exist. When we divide ourselves by race, we are actually dividing ourselves by phenotypic characteristics of skin colour. Skin colour is hardly different from eye colour, hair colour, ear lobe attachments, and so on. Why then, do we continue to refer to these phenotypic characteristics as classification of race. I am of the opinion that the very fact that we use the word race lends itself to discrimination and classification based on skin colour. If we continue to use the word race, we continue to reinforce that idea that 'race' in the form of skin colour is actually something that divides humans. Regardless of which side you take on the issue of "racial profiling" you acknowledge that there is a distinguished 'race' of people who are different from others in a drastic way. Colleges, ours included, often have groups dedicated to minorities, which, again, only reinforce the notion that people with darker skin colour are different and separate from those with lighter skin. Using words like 'race' and setting up establishments and groups to distinguish one group from another reinforces discrimination based on skin colour. As such, I think we should refrain from using 'race' and should replace it with 'discrimination based on skin colour.' We should recognize that the idea is hardly different from discrimination based on eye colour.

Morals - Tri-Part

Response to Corey - full post here

Avery and I recently, I think a week or two ago, had a conversation on morality. We decided that morality is based largely on three things: evolution, logic/reason, and emotion/intuition. Evolution supplies basic morals, then you can use logic/reasoning to extend those basic morals to new situations. Emotion, specifically empathy, helps us to understand that there are other creatures that have worth in themselves. It fosters a sort of golden rule which reinforces our morality. I think that guilt fits fairly well into the view of morality; it's our ability to feel negatively after we neglect the emotional aspect of morality. I think the emotional aspect of morality is very important and calls us to action. Guilt, I think, does not call us to action as it is reflective, as you mentioned. However, I think that other parts of the emotional aspect are very important to how we behave. When people neglect to be moved by emotion to behave morally, you get those who accept arguments for such things as vegetarians but, because they don't feel like it's the right thing to do, continue to ignore the moral obligation recognized by evolution and reasoning.

What It Means to Teach

I do not think that the end result of teaching should be belief inculcation, as that attitude does not foster progress. A teacher should give students the ability to reason things out for themselves; in that sense, I suppose a teacher should be able to give reasons or, preferably, resources to find reasons for many sides of many issues. If teachers give students resources and the ability to reason, it may be that the students eventually develop better reasoned points of view that the teachers had not considered. This promotes both progress and reason, whereas belief-inculcation limits and obstructs those things.

Thinking and Feeling

I've been noticing lately that people often expressing their thoughts by associating their thoughts with feelings in order to prevent other people from challenging their thoughts; they are lacking any confidence in their own answers, so they try to communicate their answers in the weakest way they can. What sad times are these when a growing number of people replace 'think' with 'feel;' I wonder why people no longer want to face having their thoughts questioned. Especially as philosophers, we should seek to put our ideas out to the public not hide our thoughts behind the shroud of private and personal emotions and intuitions. I think that we could use feel if we were actually using felt reasons. Though I don't think that we are using felt reasons as often as we say that we 'feel that (statement)."

Some great philosophy teachers once co-authored a writing checklist (rule 20) where they expressed that people should "never use 'feel' where 'think' will do." I think we ought to follow this wonderful piece of advice.  We should not try to do this; there is do and do not, there is no try.