Reporting from PHI 301: The Class I'm Not Taking Seriously

So I haven't been taking this class too seriously. It's "History of Ancient Philosophy" and the way the professor is approaching it, I don't have to do much. He had us buy an anthological text and then he offered us, for free, his book-in-progress about the subject. We have readings in both, but here's the catch: his lectures, every day, are right out of his book, chronologically as well as word-for-word paste jobs. So, if I read and understand his book, I don't have to show up. Currently, I'm under .500 in terms of attendance.

Right now, the class is attempting to pick his brain about a midterm review and it's not going well. His approach is that a significant portion of what he is testing us on is our ability to understand what material is important; naturally, the questions people are asking do not fit into that schematic. Obviously, there is a lot of frustration. I find it all funny. At first, I wasn't a fan of the way he was teaching the class, but now, after hearing him talk about the midterm, I'm starting to really like the guy. I might be the only one.

In any case, I thought I'd give a characterization of the man through two direct quotes, right from class. The first comes from last week, and the second from right now, about ten minutes ago.

(When describing why both political parties in Athens at the time, the 'democratic' people and the aristocrats, were angry at the sophists.)

"The democrats, the democratic people at the time, were upset because a sophistical education was very expensive and the democratic people were, notoriously, poor. Well, I guess not much has changed."

He himself thought this was funny and laughed heartily. Also, it's only offensive if he's some sort of conservative ideologue, but he's not, so it's hilarious.

(Some guy trying to reassure the class that this midterm isn't going to be as hellish as they were thinking.)

Some Guy - "Guys, look, it's in his best interest for us to succeed."

Professor - "No it's not."

BAM! So quick. He didn't wait for a second to come back with that line. The class laughed and then realized what he said was a bad thing, at which point they broke out into desperate cries for help, which went unnoticed. The class, I think, is getting together afterwards to beat up "Some Guy" and feed him to the fishes. I might watch; it could be fun.

Oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, look at Jon's blog (http://jcwiii.blogspot.com). He claims it will CONSTANTLY be FUNNY, so it's our job to ridicule him whenever it SUCKS BALLS. Will it be tomorrow? I'm ready to find out.

Also, I think Ben should start a blog. And Keith. And Jesus. 'Cause then we'd all be cool. And we could all study Spy together. Keith knows what I'm talking about. And, I guess technically, Jesus, too.