|
Nammour 2009 Student Essay Competition Department of Philosophy Sacramento State University |
 |
|
Nammour 2009 Student Essay Competition Department of Philosophy Sacramento State University |
|
A slave to passion?
|
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. ~ David Hume
|
|
Students new to philosophy learn quickly that their sincere feelings count for diddly-squat. Philosophers don’t care about your feelings; they want your reasons. The view that feelings only serve to inhibit good reasoning is venerable, and unambiguously represented in the works of philosophers like Plato and Descartes. But David Hume, the greatest of all English speaking philosophers, demurred. He said it is "impossible that reason and passion can ever oppose each other.” On Hume's view, reason without passion is impotent. Without feelings, rational discourse and rational behavior can not even occur.
Today, many scientists believe that Hume was right. They argue that the normative force of rationality is ultimately a function of our instincts, our emotions, and our evolutionary history. Philosophers once dismissed this kind of thinking as fallacious, arguing that scientific theories are powerless to answer or illuminate normative questions. They called it “the naturalistic fallacy.” But few philosophers today regard this as a fully adequate response. The science, for one thing, has just gotten way too interesting.
This year’s Nammour Student Essay competition is devoted to the general topic of how philosophers have been dealing with their feelings. Are Hume and the scientists right, or are they failing to grasp something important in the works of Descartes and Plato? What will philosophy become when it begins to let feelings in the door? Have philosophers always trusted their feelings without knowing it? Or perhaps the feelings that motivate philosophical discourse are special in some way? Is reason really ruled by the passions, or are they perhaps just inseparable companions?
If questions like these get your blood flowing, then read on.
Information for participants
This competition is open to all students currently enrolled at Sacramento State. Up to 3 winning essays will be chosen. Winners receive 100 dollars each and will present their essays in a panel discussion at the Nammour Symposium on April 21st- 22nd. If you are interested in participating, then you should check out the following link:
This is a wikipage devoted to the competition. There you will find a list of relevant readings and some advice to help you get started writing an essay. It will also serve as a discussion forum for the competition.
Submission Guidelines
Your essay should be philosophical in nature, and about 6-8 double-spaced pages. (Longer essays are acceptable, but you must be able to present it within 20 minutes.) Submit your entry as an e-mail attachment (.pdf, .html or .doc) and send it to Randy Mayes: mayesgr@csus.edu. Write your name, student ID number, and phone number in the e-mail itself, but do not place your name or any other form of identification on the essay. Judging of essays commences at 3:00 pm on April 13th. Essays submitted after April 13th are not guaranteed full consideration. Contact Randy Mayes with further questions, or simply post your question to the wiki.
Talk to your professors!
Some philosophy professors extend course credit to those who participate in the Student Essay Competition. If you have already written an essay with relevant content, ask your professor for advice in revising it for submission. It is perfectly acceptable to submit essays written for course credit. You may ask any of your professors for help or advice in submitting a quality essay.
|