Other Notes

Other Notes:

1. Essential Questions and Related Thoughts in response to classes conducted by Professor Theoharris:

Identity Question:

When faced with a hostile or resistant environment should you / do you pretend to be something you’re not in order to fit into the world or do you refuse to pretend, refuse to act in anyway that feels inauthentic, that you feel to be a violation of your self? (Sub-question: Do you choose to explore other selves, which is to say, other ways of relating with your surroundings? Or, are you changed by circumstances – without choice?) Key points: integrity, dignity, maintaining interior (private) self. (Paradox of pride here? How much of your identity is you? How much is your environment? Pride as productive. Pride as limiting.)

Identity Question: When you feel most alive (the most pleasure, the deepest pleasure – as opposed to animal or sensory pleasure, perhaps)? Depth seems related to reflection, the awareness of the pleasure, metacognition; & seems related to the complexity of the thing – often a work of art but not exclusively, might be a beautiful, pleasurable math problem – the thing being enjoyed? What object? What stimulation? What activity?

What are the implications of being on a journey, having a narrative for one’s life, or not having one? Moral, vocational, sexual? (If you’re not on a journey how do you find/make meaning? Can this lead to amoral pleasurable distractions?