Abstract
This paper investigates how an introductory philosophy course influences the moral and political development of undergraduate students in a Liberal Arts university in Central Asia. Within a context of rapid changes characteristic of transitional societies—reflected in the organization of higher education—philosophy provides students with the means to reason about moral and political values in a way that overcomes the old ideological tenets as well as contemporary reluctance to theoretical inquiry. Studying philosophy provides a remedy for deficiencies in both secondary and higher education, by improving general reading and reasoning skills, that enable the development of moral reasoning. Furthermore, familiarity with major works of moral and political philosophy can help students comprehend the patterns of social change, as well as surmount the issue of unsatisfactory theoretical foundations for social science.
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Notes
See Shamatov (2014, pp. 44–45) for an explanation referring to political reasons.
See Graham (1972) for a study of dialectical materialism in the Soviet Union.
The example of Yusuf Balasaguni, the eleventh century thinker from the Karakhanid khanate, is illustrative in this sense: the 1000th anniversary of the philosopher’s birth brought about an initiative to translate his work in Kyrgyz (revealing that no such translations were considered in the past), but mainly served present-day political purposes, and the target audience included, among others, the participants to the opening of the 2016 World Nomad Games (Khamidov 2016). The situation is further complicated by bringing into question how representative Yusuf Balasaguni is for contemporary Central Asian identity beyond geographical placement and having written in a language from the Turkic group.
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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Maria Temmes and James Plumtree for comments on several versions of this paper and for fruitful conversations about teaching. I would also like to thank the students who agreed to take the questionnaire.
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Appendices
Appendix A
Syllabus: Introduction to Philosophy
Excerpts.
Course Description
This course is meant to provide the students with an introduction to philosophy from a problem/debate-oriented approach. The course includes a weekly lecture for all the students and two seminars with smaller student groups. Attendance to both courses and seminars is required. Students are expected to read all of the required material, turn in all the assignments on time, and take the final exam.
Course Rationale
This course is designed to provide students with an analytical frame of mind and critical tools for assessing arguments; students are also to present their own arguments through discussion and written work. It is also meant to be an introduction to the further work that students will do in the humanities or social sciences. Along with providing the tool kit of argumentation, analysis and interpretation, useful in studying philosophy, but also in other academic fields, this introductory course may also help the students understand the place of philosophical problems among the other academic subjects they will be studying.
Goals
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Students are expected to familiarize with classic debates and arguments presented in the core readings: what philosophy is, what the major questions and approaches concerning the topics discussed in class are.
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Students should be able to use the concepts discussed in class in their research questions concerning the disciplines in which they specialize.
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Students should acquire the skills necessary for understanding and assessing texts belonging to the philosophical and humanities literature.
Weekly Readings and Themes
1. What is philosophy?
B. Russell, The Problems of Philosophy, Ch. 15, 9.
2. Plato’s theory of the forms
Plato, The Republic, 505 b-521 c.
3. Ethics and happiness
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1.
4. The ontological argument for God’s existence
Anselm, Proslogion. Ch.1–4;
D. Haight & M. Haight, ‘An ontological argument for the devil’, The Monist.
5. Rationalism
R. Descartes, Meditations on the First Philosophy, Ch. 1–2.
6. Empiricism
D. Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sect. 7.
7. The limits of knowledge
I. Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, Introduction, Preamble on the peculiarities of all metaphysical cognition.
8. Against the idea of a ‘true world’
F. Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols, ‘Reason in philosophy’, ‘Morality as anti-nature’.
9. Philosophy and science: the problem of method
K. Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, Ch. 1.
10. What is language?
L. Wittgenstein, The Blue Book, pp. 1–10.
Appendix B
Questionnaire form
Personal information
Note: This section is for statistical purposes only, the personal information will not be disclosed in the study.
Name:
Country of origin:
Major/Department:
Background question
Have you studied philosophy previously? If so, specify if it was in a secondary school, or a university.
Questionnaire
1. Did the ‘Introduction to Philosophy’ course change your views on ethical problems (such as virtue, happiness, good and evil)? If so, how?
2. Has the ‘Introduction to Philosophy’ course changed your views on politics (e.g., on rulers, connection to ethics, society)? If so, how?
3. Has the ‘Introduction to Philosophy’ course changed your thinking in other ways? If so, how?
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Popa, E. Teaching Philosophy in Central Asia: Effects on Moral and Political Education. Interchange 50, 187–203 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-019-09355-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-019-09355-3