March 22 | Exploring Uncertainty | Online Synchronous Course | 35 Spots | 8:30 pm CET
Exploring Uncertainty
The main goal of this course is to explore how some key philosophers and philosophical schools thought about and dealt with uncertainty.
We will be focusing on uncertainty from four different vantage points:
Stoic & Epicurean (Cultivating an attitude to deal with uncertainties)
Existentialist (Taking action & finding meaning in an uncertain world)
Moral (The ethics of acting based on insufficient evidence)
Scientific (Determinism & indeterminism from a scientific point of view)
This course will not give you answers. It will make you think about what certainty actually means. Why this is relevant today more than ever? Because in a time of bipartisanship, and extreme stances across the social and political spectrums, it is important to take a step back, ask ourselves key questions, and rethink what we have taken for granted.
If you feel certain that this course is going to be useful for you, think again, then decide. If you don't like what we do, we'll give you a full refund.
I mean I'd say no questions asked, but it would be too late because that's mainly what we will be doing. Ask questions.
Please find below a tentative syllabus:
Week 1. Stoicism and Epicureanism
Week 2. Taking action and finding meaning in uncertain times
Week 3. Faith and belief
Week 4. Determinism and indeterminism
Who we are:
I've been giving these online courses since June 2020. To date, I've had over 350 participants from around the world. If you want to read a detailed review of what the courses are like, check out what Anthony Smyrski wrote in one of his newsletter dispatches at the following link.
Thank you!
Website:
Instructors:
The course will be co-taught by:
Mahmoud Rasmi (@decafquest): finished his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Salamanca Spain. Between 2013 and 2020, he taught philosophy and cultural studies at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. Now, he has decided to venture into the virtual world in order to give affordable classes online to people who are interested in studying philosophy in a non-academic setting.
Here’s a sample class on Stoicism from an Introduction to Philosophy online course:
Philippe Caponis (@philippecaponis): Philippe holds an MS in Physics and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Paris. He taught philosophy at the American University of Beirut and Lebanese American University. He is interested in better understanding how scientific theories illuminate (and often reshape) philosophical debates about the nature of space and time, identity and material constitution.
Here’s a talk by Philippe titled: Three Philosophical Lessons from Modern Physics:
Dates and Schedule:
4 weeks, once a week, 2 hrs per session.
The course will start on Tuesday, March 8 and will end on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
Course Schedule: Tuesdays at 8:30 pm CET time (Central European Time).
Synchronous online course via Zoom.
Asynchronous: if you can't attend, you will have the option to watch the recorded lectures.
Price: USD150$
Capacity: 35 seats
Important information:
You will receive the link to the sessions a few days before the course starts.
Since we are not an institution, you will not be able to claim credits for the course. Many of you might also already be busy with your jobs and daily routine; as a result, we won’t be assigning any homework, exams, or papers. However, if any of you wishes to be assessed on the course material covered, we can arrange for the proper method and format in private.
The sessions will be recorded and uploaded to the DecafQuest YouTube channel as hidden. The links will be made available to those registered.
Testimonials: Praise from others:
A pdf including course details.