General Topic

• In your post, draw on one of the following readings: Russell’s 1) “Value of Philosophy,” Plato’s 2) Euthyphro, 3) Apology, or 4) Crito.
• The general topic of the discussion post is the ethical importance of knowledge.
• I have provided a prompt below, but you may create your own alternative question.
  • If you create an alternative question, be sure to present your question in your post and explain how it relates to one of the above readings.
  • If you use the prompt, you do not need to answer all of the questions below. In fact, it’s a good idea to focus on one or maybe two of the questions.
  • Only write on one philosopher for your discussion post.

Writing Prompt: The Ethical Importance of Knowledge

• Can you think of an important example in which knowledge made you a morally better person? Has knowledge ever made you a morally worse person?
• What does Russell mean when he says that acquiring knowledge involves an “enlargement of self”? Do you agree with Russell?
• How does Socrates understand wisdom? What ethical importance does this understanding of wisdom have?

Assignment Requirements

• See the Discussion Post Guidelines for general info on the assignment and example posts: Discussion Post Info & Example.docx
• The most important requirements are:
  1. write at least a 300 word original post,
  2. quote and cite from one of the above course readings (in your original post),
  3. use paragraphs in your original post,
  4. write at least a 200 word response post.

Also Worth Noting

• You must post before seeing other people’s posts. As a result, you will not be able to edit any posts. (This ensures that you do not submit an empty or extremely short post in order to then copy other people’s work.)
• If you see something you would like to change or add to your original post, then submit a second post. This will not penalize you, so long as your original post fulfilled the basic assignment requirements.
• If you submit an empty or extremely short post, then you will be penalized.
• It’s a good idea to first type your post in a word or google document to prevent accidental submissions.