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Michael Gumbrell

oh yes, where was i?

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Thank you to everyone who commented on my moany/ quitting/ why bother post from March....

I have not bothered to blog since then, such was the depth of my disenchantment.

Just stuck to the study planner, kept my head down and got the course materials completed.

Completed they are now, all TMA's submitted and marked, just the exam to do....

Made a decision for next year, after being so frustrated/ bored/ wound up/ pissed off by the last two years, I decided I may as well plough on, after all,

 I am in for a penny, so why not be in for a pound?

Although my student loan balance statement came through this week, so it is more like...

In for £11,000, so why not be in for £18,000.....

Heart stopping isn't it... £ 18,000.....

I have decide to do DD316 for my next module, it is a brand new course, came out this year, and it's set book is George Orwell's 1984.

I thought that after hating philosophy and economics so much, I would do Politics next year as I have enjoyed all my politics modules.


That leaves me with Hobson's choice for my final year, Philosophy or Economics?


At the moment I think I would find a final year of Philosophy tolerable, Economics not so.

That decision is still ongoing, T+C's apply, actual decision may not match promotional material, may not be available in you area, model shown is a May 2018 model.


We will see,

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Michael Gumbrell

and the results are in...

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And the results are in...

64% in the exam.  

60% already from the OCAS...

So a grade 3 pass then..  i will take that considering how much i loathed the course.

I hope everyone's results were good.

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Michael Gumbrell

Tma 5

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Tma 5 was done and sent.

One more block 'political philosophy' and the exam to do and thats #bloodya222 done and dusted.

By that point i will be exactly half way through my degree, by moving into the economics module and waiting to see how the new vice-vice-chancallor deals with the challenges facing the OU.

But most important of all..  i will not have to go near another philosophy module..happy days. 

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Michael Gumbrell

philosophy is hell

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following on form my previous blog post about studying philosophy being akin to Dante's seven circles of Hell,

i did start to make a few, what i thought were funny flash cards about that concept.

Here are the first three, i am not sure how funny they are, or relevant, but i made them anyway,


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Michael Gumbrell

Philosophy of HELL....

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Friday, 2 Mar 2018, 15:43

TMA 4 submitted, and off we go onto block 5. The philosophy of the mind. Out of the four modules so far, i found block one, personal identity the most interesting. Block 5 is about the mind, so lots more issues around souls, mental states and what makes us have a 'mind'. so i might enjoy this block more than others. The only salvation is block six is political philosophy, and i have studied that to some degree in my last two modules, so i should be okay with block 6.

Getting nearer the exit door of this module now, i am ready to get my coat and leave.

I am not saying that studying Philosophy is Hell, however....

if JP Satre was right, then Hell is other people, i would suggest that purgatory is people talking about philosophy. 

Or if Dante was right and there are several levels of hell then i might suggest,

Over the doorway to Hell- a sign saying 'JP Satre welcomes you--and other people to hell.'

Hell Level one- the philosophy of religion... 'Surprise, your in Hell !'

Hell Level two- Ethics- did you take some satisfaction about being good... 'Surprise! your in Hell, Mr Kant will not see you now'

Level two has a sub level, level B, a train track with a trolley that is going up a 1:3 gradient and is pushed by philosophy undergraduates for all eternity, if they stop pushing the trolley rolls backward and crushes them, and a sign saying 'push the trolley, it's for Hells greater good'

Hell level Three- the philosophy of science. a big sign declaring 'all science to be false, with the exception of hell which cannot be falsified, hence Hell=science'.

Hell level Four- Philosophy of the mind, a big sign declaring, 'its not your soul stuck here, its your mental state- so welcome to hell, it's a state of mind!'

Hell level 5- Political philosophy- a sign saying 'all suffering is theft, your suffering belongs to hell'

Hell level 5 has a sub level, Level R, where Rousseau sits behind a desk telling all those in hell that they can never be free of the suffering of hell,unless they fully surrender themselves to Hell, then he makes everyone sign a contract.

Hell level 6- The very centre of Hell, a tele porter booth with a sign saying 'Exit Hell Here'...and a big red button. If you press the button Derek Parfit appears and tells you not to worry about being in Hell, it is not physiologically continuous with your future self anyway... there is a door at the side of the tele porter room, which leads too...

Hell level 6, sub level H, A prison cell in which sits David Hume, who regardless of what you ask him, just answers ' i am very sceptical about all this'

I wonder if this posts counts as a revision flash card?

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Michael Gumbrell

Philosophy open day.

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FASS have organised a philosophy open day in March.

I do fancy going, however it is on a Thursday and it is in Milton keynes.

So do i fancy driving two hours each way to attend, and do i fancy going during the working week?

Might be interesting, but it is a drag to get there.

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Michael Gumbrell

Simon was right.

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Simon Reed was right, of course.

Kant is much easier to process, as Simon put it, ' you are better off with a maxim. Gives clarity and something concrete to discuss, shame Kant is not part of this TMA.

Permalink 4 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Monday, 8 Jan 2018, 07:57)
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Michael Gumbrell

The Good Place

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Having the two weeks off from the study planner over Christmas has been nice.

I did continue to study, but having no work meant i had some extra time available.

So i used my extra free time to watch the first series of The Good Place on netflix.

I enjoyed it, it is a show about philosophy, in fact each episode seems to follow the harvard philosophy curriculum quite closely. I have watched the harvard lectures on youtube.

It is a good series, The Good Place throws up many philosophical questions, and plato, kant, bentham, Hume, satre and Rousseau all feature as a theme of episodes.

It is worth a watch.

The Good Place on netflix.

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Michael Gumbrell

block 2 almost done

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That's all the reading for block 2 'the philosophy of religion done' 

now I have to turn the 500 words already written for tma 2 into 2000 words by 7th of December and that block is behind me, and 33% of a222 will be behind me and I will be closer to getting what I have come to know a ' bloody A222' done.

oh and the three hour exam, don't forget the exam....


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Michael Gumbrell

TMA2

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I had another check through the guidance notes for tma2.

It is very clear. The tma is utterly about chapter 2. Nothing from the other chapters need to be in there.

So a very closed tma question.

Perhaps it is to make us reallt drill down onto how we write a philosophicaly logical essays.

We will see, i sure i will be on this blog bemoaning tma2 some more.

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Michael Gumbrell

TMA 2

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So this block 2 is slightly odd, there are 4 weeks of study around the philosophy of religion. However the TMA question is very specific, it is concretely locked into weeks 2's study. So I have finished week 3 and have week 4 to do, however I have done the week that is very specifically linked to the TMA, nothing from week 3 or 4 will get into it. 

so I made a start on writing the TMA today, I have done the introduction and the unpack. so I have written the first 400 words of the 2000 word TMA with 2 weeks to spare.

That is a bit of an odd structure, previously TMA's had a focus on a particular week, however following weeks would influence what you wrote in the TMA.

With block 2 TMA that is not the case, Chapter two is king and it would harm the TMA to mention anything from week 3 or 4. Very odd. I have never had that situation before.


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Michael Gumbrell

struggling with Philosophy

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I have to admit, I am struggling with A222, Philosophy.

There sheer volume of reading, the fact that the essay's have to be written in a completely different way to other essay's,  the fact that there is a sixth essay in the OCAS, unlike every other module which has five, the prehistoric age of the website and module planer, just the whole thing really.

If I had only known, I could have done politics and economics without the philosophy.

It is very hard to motivate yourself to push through on a subject when it is really not doing anything for you.

I have come to the conclusion I just need to crack on, get whatever score I can ( it surely will be lower than my other modules) and just get through it, a pass is a pass and then I can move on to modules I will enjoy more.

When it comes to level 3 of my P.P.E pathway, I get to drop a subject and focuses on two of the three, I think it is fair to say I will going for the politics and economics elements in level 3.

When I finally get to the end of my degree pathway I can always ask if my classification can be changed to P. NLOP. E,

Politics,

No Love Of Philosophy

Economics.

Seems like a reasonable request to me...


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Michael Gumbrell

from design and Hume

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I had a stab at a flashcard which is a reminder of Hume's problems with concept of 'from design'


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Michael Gumbrell

block 2

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Now we have the crux of block 2, the philosophy of Religion.

looking at the arguments around the concept of 'from design' and the existence of a God.

So the 3 week away TMA question is if Hume's objections to the 'From Design' argument are compelling. Hume has popped up in week 2, so the TMA material has appeared early on in the block. 

The reading for Hume is long, intense and challenging. But has to be done correctly as it will form the core of the TMA material.

So lets get that done then...

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Michael Gumbrell

Feedback

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So i had a look at my feedback. There was alot of it!

Not entirely sure now if the 68 mark was just a kindness because it was the first essay of the module.

68 might be the peak for this module, unless i really get a grip on philosophy tma's.

We will see.

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Michael Gumbrell

tma 1

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So i got my mark back for a222 tma1.

68% thats my second lowest mark in four modules of essays.

Not that disappointed. Seems like a fair mark considering how much i struggled with the essay.

I will look at my feedback tomorrow.

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Michael Gumbrell

book one flashcard

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I thought I might do the flash cards as I go along this year:

Here's book 1 A222, personal identity


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Michael Gumbrell

a222 block 2

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so now it is time to move onto A222 block 2.

The philosophy of religion.

This is going to be a complex one.

I am not a man of faith, lets see how much this block challenges my position.

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Michael Gumbrell

The Locke defence

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As all the accusations fly around Kevin Spacey, which of course, if true, are awful.

I noticed in his statement to the press, he doubled down with his John Locke defence.

1. From Locke- you cannot be held account if there is no continuity of memory.

'From Spacey- it was 30 years ago, i have no memory of the incident'

2. From Locke- you cannot be resposible if you are ' beside yourself', there is no pyscological continuity.

From Spacey-' as well as not remembering it, i was probably drunk at the time'

So Spacey has doubled down his Locke defence of his alleged crimes.

I am not sure an 18th century philosophical defence counts in 21st courts though...

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Michael Gumbrell

TMA Done

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Wednesday, 1 Nov 2017, 12:28

Well my first TMA is done and submitted.

1944 words out of a possible 2000 word count, so I am happy that I have fallen in the word count range (1500-2000). I am towards the high end of the word count, so perhaps I waffled a bit?

Well its done now, It was very hard.

Now to wait and see what the mark is, I am expecting nothing over 65%, from my tutorial I do not think we get any lee way with it being the first TMA, we seem to be expected to hit the ground running, no warm up.

Lets wait and see...

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Michael Gumbrell

TMA

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Well i have witten the first half of the TMA.

1000 words so far.

I have no idea if the words are any good.

This module has been very frustrating so far.

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Michael Gumbrell

Tele transporter

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This tma is hard, and it is only the first one!

It is no solace to find out that so many of my cohorts (facebook group) are also struggling with it.

Welcome to a222 philosophy!

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Michael Gumbrell

tma1

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Well all the reading and activities are done,

all I have to do now, and have 4 days in which to do it, is write the TMA....

Pity I do not have a single clue what I am going to write....

HELP....

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Michael Gumbrell

Life changing experiance

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Wednesday, 25 Oct 2017, 21:53

A couple of days ago i agreed with the ou adverts claiming thst ou study is life changing.

I tended to agree with that statement.

Having just read Parfitts work on self indentity, i would agree even further.

The idea of personal indentity as a bundle of consciousness and physcological continuity is very interesting.

I am not a man of faith, i do not believe in a divine maker, hence i can have no soul, as hume pointed out, when he looked inside himself, there was only sensations and ideas, but no soul.

I find the same in myself.

So i am just a bundle of contining consciousness. For 8 hours every night my brain shuts down most of its neurological function while it sleeps. Does that mean my personal identity is lost for a third of everyday, a third of my lifetime?. Does that upset me?

As Hume pointed out we know the sun will rise tomorrow, and barring tragedy so will my consciousness.

I struggle to decide if this knowledge makes me thankful that i have consciousness or sad because of how fragile my consciousness is.

I will think about that in the morning, when the sun has come up and i have spent 8 hours not having a personal indentity...

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Michael Gumbrell

Still clueless

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I am still clueless about what to write for the TMA.

I will just have to go over the relevant chapters again to see if anything pops into my head.

This philosophy module is very hard.

This year is going to be a struggle.

Whatever mark i get will have to be ground out.

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