Dear Campus Echo:
I write this in frustration, frustrated over people not being able to think for themselves.
North Carolina Central University has the motto, "Truth and Service," but currently, students are only required to do the latter.
Students are required to do community service, about one fifteenth (120 hours of service per 1860 hours in class) of all the required hours to get a degree MUST be spent doing service. How much time are students required to spend on the other half of the motto?
The study of truth is the subject of philosophy. Philosophy translates to "love of knowledge."
Philosophy class teaches one how to obtain knowledge, through observation and reason.
This is basically the scientific method, the way students are taught to obtain knowledge in all sciences, the way to obtain truth.
I have personally come across far too many students that don't possess the basic skill of reason. One is too many, the dozens I've seen far exceed that.
The chancellor has shown an interest in raising the intellectual level of the campus. I'm not sure what he means by that, but I'm for it if he it means that students actually learn to speak English, and learn basic reason. An example of basic reason: If "all men are created equal," and you are a man, then you are equal to every other man. I would think that basic reason would be especially important to an HBC.
Here is an example from actual experience that makes me concerned: Assume a device was created that allows you to send and receive items. New terminology is developed to describe the functions of the device. To "Downzap" means to receive items.
What is the most likely meaning of the word, "Upzap?" Does this seem like a simple question to you?
This type of simple reasoning question used to be on the SATs, which is one reason it surprises me that a person can get into college without having basic reasoning skills.
My day-to-day duties include spoon-feeding information to both students and faculty that do not have such basic reasoning skills.
If the chancellor really wants to raise the intellectual level of the campus, he should increase the requirements of the students to include passing a basic reason class with an "A."
Right now philosophy class is optional, one of 22 possible choices to fulfill an "Arts and Humanities" requirement.
I believe the class is miss-categorized, the study of reason being no more an humanity than the study of physics, the ability to think clearly being no more an art than the ability to do mathematics.
Maybe the school's motto should be changed to, "Service, Truth optional."
For your reference, the following are course descriptions from the course catalog.
Please notice the goal of PHIL 2000 and ask yourself why this is not the FIRST class that students are required to take.
Philosophy Course Descriptions:
PHIL 1000. Introduction to Philosophy – An investigation of the methods and goals of philosophy as a distinctive mode of inquiry.
The primary goals of the course are to enable the student to gain an understanding of what is involved in the philosophical search for truth and to provide the student with an opportunity to develop the capacity for philosophical thinking.
PHIL 2000. Critical Thinking – An introduction to basic rules and principles of critical thinking through an examination of the nature and structure of different kinds of argument. The goal of the course is to enhance the student's ability to think clearly and rationally.
PHIL 2300. Logic – A study of deductive arguments, problems with ordinary language, logical fallacies, modern symbolic logic, and inductive logic and scientific method.
Sincerely,
Frustrated
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