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Finish this pairing: good/evil; up/down; awake/asleep; love/hate; myth/_______.

Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny--these are all blatant lies told to children by millions of parents. Aren't these parents setting a bad example by creating such enormous falsehoods?

When they hear the word "mythology," most people think of Zeus and Poseidon, of centaurs and unicorns--of "fables," "fairy tales," the way people used to believe. Is this an accurate way of thinking about mythology? Is it simply a thing of the past? Or do people today--even, perhaps, you--perceive the world in mythic ways?

A non-English speaker approaches you, scratching his head. He says: "Excuse me. I have question about strange word in English language: reason. What does it mean?" What is your response?

Like the pre-Socratic naturalist philosophers, many people believe that the world, the cosmos, "life," "existence," etc., can be reduced ultimately to one final thing, or principle, or force, or deity. Why do you think this is so? Why can't everything be just that: everything?

What do you think happens to you when you die?

Sophists were skeptics who said, basically: "Religion and philosophy is a waste of time!" Explain your own reasoned reaction to such a statement.

Socrates was a "teacher." But he rarely taught anything! All he did was ask questions of his students, and hardly ever offered answers. Hence, would you really describe him as a "teacher"? Explain.

Offer a statement that you feel is "reasonable" and one that is "unreasonable".

Generally speaking, "conservatives" do not like change very much, whereas "liberals" do. What's one thing you're conservative about and one thing you're liberal about? Explain.

Do you know any "freaks"? If so, describe one.

Which of the following two statements comes closest to your own way of "seeing" the world? (a) "What you see is what you get!" (b) "There's more here than meets the eye!" Discuss.

What has the most power over you? Your body or your mind? Give some examples.

Does life have a purpose? Or is life the result of random, purposeless, chaotic chance? Discuss.

Is your ability to think rationally, logically, and clearly about things innate (in your genes) or the result of what you've learned through observation. Give examples.

In what ways may the following living organisms be classified as being "higher" than human beings: (a) a tree, (b) a butterfly, (c) a maggot, (d) a starfish.

What makes you happy--truly, deeply happy?

When fungus on a toadstool dies, does it go to heaven? Explain.

Some people take the drug ecstasy ("e" or "x"), go to nightclubs and "lose themselves" dancing to the throbbing techno beat. Would you call this a "spiritual" or a "mystical"--or even "religious"--experience? Why or why not?

Finish this sentence, then explain: "To me, God is..."

Respond to both: (1) if you were to sketch a picture of God, what would your picture look like? (2) If you were to make a sound that sounded like God, what would that sound be?

What is better suited to contemporary American culture? Monotheism or Polytheism? Explain.

Pretend: You're in the subway station and a young homeless woman with profoundly perceptive and penetrating eyes approaches you. She says: "My name is Christine. I am the Daughter of the Creator. And I can tell that you are special. Come with me; we have much to do; and very little time to do it in. Come with me, and if you do, I can promise you that you will be rewarded a thousand times over." You can see in her eyes that she's completely sane and means everything she says. What would your response to her be? Explain.

Are you a person of faith or of reason or of both? Explain, giving examples.

What does the word "sin" mean to you? Explain.

You stand with your finger poised over a red button. If you push it, thermonuclear weapons will be deployed and all terrestrial living things on the planet, including yourself, will be destroyed within 24 hours. Suddenly, "Evil" appears on one of your shoulders and "Good" appears on the other. They both tell you to do what, and why?

If you were to compare the universe to something, what would it be and why?

Martin Luther said any man (or woman) can be his (or her) own priest. What do you think?

Many students come to AIB to study art and end up having to take academic courses like this one, which really irks some people. Is there a flaw in our education system here?

You are visiting a friend and notice that a plant on a window cill is dying from lack of water. You point it out to her but she says: "That's my roommate's plant; it's her responsibility to water it!" Later, when your friend is in the bathroom, do you secretly water the plant, or not? Explain.

Is there anything "baroque" about contemporary American society as experienced here in Boston, even in the hallowed halls of the Art Institute itself?

What's more important to you: Living for the moment, or living for the future?

Was Shakespeare right when he wrote that :"all the world's a stage"? Do you know anyone who does not "act" a role prescribed by society, family, race, gender, whatever?

What is one thing you're absolutely certain of, and why are you so certain of it?

It's not uncommon for even an atheist, in a moment of crisis, to call out to God for help. How would you explain that?

What is the "mind"? Where is the "mind"? How is it different from the "brain"?

Who is more black: Colin Powell or Jesse Jackson? Who is more presidential: Bill Clinton or George Bush? Who is more lesbian: Melissa Ethridge or Ellen DeGeneres? Who is more hot: Christina Aguilera or Britney Speares? Who is more Catholic: Pope John Paul or Mother Theresa? Respond.

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?

Are you ("I," "me," "myself") the same person you were five years ago, last week, yesterday? Or not?

A death row inmate who has admitted to killing and cannibalizing seventeen children to quench his insatiable thirst for evil is to be executed in this fashion: He will be strapped to a table and stabbed repeatedly with an ice pick, all over his body, until he perishes. Your "temp agency" has offered $22.50 an hour to do the job until completion. Do you do it? Why or why not?

To apples fall to the ground because of gravity or because you expect them to?

If Kant were to have made up one of the following clichés, which would it be and why? "Monkey see, monkey do"; "What you see is what you get"; It's all in the mind"; "That's life!"

What is "morality": something you're born with or something you're taught?

Late one night I'm attacked by a thug wielding a knife. We fight, I disarm him, grab the knife, and plunge it into his heart. I leave him dead on the sidewalk, go home and watch Jay Leno, sleep eight hours, and wake up fresh and alert the next morning. Shouldn't I feel guilty? Shouldn't I turn myself in? Shouldn't I do or feel something??

What do you see in nature and the natural world that you could call "religious"?

How is the human being like a "machine" and yet not like a "machine"?

Would you say that the period we live in now (2001 A.D.) is one in which the masses of people are "enlightened" to things true and compelling? Of not?

Are people who graduate from the Art Institute of Boston artists, or just people who think of themselves as "artists"? (What, in other words, distinguishes an actual artist from a wannabe "artist"?)

New Age ecology is often called "Gaia." Gaia, the name of a mother goddess from early Greek mythology, is the earth seen as a self-regulating, self-perpetuating, living organism. Do you think such a world view has merit, or is it a bit too "far out" for your tastes?

Pretend: You're a fourth grade teacher. One of your students is a chronic daydreamer, always staring out the window, always glancing around, and never paying attention to you! What do you do about this?

What's one thing that fifty years ago was commonly held to be "true" but today is commonly held to be "false"? Why do you think this change in "the truth" came about?

What do you think Hegel would think about the series Star Trek?

Is the future "history," or is "history" only the past? Explain your response to his question.

In the movie "Pump Up The Volume," the main character complains: "We're living in an age when everything's been said, every song's been sung, every idea exhausted-- there's nothing left that's new anymore." Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

In what ways do people feel "alienated" these days and what do they feel alienated from?

Think of something that is not at all political which, when you stop and really consider it, is political. What about it makes it a political thing?

Describe one way in which you feel exploited and one way in which you feel you exploit. Explore the feelings you have to both of these forms of exploitation.

Do you think capitalism is a doomed ideology or an ideology of promise and benefit? Explain.

Describe was "consciousness" means to you.

Give two examples: (1) something the social world of your culture represses that you think should be repressed: and (2) something repressed by the social world that you think should not be repressed. Why do you hold these opinions?

What do you think about this statement?: "Life is a Darwinian struggle in which only the fit survive and the earth will be ruled by those who seek to win the ceaseless competition that exists in all jungles, including those of urbanized society."

Is it possible for you to ascribe to the "evolution theory" in a spiritual way, in the same way that many ascribe to "biblical theories" of creation?

Which is more "fit"? The "human being" or the "human genome"?

How might looking at the stars at night confirm Plato's notion that the visual world of the sense "sight" is just an illusion, a vague approximation of the "real"?

"Art" is a worn-out, abstract term. What's a better word for what passes as "art" these days??

Describe an action observed visibly. Then describe how two observers of that action may interpret the action totally different ways. What does this tell you about how you make sense of things?

What is something you never learned about in history class that you think you should have learned about?

Please choose a "section" (that is, an aspect of postmodernism that is featured in one or two pages) and respond to it in writing. Also be prepared to discuss this section in class.

Please chose a "section" (that is, an aspect of postmodernism that is featured in one or two pages) and respond to it in writing. Also be prepared to discuss this section in class.