August 24: Journal Entry #3

As I touched upon in my previous journals I spent a considerable amount of time within England this summer, however, I've yet to explain my business there. My trip wasn't commenced out of a need for leisure, it had commenced out of a desire for academia; in order to satiate this desire I enrolled at Oxford University for a two week course. The course was titled "Racing Extinction: Climate, Politics, and Global Leadership," however, contrary to the title of the course, the course was centered around philosophy. My professor, Ms. B, assigned us an essay as our final examination, the prompt being: "anything regarding philosophy or climate change." I was at a complete, and utter loss; the prompt was simply too vague, and the possibilities too wide for me to even begin to approach it. However, one evening whilst on a call with my friend, who was sleeping in a considerably nicer hostel than I was, the idea of my essay came to me: "A Critique of The Notion of Human Nature." We often spoke of literature, and that evening was no different. That evening she had brought up the book Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes. I had heard of the text prior to our conversation, but I never awarded it a great deal of consideration. However, it was this text that led me to writing my essay, and having a profound interest in the nature of humanity. This aforementioned interest is what fueled my desire to study the metaphysical topic of human nature on a deeper level over the course of this academic year in spite of the fact that I've developed an initial interpretation of human nature. If you wish to understand my conclusion, I suggest that you read my paper which is attached below. 

I know very little in regards to my research, however, I am deeply interested, and decently well versed in many matters pertaining to philosophy. Thus, I feel I have an intellectual foundation to expand upon in the coming months, and this aforementioned foundation will enable to investigate my topic with a deeper level of comprehension. 

Potential topics of inquiry to explore in the coming months: 

1). Does my initial interpretation of human nature withstand scrutiny? (One could not consider this question a "question" in the context of EMC. Nonetheless, I find it valuable to investigate).

2). What are some historical examples of political indoctrination?

3). Of these historical examples, what group(s) were the most susceptible to indoctrination?

4). Do these "susceptible" group(s) share any common traits or features that would discern them from "non-susceptible" group(s)?

5). How were the experiences of the susceptible group(s), within the context of society, different from the experiences of the "non-susceptible" group(s)?

6). What modern group(s), if any, resemble the historical "susceptible" group(s) in character, experiences, or actions?