What
experiences in your life are hard to reconcile with our course
material? (Be specific in identifying the material). Why is it hard?
What else could you do to square your thinking/philosophizing and your
lived experience?
More Philosophy? Would you take an additional philosophy course if money/time weren’t factors? Explain.
An experience in my life that would be hard for me to talk about and go about the source material was when I lost my dog Maggie. Maggie died my senior year of high school and she was my dog. I got her for Christmas when I was 5 and she lived to be 13 years old. It is hard for me to talk about because dogs to me are like brothers and sisters, and I had a really hard time when she passed.
ReplyDeleteI would love to take another philosophy course as long as if it were along the same lines as this course. This course was a lot of fun to take and I actually feel like I learned something.
An experience that kind of pushed me to take this course, besides hearing that it was an awesome class, was trying to get over the death of my cat, Felix, and my grandma's impending death. Not to mention my career path as a nurse, but mainly the other two.
ReplyDeleteI, like Morgan and many others, see our pets as family. I see my animals as my babies because I usually adopt when they are young so that I can raise them. It brings out my maternal side without actually having children. My cat Felix was my baby. I have his brother who is also my baby, but if you could have favorites, Felix was definitely mine. I rescued him and his brother as kittens and babied the crap out of both of them. Felix was my cuddle buddy, someone I could talk to when I was happy, sad, mad, or just bored. He died when he was 3 and a half years old, due to some unseen cause. I think it was some sort of kitty cancer that got him quickly. I had lost my child, more or less. I wish I could bring him back because he was awesome. He was 25lbs of solid, black kitty who was just a lover. I have slowly recovered from his death, and I think this course has helped me heal with just hearing everyone else share very intimate stories of losing loved ones (two or four legged).
I'm in the same mindset as Morgan, I would love to take another philosophy course if it were set up like this one. Maybe not necessarily the same topic, but it makes it more interesting rather than reading about a philosopher and then discussing them in class just to have the conversation go way off of target and end up discussing something/someone that you have no idea. I wasn't afraid to participate in this class, even though sometimes I was more reserved than I intended to be, you get lost in the conversation and by the time you are able to throw out your point, we're already down the road on something more interesting. Fine with me! I learned something and feel like I have something to take with me instead of being, "Well, I did take a philosophy course or two in college, but I couldn't tell you anything I learned except a random fact or two." I can actually used what I learned and apply it.
Since I want to be a nurse, I thought this course would be great to take not only because of the profession I want to be in but also because I have dealt wiith death so much in my life. Beween grandparents, my sister, my aunts and uncles, friends, and aquaintances that have passed away, I thought this would be a great course that I could learn something from. I have witnessed quite a few family members that have battled cancer and the suffereing of them and the people that surround them. Until this class I always thought people were silly to think of their pets as family. I recently inherited my late sisters' dog, Bear. My sister had Bear almost a year before she passed away. The last conversation I had with my sister is to tell Bear haapy 1st birthday. Three days after my sister passed away, Bear was hit by a car. She loved Bear and to endure the loss of my sister and then not knowing what would happen with Bear was horrrible. Bear suffered from a broken leg, but he surivived. Now that he is 10 years old, my Brother in law was forced by his wife to get rid of him because he is getting a little grouchy in his old age. My nephews' and Brother in Law were all so upset about having to give Bear up. When the time comes for Bear to go to Heaven, it will be very hard, but I know he will be up there with my sister.
ReplyDeleteI still have to take one more pholisophy course in college, but I don't think I will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed this course. I feel very enlightened after taking this course. Coming into the coures, I felt like I knew quite a bit about death and dying, but hearing it from different perspectives and backgrounds has made me appreciate the expereinces of others'. I also feel like I am now better equipped and able to talk to patients' about their feelings about death and their wishes.
DeleteThough the topics we sometimes incredibly depressing I really enjoyed this class because it made you think at a deeper level. I think that it being set up as a discussion based course helped even more. When hearing other peoples’ views and ideas it often for me gave a better or different understanding of the topic. I also believe that class did not only give better understanding to death and the dying process but just loss in general. My idea right now is to be a pediatric nurse on an orthopedic floor and work with children who have prosthetic limbs. Anyone losing a limb is a traumatic significant loss and I believe this class will help me if I ever get to work with those people. I think that going over the processes of life, death, and grieving will help me in my future career as a nurse. Like Hilda and Morgan I too would enjoy taking other philosophy classes if it was set up like this one. The consistent interactions made the time go by faster. I actually enjoyed this class a lot and it has made me think about religion and death on a more intellectual, personal level.
ReplyDeleteI know I have talked about this experience multiple times on the blog, but my Great Aunt Lois passed away from brain cancer about a year ago. The last few months of her life were spent basically comatose and unresponsive. Prior to this course, I didn't give the situation much thought--but after learning about PAS and DNR scenarios--it has made me wonder what Lois would have chosen.
ReplyDeleteI wish my family would have been more open to these kinds of conversations throughout Lois' dying process. It was an extremely long time period, very rough on everyone, and certainly rough on Lois. Nobody was sure as to if she could even hear or see people around her during her last few weeks. I will always wonder, now, if Lois would have possibly opted for a PAS if she would have known how she would spend her last few months... I wonder if she felt pain (but couldn't tell anyone), if she felt suffering, if she laid in her bed half conscious and could only think about death. This class definitely put all of those things into perspective, and made me realize how important it is to have these types of difficult discussions with your loved ones. After our first class meeting, I actually nonchalantly brought the topic up to my mom, and she made it blatantly clear that she would want a DNR should that situation arise. That seems pretty morbid to talk about, but right now--should anything happen to my mother--I know exactly what her wishes are.
I have dealt with seeing death within my family lately, and I have to sing at funerals all the time. My aunts even, both whom I've never really had a close relationship to. Same case for the funerals, I've never knew them so I think one of biggest struggles is actually knowing what and how I'm going to react when someone even closer to me has died. One of my dogs died when I was younger, but I don't even remember how I felt. This class about death and dying I heard was really good so I thought I should take the class. I've realized that I probably would have been very hysterical to see a close relative die, such as my mom who is now suffering with her illnesses. After this course, I think I will be able to handle death a lot easier because I am more conscious of not only others mortality, but also my own. If I had the option to take another philosophy course, I totally would because not only does Dr. Cate explains it in a way that is understandable, I find it so interesting about a lot of the topics philosophy takes on, that I share it with my family and friends
ReplyDeleteI decided to take this course because my lovely boyfriend Dalton told me it was a great course and it honestly made you think about certain situations in life. I was a bit nervous to take the course because I assumed it required me to talk about death situations and having my younger brother's best friend pass away in a tragic four wheeler accident I feel uncomfortable talking about death unless a person has experienced it in similar ways. The most difficult subject we talked about in class was the definition of death. This hit home the hardest to me because my brother's friend in deed was on life support and his family did decide to take him off. I did not understand why they decided that, and his mom questions occasionally if that was the right decision or not-it is a very hard thing to cope with. It breaks my heart when continuously thinking about the situation. My heart aches along with my family's and Greg's family's heart.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed my philosophy courses at TMC and if time allowed me to I would more than likely enjoy taking another. Philosophy courses have allowed me to think more in depth about situations and have gave me reasoning behind certain topics. I would recommend this philosophy course to any student at TMC.
I have dealt with a lot of deaths as of late and I would say without a doubt that the death of my best friend's mother was the hardest on me and influenced me to take this class. She passed away from breast cancer and was a huge part of the community I was raised up in. My parents got a divorce and she was always there to talk about everything. In relation to this class, I would say the chapter that stuck with me in her situation would be the one on the major religions and the belief of afterlife. She always knew what was in store for her after her life was over and being a devoted christian, trusted she would be going to heaven and accepted God. I wish she were still here so I could talk to her about these things because her and I were starting to talk in depth about religions and I realize from this class that I need to get a grip on what I believe so I can die confidently and not confused. As well as how I would like to be "disposed" of as I like to refer to it.
ReplyDeleteI would love to take philosophy courses for the rest of my life because they make you think outside the box and stand by your opinions/reasoning. I have enjoyed my time in this class and I'm required to take another course so I'm hoping it's like this one with the open conversations.
I haven't had to deal with a lot of death in my life, but a few years ago I did lose my grandpa. I was younger and didn't really understand everything that was going on so I never really processed it the way I probably should have. I think that the chapters where we discussed end of life care kind of made me think of this because of the situation in my grandpa's death.
ReplyDeleteI think I would take another philosophy course as long as it were structured the same way as this one. I'm taking Ethics and Technology which is completely different material and structure and it bores me to death. I think this class is very interesting though because it exposes us to many different views on subjects like death and dying. I think that getting exposure to certain topics like this are what all college classes should be, things that might prepare you for real life.
I think the chapter which I related most to was the chapter on suicide and voluntary death. Its not very easy to talk about, but last semester I did in fact attempt to take my own life. I obviously did not succeed in doing so, and since have been able to get appropriate help. That has been my personal close encounter with death. I think that this course has really forced me to think about some of the questions I didn't want to answer. This course dealt a lot with death and dying, and made you think about things you normally would avoid thinking about. I do believe that my outlook on life has changed, for the better. I enjoyed this course and how it made you talk about stuff you normally wouldn't. I wish I had taken this course before last semester, I feel I would have been much more prepared, and much more understanding of what was going on in my own life.
ReplyDeleteI really would like to take another philosophy course. This semester has been so busy that I have not been able to devote the time I know I should have into this class. I really enjoyed the discussions. I have always been one to question everything, and often to think with a kind of philosophical mind set. I just think it is really interesting. I do plan on taking another philosophy course in the future.
All,
ReplyDeleteWhat thoughtful answers. Michael Blewett, I'm especially impressed with how candid and honest and trusting you are with us. Class: that Michael -and others of you- can share something so personal with us speaks very highly about how you have conducted yourself in this class. It makes me very proud to know all of you.
Please come to me if you ever need information or resources about any of the topics we've discussed in class. I'm not a counselor, of course, but I'm very willing to listen and get you (for yourself or others) help.
Dr. Cate