Week 2

Week 2 is currently happening. Last Thursday after my last entry I went onto the first Meaning and Interpretation (M&I) tutorial. It went surprisingly very well. I have studied Plato and Socrates a lot so that knowledge really came useful in class discussion. Within the groups we had, I was one of the most talkative speakers... which is a very rare thing for me! So I applaud myself on that one... now I am trying to study hard so I can do just as well in the next one on Thursday. :)

I have chosen my Ethics essay. 3000 words, due 24th September. Case study is as follows:

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After making several unsuccessful scholarship applications, James Williams has just been awarded a highly competitive and well-paid scholarship to do postgraduate research at the Corporate Social Responsibility Institute (CSRI), a leading international centre in the field. For Williams the scholarship represents the dream opportunity to further his long time commitment to socially responsible corporate practice. He is about to accept the award when his aunt, who has been an anti-smoking activist since her mother (his grandmother) died of lung cancer, tells him that CSRI was set up with, and is still supported by, multi million dollar grants from the world's largest tobacco industry corporation. The acclaim that the corporation has garnered for its support of CSRI has diverted attention from the manipulative marketing methods it is using to target people in third world countries. What would you do if you were in James's position?

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I am not even going to begin attempting to express my point of view just yet. I have ideas, but we learned of a certain step by step way of breaking down the ethical arguments and categorize values, so I hope to do just that by Friday at the latest while all the information is still fresh in my memory.

"PHL472 students will be expected to show an advanced level of conceptual understanding in their analysis, systematic and rigorous consideration of the difficulties inherent in the position taken as well as the merits of alternative positions."

;____; Must work hard! Don't rush! It is worth 35%, so it's very influential on my final mark.

Peta will no longer be taking Ethics tutorials, instead we have a tutor named Clive, who was very nice and informative. Great tutor, so I look forward to more of his classes. I managed to speak up in that tutorial as well, and aside from the dude Mike nicknamed "Philosophy Jock", I was able to get some good points in.

3:19am. Time to read something non-Uni related.