I. CARD TO HILDE C/O SOPHIE--UN POSTMARKAND THE DATE:

A. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
B. LOSS OF THE WALLET [MAJOR’S CABIN]
C. WHY AREN’T THE CARDS SENT DIRECTLY TO HILDE, AND WHO IS HILDE?
D. HOW DID KNOX FIND HILDE’S WALLET, AND WHAT DID THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SOPHIE?

II. PHILOSOPHY AND THE CLASSROOM...SOPHIE'S TEST:

A. KNOWING VS. BELIEVING--what did Plato say?
B. PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
C. CONSCIENCE?
D. PRIORITY OF VALUES?

III. COULD SOPHIE USE THE IDEAS SHE LEARNED FROM KNOX?

A. ‘THE UNIVERSE CAN BE COMPARED TO A LARGE RABBIT PULLED OUT OF A TOP HAT.’
B. TOWER OF BABEL IMAGE--WHAT DO THE PHILOSOPHERS TRY TO DO?--WHO IS THE MAGICIAN?'
C. ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE CAVE
D. CONSCIENCE--OBJECTIVE OR SUBJECTIVE?
E. OF WHAT KNOWLEDGE IS OF MOST WORTH?

IV. HOW DID THE TEACHER GRADE THE TEST? WHY?


V. HELLENISM

A. ARISTOTLE TO THE MIDDLE AGES (500 BCE TO 400 AD)
B. ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND GREEK DOMINATED CULTURE
C. RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE AS INFLUENCED BY ROME
D. SYNCRETISM--THE FUSION OF CREEDS
E. WHAT IS THE GOOD LIFE?

VI. THE CYNICS AND THE STOICS AND THE EPICUREANS

A. DIOGENES

B. BOETHIUS AND STOICISM--THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY-Click here for a primary source excerpt focusing on FORTUNE'S ROLE? What will begin to modify the primacy of Fortune?
C. ROLE OF REASON AND ACCEPTANCE OF SUFFERING; THE IMPORTANCE OF:

1. THE NATURAL LAW
2. THE ROLE OF FORTUNE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS
3. ACCEPTANCE OF DESTINY--THE COMPATIBILITY WITH CHRISTIANITY

D. THE EPICUREANS:

1. THE PLEASURE PAIN DICHOTOMY ANTICIPATION OF UTILITARIANISM
2. PLEASURE IN THIS SENSE MEANT THE PROPER ACTIONS NEEDED TO CURB UNPLEASANT RESULTS--
3. REASON AND MODERATION STRESSED

VII. NEO-PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY:

A. PLOTINUS
B. DUALISTIC THINKING--THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY / SOUL (MATTER /MIND)
C. THE ONE-------DARKNESS :: EXISTENCE (ACT)-------NON-EXISTENCE (POTENCY)
D. THE SOUL IS ILLUMINATED FROM THE LIGHT] OF THE ONE (THE GOOD)

1-metaphor of the fire
2-the sparks which illuminate the darkness

E. DIFFERENT FROM PLATO: ALL IS PART OF THE ONE, EVEN THE MOST CHAINED PRISONER IN THE CAVE. RECALL CHAPTER SEVEN.

VIII. MYSTICISM:

A. WHAT IS THE ‘I’ AND HOW DOES ONE COME TO UNDERSTAND THERE IS A GREATER ‘I”?
B. WORDSWORTH’S “TINTERN ABBEY"
C. WHAT IS A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE?. CHECK THE LINK TO COLERIDGE.
D. THE NOTION OF TRANSCENDENCE AND THE SACRED SPACE, THE “BLISS STATION” OF
CAMPBELL
E. THERE IS AN INTERESTING LINK TO ROMANTICISM AND DREAM PSYCHOLOGY.

IX. WAKING UP WITH A HEADACHE AFTER A WONDERFUL DREAM--DIVINE CREATURE?

• REMEMBER THAT DREAM IMAGERY WILL BE IMPORTANT IN THE NOVEL-WHAT SEEMINGLY INEXPLICABLE EVENT OCCURS REGARDING A DREAM SOPHIE HAS?
• THE ROMANTIC POETS - KEATS, COLERIDGE ETC.-DO MUCH WITH DREAMING AS A METAPHOR FOR THE CREATIVE PROCESS, AS DO THE GOTHIC ROMANTICS INCLUDING MARY SHELLEY. CLICK HERE.