two down, six to go:

[raven]

Yesterday, mid-afternoon:



Thursday afternoon: Final Honours School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, paper 0103, Ethics, question 18: "Would your death be good for you?"

Thursday evening, 10.13pm:



Over the course of the last few days:

Tori Amos - Taxi Ride (x51)
Indigo Girls - Let Me Go Easy (x36)
Vienna Teng - Recessional (x179, ohGOD)
The Indelicates - ...If Jeff Buckley Had Lived (x68)

Tomorrow: Theory of Politics, Saturday, History of Philosophy From Descartes to Kant, (Bank Holiday) Monday, Politics of South Asia. Tuesday, Wednesday, also.

Comments

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

When I was doing Finals, I listened to "Let it Be" a lot. "There will be an answer, let it be..."

Good luck!

[tau_sigma]

Good luck! *hugs*

[nerves-patterns.livejournal.com]

You are listening to excellent music.

I'm sending good thoughts your way. <333

[yahalomay.livejournal.com]

Hello! You don't know me, but I've recently discovered your LJ and think you're pretty great!

Good luck on becoming a whole person again!

[luminometrice.livejournal.com]

Orange highlighter is good for you. None of the six could possibly be as challenging as "'Liya' - discuss".

Be well.

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

..... that question is making me think about vampire_kitten's current crusade about trigger warnings in mainstream cinema. I think exam questions which imply suicide are kinda dodgy ground, I have to admit.

[marymac.livejournal.com]

Its a bit scary. Also a bit foolish given the state of mind of people doing Finals.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

I think - even if you aren't saying they're exactly the same - there's a difference between entirely unadvertised depiction of suicide in 'entertainment' and bringing up the subject in a paper about one's conduct in life, though? Suicide is a recognised topic (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/#3) of philosophical enquiry even if I don't THINK it's directly on the oxford syllabus as abortion/euthanasia are, and is an opportunity to apply ethical schools of thought - I do see your point that it's problematic (you can't avoid READING the question even if you avoided the subject in term), but I'm not entirely sure what one can do about it. Questions about, say, murder could also be potentially triggering, but you do study the paper with your eyes open - I think unlike in a film people do know what they're in for.

Iona, sorry if I have misrepresented your subject. Jessie, hope this makes sense and isn't dismissive.

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

*g* Yeah, makes sense and isn't dismissive - I'm not 100% sure where I stand myself. I wrote plenty of essays on suicide myself, and I think it really ought to be a respected area of study rather than taboo.

The thing is though, unlike the cinema issue, the people writing those papers know they are writing them for people who are likely to be suffering from mental health problems at the time they are reading the sodding questions. (And if they don't know that, then they should). Oxford university statistically has a problem with suicidal behaviour amongst its students. I can't quote facts and figures, and I'm sure my anecdotes aren't accurate, but I'm pretty sure Magdalen had a mid-finals suicide the year before I started there.

I think it's that priviledge thing again, actually. I think writing about suicide in your dissertation = great! but that the academic 'right' of people to write and think about suicide to have 'provocotive' exam papers etc shouldn't over rule the right of people with mental health problems to sit non-triggering exams.

I also think there's a difference between mentioning suicide in an exam on life conduct, and posing a triggering question. I think that question was posed in a potentially extremely triggering fashion. It's extremely personal and immediate, and I can imagine looking at that question, and my initial reaction to it being 'yes, my death would be preferable right now', and that... well, even if nothing worse, it'd fuck up how well you did on the exam.

Having said that, the questions I always found most triggering in exams were the ones that read basically 'your subject is pointless: discuss'. They could (and did, in collections) send me spiralling into 'ohgod what's the point' depression. And I don't think that that sort of question should be disallowed.

I dunno. I think it's a really tricky issue.

[absinthe-shadow.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is the use of second person - it seems to be addressing itself so directly to the reader.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I don't agree, I think. This is a paper called "Ethics" - it would be a deficiency in intellectual integrity not to ask questions about everything that comes under the topic. What are the ethics of suicide? What option do we have not to ask that question, as philosophers and moral agents? It's my personal bias showing through here, I think, because I have such well-defined opinions regarding how philosophy should be taught and studied, but I think it was rightly asked.

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Nope, you're not mispresenting my subject, you're talking about it better than I am. :) Suicide isn't directly on the syllabus - neither are abortion or euthanasia, they all come under under the broader rubric of what is amusingly called "practical ethics", so they certainly were within their rights to ask the question.

I agree with your distinction between "entertainment" and academia - more on which when I have cognitive function again.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I think it's that priviledge thing again, actually. I think writing about suicide in your dissertation = great! but that the academic 'right' of people to write and think about suicide to have 'provocotive' exam papers etc shouldn't over rule the right of people with mental health problems to sit non-triggering exams.

But, again, philosophy. I think that there's a difference between putting questions about suicide in any paper and putting them specifically in that paper; because, my argument is that asking that sort of question is a constitutive part of the practice of philosophy in a way it isn't in say, English Lit. or history or something, because the ethos is - especially in the way philosophy is taught here - that every question, no matter how phrased, can be asked.

Am sorry if am repeating self or being offensive/incoherent/all of the above - I am sort of lacking in cognitive function at the moment.

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

I completely see your point, but... I dunno, I think I explain it better in my other comment. I don't think that it's wrong to ask questions on the area, I just think that it's necessary to think extremely carefully about the wording and context.

I think that in the study of philosophy, yes, it's a deficiency in intelectual intergrity to not face up to such questions. But the study of a subject sure as hell ain't synonymous with the examination of it. And oxford ain't exactly testing us for intellectual integrity.

I suppose, what I think is that if a philsophy degree was testing you purely and only on your ability to be a philsopher, then it would be one thing. A person who cannot face questions about sucicide clearly isn't cut out to be a philsopher of ethics. If that was what was being tested for, then it would be a reasonable question.

But your degree is not just a test of your academic acheivements. If it were, why would they ever ask you to do anything to time, without a library? The exams are hoop-jumping that the uni makes you go through to get the piece of paper to prove you lasted the course. Therefore, they shouldn't set people up to fail at the final hurdle.

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

*g* please shout at me to back off if this ain't a discussion you actually want to be having, I'm just interested. No worries about the lack of cognitive function - I mean, that's kinda half my point :P

I think that asking that sort of question in a safe environment ought to be essential to the nature of philosophy. I think that asking that question in the false and stressful environment of an exam, worded like that, is... off.

I guess... I think that in an exam, questions should be worded to give candidates the best possible chance of sucess, or the exam ain't testing fairly. And I think that if the 'trigger warnings' weren't on the exam, they should have been on the paper as a whole when you were discussing which options to take. Were they?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetie. <3

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You too, love!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you, on both counts! <3

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, and I'm glad I can be of interest. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*cliiiiiing* Thank you kindly. In about half an hour we are going to Eat Fruit With Cream, I shall poke you about it.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I like the framing in that first picture. Go you for surviving another exam too!

I can see James having fun with Question 18

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

Hey you,
My computer's dead so I'm kind of out of touch, but here's me cheering for you from afar. xo

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And yes... four down now, four to go.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

<3 you are love. And I emailed you my number for when needed. :)