March week 4 - The Starry Messenger by Galileo

1. Consider:
Galileo said:

"Here it is appropriate to convey certain cautions to all who intend to undertake observations of this sort, for in the first place it is necessary to prepare quite a perfect telescope, which will show all objects bright distinct, and free from any haziness..."

-What is an instrument we use to observe and understand spiritual truth?

-How do we perfect our spiritual instruments of discovery?
-How are our spiritual discovery methods similar to Galileo's discoveries of the stars?
-What instruments of truth seeking does Galileo use? What about Campanella in expressing the different points of view? *see below


2. Word Study:
Instrument

3. Read:
The Starry Messenger by Galileo (Volume 8, pages 325-355) (If you are not interested in the details of what he found don't worry about understanding them all, just read to understand the methods he used to discover truth)
Arguments for and against Galileo by Tommaso Campanella (Volume 8, pages 356-364)
Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

4. Discover:
Learn about anything that interests you as you read such as:
Stars - how they give light and in what ways they may testify of Christ
Galileo - more about his life and what he went through to share truth
Telescopes - how they work and what principles we can learn from them
Whatever else you want to know more about!

Next week we will have a star party (Thanks, John for the reading and activity suggestion!) We will decide on the time when we meet.

*Note some of the methods for accepting truth (some are more reliable than others):
Reasoning (logic, thinking through it)
Romanticism (It brings out your higher feelings)
Empiricism (Through the senses - scientific method)
Revelation (Through the Spirit from God)
Aestheticism (It is beautiful)
Credentialism (We trust someone with more knowledge, authority or credentials than us)
Fraternalism (Our circle of friends says it is true)
Traditionalism (It is how our culture does it)

5. Question:
Write a discussion question on the comments below

March Week 3 "The Banishment of Beauty"

http://susanlyon.com/Pages/2005scott32.htm

1. Watch and take notes on the following Youtube videos (set of four 15 min videos = 1 hour)

*Be aware that there are quite a few nude paintings in these videos. It is nothing you would not see at an art museum, but if it makes you uncomfortable, close your eyes for about 3 seconds at the following times:
Movie 1: 1:00, 4:40, 5:06, 5:56, 9:33, 11:11-12:06
Movie 2: 5:27-6:01, 7:00-7:10, 8:42, 10:08, 10:51, 12:32-40, 13:55
Movie 3: 3:49, 11:36, 12:06-13
Movie 4: 2:38-48, 3:18, 9:52
(If you would rather not watch the movie, you can just listen to it and turn off the visual.)

2. Reread: Interest and Beauty in Works of Art by Author Schopenhauer: Volume 5 pages 120 - 123, 143-150 (you will get much more out of it the second time around. Look for his answers to, "what is beauty?" And, "Why is beauty important?" Be aware that through the essay, he tries to answer what the difference is between interest and beauty, if interest leads to beauty and vice versa, and if they can compliment each other). Also, read or reread any articles from last week that you did not get to, or you did not understand.

3. Create a blog post, review, poem, song, paper, presentation, work of art,  etc. about what you think about beauty after the readings and the video.

4. Share your thoughts or what you created with others in some way (blog, youtube, visual, etc). Write it or give us the link on the comments below so we can comment on it!

5. Comment on each other's writings... most of our discussion will be online about this because we will be going to a museum next week to "contemplate beauty" and talk about what we find. So be sure to write and comment before coming to class!