Synopsis
Philosophy comes from two Greek words – "philos" + "sophia" – which translates literally to “the love of wisdom”! 

Our actions are influenced by the ideas and beliefs we hold about the world and the people around us. 

Wisdom is about seeking clarity on these ideas and beliefs so that we can act accordingly to live a more meaningful life. In this course, you will learn some of the conceptual tools philosophers use to examine ideas and to build and refine stronger theories about many important ideas that influence our day-to-day lives. 

We will apply these tools to examine and to reflect on issues like friendships, love, and even happiness! – so that we can gain a better understanding on what it means to live a meaningful life.

Programme Outline
  • What is Philosophy? What can we do with it?
  • How to Navigate Ambiguity to Gain Clarity in Thought
  • Tools for Constructing a Philosophical Theory
  • Exercise 1: What Does it Mean to be a Friend?
  • The Philosopher’s Way of Testing Ideas
  • Exercise 2: What Is Love? Let’s Test Theories of Love
  • Real World Experience and Problems of Using Empirical Data to Test Ideas
  • Exercise 3: Constructing and Examining Our Personal Philosophy of Happiness
Class size
Capped at 25 participants
Details


Friday, 18 November 2022


2.00pm - 5.00pm


Virtual: Zoom


Course fee:
First run in collaboration with National Silver Academy (NSA) is complimentary for NUS alumni and learners aged 50 and above eligible for NSA courses
(Course fee applies for subsequent runs)


Who Should Attend
  • NUS Alumni who are 50 years and above
  • National Silver Academy Seniors who are 50 years and above
Entry Requirement
Bachelor degree in any discipline, or equivalent

Speaker
jyhsim
Mr. Jonathan Y. H. Sim
Instructor
Department of Philosophy
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

National University of Singapore

Jonathan Sim is an Instructor with the Department of Philosophy at the National University of Singapore. He is passionate about teaching and he continues to research fun and innovative ways of engaging students to learn effectively. He has been teaching general education modules to a diverse range of undergraduate students and adult learners at the University.

He teaches a course on “Computational Reasoning,” equipping hundreds of humanities and social science students and unemployed adult learners with the technical skills of coding and data analysis and the philosophical critical thinking skills required to work effectively. In addition, he teaches other courses like, “Confucianism in the Modern World,” so that students can gain insights on how to adapt ancient philosophical ideas to address modern-day problems. He also mentors and supervises students for industrial internships in the tech sector ("Computational Reasoning in the Corporate World"), and he trains many undergraduate Teaching Assistants under the "University Teaching Opportunity Programme (UTOP)." For his passion in teaching, Jonathan received the recipient Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (FTEA) for AY2019/2020.

Jonathan has a special interest in crossing beyond disciplinary boundaries in search of fascinating new insights to age-old problems. For his knowledge of philosophy across a spectrum of issues, he has been invited to discuss philosophical issues about technology and society in panel discussions for the Financial Times, Channel NewsAsia, and the Institute of Asian Consumer Insight. He recently edited the book, “Buying Time for Climate Action,” on the socio-political challenges of combating climate change (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2021); as well as “The Grand Challenges for Science in the 21st Century” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2018), featuring insights from Nobel Laureates and top scientists from around the world. He also had the opportunity to co-author “Memoirs of a Flying Tiger” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2019) a biography of a 100+ year old WW2 veteran and the pioneer pilot of Singapore International Airlines.


In collaboration with:

C3A-NSA logo

Last updated:
 
16 November 2022