Advice for seminar participation from David Townsend, Tutor:
- Say what you really think, as clearly and succinctly as you can.
- Respect one another. The seminar is an exercise in civility.
- Be morally present at the table. The books are interesting because they are about you.
- Share the air-time. Don’t talk too much. Be attentive to those who may wish to speak—especially those hesitant to enter the conversation.
- Leave no one behind. We are all in this together. A seminar is a community–a small republic, a jazz improv band, a village dance, a special ops mission.
- Build solidarity and deepen thinking by helping one another to recognize the underlying assumptions, claims, and values of our assertions.
- No question is too simple or elemental. E.g. “What does this word mean”?
- Listen and remember the discussion. Make connections. Aim to have one whole conversation.
- We are doing philosophy. Not just studying an academic subject. Help each participant to clarify their thoughts and assumptions by asking questions of each other.
- Have the courage to be willing to change your opinions.
- Be willing to doubt what you think you know and to treat the ordinary as extraordinary.
- “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so” Mark Twain
- We succeed when we render something complicated intelligible without rendering it simplistic or dogmatic.
- Cite the text. We all have the text in common. The text is our friend.
- Conversation deepens as we focus on the text—even if we disagree with it profoundly.
- When you bring in context or supply information, you make an educative choice to be an expert at the table. Better to discuss the book we all share than to clutter conversation with context, which depends on questionable authority that others are unable to evaluate.
- Avoid telling personal anecdotes, which are meaningful to you but may not be to others.
- It is bad to interrupt. But it’s worse to speak so that you need to be interrupted.
- Silence for periods of time is OK. It may mean that everyone is thinking.
- We span different regions, cultures, interests, and ages; yet we are united in a shared commitment to the texts we study and an unwavering belief that to understand another’s point of view is an act of generosity.
- At St. John’s, we believe in your ability to face the text and to discover by your own light what it says to you. There is no expert or context that can tell you what you really think, nor what you really ought to be thinking. Self-reliance deepens your thinking in common, shared, generous, reciprocal conversation.
- Finally: Please avoid making speeches—unless absolutely necessary.
- Please do not engage in side conversations or use “chat” features. Share your ideas in common conversation with all.
- Please do not leave the room or exit the screen unless necessary.
- Please disregard any of these suggestions if they cause you to do something downright barbaric.
