The reading this week was a little bit different from the previous week. I felt like the two texts (The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction & Dialectic of Enlightenment) were somewhat easier to read compared to last week, but there was still a lot to think about after having finished the texts.
During the lecture Henrik talked a lot about the circumstances during which these texts were written, which certainly gave a new perspective and interpretation of the texts. The seminar started by some discussion about the term nominalism and what it implies. Henrik elaborated the concept further by getting back to Plato and the text we read the week before. He also talked quite a bit about Plato's Cave and how these concepts could seem connected. Further on during the seminar we compared the two texts and discussed what they had in common and what made them differ from one another. A lot of the discussion was also about reflection upon the society today with these perspectives in mind, which lead to some rather interesting discussions and argumentations about today's politics.
Overall I felt like the lecture and the seminar this week helped me get a way deeper understanding of the texts which made them far more interesting. Also the discussions at the seminar were very interesting and educative.
Hi Johan,
SvaraRaderaI agree with you that that the text on this theme was a lot easier to grasp than the pervious one. But they still demand some thinking and reflections afterward.
I think it’s very good that Håkan did a connection to the previous week texts, he didn’t do that in my seminar and I feel like it would have been interesting to hear what connection he did between the two themes. Do you by any chance remember?
Anyhow, keep up the good work!
Sofia
Hi Johan,
SvaraRaderaI also think the discussions at the seminar and the lecture were very interesting and helped me get a deeper understanding of the texts and the concepts that we discussed. I liked his example with the cave as well. Its so much easier to understand hard concepts if you illustrate them visually and talk about them. The discussion brought us to society today and the conceptual thinking in modern time. For med its easy to get understanding about the meaning and the importance of the conceptual thinking if I think of the democratic visions we have today. That’s all about making a concept and wishes about a better society.
Hi!
SvaraRaderaI also felt that this weeks lectures and seminars were more understandable than the first week. In general, I prefer seminars over lectures since one participates more actively in those and therefore through communication and discussion learns more. The first weeks seminar was just like another lecture, and I believe that is one of the reasons that I never really got the hang of theme 1. That's also the reason why I liked that Henrik connected the concepts of theme 2 to theme 1, which made it a bit more understandable.
The discussions on the seminar were also kind of political-oriented which made me see politics with "new eyes". I wonder how much that has really changed from the media today and the media from 50 years ago...
Hi!
SvaraRaderaTotally agree that the texts for theme 2 were alot easier to read and grasp than the ones for theme 1. I agree that the cave example made it alot easier to fully understand the concepts. What i also liked a lot with this seminar was the fact that it was easier to connect to reality and how I think about things like the "ideal" woman etc. Furthermore, i really liked how you have to keep the writers situations in mind in order to fully understand the opinions and concepts.
Great work!