What's your question?

The goal for today is simple: to identify the question you will work with for your project.

Now, I'll admit, it's not exactly easy to do this, so there are some steps I'll suggest for today.  Before I even get to those, I'll add a few things:

1. Although your question proposal is due at the end of the period, this is your preliminary question.  This means it is a starting point for your journey.
2. You will still both widen and sharpen the focus of your question as you move forward and explore various aspects of it.
3. If you find another question you'd rather answer, you can still switch - it is your project, after all.

Here is a set of suggested steps to follow today.  You don't necessarily need to do all of them but I think you'll find it to be a good use of your time.

Also, I'll say this frequently, but I highly recommend doing all of this in writing and blog posts.  Not all of it has to be published onto your blog, but think of it as your digital notebook for this project.

1. In a new post, Brainstorm a list of potential questions.  These can come from a variety of sources, including:
1. Your previous writings for this class - think about all of the great issues you've already addressed and thought about for your essays.
2. The lists I provided you with on the handouts - open and read "Some basic philosophical questions" and "Forming philosophy questions."
3. Browse around through the websites you've linked to: Epistemelinks and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  Also, check out one I just added: Philosophy Pages.
2. Do some preliminary research of your question.  I'll do a short demonstration of this at the start of class today.
1. Scan through what other writers and thinkers have said about your issue.
2. Think of a variety of different words associated with your topic (we'll spend a lot of time on this next week) and try them in your search.

Lastly for today, complete the "Philosophy Question Proposal" - you'll find it under the "handouts" tab on the blog.  Please note that you are not turning in a paper version of this.  Instead, once you have completed the form and saved it in your "my documents" file, you will upload it to TurnItIn.com.

Good luck!  A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step!