R.I.P. Certainty?

For a larger image of this comic strip, click here.

Questions & issues to consider:

A) What is the cartoonist's point about certainty? What do you think, or make, of his point?

B) What is the relationship between certainty and knowledge? How about the relationship between knowledge, certainty, "proven," and fact?

C) The last two frames of the comic strip present an ironic juxtaposition of ideas regarding certainty -- consider the boy's comment in the second-to-last frame ("The world's a less silly place...") in comparison with his exchange with Opus in the last frame. Comment on the ideas contrasted between the two frames. [e.g. Compare the content of Opus' comment in the last frame with the content of the statements quoted in frames 2 - 7 of the strip. Consider the implications of the boy's declaration in the next-to-last frame when applied to Opus' closing comment. Think about your initial reaction to the boy's statement in the last frame.] What observations, conclusions, and/or implications about knowledge and certainty are sparked by the strip?

D) Comment on the quality, quantity, and content of the evidence (examples) the three characters provide in support of the boy's declaration, in the second-to-last frame of the strip that "The world's a less silly place without you!"

D) Why did the cartoonist choose to add the last frame? Why didn't he just draw the headstone in the next-to-last frame and end there? Note: I'm certain ;-) it wasn't just to fill up space.

[Be sure to focus your comments on the knowledge issues raised in the comic strip. This comic strip clearly has a political overtone and slant. However, responding to that political element should not be the primary focus of your comments.]

R.I.P. Certainty?

For a larger image of this comic strip, click here or here.

Questions & issues to consider:

A) What is the cartoonist's point about certainty? What do you think, or make, of his point?

B) Comment on the quality, quantity, and content of the evidence (examples) the three characters provide in support of the boy's declaration, in the second-to-last frame of the strip that "The world's a less silly place without you!"

C) The last two frames of the comic strip present an ironic juxtaposition of ideas regarding certainty -- consider the boy's comment in the second-to-last frame ("The world's a less silly place...") in comparison with his exchange with Opus in the last frame. Comment on the ideas contrasted between the two frames. [e.g. Compare the content of Opus' comment in the last frame with the content of the statements quoted in frames 2 - 7 of the strip. Consider the implications of the boy's declaration in the next-to-last frame when applied to Opus' closing comment. Think about your intial reaction to the boy's statement in the last frame.] What observations, conclusions, and/or implications about knowledge and certainty are sparked by the strip?

D) Why did the cartoonist choose to add the last frame? Why didn't he just draw the headstone in the next-to-last frame and end there? Note: I'm certain ;-) it wasn't just to fill up space.

[Be sure to focus your comments on the knowledge issues raised in the comic strip. This comic strip clearly has a political overtone and slant. However, responding to that political element should not be the primary focus of your comments.]

Language, Open-mindedness

Click here for a larger image of the comic strip.

Language:
Consider the word play used in the comic strip. What does it say about the value of language as a way of knowing? Does this flexibility and malleability of language help or hinder our efforts to acquire knowledge? (Take special note of the second definition given for "malleability.")

Open-mindedness:
Consider the final frame/punchline of the comic strip, and reflect back on the readings from the beginning of the year: J.S. Mill, "On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion;" Plato's Allegory of the Cave from The Republic; and Edmundson, "On the Uses of Liberal Education...." What would be the response of any or all of those authors to the comic strip? Taking into consideration their comments, what is your reaction to Opus' comment in the final frame of the comic strip?