Questions from the Classroom

Questions from the Classroom

Following are the questions that have come to me from the classroom while teaching various courses. I do not have answers for them, either because of my lack of exposure to the disciplines, or schools of thinking from where these come from, or because of the limitation of my own intellectual work, or ….

I put them here so that they are not lost to me or to someone else who might be asking similar questions.

I wish to address them either through guest lectures, or through falling back on accessible resources. In case someone out there wishes to help us from any part of the globe with a guest lecture via skype or similar technologies, you are most welcome. You may also refer to a book or essay which we can read.

Your response can
a. help us understand or articulate the question better
                   or
b. resolve the issue raised in the question.

While giving out the questions I will also attempt to give the title of the course where the question came up, the essay that gave rise to the question and the date and place. Names of the those who came up with these questions will be disclosed only with prior permission. However, some acronym will be used to identify the person in case of need for further clarity in the future.

The Questions

1. Can we have experience without a linguistic referent for it? Can we understand an experience without having a signifier for it in language? Can there be signifieds without signifiers? Do we understand a word only because of its linguistic property or because of other concrete experience. E.g. How do i understand the word justice. Don’t I require a situation to understand it?

2. Do feminists, esp. Cixous and Irigary believe that experience is accessible only through language?

3. How are sense perception, experience, thought, and language different?

( All the above questions come from Translation Studies Course taught for MA English while discussing Roman Jakobson’s “On the Linguistic Aspects of Translation on 10 Dec 2010 @ CU. Came in the discussion with DR) 

4. What is knowledge? Is there a difference between knowledge in sciences and knowledge in social sciences? Is social science knowledge not sound?

5. Is all knowledge, including that generated by science, male knowledge? If so is feminist epistemology possible/conceivable? 

6. What is language? Can we think of thought and language as two independent domains? Can language truly capture all our emotions and feelings? Are feelings and thoughts separate cognitive domains? what is the difference between idea, concept, thought.

(These questions came from II BA JPEng class while teaching American Literature course in the last week of August 2010 during the interaction with SS, N, and others)

7. Can we distinguish between feeling and thought? Are they the same or are they different, if the originate from the same place – brain/mind? Does one follow the other – does feeling come after thought or though after feeling? (Nidhi v Krishna, 12 Jan 2011)

8. Even after understanding our positions within structures that govern us, most importantly ideological, why do we go back to the same subjective positions knowing that these structures and positions are oppressive/oppressing? (Nidhi v Krishna, Dec 2010)


9. Is there a difference between calling something 'theoretical' and 'philosophical'? In other words, what is the difference between theory and philosophy? Within Kantian epistemology, isn't philosophy supposed to do what theory is doing today - Reflect on and issue/subject?


10. What is the philosophic distinction between emotions and thoughts? "Tagore was keener on expressing his emotions rather than strictly translating his Bengali work." In this sentence how do we know we really are referring to emotions? (23 April 2011, Anil)


11. What is the distinction between thought, idea, concept, word, term, category? (6 July 2011, BA English Honours class, CU)


12. Do we have translation a concept for translation? If yes what is it?  (6 July 2011, BA English Honours class, CU)


13. What is the difference between ideology and discourse?

14. When and why did the ideas of holistic renaissance humanist scholar change? (14 July 2012, IMA English class)

10 Sept. 2012 (MPhil Psychology)
15. Can sensory experiences be quantified?

16. What do we quantify in research in psychology?

17. What is the purpose of quantitative research in psychology?

18. When did psychology feel the need for quantitative research?

19. What is the value of geometry to psychological research?

20. How do you establish truth through empirical research methods

21. What is the need of quantitative research in psychology?

22. Is psychology trying to imitate science through quantitative methods? If so, why does it  need to imitate?