Lecture Corner: Philosophy Via Stand-up Comedy

Lecture Corner: Philosophy in Stand-up Comedy

Thanks to students Chris N. and Ronin W. for providing the content:

Did two students really deliver a standup comedy routine during lecture corner? How did such a serious topic make the audience laugh?

Robin and Chris were expected to give an introduction to philosophy, such as what it is and its role. However, such material is about as interesting as dried pasta. Keeping students engaged in lecture corner can be a real challenge as they often get distracted, play games or even fall asleep. To avoid this the pair changed the traditional format of lecture corner to be more like a stand-up comedy routine. The logic behind this was that in a relaxed and humorous environment, the audience will be more receptive to the philosophical message they were delivering.

On 22nd October, they started with a short story about a fire-breathing dragon named Kunkun. The first focus emerged:  Using philosophy as speculation tool. As the name implies, the role of these tools is to help philosophers solve and simplify some of the problems they are thinking about. Robin and Chris introduced two speculative tools in the form of Occam's razor and Newton's flaming laser sword. With these two important thinking tools, the two succeeded in destroying the fire-breathing dragon of Kunkun.

Just as practicing martial arts requires self-discipline, learning philosophy also needs the right mental state. In the laughter of everyone, the pair began to introduce the basic tenets of philosophy and Kant's important ideas. From empiricism to rationalism and from Descartes to Hume, Chris used examples and short stories to let the students understand key differences. The theory of each school seems to be very persuasive, so the contradiction between the two theories must reach a peak. Kant, a philosophical master who reconciled Descartes empiricism and Bacon's rationalism, has made a significant contribution to the history of philosophy. The object self and the twelve congenital categories that he proposed are even more deeply felt by the students.

Fun facts:

• Q: Why is it in the form of stand-up comedy + lecture?
• A: The idea of stand-up comedy was proposed by a classmate. I think this would make the speech very interesting, and we were surprised to find that the discussion was really fun.
   
• Q: Why is there a Mr. Van on the cover of the poster?
• A: We think that Mr. Van is very attractive to the fellows who have the same philosophical outlook. He is one of the most popular philosophers in the history of modern pop philosophy.
   
• Q: Why is the theme of the speech philosophy?
• A: We believe that basic philosophy knowledge is a must but is not valued enough. Philosophy can effectively improve a person's thinking ability, and the application of this knowledge covers all fields. Where there is a"problem", there is philosophy.
   
• Q: Was the preparation for this speech very hard?
• A: Yes, it is okay for us. Chris wrote most of the manuscript and Ronin made the ppt.
   
• Q: Did the speech achieve the expected results?
• A: No one was playing games during the lecture and everyone was awake! I hope that next time we can get more students to attend.