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Final Project Update

 My final project is going well overall... just slowly. I am researching autodidacticism during different points in history and in different geographical regions. My home text is "Hayy ibn Yaqzan." So far, I have found a few options for primary sources. What I am struggling with is that I want a range of different types of texts. What I mean is "Hayy ibn Yaqzan" is mainly a literary piece that shows the philosophy of autodidacticism through a story. We learn about what autodidacticism means for an individual who is forced to experience it, and so the reader directly understands what autodidacticism means in practice. I also want to study autodidacticism from a deeper philosophical standpoint. The main text I am considering for that is "Plato's Republic." This studies the belief that all knowledge available to humans exists independently in the cosmos. Humans' job is to find that knowledge—a task Socrates believes is possible simply through independent reflection. I have already read  "Plato's Republic" a few times, so I doubt I will be able to use it as a primary source. However, it is definitely a strong secondary source as it has introduced me to a few other authors, texts, and ideas.


My main concern is translating my research into Neatline. I have not yet used Neatline for a Research Excursion, so I don't have much practice with it. Using it for this project will definitely require iterative trial and error, but I am excited to try it out soon!

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 22, 2022 at 3:28 PM

    Hi Noah. Perhaps a good approach would be beginning with notable autodidacts and moving towards their writings. That way there are distinct time periods and locations to input into Neatline. Some notable autodidacts you might be interested in: Frederick Douglas, Lao-Tzu, Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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