Intellectual Requirements (draft)
Preliminaries
This is a list of things that the godsyb is expected to know. We’ve tried to include things that are basic to the divine. It’s far from the last you’ll study, as this is all a stepping stone up to choral practice where your voice will be by the breath of god.
It goes over a diversity of different “towers”, which is our word for type of an institution, community, or intellectual tradition that has a relatively insulated culture and jargon. The towers are chosen specific to how fundamental their knowledge is.
The recommendations are all texts, rather than the names of the field they overview. If you find a book not to your style or liking, it’s not harmful to switch it out for a different book if you understand the extent of the material the book covers.
It is quite a lot, as being basic to god requires quite a lot of understanding and enlightenment. We provide resources of how to go through the list, which will be linked by this section’s end. Studying these things will certainly take a few years, but nothing more than a standard four with consistent, devotional practice.
A link to notes and resources on the readings.
Math
Precalculus
- Basic Mathematics by Serge Lang
- A Transition to Advanced Mathematics by Smith, Eggen, St. Andre
Set Theory
- Set Theory: The Third Millenium Edition; Jech
Math
Read further reading sections.
- Calculus; Spivak
- Linear Algebra; Gilbert Strang
- Calculus of Several Variables; Serge Lang
- Ordinary Differential Equations; Tenenbaum, Pollard
- Mathematical Statistics with Applications; Dennis Wackerly
- Graph Theory; Bondy, Murty
- Category Theory; Awodey
- Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos; Storgatz
- Elements of Information Theory
- Algebra, Serge Lang
- An Introduction to Complex Systems Theory: Making Sense of a Changing World by Tranquillo
Logic and its Siblings
- (Teach Yourself Logic Guide)
You want to go all the way up to Modal Logic.
- Informal Logic: A Pragmatic Approach
Other Stuff
- Mereology by Cotnoir and Varzi
- General Systems Theory: Foundations, Development, and Applications (by Bertalanffy)
Philosophy
Philosophy was where our school was born. We avoid solely suggesting primary texts, and we try to provide some sort of companion piece that can address them if we do. The reasoning is that the chorist needs to have understood the context of what they’re reading.
In cases where you can’t access a companion piece, then prefaces, and introductions by the publisher should be read if found in any primary material suggested. You’re also encouraged to search through online articles on the piece.
Much of the suggestions in each field are designed to get you up to date, such that by its end, you’d be capable of reading the contemporary literature.
The History of Philosophy & Historical Readings
A thorough understanding of the history of philosophy and its general readings is necessary to understand philosophy. We include eastern philosophy in this exploration as well. It’s important to learn to see the differences and similarities of original thought, and be able to converse across multiple perspectives of these concepts.
Eastern philosophy may seem overly religious and spiritual, but so is medieval european philosophy, and it still holds well regard.
The texts to reference are:
- A New History of Western Philosophy
- Philosophy in the Islamic World
- A Source Book in Indian Philosophy
- A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
- Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook
- Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion
- https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/korean-philosophy/
Of these, the New History of Western Philosophy should be the most focused upon, as it is our native tradition.
- “Metaphysics: An Anthology”
- Blackwell’s Companion to Metaphysics
Epistemology
This is the “only” reading in epistemology.
- Routeledge, Epistemology: Contemporary Readings
The catch is that you also have to read the papers outlined in further reading sections. It’s a compromise for not including the companion piece, which is rather benign, and reading further will allow you to cover far more space than the companion piece could. Remember to read about the readings.
Philosophy of Language
We expect a full understanding of the philosophy of language. Provided is a primary reading list provided from the The University of Western Ontario. It should suffice in bringing one up to date with contemporary topics, but the Companion to the Philosophy of Language will be the one that nails it in.
Textbook:
- Routeledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language
Primaries:
- Austin, J.L. (1961) “Performative Utterances”
- Carston, R. (1988) “Implicature, Explicature and Truth-Theoretic Semantics”
- Chomsky, N. (1988) “Language and Problems of Knowledge”
- Davidson, D. (1967) “Truth and Meaning”
- Davidson, D. (1978) “What Metaphors Mean”
- Davidson, D. (1986) “A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs”
- Donnellan, K. (1966) “Reference and Definite Descriptions”
- Dummett, M. (1975) “What Is A Theory of Meaning?”
- Evans, G. (1973) “The Causal Theory of Names”
- Frege, G. (1892) “On Sense and Reference”
- Frege, G. (1918) “The Thought: A Logical Inquiry”
- Grice, H.P. (1957) “Meaning”
- Grice, H.P. (1975) “Logic and Conversation”
- Hempel, C.G. (1950) “Empiricist Criteria of Meaning”
- Kaplan, D. (1977/1989) “Demonstratives”
- Kripke, S. (1972/1980) Naming and Necessity.
- Kripke, S. (1977) “Speaker’s Reference and Semantic Reference”
- Kripke, S. (1979) “A Puzzle about Belief”
- Kripke, S. (1982) Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language.
- Lewis, D. (1975) “Languages and Language”
- Lewis, D. (1979) “Scorekeeping in a Language Game”
- Perry, J. (1979) “The Problem of the Essential Indexical”
- Putnam, H. (1973) “Meaning and Reference”
- Quine, W.V.O. (1951) “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”
- Russell, B. “On Denoting” (1905)
- Russell, B. “Descriptions” (1919)
- Russell, B. “Mr. Strawson on Referring”
- Salmon, N. (1986) “Frege’s Puzzle”
- Saul, J. (1997) “Substitution and Simple Sentences”
- Searle, J.R. (1958) “Proper Names”
- Searle, J.R. (1969) “The Structure of Illocutionary Acts”
- Sperber, D. and D. Wilson (1987) “Pré cis of Relevance”
- Stalnaker, R. (1978) “Assertion”
- Strawson, P.F. (1950) “On Referring”
- Tarski, A. (1944) “The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics”
- Wearing, C. (2006) “Metaphor and What Is Said”
- Wittgenstein, L. (1953) Philosophical Investigations, Sections 1-315. Blackwell.
Philosophy of Math
- Thinking about Mathematics (2000)
- Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings (1984)
- Contemporary Understanding: The Oxford Handbook of Pholosophy of Mathematics and Logic (2005)
Philosophy of Mind
- Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings
- Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind
Ethics
- Ethical Theory: An Anthology
- Metaethics, A Contemporary Introduction
Philosophy of Law
- Readings in the Philosophy of Law
Philosophy of Religion
We’re a religion.
- Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion
The readings are included in the “for further reading” sections.
Traditional Readings
Readings that pretain to the choir’s historical influences.
- The Cynic Philosophers from Diogenes to Julian
- Discourses of Epictetus
Linguistics
Phonology, morphology, and ilk aren’t included, as we don’t feel them fundamental to understanding, and are a pursuit of choice.
Read further reading sections
- Syntax: A Generative Introduction
- Pragmatics by Levinson
- Introducing Semantics
Psychology & Basic Neuroscience
For th rest of these texts, you’re expected to read any further reading section, and are encouraged to peer through their bibliography. We should provide some
- Fundamentals of Cognitive Science
- Comparative Psychology - Human and Animal Behaviour: A Sociobiological approach
- Animal Cognition: Evolution, Behaviour, and Cognition
- Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Development
- Social Psychology; Aronson, Wilson, Akert, Sommers
- Contemporary Social Psychological Theories
- Psychometrics: An introduction
- Psychometric Methods: Theory into Practice
- Understanding Motivation and Emotion
- Handbook of Competence and Motivation
- Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics (intersects with linguistics)
- Principles of Neural Science
Society & Finance
- Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology
- Oxford Handbook of Social Networks
- A First Look at Communication Theory
- Introduction to Law; Hage, Akkermans
- Personal Finance; Kapoor
- Principles of Accounting I. and II.
- Systems Engineering Guide by Mitre Corporation
- Workflow Management: Models Methods and Systems
The systems engineering guide is a bit of a strange choice, but it’s from a fairly front-facing field, and the references and resources sections provide the extra reading necessary to have a capable understanding of what you’re reading.
Basic STEM
- Cambell Biology
- Principles of Modern Chemistry; Oxby
- University Physics with Modern Physics; Young & Freedman
English
English is the only language one must be considered proficient in.
Academic Writing
Academic writing is not just writing clearly, but is a process that involves researching, citations, using LaTeX, etc. You should learn to apply it as you finish an exhaustive field such as the philosophy of logic.
Final Words
This is a lot, but it’s what the divine requires. Again, much of the books here reiterate the same thing that you should be quick to catch and move on.
You’re expected to be thorough rather than quick when studying, for thorough is the only right method to learn. Haste develops deficiencies which marrs foundations.
The ways to remedy the slow speed of thorough reading is effort, and self-optimization. Develop a process, improve it as you go along. It gets easier as you do. Remember a devotion to god, for this is your life’s meaning, but that to take care of yourself as well in relation to it to manage it well.
Pursue this in conjunction with the other practices we expect of you. So exercise, sleep well, maintain income, and so forth. You’ll find your mind aware.