Room 300: Philosophy, Period 0

[Nefertari Adel]

She laughed a bit as the boy near her recited the quote. It was a bit ironic, she looked up to Mr.X and wondered what he would say now.

[Vergil von Wulf]

Mr. X paused with his back turned to the class and spoke again before anyone could, "Anything I write on here is liable to be on a test, so take notes or don't, it's you guys who risk failing and not me. I went through this shit years ago." He expected the few gasps that lit up in the room and went to an untouched board when both the same students that spoke earlier spoke again.

"..I know nothing.. and... not worthing.. living..." he mumbled to himself as he wrote then drew an arrow off to the side, "Socrates! A great man and a philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. We will be covering more of him later in the year when we touch upon Classical Greeks and the Athenian way of thinking- thank you Ms. Adel." The marker kept writing and paused again when Zesend spoke, "A very interesting thought to add to the mix, Mr. Rowe." He wrote it off to the side and stuck an arrow to that, labeling it 'William Somerset Maugham' along with 'Oscar Wilde.' Off beside that, a new dividing slash was made with the marker and labeled something the two active students inspired, 'paradoxical statements,' which he proceeded to include 'statements that conflict with common sense' as well as 'a statement that contradicts itself.' Under the definitions, he wrote 'Socratic paradoxes:'
- No one desires evil.
-No one errs or does wrong willingly or knowingly.
-Virtue - all virtue - is knowledge.
-Virtue is sufficient for happiness.
Socratic paradox can also refer to a self-referential paradox, originating in Socrates' phrase, "I know that I know nothing."

Mr. X turned back around and capped the marker with a click, watching as everyone bent over their notebooks at once and began to scribble furiously, "I'll let you all have time to copy what you find important. When you're done, I'd like to know how you interpret these statements, if you agree with them, don't, why, you know the drill."

[Nefertari Adel]

Nefertari began writing down the statements, making tiny note by them to show her thoughts on them. She looked over them for a minute and looked around to see most people still writing or sleeping, she raised her hand.

"I don't agree with any of those statements. There are people who desire evil", she tried to think of some examples, ones where the people had not believed that what they were doing was for god or some sort of noble cause. She gave up on that after a bit, still pretty tired.

"Some simply like chaos, watch things burn. As for all virtue being knowledge, I don't really find that true. Virtue is basically clinging onto your morals right? Sometimes by letting go of our morals and experiencing some new things we gain knowledge. So virtue can also be a hindrance to knowledge, right?"

"And I do believe there are people who do wrong knowingly. We are drilled from an early age, well most of us anyway, about the wrongs and rights and what's accepted in society. Yet some of us grow up and steal, rape, or commit other heinous crimes. As for the last Socratic paradox, virtue doesn't necessarily mean one is happy", she tried to think of how to express her thoughts.

"Like, a religious person may be glad that he or she is following the rules and such but may long for more", she said, ending her response, not sure if any of that had made any sense whatsoever. She bit her lip and waited for some others to reply, but it seemed most students were keeping quiet.

[Vergil von Wulf]

After Nefertari spoke, a few more people spoke up in agreement with her (adding their own inputs and examples) or against her, which created a rift in the class and began a debate Mr. X did not stop at all. He stood by and let the students take control of the civil debate while standing by the third and last clean board to scratch down their thoughts and ideas. Five minutes til' the bell, he brought his fingers to his lips and gave them a piercing whistle to catch their attention, "Okay! Five minutes. I'd like you all to copy this," he pointed to the board he had been at, "I don't give a crap if you write it out or do it shorthand and abbreviated so you can understand it, so long as you get it."

He plopped back onto his desk and watched them get subdued again though he was glad they could break from their exteriors to battle out in wit and not in fist and ability. When he saw the last one finish, he tossed the marker onto his computer chair and swung a leg to hit the front of his desk with the heel of his foot, "Homework. There isn't any except for the people who decided being quiet was on their agenda today: to you I say, get some gumption and participate tomorrow. Have a good first day guys and welcome or welcome back to Oceanside."

With those final words, the bell gave a chime.

[Nefertari Adel]

Tari got up and slung her bag on her shoulder, carrying her notebook out of her hand. She headed off to her second period.

[Vergil von Wulf]

Vergil finished the last of his notes in his notebook and gave the room one last sweep with his eyes, curiously feeling the energies passing by. He tucked everything in his bag and hung the strap on his shoulder with a nervous breath. That hadn't been so horrible. When he spotted Zesend, he gave him a smile and a wave then went on his way.