Philosophy, Collaboration, and Gratitude...

• What is philosophy? It is many things: critique, description, interpretation, dialogue, investigation; it is thought, study, and activity. It is an intense and earnest questioning of who we are - as human beings, as animals, as organisms, as beings that exist with other beings, both sentient and inanimate; it is a questioning of our world, institutions, cultures, religions, arts, ethical codes, politics, sciences, and of ideas of every sort. It is a questioning of what it means to be, and a questioning of what "meaning" is, itself. It is all of these things and ever so much more. Perhaps at its heart, however, philosophy is a collaborative discussion - spanning centuries, countries, genders, cultures, and languages - amongst individuals who are curious and concerned about the human condition, and all that we face, together, in this world we share.

• This project is an example, and a performance, of philosophy. Together, we have entered into a discussion of investigatory curiosity and critique which began before us, which continues today, and which will continue after this course has come to a close, and even after our deaths. Perhaps collaboration, at its best, never truly ends; it continues in conversations with others, in our thoughts and actions, and proliferates along invisible lines which traverse time and the bounds of any single person's experience. I would like to thank Nolan Vihlen, Alexandra Russomagno, Michael Lydon, James Lagarce, Amy Komsa, Brian Hardecker, Jacob Gofman, and Adam Finch for their diligent work, conversation, insights, and for the pleasure of our collaboration this term. May your courageous curiosity never wane, and may you continue to question... everything.

Adrienne B. St.Clair

Villanova University, Department of Philosophy

Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085

May 2009