How can the Concept of Immortality be Understood in Plato’s Symposium?

My thesis explores the concept of immortality in Plato’s Symposium. Diotima claims that ‘Love must desire immortality’ (207A) and that all lovers are ‘in love with immortality’ (208E). I endeavour to interpret these claims and how different types of lovers achieve a human version of immortality in the Symposium. I begin my thesis with presenting several scholars’ interpretations of immortality in the Symposium and arguing that their interpretations are not entirely persuasive. Then I present Sheffield’s interpretation of Diotima’s claims and how the philosophical lover achieves immortality. I find her interpretation persuasive and base my interpretation on hers, particularly her proposed notion of psychic pregnancy and her interpretation of the immortality achieved by the philosophical lover as the perfection of soul. Inspired by Rowe’s and Lear’s interpretations, I argue that according to Diotima in the Symposium, the human desire for immortality is a desire to transcend limitations of mortality. And human agents take transcending mortality as a part of eudaimonia. That is, it is believed by agents that to attain eudaimonia, one has to transcend mortality in some way. Thus, the human desire for immortality is not separate from the eros for eudaimonia. In the later part of my thesis I present my interpretation of how different types of agent achieve immortality. I argue that the non-philosophical lovers transcend mortality via possessing certain goods which are able to last after their death. They take these goods to be parts of themselves, and thus the continual existence of these goods after their death is deemed as a transcendence over mortality. Perceiving mortality as non-divine, the philosophical lover transcends mortality via possessing divine things such as wisdom and virtues based on wisdom. That is, he perfects his soul through realising his potentialities for knowledge of Beauty and virtues based on this knowledge

Practitioners' strategies for enhancing early childhood music education in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to describe practices of pre-school educators and to investigate the extent to which they enhance music instruction among five-to-six-year-old children. This was accomplished through an examination of three early childhood educators investigating what strategies are used for providing music instruction to pre-school children, the attitudes of teachers and parents in regard to this, the most effective approach for providing music instruction, and the assessments used to measure student progress in achieving musical skills. Primary participants included three early childhood teachers, and secondary participants included nine parents. Qualitative methods were used, including formal interviews with the three chosen teachers. They were each interviewed one time individually. Parents were given open-ended questionnaires designed by the researcher. Observations of teacher interactions with students were conducted in 14 separate sessions over a period of three weeks, where the researcher sat in during general and music class in the same classroom; the field notes cataloged observations of musical activities. The collected documents included teaching materials developed by the music and classroom teachers, such as lesson plans and a teaching activity handbook. The Taiwanese pre-school music curriculum included singing, music and movement, listening, and playing musical instruments. Data indicated that children can only audiate to one instrumental sound or one melodic line at a time. The teacher provided feedback was found to be effective in enhancing student musical learning. Teachers served as musical models in singing, music and movement, and in playing instruments to assist children's musical learning. Bruner's theory of enactive and iconic modes of representation played an important role in singing, music and movement, as well as listening in the class. The model movements or gestures were presented by the teachers and imitated by the children. Teachers and parents had positive attitudes toward early childhood music education. When music classes were provided, the music teacher could enhance both the classroom teacher and children's musical skills. Effective approaches were storytelling and using body movements. Participants reported several different opinions regarding teachers' assessment of students including having teachers follow the national curriculum standard, assess her students through their classroom response, and observe her students at a graduation concert. In general, the practitioners' strategies for enhancing pre-school music education were positive and related to previous research findings on music instruction and educational theories

Practitioners' strategies for enhancing early childhood music education in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to describe practices of pre-school educators and to investigate the extent to which they enhance music instruction among five-to-six-year-old children. This was accomplished through an examination of three early childhood educators investigating what strategies are used for providing music instruction to pre-school children, the attitudes of teachers and parents in regard to this, the most effective approach for providing music instruction, and the assessments used to measure student progress in achieving musical skills. Primary participants included three early childhood teachers, and secondary participants included nine parents. Qualitative methods were used, including formal interviews with the three chosen teachers. They were each interviewed one time individually. Parents were given open-ended questionnaires designed by the researcher. Observations of teacher interactions with students were conducted in 14 separate sessions over a period of three weeks, where the researcher sat in during general and music class in the same classroom; the field notes cataloged observations of musical activities. The collected documents included teaching materials developed by the music and classroom teachers, such as lesson plans and a teaching activity handbook. The Taiwanese pre-school music curriculum included singing, music and movement, listening, and playing musical instruments. Data indicated that children can only audiate to one instrumental sound or one melodic line at a time. The teacher provided feedback was found to be effective in enhancing student musical learning. Teachers served as musical models in singing, music and movement, and in playing instruments to assist children's musical learning. Bruner's theory of enactive and iconic modes of representation played an important role in singing, music and movement, as well as listening in the class. The model movements or gestures were presented by the teachers and imitated by the children. Teachers and parents had positive attitudes toward early childhood music education. When music classes were provided, the music teacher could enhance both the classroom teacher and children's musical skills. Effective approaches were storytelling and using body movements. Participants reported several different opinions regarding teachers' assessment of students including having teachers follow the national curriculum standard, assess her students through their classroom response, and observe her students at a graduation concert. In general, the practitioners' strategies for enhancing pre-school music education were positive and related to previous research findings on music instruction and educational theories