...The purpose of this paper is to respond to philosophical questions in numerous categories. First I will address metaphysics which deals with what is and is not real. Secondly, epistemology addresses the study of knowledge. Next, I will discuss ethics and the right and wrong of different scenarios. Further, in the category of aesthetics, I will delve into the idea of beauty. The role of government will be discussed in political philosophy. Finally, I will talk about my beliefs concerning social philosophy. PHILOSOPHY 201 IP UNIT 1 When pondering the questions outlined in the instructions for this assignment, I found the metaphysics section to be one I was comfortable with. Soloman & Higgins (2010) state that an individual who is religious accepts that God is real and everything else flows from Him. I am in complete agreement with that statement. As I was struggling with my coming of age, I questioned “what is real?” In searching for the answer to that question, I came to realize that everything is real and a creation of God. Being a Christian, I just accept this in faith and do not look any deeper into it. I believe the physical and psychological world is just as real as the spiritual world. Without question, everyone has a soul. While we are alive and inhabiting this physical world, the soul does not exist outside of the physical body. However, once the physical body dies, the soul then moves into the afterlife, which in my belief, my soul will enter into...
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...Would You Rather Live in Ignorant Bliss or the Horrible Truth? Liberty University Online Phil 201: Fall Semester 2014 Most of us have watched the movie, “The Matrix.” What some people might not know is that this is not a new concept. There have been philosophers, namely Plato and Descartes, who have been pondering concepts like this, way before the movie was released. Is there a way to prove that the world we live in is real, and not just some sort of dream? Can we trust the five senses that we depend on so much? How can we be sure that how we live, where we live, and what we live for is real? Let’s explore. The Matrix talks about how we are all being deceived in this world, being hooked up to brain stimulating cable that produces the lives we know in our minds. Descartes played with the same question but found a different solution. “From this foundational idea, Descartes went on to argue for the existence of God, who would not, due to his goodness, allow us to be continually deceived by an evil demon.” (Dew, p.152) What I got from Descartes’ words was; what would be the point? God created us, he loves us; He is good, so why would he want to deceive us for our entire lives, what is the point? Plato’s concept is very similar to the creation of The Matrix. Through a dialogue, he was questioning the fact of reality. Stating that what if we were all just standing in one spot, forced to look in only one direction, the only things we saw were objects passing...
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...Before we decide whether it is right or wrong to torture another human being, we must first decide if the information we will gather as a result of the torture will be valid or not, and how important will it be to ultimately stop the attack. I personally feel that it is a sign of weakness to imagine that we are so vulnerable to attack from a handful of radical fanatics that we have to compromise our Christian ethics and morals. But being of an open mind let’s discuss a few different points of view as explained by Holmes. The first view is Utilitarianism which is “concerned with maximizing benefits for the maximum number of people.” A utilitarian would argue that since the terrorist has information that could potentially save many lives, then torture is ethically appropriate. Their rationale would focus on how the country itself would benefit from the torture regardless of the moral repercussions. Another position comes from Immanuel Kant which is called the Kantanian duty that argues that “we must act out of regard for duty and respect for moral law.” Moral law dictates that torture in any form is wrong, and a person must take that in consideration before making their final decision on this matter. Meaning that the final decision must be made without any personal bias or opinion. According to Kant, we are to “always treat persons as ends and not just means.” If you were to torture the prisoner, you would have used that person and method as a means to get the information. However...
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...My Own Epistemology: In the Making Am I living in an illusion? What will happen to me after I die? Is there really such thing as a God? I have struggled with these three questions throughout my entire life, and I was very intrigued to discover that all of these questions were addressed throughout the many different readings in Libs 201: Exploring the Unknown. Author Chris Frith dissects the idea that the mental world is an illusion created by the brain in his book Making Up The Mind. Antony Flew, a former atheist, argues that there is such thing as a God or an “agent” and backs up his theory using science. Emile Durkheim writes about the foundation of religious thought in primitive people thousands of years ago, and addresses the question of where religious impulse comes from in humans. All of these readings address epistemological questions beyond the scientific domain of research, and I am left with an open mind as I try and retain all of the different concepts and ideas each of these authors has to offer. According to Chris Frith, the mental world is an illusion caused by the brain. In Making up the Mind, Frith addresses the distinction between the mental and the physical world, and claims that there isn’t actually a distinction at all. Frith writes, “Most of our interactions with other people are interactions between minds, not between bodies.” This statement really stood out to me, and I found myself repeating these words over and over again inside of my head. Reading...
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...Educational Philosophies Elizabeth Howell Liberty University What is the philosophy of education? It is a set of ideas and beliefs that guides teachers’ actions and provides a framework for thinking about educational issues. (Kauchak and Eggen, 197) Teachers use philosophy everyday in their classrooms. From the time the first student enters their room until the last student walks out, philosophy is affecting the way the teacher runs his/her classroom and how they interact with their students. There are four different types of educational philosophies: Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism, and Social reconstuctionism. There are also five classroom applications that help teachers decide which philosophies are used while they teach. They are educational goals, curriculum, teaching methods, learning environment and assessment. My educational goal is to develop problem solving, decision making and other life skills. This is progressivism. Progressivism is an educational philosophy emphasizing real-world problem solving and individual development. I feel that knowing the curriculum is important but it is just as important to teach the students how to use those skills in the real world. We have to help students to develop social skills as well as academic knowledge. Progressivism says that the purpose of schooling is to develop students as completely as possible—physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally. I completely agree with this statement. ...
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...COURSE SCHEDULE PHIL 201 Textbooks: Dew & Foreman, How Do You Know? A Short Introduction to the Issues of Knowledge (unpubl.) Evans, Philosophy of Religion: Thinking About Faith (2009). Foreman, Prelude to Philosophy: Critically Thinking about Foundational Beliefs Hasker, Metaphysics: Constructing a World View (1983). Holmes, Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions (2008). Wood, Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous (1998). WEEK/ MODULE READING & STUDY ASSIGNMENTS POINTS DUE DATE 1 3/17-3/24 Foreman: chs. 1-3 3 presentations 3 study guides Course Requirements Checklist Class Introductions Quiz 1 0 0 60 Wed,3/19 Mon,3/24 Mon, 3/24 2 3/25-3/31 Foreman: chs. 5-7 2 presentations 3 study guides Quiz 2 60 Mon, 3/31 3 4/1-4/7 Hasker: chs. 1-3 1 Word document 4 presentations 3 study guides Group DB Forum 1 Quiz 3 100 60 IP Fri, 4/4 R Mon, 4/7 Mon 4/7 4 4/8-4/14 Dew & Foreman: ch. 3 Wood: chs. 1-2 3 presentations 3 study guides Quiz 4 60 Mon, 4/14 5 4/15-4/21 Dew & Foreman: chs. 7, 10 Wood: ch. 4 1 Word document 2 excerpts 3 presentations 3 study guides Essay Quiz 5 120 60 Mon, 4/21 Mon, 4/21 6 4/22-4/28 Evans: chs. 1-3 1 book excerpt 2 presentations 3 study guides Quiz 6 60 Mon, 4/28 7 4/29-5/5 Evans: ch. 7 Holmes: chs. 1-3 1 article 2 presentations 3 study guides Response Paper Quiz 7 200 60 Mon, 5/5 Mon, 5/5 8 5/6-5/12 Holmes: chs. 4-7, 14 1 presentation 3 study guides Group DB Forum 2 Quiz 8 100 ...
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...makes philosophy so important? Tyus V. Harshaw American Intercontinental University PHIL 201-1501B Jerry Nwonye April 05, 2015 Abstract Although the many aspects of philosophy have shaped the world today, most of it has come from rules that are still applied to everyday life. All the important questions to life’s answers aren’t going to be always answered but can be theorized in some way. In philosophy often people use different branches of determining certain things are and asking certain question according to what they apply to. These methods are known as the braches of philosophy including: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, politics, and social philosophy. Moving past the basics in philosophy it’s important to understand what all of these branches of mean individually. Metaphysics is the branch that is most responsible for identifying existence in the world, which answers the following question of “what is?” It fully determines whether things in the world or the world itself are real or not and keeps a balance ensuring everything that exists. This applied to me when I was growing up because I didn’t understand what I was put on earth to do. I just wanted to stand out and be something better so people would like what I do and not what I am. At about age 4 I solved a Rubik’s cube and in that moment that’s what I felt like was my purpose because I could do what most couldn’t at my age. Furthermore it’s important because philosophy is based...
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...The Branches of Philosophy Transcript S1: Hello, and welcome to another presentation in Philosophy 201: Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas. In this presentation, I want to introduce you to three major branches of philosophy, and talk about each branch a little bit separately, and then I’ll finish off by talking about some miscellaneous branches of philosophy that are kind of an overlap of those three branches. S2: The first major branch of philosophy is the branch of metaphysics. The word metaphysics means, ‘above or beyond physics.’ It investigates questions of reality and existence. But as the word implies, it’s not just simply the existence that we see or the things that we experience with our senses, but what’s beyond those. What’s beyond this real world that we see here? Why does it work the way that it works? Why is it here? How did it get here? Those are some metaphysical areas that we deal with here. We can break metaphysics into four sub-categories here. The first sub-category is cosmological metaphysics, and this deals specifically with the origin and purpose of reality. Why does anything exist at all? That’s often been called the first philosophical question. Why does anything exist? Where did reality come from? How did it develop the way that it was? What is its purpose—why is it here? Those are all cosmological questions. A second area of metaphysics is theological metaphysics, and this deals with the reality of something beyond the natural reality...
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...Trent Thompson English 201 Professor Johnson 23 February 2010 “Troubles are just the shadow in a beautiful picture.” “CANDIDE” by Francois-Marie Aroused De Voltaire When following the rules of conformity one leads to or has led to the presentation of needing to follow the leader, when within reality, the truth of our knowledge of the world, lies within in us. Due to the Neoclassicism’s boundaries of order which was imposed upon this societal emergence of satirical views of reality (reality being a truth between two people or possibly more), satire rose up out of the regulatory orders of the Renaissances period leading into the Enlightenments period of time. After the Renaissance, society had the mindset or mindful imaginations produced by great works like the Shakespearian views of the world. Neoclassicism also emerged against the tasteful delights of those “free thinkers,” that could engulf the magnitudes of Michelangelo’s masterful details, emotions, and dialects that art if looked upon on a grander scale inevitably reflects or reflected life. In reality or in the personal beliefs of exposures art gives us, it introduces for us the astonishing capacities to wonder, thus allowing masterful paintings in our heads as well. This analogy would be the insertions or insert of a philosophical thought process. You can or could call it, “The Art of the Brain.” Philosophy is a general analysis of knowledge and thought that depicts reason and values...
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...make important decisions every day that involves critical thinking, and the choices they make will have an impact in society; therefore, it is important that these professionals be unbiased to everyone they come in contact with. This paper will analyze the relationship between ethics and professional behavior in the administration of criminal justice. It will also explain the role of critical as well as a seminar proposal on ethics that will include five areas of ethical conduct. The reader will be informed why these areas were chosen and what the benefits of this training will do for the officers and the community. Ethics and Professional Behavior in the Administration of Criminal Justice “Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live. Ethics involves making moral judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad. Right and wrong are qualities or moral judgments we assign to actions and conduct” (Singer, 1995). Furthermore, the criminal justice agencies have code of ethics to follow in every organization in the justice system in America. These ethical codes in criminal justice was to direct behavior that is acceptable from professionals in the criminal justice system to have good moral values by the decision they make that will be fair to everyone. Ethics and professional behavior in criminal justice professionals is having mutual trust and respect among each of them...
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...extremely frustrating at times, but it is something that I feel called to do. I will know that I touched the lives of children, and that’s all that truly matters. I may not be able to see the flower, but I will know that I planted the seeds. To become this type of teacher, I will need to exhibit a variety of traits and knowledge. More specifically, I will need to demonstrate knowledge of content, knowledge of students/background, knowledge of classroom environment, and proper classroom management and engagement. Utilizing this knowledge will help me to become the teacher I aspire to be. It will allow me to use my skills to touch as many lives as possible. Demonstrating Knowledge of Content By adopting a solid educational philosophy to guide us through the content we are teaching, we can know exactly how we are going to instill knowledge into our students. I have decided to adopt the Progressivism...
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...Stacy Mottola PHIL 201-D05 25NOV2013 Essay 1 Many question whether or not what we are seeing and are experiencing is real or just part of our imagination. This question is one that has been proposed for hundreds of years by philosophers like Descartes and Plato. How is it possible that a Greek philosopher, a philosopher from the seventeenth century and the movie The Matrix can be so similar? It is the intent of this paper to compare and contrast these questions in relation to the movie The Matrix. The main thing that stands out for each one of these is the question of the reality of the world in which we live. Our sense of being is called into question in each of these examples. Are our senses correct or are we simply living in a dream world that is made up? The Matrix is a computer system that has taken control of peoples everyday lives. Each individual is hooked up to this computer that generates a dream world where everyone believes that they are actually living a realistic life. In the Matrix Morpheus a leader of a group of people who have rebelled against this system come to the knowledge that they are not living real lives. In his recruitment Morpheus meets with Neo and attempts to show him the truth. Learning this Neo sees that what you can see, touch and feel are not exactly real, their senses have betrayed them. In the excerpt from Descartes he makes several statements which also question the reality in which our perceptions believe we are actually...
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...PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES: ASIAN THOUGHT PL 216D (Diversity course): SPRING, 2015 Instructor: Drew Leder Office: Humanities Center O 50o; phone: x2325; (410) 323-2531; e-mail: dleder@loyola.edu Office Hours: Tu, Th: 12:15-2:15 (extra hrs. added as needed, and by appt.) TEXTS: Ecknath Easwaran (trans.) Bhagavad Gita (BG) Thich Nhat Hanh Peace is Every Step (PS) Huston Smith The World’s Religions (WR) Assorted authors Pdf files and website links (Optional: Stephen Bodian Meditation for Dummies 3rd ed., but other editions will work January 13 Introduction to Course 15 The Four Goals; The Vedas and Upanishads: WR 12-26; Zaehner, Upanishads pdfs 20 Brahman, Atman, Maya, & Mystical Experiences/ NDEs: BG 22-30; Merell-Wolff, Berman (to p.42), Schmicker (to p.199) pdfs (H1) 22 Advaita Vedanta and Non-Locality: Shankara, Schmicker (on ESP, from p. 74), Targ pdfs 27 The Gita: Caste, Dharma: BG 13-22; BG 71-92B; WR 50-59 29 Dharma and Karma: BG 31-36; 92-93; Chopra, Leder/aging, Leder/prayer, (M1) (s-l orientation posting) February 3 Karma and Reincarnation: BG 235-241;WR 63-75; Fox, Bache pdf (H2) (G1) 5 Karma Yoga: WR 26-29, 37-41; BG 93-109 (S1) 10 Karma Yoga and Gandhi; BG 48-63t (H3) (G2) 12 Jnana Yoga; BG 111-131; WR 29m-32m; Ramana Maharshi link (M2) 17 TEST #1 (S2) 19 Raja and Bhakti Yoga WR 41b-50m; BG 133-45; Muktananda pdf 24 BhaktiYoga/Gods and Goddesses; WR 32t-36; BG 169-77; Sanatan, Ramakrishna...
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...The Examined Life FOURTH EDITION author J. P. White Chair, Department of Philosophy Santa Barbara City College contributing author Manuel Velasquez Professor of Philosophy Santa Clara University This Telecourse Study Guide for The Examined Life is part of a collegelevel introduction to philosophy telecourse developed in conjunction with the video series The Examined Life, and the text Philosophy: A Text with Readings, tenth edition, by Manuel Velasquez, The Charles Dirksen Professor, Santa Clara University. The television series The Examined Life was designed and produced by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, Netherlands Educational Broadcasting Corporation (TELEAC/NOT), and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) Copyright © 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999 by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, 150 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 300, Pasadena, California 91105-1937. ISBN: 0-495-10302-0 Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Lesson One — What is Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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...The Thief of Time The Thief of Time Philosophical Essays on Procrastination Edited by Chrisoula Andreou Mark D. White 2010 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2010 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The thief of time: philosophical essays on procrastination / edited by Chrisoula Andreou and Mark D. White. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-537668-5 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. Procrastination. I. Andreou, Chrisoula. II. White, Mark D., 1971– BF637.P76T45 2010 128'.4—dc22 2009021750 987654321 Printed in the United States of...
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