Final

This is the only class where I know the majority of the people and a couple of them thanks to this class, I have gotten closer to them and are family. This class is a once in a life time experience, and being able to be a part of it has been the best thing that has happened in a while. I came into this class knowing a couple people and being friends with a few, but now I'm leaving having new friends and strengthening some friendships, and such a different perspective in certain aspects of life. This class has taught me so much, and I could never be more thankful to have a teacher that cares so much about this class and the students.

Quality Dinner

Dinner, is usually a time period when I usually will see how fast I can eat, so I can do my homework which I procrastinated in doing. I won't engage in conversation, I'll just eat and wash up and go to my room to finish my homework. It's this routine that I have done since middle school, and for once today, I just took my time and ate what my dad had made, and for the first time I realized how much work he had put into making this meal. How the food tasted incredible and this whole time I never bothered to even taste it, I just ate it. It took the time to just enjoy dinner, to not think or stress about what will happen, but appreciate the meal for what it was worth. It was something, I would have never done, until I took this class.

Bentham

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and political radical.  He is know for his moral philosophy in particular utilitarianism. Utilitarianism evaluates actions based upon their consequences. 

His moral and political philosophy is based off three things. 

1) the greatest happiness principle 

2) universal egoism

3) the artificial identification of one's interests with those of others.

The greatest happiness principle, is what is morally obligatory is that which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people, happiness being determined by reference to the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain. The absence of pain is what he referred to as happiness. 

He argued that the hedonistic value of any human action is easily calculated by considering how intensely its pleasure is felt, how long that pleasure lasts, how certainly and how quickly it follows upon the performance of the action, and how likely it is to produce collateral benefits and avoid collateral harms. Taking such matters into account, we arrive at a net value of each action for any human being affected by it.

His moral philosophy points out how the primary motivators for humans are pain and pleasure. Bentham does say that humans would seek the general happiness of all because somehow the happiness of others are inter winded with their happiness and serve as boundaries. States that you can measure happiness in terms of people, and how everyone is counted as one which is able to also bring in equality. 

source: http://www.iep.utm.edu/bentham/#H4

http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/5q.htm

Bedtime

This is the first time, I ever had a bath with bath salts, the last time I had a bath was probably six and it was after I had requested one. Well over a decade and I found my self taking a bath once again. It was very different from what I remember it being, this time it was't filled with toy ducks or my mom telling me it was time to get out. This time, my bath was delegated to de-stressing and getting ready to sleep. It felt amazing to just relax and take a moment to just say right now, I don't have to worry about college or roommates, I just have to take a moment to be thankful for everything. I ended up just looking back on everything in life up to this moment, and I was thankful. Thankful, to be able to have warm water to even take a bath, for my family, friends, an education. Sometimes, we get caught up in life and forget the little things that really mean everything and for me it took a bath to be thankful.

Tangerine Party

Few times do we get to go in nature and just enjoy the moment. The tangerine party was a step closer to trying to just reach serenity and one with nature. I mean to go into the middle of a trail near a duck pond and eating a tangerine section by section, I don't know about the vast majority of people,but I know this was a first for me. I can't explain the tranquility of just sitting early in the morning on a spring day and just enjoying a tangerine. It makes you appreciate your surroundings and have an inner peace at least for just that minute.

Nothing can be something

While I was not doing anything for 15 min, it left me having to think about everything. I constantly tried to just not think about anything, but it was impossible. Instead, I stared at my friends painting, how the colors blended and how it was absolutely beautiful. I never really took the time to examine it throughly and just take a moment to appreciate it's beauty, but while having to do nothing I finally had the time to do exactly that. I feel in love with it even more, and was beyond thankful for having such an amazing piece in my possession. Doing nothing is something and it helped me clear my mind and for just 15min escape all the responsibilities I have in hand. It let me appreciate the artwork I am surrounded with.

XII

The five colours make man's eyes blind;
The five notes make his ears deaf;
The five tastes injure his palate;
Riding and hunting
Make his mind go wild with excitement;
Goods hard to come by
Serve to hinder his progress.
Hence the sage is
For the belly
Not for the eye
Therefore he discards the one and takes the other.

This poem is talking about how sometimes having too much can get in the way of seeing things for what they are worth. How five colours make man's eyes blind and five notes make his ears deaf. It's the problem of having to much knowledge that gets in the way of actual fulfillment.

Don't we all push a rock up a hill

Sisyphus maybe to an outsider had a pretty tough life, by being punished through the gods to push a boulder up a hill everyday and never being able to attain his actual goal, but don't we all do that? Think about it the majority of Americans or at least in my case wnl senior high school students thrive under routine. We wake up, get read for school, go to school, maybe stay after school for sports or clubs, go home, do homework, eat dinner, and finally go to bed and maybe this has been your routine since you began elementary, then haven't we been pushing up a boulder for as long as we can remember too? Yes, we have physically not had to push up a rock up a hill, but we have had to push up our education, social, and personal life up the hill of life and yet we have not gotten to peak. Maybe for some the peak is graduating high school, college, attaining our first job after college, or even retiring. My peak happens every day, because I have gone through one whole day and survived that's the ultimate peak. Although, at points I may not love my daily routine, I can only say if it's not broken why fix it??

Winston

Winston was able to explain the article easily and I was able to understand what he was saying and retain that knowledge. He highlighted the key items and repeated them to stress the importance of them. While also connecting it to other philosophers or situations that happen in life, making it all that easier to recall. We would write things on the board to highlight the importance of the concept and he would also overview the section thoroughly, not just skim it. You could tell he not only understood the material, but he also was comfortable in explaining it and confident in his capabilities in explaining, it projected throughly as he talked about the article, how he mentioned the religious women and the other forms. Winston did an amazing job and involved the class in the discussion, which is very hard to do.

White Paper

What do I see in a white piece of paper?

When I see a white piece of paper I imagine all that can be written on it; from math problems all the way to a drawing. A white piece of paper seems to be just a vacant piece that is simply plain, but it's not about what is there in the present rather what could be there. It gives you room for creativity and imagination rather than a piece of paper that has context in it. It leaves you to wonder in how many ways can I turn this piece of paper into something more, if I fold it a couple times it could be an airplane and for those that have skills in paper origami it can be something beyond imagination. A plain piece of paper is capable of remaining as it is, but if the owner of that paper has will they can transform it into something more or make it part of an entity bigger than itself. I personally admire a blank sheet because it's almost like the tabula rasa it's a fresh start a new beginning to something.

Why not?

Philo Post

Feminist:  The view point from a feminist would be to decide what would personally empower you such as in the fifth case you would go to the movies with your friend rather than ditching him because by going to the cool kids party you are reinforcing the construct of what a popularity is rather than being true to yourself and going to the movies. This is the same approach you would use to decide the other cases, it would have to be a decision you take on your own rather than a decision you take based on a mob mentality.

Virtue Ethics: In the fifth cases you would go to the movies because that's the virtues thing to do. By showing your friend loyalty and other virtues characteristics by not taking the invitation to the party. A virtue ethicist would act in a way that shows virtue, this means for all the cases you would be respectful, honest, loyal,but also reasonable. It can really be summarized into one quote,"character is the things you do when no one is looking." This is virtue ethics because a virtues person is basically the characteristic that they have and what they wish to do with them. If as in this case of the movies, if you value the friendship and really consider this person someone you care about you won't leave them for some temporary fun. You will do what someone who is really a good friend does and that's to put aside these 5 seconds of fame "opportunities", which don't ever cause anything but short term pleasure, and be a loyal friend.

Nietzsche: He moved away from the mob mentality. He was more about the decisions you made having to be things you wanted in life they had to be based on your personal values and morality. As in the case of the conflict between the party and your friend. The decision is based on what you want to do not on what the vast majority wants. Although, that leaves a lot of room for interpretation some would say you see your friendship to be strong enough that one cancelled plans wouldn't hurt it and it really is measuring how strong of a friendship it is, but also it could be taken that if you have this singular mentality you won't go the popular kids party because you don't need to be part of the large mob of "popular" kids.  

Benthamian: Benthamian's seek what will give them net happiness, although this is a hard concept because happiness isn't something that is universally defined. What may cause you happiness may cause another misfortune. In my opinion benthamian has to include part of Plato's philosophy such as what makes you happy has to be something that won't cause harm to others. In the fifth situation yes going to the party would cause you extreme happiness maybe, but that if your friend doesn't know that you choose the party over them. That when your net happiness turns into you being selfishness because you only care about your happiness you don't acknowledge the consequences of your actions. When instead you could go to the movies with your friend and have even a greater happiness because you know you have great company and your friend is also happy, so the happiness you feel is multiplied because you know in a way you made your friend happy.

Kant: Kant has this golden rule that is basically to do as you would want to be done to yourself. Your actions should be a reflection of what your values and morals. For the conflict of your dad telling you to lie because that way you can fit in and still have your normal group of friends without having to deal with peer pressure. You wouldn't lie because that's just not being honest which is an extension of the golden rule, you don't want others to lie to you so why would you lie. Then if your friends are really your friends they won't haze you for not drinking because they will respect your personal decision as you would respect theirs.

Nietzsche Notes

• Every society has a Moral Horizon
• they inform citizens what is morally right and wrong

• the moral horizon allowed the weak, the incompetent, and the stupid to be eliminated through a natural process
• Society now unquestionably accepts Christian morality as a transcendent “moral horizon”
• all horizons are man-made perspectives in constant flux- not absolute truths
• no truth outside man and society
• life has no meaning before we give it meaning
• every perspective is limiting and incomplete
• once we realize that we are the creators of human values, we are free to choose whatever values are best
• for Nietzsche, Christianity replaces a Master Morality with a Slave Morality
• to be great, we must break away for false thinking
• christianity creates mediocrity
• Nietzsche dislikes democracy, socialism, and communism
• dislikes the mass thinking
• Christianity leads man to hate himself and battle against himself
• our science kills god and our belief in absolutes
• the death of god will liberate others
• Superman is part poet, philosopher, saint

Simpson Quiz

2.  What does Nietzsche' mean by "Conscious of the truth he has once seen, man now sees everywhere only the horror or the absurdity of existence." 

Nietzsche means that the truth is that the world is absurd and irrational. Once man is able to grasp the truth he will be able to see the world for what it is, just as Lisa once she will be able to grasp the truth will realize how Springfield is absurd and insane.

Antigone

Kierkegaard would say that Antigone was a knight of faith. She went against popular decision to bury her brother and also against the law by bury him and being outside after hours. Just like Abraham went against moral decision and law when he was going to kill Isaac. Antigone also accepts there is a higher god which is one of the leaps of faiths in order to get to be a knight of faith.  

Roles of Egoism and Altruism in friendship

Egoism and Altruism both play a role in the three different types of friendship. The first friendship is based on utility, where people derive some benefit from each other. In this type of friendship is based entirely on egoism. While the second friendship is based on pleasure, where both people are drawn to the other's wit, good looks, or other pleasant qualities. This friendship is also based on egoism because the friendship is based on their own utility and pleasure. The third type of friendship is based on goodness.

While the third type of friendship is different than the first two. A friendship based on goodness is based on altruism rather than egoism. The reason this type of friendship last is due to the fact that goodness is an enduring quality, therefore the friendship last.These type of friendships take a while to develop, but are long lasting. In my personal opinion friendships are based on a mix of both altruism and egoism, but mostly altruism. In order to keep a friendship over a long period of time both people mutually not have self interest on what they can get out of the friendship. Rather each friend at some level must love the other according to the other's merit.          

http://enlightenment.supersaturated.com/essays/text/carolynray/aristotleegoism.html

Kierkegaard

1. Kierkegaard's rhetoric is on the basis that it is extremely difficult to become who you are for two reasons. One social identities were unusually fluid and there was a proliferation of normalizing institutions which produced pseudo-individuals. Through this rhetoric he focused on the individual rather than the “crowd”.
2. Hegel says that absolute knowledge is available by virtue of a science of logic. Kierkegaard thinks that it scientific knowledge is the largest obstacle to redemption. He also says that instead of giving people knowledge we should seek out what people try to pass as knowledge. Kierkegaard inverts Hegel’s dialectic.
3. He states that we should see worldly things in their spiritual opposites. As an example he says we should see hope as in hopelessness. He uses to establish the distance human beings and God have. That as humans we rely on God and he is merciful.
4. Kierkegaard's stages are the aesthetic, ethical, religious stages.
1. Aesthetic: This stage is subdivided into three parts were in the lowest part of the aesthetic stage the human being lives to please physical desires, in a “drink, eat, be merry” lifestyle. Then he moves to the “busy man of affairs” this is where the man is still living for a worldly and selfish pleasure the pleasure is that of success in the world, such as making a clever business deal. Then comes the appreciation of culture such as art, music, literature.
2. Ethical: This stages is when the human makes a commitment to one particular role, in relationship to persons and life. In this stage the person has a genuine and non-fragmented identity, role, and place in life, defined by his commitment to others and self, and has now chosen himself whereas before, in the aesthetic stage, there was no self behind the empty and transient role. In this stage instead of acting for self-pleasure, one's actions in the role are motivated by the commitment to others. The person in the ethical stage considers the needs of others and community when making decisions.
3. Religious: This stage is when the human gives up all material object to follow God. This is the hardest stage because the gain is not a material gain, but rather a spiritual gain.
5. Is based on Abraham's would-be sacrifice of his son Isaac is not for the sake of social norms, but is the result of a “teleological suspension of the ethical”. That is, Abraham recognizes a duty to something higher than both his social duty not to kill an innocent person and his personal commitment to his beloved son, viz. his duty to obey God's commands.
6. He uses this story because Abraham was about to commit murder and was going to kill his son Isaac, in order to commit to God. In this example Abraham is forced to disregard ethical demands for a higher authority.
7. A knight of faith never gives up hope in God. He believes God's promise and goodness, though it was not logical given what he was asked to do. He believes two mutually exclusive ideas at the same time, what Kierkegaard calls "divine madness." This is Kierkegaard's "double movement of infinity." The wisdom of God is foolishness to the world.
8. It outlines a theory of human development in which consciousness progresses from an essentially hedonistic, aesthetic mode to one characterized by ethical imperatives arising from the maturing of human conscience.
9. Deals primarily with the Christian conception of agape love in contrast with erotic love or preferential love given to friends and family. Kierkegaard uses this value virtue to understand the existence and relationship of the individual Christian. Many of the chapters take a mention of love from the New Testament and center reflections about the transfer of individuals from secular modes (the stages of the aesthetic and ethical) to genuine religious experience and existence. The actual relationships and experiences of disciples and of Christ are characterized here as tangible models for behavior.

sources:  

"Kierkegaard." Kierkegaard. Accessed February 2, 2015. http://www.kareyperkins.com/percy/kierkegaard.html.

 McDonald, William. "Søren Kierkegaard." Stanford University. December 3, 1996. Accessed February 2, 2015. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/.html.

New Friends

I really enjoyed being able to meet a lot of people through the greet and meet today during class. Last year we did this for Anthropology, but this was different. During Anthropology we searched for an answer to a question and we tried to understand their view on the United States. This time around nothing was forced it all came naturally. If they wanted to interact with us and answer our questions and go in deeper conversations it was up to them, it wasn't forced. I think the major difference was that in Anthropology the questions were framed around the same question while here it was really open to anything. Also they weren't being filled so that also helped them express themselves freely.

Final debate

At first the debate was incredibly intimidating and frightening, but once we started little by little the debates became easier. At least I wasn't that scared of having to discuss our government for a solid hour and half. Debating helped understand the forms of government and being able to realize how philosophy plays a role in each one. I think that was the purpose of the debate to reach a certain understanding of the different types of government and be able to relate them back into philosophy. Overall I enjoyed the debate a lot, I learned a lot from it and had fun. I think the highlights had to be the Republic dressing up and the electric shovel. Beside the arguments and rebuttal that Max had with the majority of the presidents having a military background. The debate in a way represented the highest form of knowledge. It allowed us to discuss the different types of government and defend our points of view so that in itself is knowledge.