Today our group discussed Plato. He had some very interesting ideas, like when he said that the soul is nothing without the body, and the body is nothing without the soul. We also thought it was interesting to think about his idea of the "two world cosmology." What if our existence was made up of two separate, yet intertwined worlds, the "world of being," and the "world of ideal forms," like saying that humans are part of the "being," while nature and the universe are part of the "ideal forms?"
We also discussed how the death of Socrates possibly gave birth to the rest of Western philosophy, and Plato's censorship of the arts. Though the later may seem a tangent to some extent, we raised the question: why would Plato want to censor the arts? Yes, it encourages a freedom of expression and free thought, but when one is philosophizing is it not free thought that gives birth to new concepts and ideals? In truth, the main thing we could come up with is that Plato disliked the arts because of arts inability to truly capture and convey the depth and "truths" of philosophy.
The talk on Monday was a very good insightful talk. It was interesting that even though Plato died before his time it was necessary for his philosophy to be what it is now. If that never happened Socrates might have never begin to write down what Plato never did write down, which gave birth to the academy. This lead us to talk about how much credibility was behind Socrates in what he said Plato said. It could be that sometimes Socrates would say that his own thought was said by Plato as to give his own ideas more credibility so that people would go along with it easier.
ReplyDeleteThe reading about Islamic culture was very interesting. It seemed very similar to Christianity in the sense of our God being a very compassionate yet vengeful God. One of the big differences though is that Christianity follows the Bible while Muslims follows the Quran.
I think its interesting that Arab nations are willing to wage war over who practices Islamic religion because they are under the belief that they are the chosen people. I do not believe they should take it upon themselves to do Gods judgement, especially considering that,"Muslims believe that individuals have immortal souls that go to heaven or hell after death, so that crimes that are not punished and virtues that nor not rewarded in life will justly be dealt with nevertheless."
Factual question- What are the 5 pillars of Islam?
Discussion Question- They say there is no literal translation for the Quran beyond arabic. How do you think this effects their mentality of sharing the Quran to the rest of the world? If you are Muslim or Islamic do you think it is necessary to know Arabic to truly worship the religion?
That is very interesting. Another thing I found interesting is the African Philosophies. I find it amazing how different these "tribalistic" cultures are from the self-centered materialistic ways of our culture today. Thinking of how many young adults can't wait to leave home, it is hard to imagine that this is considered a bad thing. And the way that they view nature is a much more peaceful way, and perhaps something we should all learn from. I wonder where humans got this idea that we are meant to "have dominance" over all things, but I can't say that it's something I entirely agree with. I like the way that they put slight reverence in how they see nature, and how they treat the earth. I will admit though, that my belief in their view on nature stops when they start saying that things throughout nature have souls.
ReplyDeleteFact Q. 1. What is the name for the African belief that entities throughout nature are endowed with souls?
Thought Q 2. Which would you prefer, a life based solely on the "self," like we have built up here in America, or a life built on family? Which would provide more care, more guidance to the truths about life?
On Monday we really spent our time analyzing Plato and Socrates and their relationship. Did Socrates give us Plato's thoughts or the thoughts he wanted Plato to have. We also looked into Plato's actions and beliefs, focusing mainly on why he wanted to sensor the arts. Although Kaitlyn makes a very good guess at why Plato would push for art censorship, we still found it odd and puzzling.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday we really spent our time analyzing Plato and Socrates and their relationship. Did Socrates give us Plato's thoughts or the thoughts he wanted Plato to have. We also looked into Plato's actions and beliefs, focusing mainly on why he wanted to sensor the arts. Although Kaitlyn makes a very good guess at why Plato would push for art censorship, we still found it odd and puzzling.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
Factual:
1) What are the 3 levels of time according to Meso-American philosophy?
Discussion:
1) What is the purpose of sacrifice?
I'm sorry I wasn't in class on Monday! I broke my foot and spent the rest of the day in the ER. I'm just going to post discussion questions and a factual question. Okay! Enough about me.
ReplyDeleteFactual question: Characterize the Scholastics. Who were they, when did they live and what was their school of thought?
Open question: The ontological proof says that "they very concept of somethings entails it's existance" (PW 63-64). Does this mean that anything I can imagine, means that it exists out there somewhere? Isn't that a pretty flimsy proof that God or heaven exists? What would an atheist say to this?