Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Artists Currently Known as Group 3 (17)

Hey everyone!

I can't quite figure out how to indent a paragraph, so this is already off to a bad start.

Today's class period held some interesting discussion, mainly over Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." Some conflicting points were brought about when discussing if we agree with that allegory, like the notion that if we are merely prisoners who escape the cave and realize that the shadows cast on the wall are not all of reality, once we venture outside we cannot ever truly grasp what "reality" is since the sun casts shadows, and some form of reality-distortion will always be present. Interesting, interesting stuff.

We also talked about the looming possibility of war on Syria, and how Facebook seems to be a gathering place of political experts.

One of the more pressing issues discussed was our lack of a group name, which I would like to remedy as soon as possible. My personal vote goes towards "The Philosoraptors."

And as a tie-in from the last group discussion, I had always imagined/secretly hoped this to be what a Philosophy class would be like:

- Nathan Penland

8 comments:

  1. We definitely need a group name so it'll be easier to find!! But anyway...

    In a way I can agree with Plato's allegory. Sometimes I fell like Americans, especially our generation, has a false sense of reality. No one holds real conversations any more, all communication is through texting and emails. People take Facebook and Twitter seriously and make assumptions about a person or a situation without knowing the whole story. They also look at Twitter and FB as a news source. Or even worse, ABC or Fox, where the news is so far from the truth that it's ridiculous. The younger youth may think we know what's going on in the world today but really we have no idea. We live in a society where adults keep the truth from the youth to "protect" them. But how are you protecting them? By not knowing the truth one will loose sense of reality.

    Factual Question(PB) The Greek word "Eudaimonia" is translated into English as "happiness" or "flourishing". How did Aristotle describe this word?
    It is like happiness in that humans feel pleasure, sense of well being, and satisfaction but it is not limited to those feelings. It's the fulfillment of a human capacities as a whole, the human good. One must live their whole life before they can experience true happiness. Their "Eudaimonia" can even be affected after they have died.

    Discussion Question(PB)Do you agree with Aristotle when he said that happiness is more than a feeling but the fulfillment of a human capacity?

    I must say, I agree with Aristotle. For someone to truly be happy they must be happy with their life as a whole. Though you may be happy while in a quick moment of pleasure it will be short lived. If you already have some underlying sadness then it will soon resurface. You have to be happy with everything in your life and the others around you.

    Here is a link to an article I found in "Psychology Today" about Aristotle and his view on happiness http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201301/aristotle-happiness




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  2. I agree with you, LaShunda about how a lot of this generation takes social networking sites too seriously as news sources. It's funny, during our discussion about bias in the news and line between entertainment and news sources today I realized how much I don't take a lot of it seriously. I don't watch the news often because it always seems like the stories are spun to get people's attentions with either fear or sex. You have to get through so much fluff to actually get the real story.

    Factual question (LH): In "The School of Athens", a famous work by Raphael, what was Aristotle shown doing in contrast with Plato?
    He is reaching out to the world in front of him, whereas Plato is reaching toward the world of the Forms; a clear depiction of the disparity in their philosophies.

    Discussion question: If you had the option of attending a lecture by Plato or Aristotle, or a having a conversation with Socrates; which would you pick and what would you most want to get out of the experience?

    This link https://agutie.homestead.com/files/school_athens_map.html is an interactive map of "The School of Athens" with historical figures labeled (as well as possible, since there is no universally accepted labeling of all the figures). It would be interesting to have a discussion on why each philosopher is placed as he is in correlation the symmetry of the painting.

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  3. Oh, also, "The Philosoraptors" gets my vote as well.

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  4. Oh, also, "The Philosoraptors" gets my vote as well.

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  5. I second Nathan's vote, as well. Very clever. I also really enjoyed our group discussion and I think we could continue that and incorporate Aristotle's ideas of ethics into it.

    So, for my factual question: What did Aristotle consider the two virtues of character? Answer: self-regarding and other-regarding

    I really enjoyed Terence Irwin asking the question as an example: "What's education for and what should it include?" I think that discussion question is something that all people today should think about, especially the one's calling the shots. We should all ask ourselves, "What is it that I want my kid learning? My niece/nephew learning? My brother/sister?" I believe as our generation(s) are becoming older, we should take charge of that question, answer it, and change the outcome, if needed. (That's my little rant for the day. I kept it pretty mellow.)

    Here's an article about one view of why we should teach Philosophy in schools: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/jul/02/schools.uk4

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  6. Facebook can be good and bad. Good because people can express their opinion to a wider crowd. Bad because most people think they are experts on serious topics they watch or read about once, therefore; can cause more people to talk and get upset over misinformed information.

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  7. Factual Question: What was the name of Aristotle's school? The Lyceum
    Discussion Question: Aristotle's question of "How should we live?" seems to me to be much more important than things like "What is the meaning of life?" His answer was "seek happiness". Is that all there is to it?

    I still have to disagree with Plato's assumption of the Forms. In my mind, it's not useful, and most of all, not a practical philosophy. For me, if something doesn't apply to the world we live in, if it isn't tangible and measurable, then its probably not worth bothering with. I apply this to philosophy as well. A philosophy that gives me a more practical way of thinking about the world (or thinking about thinking), helps me to be a better person.


    Here's a link for the background of the philosoraptor which I'm all for.

    On a more serious note, i listened to this Ted Talk the other day on my way to work and I thought it was a nice compliment to our discussion of social media and what it CAN be used for, as opposed to just soapboxing.

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  8. First of all, the name "The Philosoraptors" is genius and it gets my vote!

    Secondly, since no one has seemed to tackle America the Philosophical, I'll go ahead:

    Factual Question: Who were the "three controversial black thinkers" discussed at the First Annual African American Philosophers Conference?
    Answer - Anton Wilhelm Amo, Alain Locke, and W.E.B Dubois

    Discussion Question: Do you agree with Marinoff's assertion that people should seek help from philosophers instead of psychologists or psychiatrists?

    Getting into the meat of our discussion thread, I agree with LaShunda about how Plato's Allegory of the Cave can be applied to our modern society. The news and the media create a facade of the world that is based solely on what they want you to see and what they believe will reel in more viewers. It is our job as rationally thinking men and women to analyze what we observe and make informed decisions for ourselves on what is true in the world.

    In response to what Jami posted, Aristotle believed that it should be up to the state to teach how to live a good life. Do you agree with his assertion? Do you think the stare should be teaching morality and ethics, or should that be left in the hands of the Church or the family? If we truly should allow the state to teach such matters, would it be better to have a state run by philosopher-kings such as the kind that Plato suggests?

    Anthony, I'm going to have to disagree with your disagreement. Plato's Theory of Forms is worthwhile to the point that it allows for there to be some perfect body of each aspect of reality and it allows us to strive to attain that perfection. Even though we never will attain perfection, the pursuit of the perfect form will allow us to become better in relation to the form. Say you are a musician, and there is a perfect Form of Music, you will spend your days practicing as hard as you can because you love music and you want to attain the Form of Music. Even though you never will attain the Form of Music, you will have become exceptionally better at playing your instrument because of the time you spent trying to reach that perfect state. Where Plato's Theory of Forms gets out of hand is when he asserts that all art should be destroyed because it is not as perfect as the Form. I feel that we need art and music because we need to emulate the Forms as much as possible. The closer we as the human race can come to perfection, the better we all will be for it.

    Now to today's material. I enjoy Aristotle as a philosopher because of his interest in everything. I have always held a fascination for learning and obtaining knowledge and Aristotle's philosophy seems to jive right along with my own thoughts about life. I like how Aristotle says that ethics is a part of political science and that it is the purpose of the state to further the good of its people. That is what I love about political science and that is why I am a political science major. LIke Dr. Oliver, I'm not as interested in all the statistics and data (although that stuff does interest me a little), but I'm more interested in political theory and political philosophy. I disagree with Aristotle's rejection of Plato's Theory of Forms because I believe that both philosophers are trying to reach the same goal, but in different ways that can be combined. Plato says that you need to strive for Form of Cat, and Aristotle says that you need to just observe many instances of cat, but as the taco commercial beautifully states: "Por que no las dos?"

    In regards to Carlin Romano's discussion about African and African American philosophy and philosophers, here's a link to an article that asserts that philosophy actually began in Africa, not in Greece as everyone supposes: http://www.asante.net/articles/26/afrocentricity/

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