Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Philisoraptors 17-3

Hey guys!

This will be a rather short post, because not much was discussed today, other than divvying up who was doing what chapter in our Superheroes and Philosophy book.

We decided that we were going to focus on Parts I and III, that way we could each tackle a chapter, and we wouldn't be overwhelmed with content to cover. We also set forth a deadline for reading our respective chapters: we are all to read our chapters and then post a paragraph-long summary as either part of your comment on this post, or as something separate yet still in this post, that way we can keep everything in one place. Once we have all posted our summaries, it may be worth it for someone (i.e. not me. No givesies-backsies!) to go and collect all of them and put them in a single post, similar to the way we're doing our discussion/factual questions.

On a parting note, I leave you the clip from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie adaptation that features a whale coming to existential awareness as he rapidly falls toward the Earth. If you're not familiar with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, shame on you. No, but really, you should get on fixing that.


And with that, I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

11 comments:

  1. Rachel
    17-3

    I had to read chapter 15. It was about the questions why be moral and why be a superhero. It mainly explained why being moral was a very convenient thing for us and how a lot of people now are very selfish when it comes to helping other. The other question was why be a superhero? Well to answer that there were 5 main reasons. For example, how if you don't do your moral duty, then consequence could follow. Another reason was because it is simply the right thing to do. To group up the last 3 I will end by saying you can have a clear mind if you do, and being moral always pays in the long run.

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  2. So, I chose to read chapter 2 in our report book, which thankfully for me, was very interesting. The chapter starts out by describing your stereotypical superhero and what defines them. It then goes on to making the point that superhero's should not be considered "heroes" because they technically were not making a HUGE risk to save someone or something. For example, if a superhero with bulletproof skin stopped an armed robber, that's a lot less risky than a "normal" human who stops an armed robber. If the superhero gets shot, he will live, but if the human gets shot, he could very easily die. The chapter also makes the point that the idea of being "a hero" has been diminished due to these superhuman people. The chapter ended with the sentence: "The world always needs one more hero."

    So now for my factual question: (LH) What title did both Anselm and Aquinas share? Answer: they were both Italian saints.

    DQ (LH): Why believe in the most perfect human being imaginable?

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  3. Since I was not there last Wednesday, can someone please let me know what chapter I'm suppose to read and by when?

    Factual Question (LH)- Aquinas was convinced that there couldn't ever be a never-ending series of effects and their earlier causes going back endlessly in time. What is this called?
    Infinite regress

    Discussion Question (LH)- Anselm believe that if someone has an idea of something then it must exist. Do you agree with this?
    I would have to disagree. Just because someone has an idea of something doesn't necessarily means that it exists. If you haven't actually seen it with your own eyes than it would to hard to say. I think that people often believe what they want to believe whether it's true or not. If you have an idea, concept, belief, etc. made up in your mind then you're going to believe it's the truth regardless of anyone else's opinion.

    Here is a link about Saint Anselm and his life
    http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anselm/

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  4. Chapter 13 covered Kierkegaard and his concept of “double danger” as it applies to the question of why we should be good, and why there is a strong basis for good. Basically, the immoralist’s view is that no one would resist the temptation to steal a cookie from the cookie jar if they wouldn’t get caught due to some special power or ability; even if they did choose to do good they would be despised from afar, ridiculed behind their back, and eventually could even be crucified. “Double danger” takes that whole concept through Christ colored glasses. People are inherently selfish and sinful, but he believed that they were meant to live a life of love through God. You get through the first danger by overcoming your desires and living for others, the second is dealing with the persecution from others. The X-Men and Spiderman are examples of being good and experiencing the “double danger.”

    FQ: (LH) What were the arguments that Thomas Auqinas outlined in his book Summa Theologica for the existence of God called? Five Ways.

    DQ: (PB) Do you believe that happiness is only possible within the moral community?

    Link to a blog post called “Comic books, Aquinas, Law, and Liturgy” http://popinainteasy.blogspot.com/2011/06/comic-books-aquinas-law-and-liturgy.html

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  6. FQ (PB): What was the name of Aquinas' book for talking to people of other faiths?
    Answer: Summa Contra Gentiles.

    DQ (LH): Do you agree with Aselm's Ontological Argument? Why or why not?

    Both of the readings today mentioned Aquinas and his ethics, which is perfect because it ties right in to my chapter of Superheroes and Philosophy. I read Chapter 16, which was called Superman and Kingdom Come: The Surprise of Philosophical Theology, and discussed superheroes and their sense of justice from a theist philosophical point of view. The first section of the chapter compared Superman to Jesus, and discussed "eschatology" - "the branch of theology that deals with final things or ultimate outcomes." This section also showed that superheroes and philosophy are linked because they both are concerned with ethics. The second section of the chapter gives some background information about the comic (Kingdom Come) and presents Superman's moral dilemma. The third section presents the two competing philosophies of how the world works - Christian theology and naturalism. The third section also highlights how the eschatology of naturalism is full of "gloom and doom." The fourth section of the chapter discusses how the naturalist worldview does not provide significant cause to worry about morality, and therefore superheroes have no purpose in this worldview. The fifth section discusses the ideas of truth and justice in a naturalist worldview and how these ideas do not function and even cannot exist with such a mindset. The sixth section then presents Christian theology as an answer to the solution of the problem posed by the existence of superheroes clashing with the naturalist world view. If good exists, and we are tasked with help good flourish, then we should fight to help good succeed. The final section of the chapter concludes by saying that the purpose of truth and justice is to bring hope to the world. This passage from the last section about sums it up:

    "One of the final scenes of Kingdom Come takes place in a church, where the narrator of the story, preacher Norman McCay, is given his final charge. He has witnessed the entire story of Kingdom Come through the assistance of the Spectre. As the Spectre departs he says, “Well Norman, you have watched the titans walk the Earth and you have kept stride. Perhaps you are more like them than you realize. You exist to give hope.”"

    Here's a link to Aquinas' Five Ways:
    http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/aquinasfiveways_argumentanalysis.htm

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  7. Hey, I am Lee from group one. You know that clip just shows that we have innate knowledge that we use to classify the world we perceive.

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  8. FQ: What was the title of the Argument that Aquinas took up that stated that existence had a definite beginning? First Cause Argument
    DQ: Wharburton's example of the perfect island reminded me of Voltaire's Pangloss and the "best of all possible worlds". Is the idea of something being perfect enough to prove that it exists (a perfect deity, or a perfect place such as El Dorado).

    Chapter 4 of the text deals primarily with idea of superheroes that struggle with morality. Watchmen is the clearest example of this (in fact the entire series was devoted to reexamining the role of superheroes in our popular mythology), while The Dark Knight Returns examines Batman's extralegal vigilantism as contrasted to Superman's government sanctioned crime fighting.

    Here is a nice little panel that shows a small insight into one of Watchmen's most interesting characters; Rorshach

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  9. FQ: What was the title of the Argument that Aquinas took up that stated that existence had a definite beginning? First Cause Argument
    DQ: Wharburton's example of the perfect island reminded me of Voltaire's Pangloss and the "best of all possible worlds". Is the idea of something being perfect enough to prove that it exists (a perfect deity, or a perfect place such as El Dorado).

    Chapter 4 of the text deals primarily with idea of superheroes that struggle with morality. Watchmen is the clearest example of this (in fact the entire series was devoted to reexamining the role of superheroes in our popular mythology), while The Dark Knight Returns examines Batman's extralegal vigilantism as contrasted to Superman's government sanctioned crime fighting.

    Here is a nice little panel that shows a small insight into one of Watchmen's most interesting characters; Rorshach

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  10. FQ: What was the title of the Argument that Aquinas took up that stated that existence had a definite beginning? First Cause Argument
    DQ: Wharburton's example of the perfect island reminded me of Voltaire's Pangloss and the "best of all possible worlds". Is the idea of something being perfect enough to prove that it exists (a perfect deity, or a perfect place such as El Dorado).

    Chapter 4 of the text deals primarily with idea of superheroes that struggle with morality. Watchmen is the clearest example of this (in fact the entire series was devoted to reexamining the role of superheroes in our popular mythology), while The Dark Knight Returns examines Batman's extralegal vigilantism as contrasted to Superman's government sanctioned crime fighting.

    Here is a nice little panel that shows a small insight into one of Watchmen's most interesting characters; Rorshach

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  11. I had to read chapter one and surprisingly, it was actually pretty good. The author who is a Superman fanatic and also a comic book writer for Superman, was asked the question of "Why does Superman do what he does?" For someone who has been a Superman fan since the beginning and has read all his comic books, he is surprised that he doesn't know the answer to this. After some serious thinking he comes to the conclusion that Superman is helping himself and by helping himself he is helping others, and vice versa. Superman, like any other person, wants to fit in and have a sense of belonging to the community. It's human nature to want to fit in whether you think about it or not. It is these times that he is Clark Kent, and average citizen with a regular day job. But the fact that he has superpowers sets him apart from everyone else. When he uses his superpowers for good he is truly being himself. He is using his powers to their full potential and has a sense of self-fulfillment. So you can see how he is helping himself while helping others.

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