Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Highlanders

I didn't see a post for last class so here it is...
We had two floaters this time and as I was floating I saw varied viewpoints on wether humans were innately evil or good as well as on evolution versus a creator. When I returned to my group we were discussing the government and how it falls in place with humans selfishness. The argument was wether the rich should give more to the poor or not. Some said no, because everyone works for what they get, and others said that it would make society flow more smoothly if the people who had more took the initiative to give to those who have less.
-correct me if I'm wrong. I went by memory. No notes:(

Philosophers Guild

I am not sure who was supposed to write the blog. It may have been me in which case I apologize :)
We discussed our discussion questions, and I for one really enjoyed talking about evolution, what is means, how it can be seen in the world, what it means to everyone. I hope that everyone else enjoyed the discussion as well. Anyway, everyone enjoy the test tomorrow!! :)

Nameless 8 we were, the Unknown 6 w've become

so today's test wasn't near as bad as the first, and i'm sure I speak for sooo many in the class we I say Thank You Dr Oliver, for that!!! not too much time for him to talk t us today since he's "timing" himself again lol.  group discussion was interesting, as we bounced around from one random subject to the next, but it made sense to us.....from the trolley theory to thoughts of "normalcy" (whatever that word means). I think that's actually a very valid question: what IS normal? and WHO decides what it means? Any thoughts on this??? im highly intrigued!!! Also, does anyone have any suggestions they'd like to throw out for our next presentation? I'm hoping for something completely outside the box! Anywho, all is well philosophically and I hope everyone has a terrific weekend!! looking forward to further discussins monday

The A Team (16-1)

For the first half of class today we took our test.

We determined that I will post on Wednesdays and Xoe will post on Mondays.

In class we talked about Kant and Bentham and briefly Bourke.

Kant-we discussed Kant's distinction between appearance and reality. We see the world according to the spectacles we wear, we cannot know things in themselves, only according to what we see through our lenses. Kant's moral philosophy is to do your duty," never make arbitrary exceptions of yourself and always follow the rational will that you can be universalized". Basically saying that there are no exceptions to rational rule.

Bentham believes its ok to do whatever produces the maximum amount of happiness. Bentham is a consequentialist.

See everyone next week!

Plato's Beard (16-2)

We took Test #2 today (outside, thank goodness) and then followed it up with a short lecture about Kant and Bentham. In our discussion time we sort of began to talk about PC and the greater good, etc.

What are your opinions on those two guys? What are you doing for Halloween? I'm probably going to watch Hocus Pocus for the 46th time by then.

FQ) Which philosopher's daily routine was so rigid and undeviating that people set their watches by him? (Kant)

DQ) Was Immanuel Kant a real pissant who was very rarely stable?

DYK: The correct pronunciation of Kant is actually 'kunt'. Let's be mature about it.

Three Minute Philosophy - Immanuel Kant

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Just for clarification here is all of the study guide questions for group 16.


1.      What college was named after George Berkeley? (UC Berkeley)

2.      Which eighteenth believed that we can only know the result of a future event by drawing on past experience? (David Hume)

3.      What was Berkeley's philosophy called? (Immaterialism)

4.      Which American philosopher enrolled at the University of Chicago at the age of 14? (Rorty)

5.      What philosopher believed an object ceased to exist when no one is observing it? (Berkeley)

6.      Who believed God is everything and believed God is nature? (Spinoza)

7.      Which American philosopher's work "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" criticized modern epistemology? (Rorty)

8.      Spinoza was a ____? (Rationalist)

9.      ________ is defined as, projecting human qualities, such as compassions, on non-human being. (Anthropomorphism)

  1. What area of philosophy was Berkeley famous for? (Metaphysics)

1. What did Rorty think about relativism? (It doesn't exist in the real world - AP 145)

2. Which philosopher claimed that "our ideas represent the world to us, that only some aspects of that world are as they seem" in his great work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) ------- (John Locke)

3. Rene Descrates was a _______ philosopher.
(Cartesian)

4. Francois-Marie Arouet is better known as ______? (Voltaire)

5. Pascal made important contributions to the study of what? (fluids)

6. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature was written by which modern philosopher? (Richard Rorty)

7. George Berkeley was an idealist, became a bishop, but most famed for _____? (Answer: Metaphysics p.89 in PBB)

8. Which philosopher combined political experience with philosophical insight and is a founder of modern conservatism? (Edmond Bourke)

9. Who wrote "man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains" in his book The Social Contract? (Rousseau)

  1. _____ has an ameliorating effect on social behavior. (Answer: Commerce found on page 113 in PBB)

Here they are. I had to add a few extra to get ten, but no problem.
FQ: What idea is Rousseau best know for? (General Will).
FQ: What is the name of the Voltaire's novel and the name of the main character in it? (Candide)
FQ: What idea for belief in God did Pascal invent? (Pascal's Wager)
FQ: Berkeley was a _________ because he denied that material things exist? (Immaterialist)
FQ: What is defined as, projecting human qualities, such as compassions, on non-human being?  (anthropomorphism)
FQ: Was Hume religious? (no, he was most likely an atheist)
FQ. What argument for God's existence did Hume attack. (The Design Argument)
FQ: According to Hume,  what is the only Catholic remedy, fitted for all persons and all dispositions, and is alone able to subvert that abstruse philosophy and metaphysical jargon? (Accurate and just reasoning)
FQ: who was an Irish philosopher who became known as Bishop of Cloyone? (George Berkeley)
FQ: What is God, according to Spinoza? (Nature)

Nameless Wanderers, Group 3 Honors 3

Well, today we had quite a discussion, which I enjoyed immensely (in case my fellow Wanderers couldn't tell). We began on the subject of selfishness and whether or not humans are inherently selfish, or if selfishness is merely activated by interacting with other humans. We concluded quickly that selfishness is inherent to human beings. We then went on to the Design Argument and whether or not we agreed with it. We spent the majority of our time on this question, including the time that Dr. Phil spent with us. After rattling about the issues of the complexity of things and order in the world, we came to the issue of love and chemical interactions in the brain. We got onto that part of the discussion from Kayla's example of studying the complexity of things in science. The whole thing of love was saying that love is a chemical reaction in the brain and nothing more. Dr. Phil mentioned William James's idea that we communicate at different levels and in different ways depending on the context. He linked that to science by pointing out that science is one form of communication. In the midst of the discussion of love, Seneca and I came in with questions about how we know the difference between a stranger touching us and someone we know and love touching us; Kayla and Shannon said the chemical reactions are different; the follow up question to that was how we know the difference without some kind of preset inclination. (This whole explanation is a bit patchwork and jumps around a bit, but we jumped around a bit in our discussion.) Eventually, the whole discussion came down to the question of right and wrong. Dr. Phil mentioned that Rorty thought the societal tendency to pursue truth was silly and that things needed simply to be a conversation among people. He also mentioned progress away from killing others and being more inclusive. Seneca and I (took a large part in the discussion; ha, that's not obvious) asked then how we know what is better and what end objective we're working toward. Dr. Phil responded that we don't have to have one; the Platonic view isn't necessarily accurate.

Anyway, long and detailed, but there it is.

Fashionably Late Philosoraptors 17,3

Hey dudes,

So it's my turn to post...oops.

Dr. Phil lectured on Hume, Smith, Rousseau, and Durant and left little time for any discussion. Though I think it can be said that these philosophers were not near as interesting as the ones we had to cover for the last test. We briefly pondered having a study group, but it was quickly shot down (sorry Jami). And I think that was it.

Reminder:  type and print out discussion question before the test in order to get full 10 point credit.


Philosopher's Guild

We need to remember to choose authors, guys. haha.

Factual: Which philosopher said "Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains."? Rousseau
Discussion: Rousseau says that only when humans are put into an urban setting with materialism and money do they become envious and greedy of their fellow man. Would you agree?
Last time: Good conversation guys.
Links: http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/rous.htm
I commented on NoPhi

Plato's Beard (16,2) STUDY QUESTIONS

Here they are. I had to add a few extra to get ten, but no problem.
FQ: What idea is Rousseau best know for? (General Will).
FQ: What is the name of the Voltaire's novel and the name of the main character in it? (Candide)
FQ: What idea for belief in God did Pascal invent? (Pascal's Wager)
FQ: Berkeley was a _________ because he denied that material things exist? (Immaterialist)
FQ: What is defined as, projecting human qualities, such as compassions, on non-human being?  (anthropomorphism)
FQ: Was Hume religious? (no, he was most likely an atheist)
FQ. What argument for God's existence did Hume attack. (The Design Argument)
FQ: According to Hume,  what is the only Catholic remedy, fitted for all persons and all dispositions, and is alone able to subvert that abstruse philosophy and metaphysical jargon? (Accurate and just reasoning)
FQ: who was an Irish philosopher who became known as Bishop of Cloyone? (George Berkeley)
FQ: What is God, according to Spinoza? (Nature)
Study up!
Brandon

Monday, October 28, 2013

NO SOX (17.2) 10/28/13

NO SOX,

Last meeting we had a brief discussion about David Hume and his view about our internal world/thought which he called The Self and the External World that we all know ourselves.

Tuesday, the night before the exam, I will be in the library from 8 till pretty late studying for the exam and I'd appreciate as many people to come out!

Anybody from our class can come join in!

A-Team 16-1

Today we talked about Rousseau and the thought that civilization does tend to make people act differently. Damon used the analogy of 10 rats being in a cage together compared to 10 million rats being in a cage together. You can assume some chaos is going to break. The same thing is true with humans. 

Section 16, Group 3 EXAM QUESTIONS

Sincerest of apologies for not having these questions put up sooner. Responsibilities within the group were not upheld so some roles were shifted around. Here are our final ten questions:


1. What did Rorty think about relativism? (It doesn't exist in the real world - AP 145)

2. Which philosopher claimed that "our ideas represent the world to us, that only some aspects of that world are as they seem" in his great work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) ------- (John Locke)

3. Rene Descrates was a _______ philosopher.
(Cartesian)

4. Francois-Marie Arouet is better known as ______? (Voltaire)

5. Pascal made important contributions to the study of what? (fluids)

6. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature was written by which modern philosopher? (Richard Rorty)

7. George Berkeley was an idealist, became a bishop, but most famed for _____? (Answer: Metaphysics p.89 in PBB)

8. Which philosopher combined political experience with philosophical insight and is a founder of modern conservatism? (Edmond Bourke)

9. Who wrote "man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains" in his book The Social Contract? (Rousseau)

10. _____ has an ameliorating effect on social behavior. (Answer: Commerce found on page 113 in PBB)

Exam #2

Re-read the relevant texts, to prepare for the exam. The extra credit discussion question I'll suggest, though you're free to supply your own relevant DQ from our October classes:

Summarize the dispute between Voltaire and Leibniz. What did they disagree about, and why? What did Leibniz mean when he said we have no windows? What did Voltaire mean when he said we must cultivate our garden?

OR,

Do we know the world directly, or just our ideas? Is there a real distinction between primary and secondary qualities, in our experience? What were the views of Locke, Berkeley, Hume on these issues? What's "radical" about James's Radical Empiricism, with respect to such questions?

Remember also to post Qs & links for W/Th. We'll do the exam first, then discuss Kant et al. 

Highlanders 10 questions

H1

Which philosopher believed that anything that ceases being observed ceases to exist?
(Answer: George Berkely)

Voltaire's famous book was? (Answer: Candide)

Which philosopher believed that God is the world? (Answer: Baruch Spinoza)

What philosopher invented the literary form known as the essay? (Answer: Michel De Montaigne)

What philosopher questioned if everything you know is reality or just a dream? (Answer: Descartes)

Which "Modern" American Philosopher revived pragmatism in American philosophy? (Answer: Rorty)

Who wrote 'Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974)', and taught philosophy at Harvard University? (Answer: Nozick)

Which philosopher was occasionally cited as the father of "the institutional theory of art?" (Answer: Danto)

George Berkley was seen as a idealist and an _____because he denied that physical things exist. (Answer: immaterialist)

Which philosopher is famous for his "wager" approach to religion and faith? (Answer: Pascal)

H2

Yoooo guys. Here's the list... I think I got them all.

-Who stated that one cannot "deduce values from facts"?
Answer: Hilary Putnam
-Who attempted to disprove Berkeley's theory of object permanence by kicking a stone? (Samuel Johnson) 
-what philosopher had the theory of immaterialism? (Berkeley)
-Spinoza believed nature and God were one in the same... (True!)
-Who believed that over a life each of us remain the same 'man'?- John Locke
-what did Spinoza do for money?
Answer: He was a lens grinder. 
-what philosopher believed that government's job is to protect life, liberty, and property? (Locke) 
-Who wrote the Letter on Toleration? (John Locke)
-Pascal considered himself a philosopher... (False! He considered himself a theologian and believed philosophers knew barely anything at all) 
-Who does the term "post-Cartesian philosophers" refer to? (Answer: Philosophers that came after Renee Descartes.)
-Richard Rorty urged academic collegues to abandon what?
Answer: epitemology
-Whose philosophy was summed up in the phrase "I think, therefore I am"- Descartes
-who is often called the founder of modern philosophy?(Descartes)

H3

FQs and summary post for the Nameless Wanderers

We went ahead and narrowed ours down to the top ten, so here they are:

Who propounded the Trademark Argument? Rene Descartes.

What was Descartes's most famous philosophical work? Meditations on Philosophy.

Who was one of the first pantheists who was excommunicated from the synagogue for his views? Baruch Spinoza.

Who wrote "Ethics"? Spinoza.

How did Spinoza die? Lung disease.

What did Spinoza believe in? "God of Nature."

What was George Berkeley's profession? He was Bishop of Cloyne.

What is Voltaire best known for? Candide.

What are the "primary qualities" according to John Locke? Physical characteristics, such as colour, size, shape, etc.

True or False: Pascal was Christian.

Now, post for this class:

We spent a fair amount of our time going through our factual questions, so we didn't have much time for discussion. However, we did talk about Berkeley's  notion that the only real things are ideas, which we all agreed was rather ridiculous. Kayla noted that, according to Berkeley, Shannon would only exist (to Kayla) as a collection of ideas, and that Kayla only exists for Shannon as a collection of ideas in Shannon's mind. I mentioned that the notion demands an explanation for objective reality: How can we know of ourselves when we only exist in other people's minds?

The A-Team: Section 16


Exam 2 Review Questions:

1.      What college was named after George Berkeley? (UC Berkeley)

2.      Which eighteenth believed that we can only know the result of a future event by drawing on past experience? (David Hume)

3.      What was Berkeley's philosophy called? (Immaterialism)

4.      Which American philosopher enrolled at the University of Chicago at the age of 14? (Rorty)

5.      What philosopher believed an object ceased to exist when no one is observing it?(Berkeley)

6.      Who believed God is everything and believed God is nature? (Spinoza)

7.      Which American philosopher's work "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" criticized modern epistemology? (Rorty)

8.      Spinoza was a ____? (Rationalist)

9.      ________ is defined as, projecting human qualities, such as compassions, on non-human being. (Anthropomorphism)

10.  What area of philosophy was Berkeley famous for? (Metaphysics)

NO SOX: GROUP FACTUAL AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

I will be updating this post day-to-day as more questions are commented so check back frequently!

FACTUAL:



1. Which philosopher from Group 2's presentation has a computer software named after them? (Pascal)




2. What was Pascal's view of humanity? (Pessimistic)




3. Pascal switched from work in mathematics and science to write about what religion and what where the beliefs? (Jansenism, believed in predestination)



4. What state of matter did Pascal's law apply to? (Liquid)


5. What philosopher discussed multiple personally disorder? (Locke)


6. Rorty was extrapolating from whose suggestion that "fascism may be the American future." (Edward Luttwak)


7. What was Rorty's pragmatic answer to relativism? (that it doesn't exist in the real world)


8. Which Philosopher was described as an idealist and immaterialist? A: George Berkeley


9. What philosopher has a well know university named after them? (Berkeley)

==

Sec 17 Group 1's FQs


What were the years of David Hume? (1711-76)

Descartes believed that God could be proven with ________, while Pascal believed that the belief in God was a matter of the ________ and _______. (logic; heart, faith)

What was Rorty's characterization of pragmatism? A: anti-essentialism applied to notions like truth, knowledge, and similar objects of philosophical.

What were John Lockes dates of life? (1632-1704)

What is the state in which you are sleeping but you dream that you're awake and carrying on with normal day life, until suddenly you realize you're in a dream? (false awakenings)

what where the years of george berkeley's life? )1685-1753)

What was the point Twitchell made in Carnival Culture? A: we are losing the ability to distinguish between refined and vulgar.

What does Descartes seek? Certainty... what one can know for certain. What would be required to claim knowledge. He first proves that he exists.

Who said que scais-je? Montaigne... denies need for certainty. Questions the extent of his knowledge.

Sec 17 Group 1's FQs


What were the years of David Hume? (1711-76)

Descartes believed that God could be proven with ________, while Pascal believed that the belief in God was a matter of the ________ and _______. (logic; heart, faith)

What was Rorty's characterization of pragmatism? A: anti-essentialism applied to notions like truth, knowledge, and similar objects of philosophical.

What were John Lockes dates of life? (1632-1704)

What is the state in which you are sleeping but you dream that you're awake and carrying on with normal day life, until suddenly you realize you're in a dream? (false awakenings)

what where the years of george berkeley's life? )1685-1753)

What was the point Twitchell made in Carnival Culture? A: we are losing the ability to distinguish between refined and vulgar.

What does Descartes seek? Certainty... what one can know for certain. What would be required to claim knowledge. He first proves that he exists.

Who said que scais-je? Montaigne... denies need for certainty. Questions the extent of his knowledge.

Nameless 8 (17-1)

Okay so today was kinda dull. I blame the weather. However that is neither here nor there. So, today was about Hume, Rousseau, the "brows", and Durant. We also discussed the video I posted last Wednesday. Which is about how if there are parallel worlds then Leibniz is wrong in saying that this is the best of all possible worlds. And I can't forget that the second exam is this Wednesday. To end on a happy note, since this post did not start off great, tomorrow's forecast is with a high of 75, stupid reliant K, and with the question: do you think that our culture is becoming more vulgar?

I'm Lee Gish and here's wishing you a happy tomorrow   ;)

Highlanders 10 questions



Which philosopher believed that anything that ceases being observed ceases to exist?
(Answer: George Berkely)

Voltaire's famous book was? (Answer: Candide)

Which philosopher believed that God is the world? (Answer: Baruch Spinoza)

What philosopher invented the literary form known as the essay? (Answer: Michel De Montaigne)

What philosopher questioned if everything you know is reality or just a dream? (Answer: Descartes)

Which "Modern" American Philosopher revived pragmatism in American philosophy? (Answer: Rorty)

Who wrote 'Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974)', and taught philosophy at Harvard University? (Answer: Nozick)

Which philosopher was occasionally cited as the father of "the institutional theory of art?" (Answer: Danto)

George Berkley was seen as a idealist and an _____because he denied that physical things exist. (Answer: immaterialist)

Which philosopher is famous for his "wager" approach to religion and faith? (Answer: Pascal)

The A-Team: Section 16

Exam 2 Review Questions:

1.      What college was named after George Berkeley? (UC Berkeley)

2.      Which eighteenth believed that we can only know the result of a future event by drawing on past experience? (David Hume)

3.      What was Berkeley's philosophy called? (Immaterialism)

4.      Which American philosopher enrolled at the University of Chicago at the age of 14? (Rorty)

5.      What philosopher believed an object ceased to exist when no one is observing it? (Berkeley)

6.      Who believed God is everything and believed God is nature? (Spinoza)

7.      Which American philosopher's work "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" criticized modern epistemology? (Rorty)

8.      Spinoza was a ____? (Rationalist)

9.      ________ is defined as, projecting human qualities, such as compassions, on non-human being. (Anthropomorphism)

10.  What area of philosophy was Berkeley famous for? (Metaphysics)

 

10 FQ Philosoraptors

Here are the 10 FQ's. If you recognize your question and happen to have the page marked in your book/know what page it is on, please let me know today in class so I can add the page numbers.

LH
Q: Who came up with the argument of "the wager"?
 
A: Pascal
Q: What is Descartes's best known contribution to mathematics?
A: The Cartesian coordinates, or Cartesian plane. (LH pg. 63)
Q: What philosopher wrote the book "Ethics", but did not live to see it published?
A: Spinoza
Q: Which Scottish philosopher, influenced by John Locke, set out to explain the nature                                                     humanity and our place in the universe? (p. 100)

A: Hume
Q: Which of Berkeley's contemporaries said, "I refute this" while kicking a stone across a street           and denying Berkeley's philosophy?

A: Samuel Johnson

PB
Q: Which philosopher considered descriptions to be broken into two categories: Primary and Secondary?    
A: John Locke   
Q: What philosopher viewed the world as a "puzzle" and it is not what we think it is, but simply   just a projection of our mind?
 
A: Berkeley
Q: What philosopher wrote his book "the Ethics" in geometrical style?
 
A: Spinoza

AP
Q: What philosopher believed that an object is just a collection of ideas that you and other        people have of it and that it doesn't have any existence beyond that? 
 
A: Berkeley
Q: Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the Jewish church?
A: He believed that God and Nature were one in the same, and that God does not care about     anything or anyone, because that would be assigning human-like characteristics to an unhuman entity.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

A-Team 16-1

Hey guys,

We didn't really get to talk last class, I'm not sure who was supposed to put up the factual questions.
David Hume is really interesting to me. Do you think there is anything known without having to experience it, or is he right in saying that all known facts are based on experience?

Tell me what you think

Thursday, October 24, 2013

NO SOX (17.2) 10/23/13

Hey guys, last class we only had enough time to talk for a few minutes and there were only a few of us so we had a very brief meeting. Anybody who wants to get together for a study night comment their availability.

NoPhi (16, 3)

Hola!

During our group discussion in class, we elaborated about the question:

If a tree falls in the forrest and we're not around to hear it, did it make a sound?

It as a controversial question, so what do you think?

I'm still waiting for Ricky to post the FQ on group's FB page, and I'll post them on here.

- Tink

FQs and summary post for the Nameless Wanderers

We went ahead and narrowed ours down to the top ten, so here they are:

Who propounded the Trademark Argument? Rene Descartes.

What was Descartes's most famous philosophical work? Meditations on Philosophy.

Who was one of the first pantheists who was excommunicated from the synagogue for his views? Baruch Spinoza.

Who wrote "Ethics"? Spinoza.

How did Spinoza die? Lung disease.

What did Spinoza believe in? "God of Nature."

What was George Berkeley's profession? He was Bishop of Cloyne.

What is Voltaire best known for? Candide.

What are the "primary qualities" according to John Locke? Physical characteristics, such as colour, size, shape, etc.

True or False: Pascal was Christian.

Now, post for this class:

We spent a fair amount of our time going through our factual questions, so we didn't have much time for discussion. However, we did talk about Berkeley's  notion that the only real things are ideas, which we all agreed was rather ridiculous. Kayla noted that, according to Berkeley, Shannon would only exist (to Kayla) as a collection of ideas, and that Kayla only exists for Shannon as a collection of ideas in Shannon's mind. I mentioned that the notion demands an explanation for objective reality: How can we know of ourselves when we only exist in other people's minds?

Philosopher's Guild Factual Questions List

Yoooo guys. Here's the list... I think I got them all.

-Who stated that one cannot "deduce values from facts"?
Answer: Hilary Putnam
-Who attempted to disprove Berkeley's theory of object permanence by kicking a stone? (Samuel Johnson) 
-what philosopher had the theory of immaterialism? (Berkeley)
-Spinoza believed nature and God were one in the same... (True!)
-Who believed that over a life each of us remain the same 'man'?- John Locke
-what did Spinoza do for money?
Answer: He was a lens grinder. 
-what philosopher believed that government's job is to protect life, liberty, and property? (Locke) 
-Who wrote the Letter on Toleration? (John Locke)
-Pascal considered himself a philosopher... (False! He considered himself a theologian and believed philosophers knew barely anything at all) 
-Who does the term "post-Cartesian philosophers" refer to? (Answer: Philosophers that came after Renee Descartes.)
-Richard Rorty urged academic collegues to abandon what?
Answer: epitemology
-Whose philosophy was summed up in the phrase "I think, therefore I am"- Descartes
-who is often called the founder of modern philosophy?(Descartes)

The Highlanders

We talked about the concept George Berkeley stated about ideas. We agreed for in order for that to work we have to make sure we 100 percent believe that we are the only beings otherwise we'd be the consequence of someone else's thought. So it is almost stupid to make up thoughts about thoughts that don't explain human thought. We came to the conclusion that we are indeed social creatures and we need social interactions to function properly. Living a solitary
life such as Nietzsche is quite unhealthy,and eventually lost his mind,Dr. Phil noted. We then touched on the subject of memory, and how everyone remembers things differently. Memories change and just because some memories are forgotten they still exist.
We ended with the question "Is treating multiple personality disorder considered murder?"

NoPhi - Section 16, Group 3

Hi, all!
I noticed that there was not yet a post made for the group, and since Dr. Oliver has stressed (more than once) that we get our posts done immediately, and because I know some members of our group like to go ahead and get rounding their bases over with, I am taking it upon myself to provide a place for the group to post. So, post away!

Have a good weekend!
--Hailey Lawson

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Philosophers Guild(H)

I do not believe we selected an author last class so if anyone wants to get there comment done this will be up.  We had a large discussion with Dr. Oliver for the main bulk of our discussion and  touched on many of the realist ideas brought up in Dr. Oliver's discussion. 

Factual question:
Who stated that one cannot "deduce values from facts"?
Answer: Hilary Putnam

Philosophical question:
Does Richard Rorty seem (from our limited view of him) to despise Americans?
Alternately what seems to be the goal of pragmatism as a school of philosophical study?

Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Nameless 8 (17-1)

This seams pointless now that only three people of the group showed up. THREE! But I digress, we did not have discussion groups today, well not really. So Molly and Kayla will get a surprise Monday for showing up to class everyday since the presentations. On another note do you agree with Leibniz that this is the best of all possible worlds or with Voltaire that God simply doesn't care? and why. later this weekend I'll add a video dealing with alternative worlds.


Hope to see your comments sincerely

 
                                            Lee Gish

Philosoraptors V: Philosophy Strikes Back

Greetings, everyone!

So there really isn't much to report about today's discussion, seeing as most of the period was spent in lecture, so there was not much of a chance for group discussion.

During the lecture, we talked about Berkely v. Locke, and Voltaire v. Leibniz. I found the discussion on Voltaire and Leibniz very interesting, due to Candide being one of those books that I just love to hate. Don't get me wrong, it was an incredibly well-written piece of satire, it's just that things make absolutely zero sense sometimes, and it just irks me. Like the woman who gave up one of her *ahem* buttcheeks to feed the soldiers of a long and drawn out war, only for the war to end the very next day. If Voltaire's point was that we should do more to better the world around us, that sure doesn't accentuate the benefits of doing so. Kind of makes it seem like it's pointless in the end, but I digress.

We also talked at length about Leibniz' view that we live in "the best of all possible worlds," and how Berkeley (someone whom Avery seemed to care very little for) felt that everything around us just exists in our own respective heads, and we are only seeing our ideas projected around us.

And for the most part, that was it, outside of the usual arguing over semantics and what exactly is the definition of a study guide.

Anyway! I can't think of anything interesting and relevant enough to share with you all in this post, but I will update it if I can think of something.

And with that, I hope you all have an awesome weekend, and I'll see you all on Monday!