Up@dawn 2.0

Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Highlanders

We talked about the "I think, therefore I am" said by Descartes over the dreaming aspect. We agreed that none of us believe life is a dream and if it was a dream...why would it matter.  We also agreed that sensory deception was going a little too far. But then the argument of perception vs reality came to play. Dr. Oliver asked if that all meant that there isn't truly one reality. We agreed that each one of us have a different angle on reality.

8 comments:

  1. Factual Question: Which philosopher believed that God is the world? (Answer: Baruch Spinoza)

    Discussion Question: Do you believe free will truly exists? Or do you believe we only have the illusion of free will.

    I thought that our discussion on Descartes was really interesting. After all the time that we spent away from our discussion format, I was kind of wondering what it would be like to get back into it, but the group really just kind of jumped right back to it. Our discussion was very mobile, and I really enjoyed all the different perspectives on what it means to be in existence.

    Link: The Construct scene from The Matrix, just because I've always thought it was a fascinating idea, that we are a construct of our own self-perception.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZiLMGdCE0

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  2. I don't personally believe life is a dream, but it's scary how real dreams can be at times. I've woken before thinking I've gone through an entire day. For example, this morning I was 98% sure I had missed my advising appointment. Anyhow, I do think the senses can be deceived.. but then again, maybe I'm just watching too much Sci-Fi. (H3)

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  3. I completely agree with your group that everyone has their own angle on reality.

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  4. Factual Question: When was Spinoza's book finally published? After His Death.

    Discussion Question: Personally I don't agree with John Locke saying that you aren't the same person if you don't have memories. Does anyone agree with this? Or atleast a part of it? I find it pretty hard because everyone forgets things from day to day but that doesn't mean a radical shift happened.

    Sensory deception I think goes a little to far. The whole reason we have senses is to perceive and interpret our reality. If you took away all of your senses you would not be able to do anything. No sight, sound, touch, all of that would be gone. If that happened you would only have your thoughts left but with just that how could you think about anything? All of your thoughts have been based upon things that you have observed or experienced.

    For this link it is a brief explanation of Lockes beliefs in cartoon format. Theres a bit of language, but it can still be educational.

    Kind of.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-buzVjYQvY

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    Replies
    1. I think what Locke was getting at was that we are the sum of our experiences, and without memory, we don't have experience, so we have no essence.

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  5. Olivia (The Highlanders)10:16 AM CDT

    Factual question: What philosopher believed that God is nature? A: Spinoza

    Discussion question: Do you believe that a newborn has a mind like a "blank slate" or do we have an innate knowledge?

    Comment: I enjoyed our discussion on the idea of life being a dream. I liked the point that it wouldn't matter even if it were a dream, because you wouldn't know so the only thing assuming that would do would drive you crazy.

    Link:Here is some more information on Spinoza! http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/

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  6. Anonymous11:59 AM CDT

    Michael Anderson H3
    I would also agree that each of us has our own angle on reality.

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  7. I wonder do our different angles on reality change our perception of what is actually real?

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