Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, November 18, 2013

Highlanders

I wasn't there on Thursday, but I saw that there wasn't a post up. I'm not sure if ya'll have posted on other posts but just in case you haven't...here is a placeholder. If someone could post a summary of our discussion in the comments that would be awesome!

11 comments:

  1. Olivia (The Highlanders)12:42 AM CST

    Factual question: What is Russell's paradox? A: the problem with set theory that leads to contradiction.

    Discussion question: How can we really decide if something is meaningful? Do you think Ayer's idea of asking "Is it true by definition?" and "Is it empirically verifiable?" could work?

    Comment: I really enjoyed getting to talk to y'all about Christianity, or at least my view on it! I really liked hearing the questions y'all had and if you ever have anymore feel free to ask! I will answer to the best of my abilities!

    Link: Here are some quotes on "Man's search for meaning"

    http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3389674-trotzdem-ja-zum-leben-sagen-ein-psychologe-erlebt-das-konzentrations



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  2. Hey, thanks for posting, Mabel!

    Factual Question: What book by Russell "got him into trouble" by expressing his views that one did not have to be faithful to their partner in marriage? (Answer: Marriage and Morals)

    Discussion Question: Do you believe that it is important to be faithful to a partner in marriage? Are there any acceptable times not to be? What is your reasoning?

    It never fails to amaze me that we can talk about such controversial topics as religion in our group without really butting heads. Sure, we have some disagreements, but I really like that we are able to express those disagreements civilly. The fact that we can still talk to each other after the fact without wanting to tear each other a new one is a testament to the caliber of discussions and members that we have in our group. Looking forward to finishing out the semester with you guys!

    Link: Online version of Marriage and Morals:
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/84387477/Marriage-and-Morals-by-Bertrand-Russell

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    Replies
    1. I think a blanket statement about whether faithfulness in marriage is correct or not is unfruitful. It will instead depend on the specific people in the marriage and their views on what is moral right or right in each others case. For me, I think it may be healthy to experience a new kind of relationship every once in a while but still have your marriage to go back to; but of course, I have not discussed this with my future husband so there is no way to tell now. But I have certainly thought about whether humans are necessarily monogamous and judging by the amount of divorces and unfaithfulness someone could definitely make a case for no they are not.

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    2. I always hold to the belief that what others do is their business. Personally, I could never be in an open relationship. On whether humans are monogamous -- I believe it's situational. A lot of couples rush into marriage and end up unhappy in their relationship, which leads to the desire for someone else. (H3)

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  3. Factual Question: The two questions for Ayers test was? 1. Is it true by definition? 2. Is it empirically verifiable?

    Discussion Question: To me, all of this talk about Ayers "meaningful or meaningless" test seems pretty meaningless to me. Don't people get to decide what is meaningful to them? You may skip over something that has no significance to you, but to me it could represent something that carries a lot of weight with me. I think this is a flaw that should be looked at.

    I wasn't it class last Thursday, however by reading the comments some religious debates were had. It is always interesting to see how religion, or lack thereof, can affect someones beliefs about a subject, they can also overlap and intersect which is also interesting. I believe we have good group discussions and I'm sure that will continue today.

    Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotivism

    This is the wikipedia page to Emotivism, which is a movement that Ayer helped get started.

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  4. Factual Question: What philosopher was an MI6 agent and wrote Language, Truth, and Logic? A: Ayer

    Discussion Question: Do you feel that anything that cannot be verified is therefore simply nonsense? Why or why not?

    We had a really interesting conversation last week, and I think it was really cool how we were all able to discuss our differing viewpoints while trying to truly understand each others' opinions and not getting upset or angry when we didn't always agree.

    Link: Just a little more on Ayer:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Ayer

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  5. I wish I could have heard your different views on religion. It always interests me to hear views other than my own.

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  6. Factual: Who thought that a belief in God was "nonsense"? Russell
    Discussion: If "no moral system can rest solely on authority," what exactly can you base a moral system on?
    Comment: Last class we discussed the existence and sanity of God. It was a really good discussion and as always, we remained respectful. I really enjoy this group!
    Link: Here's a link of AJ Ayer talking about modern logic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNs2_JQvtJ

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  7. Since I couldn't find a post, I'm posting in here again.

    Factual Question: Which philosopher, at the age of 24, declared most of the history of philosophy, "complete nonsense and more or less worthless?" (Answer: Alfred Jules Ayer)

    Discussion question: do you agree with this claim? What are your thoughts on the history of philosophy, or the current study of it? Do you think that it's a worthless field of study, or do you believe that there is some value to it?

    I have to admit, I didn't see the turn that our discussion took coming on Tuesday. That being said, I really enjoyed it. There's just something fascinating about the cult mentality, the ability of these people to give themselves so completely over to the believe in this person or idea that they would "drink the Kool-Aid" so to speak. It's chilling in some ways, but it also raises a lot of interesting questions about the human psyche.

    Link: A list of the top ten most famous cults in history and a little bit about each one.
    http://toptentopia.com/2013/02/26/the-10-most-famous-cults-in-united-states-history/

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  8. Olivia (The Highlanders)10:07 AM CST

    I didn't see a post for our most recent discussion.

    Factual Question: Who is the most famous existentialist philosopher? A: Sartre

    Discussion Question: Do you think that life ultimately has no meaning or that the meaning is has is what we give it? Would that meaning be taken away by death?

    Comment: I had no idea there were so many cults and gurus! I was really fascinated when talking to y'all about them!

    Link: http://www.howstuffworks.com/10-infamous-cults.htm

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  9. Couldn't find a post either...

    Factual Question: What philosopher believed that humans are condemned to be free, and that existence precedes essence? A: Sartre

    Discussion Question: Do you think that authentic experiences in life are more important than knowledge? Or are authentic experiences simply a way of gaining knowledge?

    Comment: Unfortunately I missed our discussion on Tuesday. :( Can't wait to have one today!

    Link: Just some cool quotes from Sartre
    http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jeanpaul_sartre.html

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