MAJOR LESSONS LEARNED

I learned quite a lot. From knowing the meaning of Philosophy which is love of wisdom. Philo meaning love, sophia means wisdom. And philosophers are lovers of wisdom. It's branches. My personal favorite is logic and ethics. I found out a thing or two about a few philosophers too.

I also learned about critical thinkers and wishful thinkers. I believe that I can be both. I am a critical thinker at heart, but at times, I happen to be just a wishful thinker. I tend to see the ins and outs of a certain subject matter first before jumping into conclusions but then again, I sometimes jumps into conclusions just for the sake of having to finish that talk about the subject matter. Critical thinkers have to think more deeply, distinctly and carefully so as not to miss out on a single fact, whereas wishful thinkers doesn't really care about facts, they rely on their own opinions.

Creating this blog, this e-journal, really helps. Tho, to some, it may appear as boring to them or an additional work, but not to me. Blogging has always helped me. It helped me before and it's helping me now, helping me understand Philosophy more. And the good thing is, I can go back to my previous posts and read them and remember our class meetings wherein certain topics were discussed and it will seem like I''ll be learning all over again.

Science vs Philosophy

What are the similarities and differences between Science and Philosophy?

Even after I read the article, Philosophy for me, is still Science. They don't have much difference but they have unique features and uses.  Philosophy is mainly about critical thinking and reasoning whilst Science is more on chemicals, elements, living and non-living things, which is to say, everything.

Write a short critique paper about this article

The article about Philosophy is very informative but not convincing enough. It is well written, though. IT has reduntant words and expressions but still it helped me know more about Philosophy.

I just had to post this photo of my ideal Philosopher. HAHAHA.

Reaction Paper

"Why the world is the way it is: Cultural Relativism and its Descendents"

We were asked to make a reaction paper on cultural relativism. I got a bit frustrated because I got not a single idea on what cultural relativism is. I tried reading the document presented to us, yet it is filled with deep words with such deep meanings. I couldn't quite figure out what it means. I was about to give up quickly but luckily, I didn't. I read it 4 times, the least.

It is stated that the idea that Relativism contends that all truth is relative except for the claim that "truth is relative". It just means that the truth depends on the people. But the claim that "truth is relative" is not up to the people. We should not impose our values on other societies nor could we contend that one culture is superior to another culture. I think that the most famous intellectual descendents of cultural relativism is racism. Racists are everywhere. A racist is someone who believes that they are superior because of their race and have prejudices against others on belief, they are normally antagonistic towards other as a result of their belief in being superior. This is famous with Americans because they keep on comparing the Whites with the Blacks and that pretty much makes them a racist.

I agree that the truth is different for each individual, social group or historic period. Technically, there is only one truth but it depends on how a certain person or group of people see it. If they see the truth as positive, then the truth will come out as positive and vice versa. But then again, as what David Hume said, no one can know anything for certain. We may think we know but we really don't. He says that a person is unable to pass judgment on alternative moral systems and he claims that neither reason nor the sense can supply reliable knowledge and that, consequently, man is a helpless being in an unintelligible universe. I'm not quite sure if I'm siding with David Hume on his thoughts on truth and relativism but I must say that the guy has a point. We can't really know anything for certain and people think we're experts on causality wherein we just associate our experiences together. I agree with Kant and Hume when they said something regarding the inability to see or prove causality in the objective world. As Kant said, men are cut off from the objective world and can never know the world in itself. For example, when you're born in a rich family and grow up swimming in pols of gold, then you wouldn't really know what the real world is like, you wouldn't really know how difficult life is for most people since you have almost all the pleasure in life.

Multiculturalism in the other hand, stands up for the equality of all creatures be it big or small. Multiculturalism, in my own understanding, is sort of a law or bill because it includes too many anti-individualistic things, things regarding the government, individual rights and other rights, and other law-worthy topics. It also promotes a culture of victims who have perpetual claim on society and the government.

Society sets norms of truth  and falsity and right and wrong. It just means that the truth depends on the people. If majority believes that the truth is positive, then it will be, but if they believe it is negative, then negative its is. If a man sees things differently than the majority, then maybe he doesn't see the truth the way most people do. The truth changes too, that is why evolution is very essential to understanding consciousness, history and mankind.

My Ideal Philosopher

Who is your ideal Philosopher? Why?

My ideal philospher is Aristotle. I can't really explain why. Maybe I like him because I hear more about him than the other Philosophers. Or maybe it's just because of the sound of his name, Aristotle, it sounds like a turtle. I like turtles.

I came across this website about Aristotle, it says "Aristotle had something to say on just about every subject, whether abstract or concrete, and modern philosophy almost always bases every single principle, idea, notion or 'discovery' on a teaching of Aristotle. His principles of ethics were founded on the concept of doing good, , rather than merely being good. A person may be kind, merciful, charitable, etc., but until he proves this by helping others, his goodness means precisely nothing to the world, in which case it means nothing to himself." I believe that what is stated there is true. That Aristotle really always have a say on everything. Oh and he was the one that said that the earth, our world, is circular in shape. And also, I admire him for having to discover infinity. ∞ Hehe. =))

He is a critical thinker, he is a philosopher. And maybe that's why I like him. 

For you, what is the greatest idea or belief of your ideal philosopher? Elaborate.

In my own opinion, Aristotle is great because he had courage to stand up for his belief when he contradicted his teacher, Plato and Plato's teacher, Socrates. He discovered 'observational science' and formulated all the rules in logic. And some of his beliefs, ideas and sayings that caught my eye is as follows:

• Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom
• Each man judges well the things he knows.
• Our duty as philosophers requires us to honour truth above our friends.
• You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind the next to honor.
• No happy man can become miserable, for he will never do acts that are hateful and mean.

I'm not going to explain those because they're really self-explanatory, all you have to o is read and analyze, then you'll eventually get it.

Intro to Philosophy and Ethics

Why is the study of Philosophy and Ethics important to your development as a student and as a human being?

Philosophy simply means love of wisdom. It is the study of reason and understanding. Whereas ethics studies morality, right and wrong. It is very important to know how to express yourself by means of reasoning, correct reasoning, that is!

There are a lot of things that we can get from studying Philosophy and Ethics. Knowledge, I think, is the most important thing that we gain from studying the two. Knowledge of correct reasoning from logic, knowledge of beauty from aesthetic, knowledge of the nature of human beings from methapysics, knowledge of moral judgment from ethics and knowledge itself from epistemology.

It also helps us understand things more, to at least differentiate truth from reality, right from wrong, tough sometimes, I must say, it is still very confusing. But I think I am more knowledgeable now that I've learned a thing or two from studying Philosophy and Ethics.

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." -Socrates

I believe that Socrates is wise but not wise enough to be the wisest man on earth(amongst the living and the dead). I for one, think that Aristotle is much wiser than Socrates. It is because Aristotle have proved more things than Socrates, and he has done far more better studies than that of Socrates's.

But I like his modesty. Everyone knows that he is a genius, nonetheless, he admitted that he knows only one thing, and that is that he knows nothing. I came across a phrase when I was surfing the web a few years ago, and yes I still remember it, it says "Knowing nothing is knowing everything." I didn't really understand what it meant then, but now I do. Or at least, I think I do. It means that if you know one thing, you must acknowledge that you know nothing, since nothing can truly be known. That being said, is already an acknowledgement, acknowledging that you know nothing says that you are realistic. Being smart(or stupid) only refer to a person's ability to learn new things, and let go of the old concepts that are irrelevant. It means, a person can never really know everything there is to know, that's why we are always learning. 

Philosophy: A guide to happiness; Socrates, self-confidence

In my own point of view, I believe that Socrates is right. In an interview with Mr. Andrew Miller, Andrew stated that he felt frustrated but preoccupied when only a few believed that his belief is right while the rest believed he's wrong.

As Socrates said, "We should find ways to build confidence in our own beliefs and not be persuaded by the opinion of others". If you believe in something, you must stand up. Stand up for what you believe in even when others think or say that you're wrong. Socrates couldn't accept that every opinion was equally worth listening to anymore than any part that is equally capable. I'm not saying that I'm siding with Socrates but in some cases, he might just be right. Like for instance, people tend to believe things said by authrority, even without proof, they still think they're right. It is also said in the video that if majority of the population believes it is right, then it will be.

Happiness is not ready made, it comes from your actions so if you believe in yourself, then you shall be happy. Because when it comes to being happy, there is no right or wrong. It's just a battle between your happiness and people's judgment. If you believe that you're right, you have to stand up for yourself.

What is your purpose in life?

That is a very hard question.

You see, everything in this world, be it living or not, have its own purpose. Just like a bag. A bag's purpose is to carry things, to make human life easier. I can identify a lot of things and a few people who have purposes but I can't really explain what mine is. Maybe I was brought into this world to help someone, to be someone's guide or maybe even to invent, discover or do something important and/or valuable in the near future, but I don't know that yet.

As of now, my purpose as a student is to study, to learn, to experience things that may or may not help me discover my other purposes in life, to make me a better person so as to prepare me for what is to come.