Sex And The City

In the last class we talked about the tv series Sex and the City. Having two older sisters I have watched the show before. However, I never really saw it as in depth as others in our class did. I always just watched the show and got only what was on the surface. After the last class I realize that people look much deeper into the show.

While I am not a big fan of the show I was still interested in listening to the in depth conversations we had.

We are always something other than ourselves

I generally tend to disagree with this statement. I believe that at times we do things that are uncharacteristic of ourself, but there is a common trend among acts we commit. There is a similarity between the choices we make throughout our life, but I do think that at times we lose ourself and make choices we normally would not.

Think about our life a week at a time, is there something drastically different that we did this week that we didn't do last week? The answer most likely is no. I think that this statement should say, "We are almost never something other than ourselves."

Aesthetic

The hedonist thinks that life is pleasure while the individual thinks that life is tough. I believe that life is a mixture of the two. Life is a continuous test that consists of adversity and success. The better we handle adversity the greater the success we have.

Adversity tests our will as individuals to keep on pursuing our dreams. Those that give up because it is too hard will not reap the benefits while those that fight through the tough times will see the rewards of their hard work and perseverence.

“History of society is a history of class struggles”

I agree with this statement. In today's world I sense an underlying tension between classes and races. It is not with words that are said or specific actions but there is a vibe given off. For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic your assumptions about that person are not that he or she is similar to you. Elevators are another example where there can be a very uncomfortable tension.

justice

Justice is not something I often think about, but the way justice was talked about this week makes a lot of sense. Justice is necessary in the world and even though we must sacrifice it works out for the best in the end. If there was not justice there would be chaos.

Justice keeps the world in order which is very important. In my opinion foreign countries that are going through a tough time can attribute justice with causing their problem. While perfect justice is impossible the closer a society can get to it the better off they will be

doubt

The discussion from last class about doubt was very interesting. I have always doubted things but never thought about doubt in itself. I think that Descartes had a very interesting view on doubt and agree with a lot of what he had to say. I especially liked his opinion of what can be called into doubt. Descartes said that senses, madness, and dreams can all be called into doubt.

Evaluating Cosmological Arguments

In response to the question " Why should we accept that the universe had a beginning," I believe that while we don't have to agree on what the beginning consisted of we should agree that there was a beginning. There is a beginning to everything in life. Evolution is an everyday occurrence and we should believe that the start of the universe was no different.

In answering "Why is cause always necessary" I think there is a very simple answer. There is always a cause behind an action, no matter the action. Think about things you have done today, there is something that caused you to do every action.

Virtues

I believe that courage is the hardest virtue to have. It takes a very strong person to have courage in tough situations. In this years Super Bowl the quarterback for the Packers exhibited a tremendous courage. When he replaced a Hall of Fame quarterback he had a tremendous amount of courage and did not shy away from the spotlight. Not only did he handle the situation with class but within three years of becoming the starter won a Super Bowl and was named the most valuable player of the game.

Plato Reading

I thought that this was one of the most confusing reading assignments I have ever had to read. I thought most of the reading was written more like a fortune cookie than a story However, I did really like the end of the story when they were debating whether the body or soul were mortal or immortal. It is a very interesting argument but there really is no way of knowing the answer to the question.

What an argument is not

When I think of an argument I think of two people going back and forth talking over each other, trying not to let the other person get a word in. In my opinion this goes under the abuse category in what an argument is not. However, the debate today between Dr. Layne and a student was exactly what an argument is. They both had good reasons and logic for how they felt the way they did about relativism/nihilsm. While both were passionate about how they felt neither tried to talk over the other person. I'm not a person that really likes to get into debates but this type of debate is a reason why a class like philosophy can be very interesting.

Ignorance

My favorite part of the class on Wednesday was discussing the types of Ignorance. The type of ignorance that stuck out to me was double ignorance. There are always those one or two people in every class that the term can be used for. These people at times just talk to be heard, when in my opinion it takes away from the conversation at hand.

The great part about certain classes, especially those that encourage debate is hearing the different insight from class mates with different backgrounds and opinions. I have never taken a philosophy class before so I am interested to see how I feel about the subject once I have gained a basic knowledge of the course.