does god exist

I believe that he does. What questions my mind is how some religions don't believe that there is a God when i thought religion was first based off of the belief in a God. I am open to many religions even though i dont practice my own religion as often as i would like. How does is it that there are religions that dont believe in a God?

Women and Feminism

Over break I was watching tv and noticed how much women are seen as only objects. Shows such as Americas Next Top Model, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Bad Girls Club, and many more objectify women to an extreme extent. In ANTM women are only seen as beautiful if they are thin and tall and can effortlessly pull off wearing designer clothes. Women are no longer placed in the shadows of society, so why are we still degrading ourselves by being men's objects?

freedom

When reading Satre I thought about reaching absolute freedom. If we all reached absolute freedom in our lifetime would our own individual lives be the amazing and perfect picture we paint in our minds or would this perfect would actually feel more like a hell on earth? We all would be doing the same thing and everything would be perfect according to how each of us pictures a perfect world but would the repetitiveness and perfection lead us to insanity?

Republic Book II

In the Republic book II the main question that is trying to be decided is whether the just man or the unjust man is happier. Glaucon states that the just man is the one who is happier simply because he does all of his actions based on their consequences. I would agree with Glaucon because an unjust man, like some one who embezzles money, is constantly worrying about whether or not they will get caught and put in jail, but a just man never has to worry about that because all of his actions are done with a good heart for good reactions.

Class Synopsis Paper February 14, 2011

In class, we discussed Carpe Diem and what it has to do with Hellenistic Philosophy. We discussed the four dominant philosophical schools, which were, Plato’s Academy, Aristotle’s Lyceum, Zeno’s Stoa and Epicurus’ Garden. We then discussed how Zeno’s Stoa and Epicurus’ Garden constantly contradict each other. We then described the differences between Epicureanism and Stoicism.

Epicureanism dealt with atomism, where we are all discrete isolated individuals caught in the void and we only exist by chance. Since in Epicureanism there is only chance, this means that there is no teleology and pleasure is the main goal, where all humans act for the sake of pleasure or the absence of pain. In Stoicism unity was the main idea, where everything is through and through. Unlike Epicureanism, Stoicism says that everything is done by fate and that there is an absolute teleology and an absolute end to all behavior; everything is connected. Instead of pleasure being the main goal, in Stoicism the main good is the good or duty. Everyone is duty bound to follow reason or nature regardless of the consequences.

Towards the end of class we talked about the types of pleasure, Kinetic vs. Static, and found that static is the highest pleasure because it is the absence of pain and cannot be increased or decreased. After we talked about askesis of desire and how we need to discipline ourselves to know what we should desire. The types of desires were Natural and Necessary, that being food, shelter and clothing. Natural but Unnecessary, which could be soda or sex and Unnatural and Unnecessary which would be big houses, excess amounts of clothes.

That last thing we discussed was Freedom vs. Fate and how it is up to us how we deal with our decisions, whether they are good or bad. Good judgment was is saying yes to fate and saying yes to whatever the world throws at us, and bad judgment is attempting to revolt against reason and being pained by the indifference of fate.

Reasoning Behind Reason

This week, we talked about reason and it made me wonder how we all decide whether an action is rational or not. To some one action may be totally acceptable and rational but to others it may seem insane and irrational. How do we all decipher what it considered a socially acceptable and reasonable action and where did this norm start. How would do we decide how to teach a person about choosing socially acceptable responses if that person doesn't have the mental capability to comprehend what is being taught.

Phaedo

When reading the Phaedo I was intrigued by idea that everything that we have come to know comes from recollection. It made me wonder if this were true. I started to think about how our bodies and minds work, and came to the conclusion that pretty much everything that we have known and will ever know come from recollection. How is it that when we are babies being born, we know to breathe or blink or cry to get our way or attention. These things do not just come naturally which makes me believe that our souls do carry on from past lives. It makes me also think about the psychological theory of Nature vs. Nurture and how some believe that everything that we know come from nurture. That it is our parents and our environments that shape our behaviors and actions. While others believe that who we are was already put into place before we were born and after we are born we show those characteristics and traits.

Arguments

An argument is not merely two people yelling at each other trying to get their points across. To me an argument is where two or more people simply discuss the topic on hand and try to be somewhat persuasive so that the other person will understand what is being said. Yelling back and forth or contradicting the other person is what an argument is not. A person can be talking loudly, but not saying anything at the same time. I feel that an argument should consist of logical and well thought out ideas that enable both parties to be understood and taken seriously.