From pajamas to knowledge to truth to...?

I love pajamas. I love wearing them, I love the comfort they give to me, I love being able to go right into nap-mode after all my classes are done. So naturally it was horrifying to hear that I could not wear pajamas to my 9:30 philosophy class. In pondering the reasons for this, I remembered the teacher saying that in Europe, education was taken seriously. “What does that even mean,” I asked myself. How can a process be serious or less serious based on my comfort level? Then I wondered, “What even is education?” I was semi-content with the idea that education is an acquisition of knowledge, at least generally speaking. Likewise, philosophy is a love/study/quest for knowledge.

So then I had to ask myself what knowledge is, and that’s when my head started to really go crazy. Knowledge is something in our minds, but still it has to exist for us to talk about it, right? I also wrestled with the idea that maybe knowledge is somehow tied to truth. But that means 1) everything we know must be “truth,” 2) I know what truth is, and 3) I STILL need to know what “knowing” means in order to “know” what the truth is.

In the midst of all this thinking I realized that I was doing exactly what this class was aimed at (at least I think I was). So after an hour or so of confusing myself with more and more questions to which the answers seem unattainable, I found myself more confused than ever--but more importantly, I was intrigued by the idea of philosophy. And this all happened because I wanted to know why pajamas were not allowed.

Shell of Ignorance

During our class discussion on Wednesday, what stood out most for me was the concept of ignorance. In many instances I have encountered the conceited ignorance that we discussed. I believe that this ignorance is the most truly ignorant of the various types. What frustrates me about this ignorance is that it cuts that person away from reality, living in an inpenetrable shell of what they insist is right, despite constant opposition. It is this kind of ignorance that divided races in America for hundreds of years, forcing certain groups into lower standards and still divides many groups today. While this ignorance is illogical, it is the very existence of this ignorance that encourages one to become enlightened and realize the erroneous beliefs that were the norm.

Philosophy

Just after having two classes it has made me realize that I will never know exactly what Philosophy is. It’s true meaning is constantly being challenged and changed. When someone thinks that they have cracked the code and figured it all out, new questions arise from the newly made cracks. It is a constant search and discovery of new information. I do not believe that Philosophy is simply made up of questions and knowledge, but also what is not known. It is from the not knowing that questions come forth. The lack of knowledge is the driving force behind philosophy. It is what, I feel, motivates people to keep studying and searching for ways of understanding the unknown in life. Ignorance comes in various forms as we discussed in class. We talked about double ignorance, which I feel is the most common. It seems like everyone always thinks they know what is best or they have all the right answers. These are the kinds of people who close their minds off to anything that are outside of their beliefs. Simple ignorance I think springs up from laziness. There are people who are just too comfortable with their ignorance and way of life that they do not feel a need to change. Then there are the people who are virtuously ignorant; those who recognize their ignorance but are trying to change and push for answers. I think that I am virtuously ignorant. I recognize that there is a lot out in the world that I do not know, but I am willing to change and discover the answers.

contemplating metaphysics

Last year, as a high school senior, my favorite class I had ever taken in high school was Bioethics, which combined the views of some of the most famous philosophers and applying their beliefs and theories to modern-day issues concerning the biology, dignity, and meaning of the human being. When I first enrolled in this philosophy course, I expected the material would be similar to that which I had already learned last year, and easy to master. I still remember day one of walking into Dr. Layne's class, and the first question she posed was, "What is philosophy?" Many different and sensible opinions were thrown into the discussion, but what really got me thinking was when she mentioned that philosophy was reflected upon itself, and that the simple question "what is philosophy," in and of itself is a philosophical question. Rather than concluding thought, philosophy inspires it. I absolutely couldn't agree more.

Last Friday, we began our discussion of metaphysics, it's concerns, and then problems and that it poses in the field of philosophy. When I used to ponder the questions of metaphysics, I felt as if my mind would enter into a trance of continual thought and questions which I absolutely couldn't wrap my mind around. I could sit there for hours and really try to think about the universe and its existence, life's purpose and end, the existence of God and what it means for Him to be eternal. One topic that struck me was that of the divide created between essence, the question which brings to light the required characteristics of a given object. We were asked: since not all desks may look exactly alike, are they still desks? Desks typically have four legs, but are four legs required for an object to be a desk? Can we make that comparison with people? Are there "required" characteristics of a human being for a certain person to be that exact person? I started thinking about my own inner characteristics, habits, emotions, and personality traits. Even if I eliminated a part of me that I considered to be a minimal aspect of my inner being, such as my affiliation for tye-dye clothing, I would not be the Katie that I know myself to be and that others know me to be. From this example, I can draw that every aspect of us as humans, makes up the essence of the individuals that we are; and we are simply incomparable to object characterization. Every small part of us is in fact required for us to be the people that we are.

My First Encounter with Philosophy

After my first week of classes, I was quite surprised that philosophy turned out to be my most intriguing and thought provoking course. Why? Well honestly I never actually knew nor did I ever take the time to research the true definition of philosophy. But through assigned readings and Dr. Lanye’s lectures, I now understand that philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom through intellectual means. Ironically, I also learned that my previous ignorance to the subject plays a role in the study itself. Bertrand Russell’s “The Problems of Philosophy” defines philosophy as a critical analysis of assumptions and concrete beliefs. Throughout my life, I have continuously questioned the reason for why things happen and simply why things are the way they are. I now realize that throughout my questioning, I was already involved in philosophical contemplation. During Friday’s class though, one particular philosophical branch we discussed fascinated me. Epistemology. Epistemology deals strictly with the nature and justification of knowledge. Can knowledge be certain? Is it even possible? How do we attain it? These are just some questions that I came away after Friday’s lecture. I’m excited to further explore the division Dr. Layne introduced between rationalism and empiricism. I’m also looking forward to analyzing more philosophical texts and learning the different forms of doing philosophy.

“Knowledge is knowing that we cannot know.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Epistomology in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

As a committed nerd, I've devoted myself to thoughtful consideration of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I've found that Joss Whedon, the show's creator, has brought an unprecedented depth and reflection to the otherwise mirthful story of a teenage girl who hunts and slays vamps and demons with the help of her closest friends.

Whedon raises philosophical issues from the very first episode. When Buffy is told that, not only do vampires and demons exist, but it is her destiny to hunt and kill them, she is forced to go through the paces of epistomological development from the very beginning. Everything she thought she knew is thrown into question by the revelation of these beasties and her destiny, and she must ask herself many of the questions raised by epistomologists. Can she justify the belief that vampires are not real? Can she find a way to justify the belief that they are? She's never seen a vampire, but she does find that she has extraordinary strength. Does this validate the supposed authority of Rupert Giles and the Watchers' Council? If one of his assertions was true, does that mean they are all true? Even if the things he says are true, what are the limits of Giles' knowledge?

In answering these questions, Buffy must change some of the most basic assumptions her reality is based on. Eventually, Buffy faces what seems to be overwhelming evidence of the existence of vampires. Most convincingly, she fights one, giving her a posteriori knowledge, or knowledge through experience. However, she must figure out some way to make this new knowledge cohere with her previous assumptions about reality. She must explore the nature of knowledge and what she thinks she knows in order to integrate her previous knowledge with her new knowledge. The series reflects the difficulty of this task, by continuing to pose these questions to Buffy throughout the show's eight seasons. As in life, Buffy can't know for sure what she knows and what she doesn't, and is constantly torn between practicalities and the search for truth.

Dreams

We were told to answer a question: What is philosophy? We discussed how philosophy can be something that is perplexing and sometimes bothersome. There is one question that I think about sometimes and it perplexes me. What are dreams? I just recently watched a movie called "Inception" which was basically about a group of people creating different levels of dreams, going into each other's dreams, and eventually trying to plant an idea into a man's mind through his own dream. Dreams have always made me curious and I have never really understood dreams or the significance of dreams. So many questions always seem to spark up in my mind when I think about the reason dreams even occur. I rarely ever have dreams when I sleep; at most I probably have about 10-15 dreams a year, but probably less. However, it has been said by researchers that humans have dreams basically every night, and usually even multiple dreams. So, do I dream every night and simply forget these dreams? Or do I simply never dream at all? Does this only happen to me or do other people deal with this same situation?

Whenever I do dream, I try my best to remember what happened. Sometimes I feel like it might be important remember a dream since I seem to never have them. Lots of people like to say that whenever we dream, it’s our subconscious trying to tell us something. I often wonder if that is true. Some people have really bizarre dreams that seem to hold no significant message at all, while other times people have dreams that can cause them to realize something so important. Why do some dreams seem so real to us, and then other times people can actually realize they are dreaming? Can we wake ourselves up from dreams or do we have to wait for our bodies to be ready? Why aren’t all dreams good and why do we have nightmares? How can we interpret our dreams and do they always mean something? Do color dreams mean something different than black and white dreams? I have so many questions about dreams and it seems to be such a hard topic for researchers to study. I just hope that future scientists will be able to gain a better understanding of dreams and further their research so that I can also learn more about dreams.

I found a nice video that explained some things about dreams. It was actually pretty interesting so I posted the link at the end of my post. The doctor talked about REM sleep, different facts about dreams, and even talked a little about dream interpretation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OikoLaREvck

Philosophy and Music

Music has been a very big part of my life for as long as I can remember. I am a music education major and asked “Why do I need to take Philosophy to be a music teacher?” I quickly found that the two subjects are very closely related.

We began this course by asking the philosophical question in itself "What is Philosophy?" This question drove me to ask "What is Music?" “What is sound!?” I've played the flute for 10 years and have never questioned it. I played what I was told to and learned the theory part of music as it was taught to me.

Philosophy will help me to grow as a musician. Instead of just looking at a piece of music and accepting the notes on a page, I will look beyond it and start to question it. Why did the composer write this piece of music?

Music is related to philosophy because the great composers such as Bach and Beethoven have been dead for hundreds of years and they cannot give us the answers. We have to interpret their work and form our own opinions about the music, just as we do with philosophical questions such as "Who am I?"

So much in music is pre-determined. Pitch, notation, the buttons I press on a flute to get a certain pitch, ect. How can we be so sure that all of these things are true? Who decided that an “A” was an “A?” Are there people that have their own “rules” of music?

The outcome of music, however, is not at all pre-determined. There is no right way a piece of music should sound and every musician will contribute their own interpretation. No matter how many things of the music is set for us, (rhythm, pitches, ect.) the performance will sound the way you want it to sound.

Many things in our lives like our names and parents are set for us, but do we have control of the way our lives turn out, or is that set too?

Color, Light and Time

Today the ideas of light, color and time were all briefly mentioned in lecture today, and I had found an article that discusses in depth what two of these are: Light and Time. From a physics standpoint the slowing down and acceleration of light to achieve "invisibility" astounds me. The fact that we have the technology, or at least the know-how, to accomplish something like this and make Harry Potter a reality is incredible; with no wand required either. After reading this it made me curious as to what I really knew about both Light and Time. The two I thought were concrete enough and now I can learn about them in a truly mind boggling way. The writer declares this as, "the most awesome and the most dangerous idea ever..." This now brought a series of new questions to my attention: how can I use this to trick my friends; when can this be perfected to bring the two people into a conversational distance versus having them a mile apart from each other; will this technology be used for less than legitimate purposes; will light-bending-time-cheating crime be a thing of the future; will this all be the plot to the next James Bond movie?

Technology I find is amazing and the advances it is making is equally a wonder. Conversely, I feel like technology is also our greatest Achilles heel of our time.

Alexis Tabor, Week One

I have recently been watching The Hitcherhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the T.V. show that came out in the 80's, and after reading the assignment I thought it was appropriate to share an episode with you all. Season 1, Episode 4 (if the link doesn't work, it is on Hulu) challenges what we take for granted and addresses one of the more popular philosophical questions: "What is the meaning of life?" To tackle and answer this ultimate question ("What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?") they create a computer, Deep Thought, to calculate the answer. Many issues and questions come from this simple scene. What is our reliance on technology to have correct answers to any question we have? Do we want to know the answer to this question? And, as the T.V. show continues, what is the question?

The T.V. show is very funny, even when you get beyond the eighties-Britishness of it, and really challenges perspective we have of the world and ourselves.

Enjoy!