Skip to main content

Home/ Philosophy for teens/ Group items tagged humanities

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
steven bloom

Using Animals for Testing: Pro's Versus Con's - About Animal Testing (UK) - 1 views

www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/-testing-pros-versus-cons.html

shared by steven bloom on 22 Nov 10 - Cached
  • ssible by
  • It is for this reason that animal testing is considered vital for improving human health and it is also why the scientific community a
  • nd many members of the public support its use. In fact, there are also individuals who are against animal testing
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • for cosmetics but still support animal testing for medicine and the development of new drugs for disease.
  • Another important aspect to note is that animal testing helps to ensure the safety of drugs and many other substances humans use or are exposed to regularly. Drugs in particular can carry significant dangers with their use but animal testing allows researchers to initially gauge the safety of drugs prior to commencing trials on humans. This means that human harm is reduced and human lives are saved - not simply from avoidance of the dangers of drugs but because the drugs themselves save lives as well as improve the quality of human life.
  • osest match and
  • best one with regards to applying this data to humans.
  • Daryl Bambic on 24 Nov 10
     
    Please add your sticky note summary.
  • steven bloom on 03 Dec 10
     
    Thia website states the cons of animal testing. It says that when animals are finished being tested on they are usually killed. It also states that the cost of animal testing is through the roof and we can spend it on anything else. Lastly soem scientist still believe that it is unreliable to test animals and to think that the drug will work on humans.
Daryl Bambic

Aristotle and the Good Life - 0 views

webcache.googleusercontent.com/search

aristotle happiness

shared by Daryl Bambic on 29 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • But it doesn’t follow that since his ideas on some things were silly, his ideas on all things were silly
  • reason a central place in human life
  • Money is clearly only a means to an end, therefore it can’t be the main good
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • But what really determines the quality of our lives is not our circumstances themselves but what we make of them
  • Success (or honour) can’t be the main good either, since (a) it’s too dependent on other people and the whims of fortune,
  • Pleasure is certainly not the main good,
  • lives that are fit only for cattle
  • He recognises three types of relationships: the useful, the pleasant and the ones based on mutual admiration.
  • main good for a human being is reason, since it is the characteristic human capacity, the one we don’t share with other animals.
  • theoretical (concerning the contemplation of unchangeable truths)
  • ractical
  • intellectual virtues
  • virtues of character
  • Excess and deficiency
  • unction argument
  • erything in the universe had a purpose
  • essential nature of a thing or creature: just like the purpose of an acorn was to develop into an oak tree, that of human beings was to develop their unique human capacities, the most important of which was the ability to reason
  • in true Aristotelian spirit, is a mean between ‘anything goes’ and a totally prescriptiv
Daryl Bambic

The Virtual Choir - Eric Whitacre - 0 views

ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir

virtualchoir whitacre

shared by Daryl Bambic on 13 Jan 12 - Cached
  • Daryl Bambic on 13 Jan 12
     
    the humanizing force of the internet's connectivity is redefining what it means to be human
mira ahmad

human evolution-What does it mean to be human? - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

philosophy

shared by mira ahmad on 13 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • mira ahmad on 13 Oct 10
     
    This video speaks about the human evolution, and what makes somebody human. It helped me write my blog because it gave me some other ideas that I had never thought of.
Mason Brenhouse

UN Investigator Urges Probe of Alleged US Torture | CommonDreams.org - 1 views

www.commondreams.org/...27-2

torture philosophy UN

shared by Mason Brenhouse on 02 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • Nowak, an Austrian human rights lawyer who has been U.N. special rapporteur on torture for six years, called for an investigation of all allegations of U.S. torture and collusion with states that use torture since the fight against militants began in earnest after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
  • Nowak also reiterated calls by him and other U.N. officials for the Obama administration to investigate reports from reams of leaked military documents showing U.S. troops killed Iraqi civilians or ignored prisoner abuse by Iraqis.
  • "What we need is a full investigation into torture practices by U.S. officials -- whether it's military officials, CIA officials or private security companies," he said, adding it should include those "who willingly and knowingly handed over detainees to other states" that torture. An ideal probe, Nowak said, would be conducted by a special prosecutor or panel of international experts.
  • Mason Brenhouse on 02 Nov 10
     
    Changes in the US torture policies. An Austrian human rights lawyer named Manfred Nowak works for the U.N. as a special rapporteur and has been doing so for six years. Nowak wants to have a full scale investigation done on what exactly is happening regarding their policies on torture. He questions exactly what the Obama administration is doing and hopes for an investigation. 
  • Kelsey Adams on 03 Nov 10
     
    I am so happy you found this information because after reading how U.S troops killed iraqi civilians and ignored prisoner abuse, I was in total shock. Nowak is doing a great thing fighting for the rights of humans because no one deserves torture, it only makes matters worse.
  • Ali Goldman on 03 Nov 10
     
    Manfred Nowak is trying to accomplish an amazing task and I greatly agree with what he is doing. I hope that this investigation happens regarding the policies of torture. Hopefully was can also see what Obama's administration is doing. Torture is never the answer.
mariakanarakis

An Introduction to the Orthodox Christian Understanding of Free Will - 0 views

orthodoxyinfo.org/AzkoulFreeWill.htm

orthodox greek christianity christian understanding will fate philosophy religion

shared by mariakanarakis on 10 May 12 - No Cached
  • Some have said that man is a machine, who must follow the laws ofhis nature; therefore, he is  neither free to choose between good and evil (whatever they are) nor even between things. Even if he could overcome the laws of nature, he would, as some ancient Greeks said, be subject to "fate" (moira, eir mene) whose decisions must be fulfilled. Thus, choice is a delusion.
  • "predestination," that is, before the creation of the world, God decided who would live with Him forever, and those who would dwell in penal fire for eternity
    • mariakanarakis
      mariakanarakis on 10 May 12
       
      Predestination= fate, destiny When they say God decided who would live, they mean go to heaven, and those who would dwell in penal Fire are the ones who go to hell
  • predestination
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • Materialists have postulated that man is a soulless machine and subject to the laws of nature.  Freedom is an illusion. We eat what we eat, think what we think, live as we live, according to the iron laws of the universe.
    • mariakanarakis
      mariakanarakis on 10 May 12
       
      By laws of nature they mean: not choosing between good and evil
  • The 18th century philosopher, Immanuel Kant, said that not only must we believe that man is free, but also he has an immortal soul, and that God exists. The idea of freedom cannot exist without the idea of God and immortality. Without such beliefs, the happy life and civilization are impossible.
    • mariakanarakis
      mariakanarakis on 10 May 12
       
      This is the opposite side of the materialist's one.
  • In the words of Nicholas Berdayaev, "Man is an enigmatic  being because he is not the product of natural processes, but is the child of freedom which  springs from the abyss of non-being. "
  • Man possesses a divine element within him and, therefore, he is free, with the power to create beauty, to do good, to love justice. Certainly, man's body is controlled by the strictures of time and space, but his spirit is free to transcend all the laws of his finite nature. His spirit takes him where his body cannot go.
  • What does the Orthodox Church teach about free will? None of the above. She has never been concerned about the so-called discoveries of human reason. Rather she trusts the sacred Scriptures and her holy Fathers.
  • We are limited -- - not  paralyzed --- by our nature, the force of circumstance, the laws of Nature.
  • free will does not mean the ability to do whatever we want.
  • we are restricted by the passions. The passions limit the scope of our choices.
  • Freedom involves deliberation. Ignorance is an excuse only for them who have no ability or opportunity to learn
  • Augustine of Hippo taught that
  • there are matters entirely beyond our control, such as those things which God has  reserved for Himself only God has autarkeia or is self-sufficient, absolutely independent; only God is autexousios or complete "self-authority", "self-power", without any authority over Him.
  • How does the Church define "free will"?
  • two meanings
  • It is the  ability to choose between good and evil and between one thing and another. In every choice  there is the risk of sin, unless we call upon the Grace of God to aid« us.
  • our choices always involve  the power to choose between good and evil.
  • our liberty is restricted by ignorance.
  • impossible for us to choose between good and evil and, therefore, to take any part in our salvation
  • "original sin"
  • The liberty of Christians differs from the liberty of the unbeliever, he who is outside the influence of God's saving Grace.
  • choice depends upon knowledge; and upon the knowledge of God's Revelation, which presents the greatest number of choices.
  • with the knowledge of God comes the knowledge of the good and, by implication, the knowledge of evil; and, consequently, the possibility to choose between them. Without that knowledge and the choices that result from them, we are left with no explanation for human existence except fate or predestination, some unknown destiny. Understanding  ourselves this way, is to deprive human choice and action of all meaning Worse, if there were a  God, we would need to blame him for all evil. Not even the devil, if one existed! , could be held  responsible for his conduct.
    • mariakanarakis
      mariakanarakis on 10 May 12
       
      FINAL conclusion
  • mariakanarakis on 10 May 12
     
    An Introduction to the Orthodox Christian understanding of free will
Daryl Bambic

Russell, Bertrand: Ethics [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] - 0 views

www.iep.utm.edu/russ-eth

russell ethics

shared by Daryl Bambic on 02 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Russell’s view is that the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge
  • neither love without knowledge
  • knowledge without love
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • but love is in a sense more fundamental, since it will lead intelligent people to seek knowledge in order to find out how to benefit those whom they love.
  • “scientific knowledge and knowledge of particular facts.”
  • All moral rules must be tested by examining whether they tend to realize ends that we desire.”(374)
  • In his youth, Russell took the utilitarian view that the “happiness of mankind should be the aim of all actions”
  • dignity of which human existence is capable is not attainable by “devotion to the mechanism of life”, and that unless the contemplation of “eternal things” is preserved, humankind will become “no better than well-fed pigs.”
  • He believed that (1) “good” is the most fundamental ethical concept and (2) that “good” is indefinable
  • a priori certain propositions about the kind of things that are good on their own account.
    • Daryl Bambic
      Daryl Bambic on 02 Apr 14
       
      A priori meaning without empirical evidence, from reason and logic.
  • Russell, on the other hand, gives no such list of things which are good in themselves,
  • regard consequences or results as of vital importance for judging an action as right or wrong. In other words both are teleologists or consequentialists, like the utilitarians.
  • mpact of the First World War, which Russell passionately opposed
  • of human passions similar to that of psychoanalysts. Russell started believing that fundamental facts “in all ethical questions are feelings”, (Russell 1917, 19) and that impulse has more effect in moulding human lives than conscious purpose.
  • d we ought to act so as to maximize the balance of happiness over unhappiness in the world, and says: “I should not myself regard happiness as an adequate definition of the good, but I should agree that conduct ought to be judged by its consequences.”
  • According to him, once “good” is defined, the rest of ethics follows:
  • According to Russell, when we assert that this or that has value, we are giving expression to our emotions, not to a fact which would still be true if our personal feelings were different.
  • he first of these sentences, which may be true or false, does not, says Russell, belong to ethics but to psychology or biography
  • he second sentence which does belong to ethics, expresses a desire for something, but asserts nothing; and since it asserts nothing it is logically impossible that there should be evidence for or against it, or for it to possess either truth or falsehood.
  • Russell adopts as his guiding principle David Hume’s maxim that “Reason is, and ought, only to be the slave of the passions.
  • esires, emotions or passions
  • nly possible causes of action. Reason is not a cause of action but only a regulator.
  • The world that I should wish to see,” says Russell, ‘is one where emotions are strong but not destructive, and where, because they are acknowledged, they lead to no deception either of oneself or of others. Such a world would include love and friendship and the pursuit of art and knowledge.” (11)
  • esires are not “irrational” just because we cannot give any reason for them.
  • wondering once again whether there is such a thing as ethical knowledge.
  • since it must involve appeal to the majority,
Daryl Bambic

Mutable Morality, Not Subjective Morality. Moral Pluralism, Not Moral Relativism. - 0 views

www.patheos.com/...pluralism-not-moral-relativism

morality

shared by Daryl Bambic on 18 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • ointing out but wrongly calling “subjectivity”.To say that not only do moralities change but that they should and that even good moralities may not be permanently and at all times good is not to say that morality is subjective
  • Morality, even if mutable, need not be just a matter of arbitrary feelings or tastes that admit of no argument for persuading those who happen to feel differently.
  • good moral judgments
  • ...20 more annotations...
  • some important extent context
  • dependent.
  • change with different circumstances.  
  • valid measures of human flourishing.
  • broadly definable human goods
  • ntellectual power,
  • ocial organization and cohesion, artistic prowess, physical health, athletic prowess, aesthetic sensitivity and complexity, technological capability, technological achievement, emotional satisfaction, pleasure, political efficiency, virtues,
  • moral pluralism, not relativism.
  • Moral pluralism acknowledges that differing moralities, which in particulars may formally contradict each other, can each be ethically approvable given variations in circumstances or given their respective abilities to meet certain thresholds of valuable contribution to life.
    • Daryl Bambic
      Daryl Bambic on 18 Feb 15
       
      Moral pluralism allows for cross cultural (different) standards of morality.
  • Moral relativism would allow for no cross-cultural assessments but would say that the only standard a morality has or needs is the endorsement of a particular individual or culture
  • ocial scientist’s perspecti
  • hilosophical,
  • hat values are best and what moral codes best realize them.
  • onstitute human flourishing and happiness.
  • if we have enough historical understandin
  • Old Testament morality
  • as in its own time the best and most progressive advance for the people who adopted it
  • ays it failed a
  • dismiss the Old Testament as irrelevant to a contemporary context.
  • t is also wholly unpersuasive to claim, as some try, that God’s values have always been the same even as he has given his people moral codes that fit their times or their understanding at each of their stages
Daryl Bambic

The Inner Landscape of Beauty with John O'Donohue [On Being] - 0 views

being.publicradio.org/...inner-landscape-of-beauty

via:packrati.us beauty

shared by Daryl Bambic on 27 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Daryl Bambic on 27 Jan 12
     
    Beauty as a human calling: The Inner Landscape of Beauty with John O'Donohue [On Being] http://t.co/35L8HAbj via @Beingtweets
Daryl Bambic

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PLATONISM « Studying the Humanities - 0 views

studyingthehumanities.wordpress.com/...a-brief-overview-of-platonism

plato

shared by Daryl Bambic on 20 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Plato’s philosophy has lasted “almost two and a half thousand years” and has “profoundly influenced”
  • allegorical ‘Myth of the Cave’
  • rying to explain how the appearance of things and the reality that stands behind these appearances work within the human condition”
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • aises questions on the nature of education and enlightenmen
  • ndividual perceptions create the lived reality
  • Our perceptions create our reality
  • light can “pain the eyes
  • deception of the shadows”
  • en (sic) lacking education would come to believe that the shadows they see are the real thing
  • Plato optimistically holds that if one ever comes to know the Good, one becomes good. Ignorance is the only sin. No one would willingly do wrong
mira ahmad

Human consciousness - 0 views

www.ted.com/...nett_on_our_consciousness.html

shared by mira ahmad on 13 Oct 10 - Cached
  • mira ahmad on 13 Oct 10
     
    Dan Dennett is a philosopher and in this video, he speaks about how hard it is to change people's consciousness. Basically, it's hard to change the opinion of somebody. I watched this video because it helped me write my blog on: what it means to be human. This video also helped me with my sociology project on teen ignorance. Dan Dennett speaks about apathy near the middle of the video, which has to do with my project.
  • Daryl Bambic on 02 Nov 10
     
    I have a problem with the philosopher but I listen to him anyway because he's so intelligent.
sara tsapekis

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - 0 views

www.suite101.com/...ration-of-human-rights-a178701

shared by sara tsapekis on 08 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • sara tsapekis on 08 Nov 10
     
    This site explains what the Universal Declaration is about, what rights it protects and why it was approved.
Kelsey Adams

Correctional Service Canada- Torture Laws - 3 views

www.csc-scc.gc.ca/...im4630-02-eng.shtml

shared by Kelsey Adams on 03 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • Kelsey Adams on 03 Nov 10
     
    In this text we learn how Canada has strict rules against the torture of prisoners. The government believes that no matter what, we must respect the dignity of a human being and that no cruel punishments should ever be brought upon prisoners. There is said to be no international treaty that deals exclusively with the treatment of prisoners and the conditions of incarceration but one of the more known and respected instrument that deals with the rights of these criminals is the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
  • mira ahmad on 03 Nov 10
     
    Kelsey, This text is pretty interesting because while reading it, I learned a lot about Canada's correctional service system. I know about the basics but some things were explained in detail and I learned things that I never knew before. Now I will be able to link specific cases with our correctional system and get a better understanding!
mira ahmad

BBC - Ethics - Torture: Why is torture wrong? - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...wrong_1.shtml

shared by mira ahmad on 07 Nov 10 - Cached
  • [Torture] dehumanizes people by treating them as pawns to be manipulated through their pain.
  • Torture is sometimes used to destroy the autonomy of the victim
  • Torture violates the rights and human dignity of the victim
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • each act of torture makes it easier to accept the use of torture in the future
  • Torture damages the humanity of the torturers
  • Torture damages the institution that carries it out
  • The use of torture is dishonourable. It corrupts and degrades the state which uses it and the legal system which accepts it
  • Torture treats the victim as a means to an end and not an end in themselves
  • Daryl Bambic on 08 Nov 10
     
    This is a great resource Mira. I hope everyone gets a look at this!
Kayla Korman

euthanasia - 0 views

members.tripod.com/...eu.html

shared by Kayla Korman on 24 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • By denying them their right to euthanasia, the government satisfies its own moral standards but ignores the outcome of its action. Some patients cannot bear the excruciating agony that accompanies terminal illness and when they cannot obtain physician-assisted suicide, try to kill themselves even though they may not be in a condition to do so. They may also beg for the help of loved ones not trained in medicine in their suicide. As a result, the suicide may often be messy, painful and sometimes unsuccessful. It is unfair on the family and friends of the patients to have to go through such a nightmare when all they want is to free their loved ones of pain and torment.
  • In addition, doctors are afraid to openly discuss end-of-life decisions with patients due to illegalities. This prevents an open and honest relationship between doctor and patient in which the doctor can discover the patient's wishes regarding his/her own life and death.
  • Currently there are cases of misuse of euthanasia, for example in cases where the patient is pressured by family members to give consent to the ending of their lives. The legalization of voluntary euthanasia provides an opportunity for safeguards against just such a situation, and other instances of coercion and fraud. The legalizing of voluntary euthanasia would provide a set of guidelines and regulations for the parties involved to follow, such as psychological counseling and psychiatric evaluation
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • right of every human being to make decisions regarding his own body and have these decisions respected.
  • right of every human being to make decisions regarding his own body and have these decisions respected.
  • Kayla Korman on 24 Nov 10
     
    this site gives really good example and situations where Euthanasia would be very positive
vince chatigny-barbosa

Animals lack free moral judgment - 1 views

debatepedia.idebate.org/...e_they_have_no_moral_judgement

shared by vince chatigny-barbosa on 05 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • vince chatigny-barbosa on 05 Dec 10
     
    This is a website basically supporting the argument that animals lack the free moral judgment and basically cannot exercise any rights.
  • Lauren Ganze on 06 Dec 10
     
    "However closely humans and lower animals resemble each other, human beings alone possess the capacity for free choice and the responsibility to act ethically." This is a quote from the site you bookmarked that I find is part of a good point and a good argument. You really chose a good site because it holds philosophical points instead of only opinions and facts. It doesn't really leave much room for argument, but you might want to watch out for your opponents saying things like, "Who's to say they don't have ratinoal thought?" It's sure to help you out in your debate, though.
Daryl Bambic

The Art Instinct - The Frontal Cortex - 0 views

scienceblogs.com/...the-art-instinct

art dutton

shared by Daryl Bambic on 17 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • What began with a few horses on the walls of a French cave has blossomed into a human obsession
  • desire for beauty is firmly grounded in evolution, a side effect of the struggle to survive and reproduce
  • sate a biological drive
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • scientific response to the idea that art is a “social construction,” driven by the fads of society
  • he basic layout was identical. In each case, people craved a painting that featured a large body of blue water, some open grass, a human figure and a few animals.
  • hard-wired preferences, which developed when we were Pleistocene hunter-gatherers roaming the African savannah. The landscapes we find most beautiful are simply those from which we evolved.
  • Such unpleasant works of art are inspired, Dutton says, by a “blank-slate view of culture,” which assumes that the mind can learn to appreciate just about anything.
  • explaining kitsch.
    • Daryl Bambic
      Daryl Bambic on 17 Feb 15
       
      This is the contrary opinion to the one that Denis Dutton is proposing about 'art as a biological instinct'.
Daryl Bambic

Edge : Conversations on the edge of human knowledge - 0 views

www.edge.org

beauty truth

shared by Daryl Bambic on 18 Jan 12 - Cached
  • Daryl Bambic on 18 Jan 12
     
    explanations are beautiful, elegant and true
Daryl Bambic

The Art Instinct : The Frontal Cortex - 0 views

scienceblogs.com/...the_art_instinct.php

shared by Daryl Bambic on 27 Sep 10 - No Cached
    • Daryl Bambic
      Daryl Bambic on 27 Sep 10
       
      art (beauty) has an evolutionary role
  • n each case, people craved a painting that featured a large body of blue water, some open grass, a human figure and a few animals.
  • the survey results reveal our hard-wired preferences, which developed when we were Pleistocene hunter-gatherers roaming the African savannah. The landscapes we find most beautiful are simply those from which we evolved. If we like paintings with a foreground of short grasses, it's because that habitat contains more protein per square mile than any other, which is a crucial perk for a meat-eating primate.
anonymous

Torture - 1 views

www.ted.com/...on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

philosophy torture Philip Zimbardo

shared by anonymous on 02 Nov 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 02 Nov 10
     
    Philip Zimbardo is psychologist and an expert witness of Abu Ghraib. He was the leader of the Stanford Prison Experiment during 1971. He talks about how human can easily become a monster.
  • Daryl Bambic on 03 Nov 10
     
    Excellent choice Michael.
1 - 20 of 30 Next ›
Showing 20▼ items per page