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mariakanarakis

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

  • 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
       
      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
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  • 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
       
      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
       
      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
       
      FINAL conclusion
  •  
    An Introduction to the Orthodox Christian understanding of free will
Daryl Bambic

The Internet Classics Archive | Symposium by Plato - 14 views

    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Context: The group is deciding how they will drink given the excessive partying from the previous night.
    • Nick Adoranti
       
      Hiya
    • Eric Bensoussan
       
      Im surprised that philosophers drank so much
    • hebaali1998
       
      How can you have a philosophical conversation while being intoxicated? 
  • entirely has this great deity been neglected." Now in this Phaedrus seems to me to be quite right, and therefore I want to offer him a contribution; also I think that at the present moment we who are here assembled cannot do better than honour the. god Love
  • Let Phaedrus begin the praise of Love,
  • ...100 more annotations...
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      The dinner party decides they are going to take turn giving speeches in praise of Love.
  • Love is the eldest and noblest and mightiest of the gods; and the chiefest author and giver of virtue in life, and of happiness after death.
  • Phaedrus
  • encouragement which all the world gives to the lover;
  • Such is the entire liberty which gods and men have allowed the lover, according to the custom which prevails in our part of the world.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      We have a custom of forgiving unreasonable behaviour when people are in love.
  • Evil is the vulgar lover who loves the body rather than the soul, inasmuch as he is not even stable, because he loves a thing which is in itself unstable, and therefore when the bloom of youth which he was desiring is over, he takes wing and flies away, in spite of all his words and promises; whereas the love of the noble disposition is life-long, for it becomes one with the everlasting
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Basically, he said that people who love for physical attraction and evil and vulgar because their love is cheap and disappear when youth's beauty fades.
  • Pausanias
  • Eryximachus
  • rightly distinguished two kinds of love
  • harmony is composed of differing notes
  • harmonious love of one another and blend in temperance and harmony,
  • Aristophanes
  • Mankind; he said, judging by their neglect of him, have never, as I think, at all understood the power of Love
  • original human nature was not like the present, but different. The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two, having a name corresponding to this double nature, which had once a real existence, but is now lost, and the word "Androgynous
  • sexes were three, and such as I have described them; because the sun, moon, and earth are three;
  • will restore us to our original state, and heal us and make us happy and blessed.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Love is about finding our true nature in another and in so doing, becoming whole.
  • Agathon
  • ut I would rather praise the god first, and then speak of his gifts; this is always the right way of praising everything.
  • flexibility and symmetry of form
  • beauty of the god
  • virtue I have now to speak: his greatest glory is that he can neither do nor suffer wrong to or from any god or any man
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Love cannot be forced as it is an act of freedom.
  • ll men in all things serve him of their own free will, and where there is voluntary agreement
  • courage and justice and temperance I have spoken, but I have yet to speak of his wisdom-
  • for I do not praise in that way; no, indeed, I cannot. But if you like to here the truth about love, I am ready to speak in my own manner, though I will not make myself ridiculous by entering into any rivalry with you. Say then, Phaedrus, whether you would like, to have the truth about love, spoken in any words and in any order which may happen to come into my mind at the time. Will that be agreeable to you?
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Socrates here says that he cannot praise Love the way Phaedrus does (because he said it all and laid all manner of claims of Love). 
  • Socrates then proceeded as follows:-
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      An example of the famous Socratic method is about to unfold...
  • Is Love of something or of nothing?
  • The inference that he who desires something is in want of something, and that he who desires nothing is in want of nothing, is in my judgment,
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Socrates gets Agathon to agree with his claim that we desire that which we don't possess OR that which we are not.
  • nd yet, added Socrates, if a man being strong desired to be strong, or being swift desired to be swift, or being healthy desired to be healthy, in that case he might be thought to desire something which he already has or is. I give the example in order that we may avoid misconception. For the possessors of these qualities, Agathon, must be supposed to have their respective advantages at the time, whether they choose or not; and who can desire that which he has? Therefore when a person says, I am well and wish to be well, or I am rich and wish to be rich, and I desire simply to have what I have-to him we shall reply: "You, my friend, having wealth and health and strength, want to have the continuance of them; for at this moment, whether you choose or no, you have them. And when you say, I desire that which I have and nothing else, is not your meaning that you want to have what you now have in the future?
  • Then he and every one who desires, desires that which he has not already, and which is future and not present, and which he has not, and is not, and of which he is in want;
  • First, is not love of something, and of something too which is wanting to a man
  • Love is the love of beauty and not of deformity
  • Then Love wants and has not beauty?
  • Is not the good also the beautiful?
  • Then in wanting the beautiful, love wants also the good?
  • Diotima of Mantineia
  • Love was neither fair nor good.
  • is love then evil and foul?
  • must that be foul which is not fair?
  • And is that which is not wise, ignoran
  • a mean between wisdom and ignorance?
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Diotima shows Socrates that there is a mid point between extremes; she avoids the 'either-or' trap.
  • ou also deny the divinity of Love.
  • What then is Love?" I asked; "Is he mortal?
  • he is neither mortal nor immortal, but in a mean between the two." "What is he, Diotima?" "He is a great spirit (daimon),
  • e interprets," she replied, "between gods and men
  • For God mingles not with man; but through Love
  • god Poros or Plenty
  • son of Metis or Discretion
  • Poverty,
  • always poor
  • nything but tender and fai
  • rough and squalid
  • no shoes, nor a house to dwell in;
  • is always in distress.
  • But that which is always flowing in is always flowing out, and so he is never in want and never in wealth;
  • he is in a mean between ignorance and knowledge. The truth of the matter is this
  • god is a philosopher. or seeker after wisdom, for he is wise already;
  • neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself: he has no desire for that of which he feels no want."
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      He who is neither 'good nor wise' is satisfied with himself because he does not desire that which he is not aware that he lacks.
  • ho then, Diotima," I said, "are the lovers of wisdom, if they are neither the wise nor the foolish?" "A child may answer that question," she replied; "they are those who are in a mean between the two; Love is one of them.
  • what is the use of him to men?
  • of the beautiful. But some one will say: Of the beautiful in what, Socrates and Diotima?-or rather let me put the question more dearly, and ask: When a man loves the beautiful, what does he desire?
  • hat the beautiful may be h
  • rther questio
  • Let me put the word 'good' in the place of the beautiful, and repeat the question once more: If he who loves good, what is it then that he loves?
  • And what does he gain who possesses the good
  • generally as the love of the everlasting possession of the good?" "That is most true."
  • "Then if this be the nature of love, can you tell me further," she said, "what is the manner of the pursuit? what are they doing who show all this eagerness and heat which is called love? and what is the object which they have in view?
  • hat all men are bringing to the birth in their bodies and in their souls.
  • onception and generation are an immortal principle in the mortal creature, and in the inharmonious they can never be.
  • The love of generation and of birth in beauty."
  • mortal creature, generation is a sort of eternity and immortality
  • love is of the everlasting possession of the good, all men will necessarily desire immortality together with good: Wherefore love is of immortality."
  • hy should animals have these passionate feeling
  • Marvel not," she said, "if you believe that love is of the immortal, as we have several times acknowledged; for here again, and on the same principle too, the mortal nature is seeking as far as is possible to be everlasting and immortal: and this is only to be attained by generation, because generation always leaves behind a new existence in the place of the old.
  • Marvel not then at the love which all men have of their offspring; for that universal love and interest is for the sake of immortality."
  • even to die, for the sake of leaving behind them a name which shall be eternal.
  • will preserve their memory and giving them the blessedness and immortality
  • But souls which are pregnant-for there certainly are men who are more creative in their souls than in their bodies conceive that which is proper for the soul to conceive or contain. And what are these conceptions?-wisdom and virtue in general.
  • oets and all artists
  • temperance and justice
  • he who would proceed aright in this matter should begin in youth to visit beautiful forms; and first, if he be guided by his instructor aright, to love one such form only-out of that he should create fair thoughts; and soon he will of himself perceive that the beauty of one form is akin to the beauty of another; and then if beauty of form in general is his pursuit, how foolish would he be not to recognize that the beauty in every form is and the same!
  • become a lover of all beautiful form
  • beauty of the mind is more honourable than the beauty of the outward form.
  • birth thoughts
  • mprove the youn
  • beauty of institutions and laws,
  • and that the beauty of them all is of one famil
  • ersonal beauty is a trifle;
  • sciences, tha
  • who has learned to see the beautiful in due order and succession,
  • oward the end will suddenly perceive a nature of wondrous beauty
  • everlasting,
  • rowing and decaying, or waxing and waning; s
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      At the end of life, the one who has pursued beauty will perceive its true eternal nature.
  • not fair in one point of view and foul in another
  • ut beauty absolute, separate, simple, and everlasting, which without diminution and without increase, or any change,
  • begins to perceive that beauty, is not far from the end.
  • And the true order of going, or being led by another, to the things of love, is to begin from the beauties of earth and mount upwards for the sake of that other beauty, using these as steps only, and from one going on to two, and from two to all fair forms, and from fair forms to fair practices, and from fair practices to fair notions, until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty, and at last knows what the essence of beauty is.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      The true order of discovering love and beauty; first of the body and the individual and then ascending upwards to the idea of absolute beauty itself.
  • beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may. Would that be an ignoble life?"
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Beholding beauty with the eye of the mind.
  • nature of Love first
  • Whether love is the love of something or of nothing?
  • whether Love desires that of which love is.
Daryl Bambic

For the Love of Money - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • as the McDonald’s C.E.O., Don Thompson, did in 2012, while his company then published a brochure for its work force on how to survive on their low wages
  • tax loophole that gave him a lower tax rate than his secretary.
  • walking away from my one chance to be really important.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • my wealth addiction
  • I am much happier. I feel as if I’m making a real contribution.
  • Wall Street is a toxic culture that encourages the grandiosity of people who are desperately trying to feel powerful.
  • rationalization of addicts.
  • the superrich are our cultural gods.
  • “enough”
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Aristotle spoke about the 'golden mean' and how virtue is finding this mean.  Sam Polk learned about Aristotle's virtuous life in the end.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      What do you think Aristotle would have said to Sam Polk?  Think about the 'golden mean' and living the virtuous life.
  • he felt trapped and empty, but couldn’t summon the courage to leave.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      What thoughts and feelings do you have reading this?  Are you empathetic toward Sam Polk and those in his situation?  
Daryl Bambic

The Science of Older and Wiser - Defining Wisdom | A Project of the University of Chica... - 0 views

  • hat if you define wisdom as maintaining positive well-being and kindness in the face of challenges, it is one of the most important qualities one can possess to age successfully — and to face physical decline and death.
  • Vivian Clayton, a geriatric neuropsychologist in Orinda, Calif
  • she found that most people described as wise were decision makers.
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  • name the characteristics of a wise person
  • hree key components: cognition, reflection and compassion.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Cognition is the process of acquiring knowledge through thought and the senses.  Speed of cognition is only one aspect of this. 
  • Unfortunately, research shows that cognitive functioning slows as people age. But speed isn’t everything
  • quality of the information in the older brain is more nuanced
  • ore information people have in their brains, the more they can detect familiar patterns.
  • cognitive templates
  • pattern recognition,
  • the reflective dimension)
  • he compassionate dimension
  • Wisdom, she has found, is the ace in the hole that can help even severely impaired people find meaning, contentment and acceptance in later life.
  • more active than passive about dealing with hardship.
  • better coping skills
  • An impediment to wisdom is thinking, “I can’t stand who I am now because I’m not who I used to be,”
  • t’s an embracing acceptance,
  • accept reality as it is, with equanimity
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Equanimity: means being calm and emotionally stable, especially under stress. You might say, "going with the flow".
  • f things are really bad, it’s good to be wise,” she said.
  • an expert knowledge system concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life.
  • general wisdom
  • personal wisdom
  • five elements
  • elf-insight
  • personal growth
  • elf-awareness in terms of your historical era
  • priorities and values, including your own, are not absolute
  • awareness of life’s ambiguities.
  • oping strategy
  • better to be positive about life when you are older, she said,
  • a wise person would fully acknowledge mistakes and losses, and still try to improve.
  • involves recognizing the negative both within and outside
  • stress kindness
  • eduction in self-centeredness,
  • multiple perspectives,
  • people who rank high in neuroticism are unlikely to be wise,
  • amorphous trait
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Amorphous: hard to define, without a clear shape
  • If you are wise, she said, “You’re not only regulating your emotional state, you’re also attending to another person’s emotional state.
  • hat you can contribute
  • generativity,
  • Generativity means giving back without needing anything in return,
  • simplifying one’s life is also a sign of wisdom
  • Continuing education can be an important way to cultivate wisdom in the later years
Matthew Schaffer

The ideas of Karma and Fate. A "free will inviolability" as a fundamental law of Creation - 0 views

  • mistakes a man has committed in his life may allegedly throw him back, and he may reincarnate as an animal.
    • Matthew Schaffer
       
      Believing that if we do bad things in our life may make us re-birth as an animal is very interesting? I don't see here why to them being an animal is so bad. What does the animal symbolize to them?
  • If something is going on in this world, it means that some system stands necessarily behind this,
    • Matthew Schaffer
       
      Here they are saying, in simpler terms, that everything has a force. Everything that happens in the world is made by some "system" which is behind it. So, this is saying that things can and will happen no matter what, confirming their belief in fate. 
  • a man has to know his mistakes for himself
    • Matthew Schaffer
       
      It begins to talk about Karma here, however this was not the assignment it is still interesting. What they say about Karma is that man needs to be aware of the mistakes that they have made and try to fix it, and then move on. 
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  • The fate is a possibility to choose freely your own Past and your own Future.
    • Matthew Schaffer
       
      The Easterners definition of Fate is the possibility to choose your own past, and your own future. This meaning that in a way, man can choose and create their own fate. I agree with this, because after what they said about Karma, it is clear to me that they believe that everything is because of man. 
  • a possibility of this free choice of his own fate is not always available because of karma of all the civilization.
    • Matthew Schaffer
       
      Here they say that Fate may not always be possible. I think because someone may want a certain fate, but because of their strong belief in Karma, Karma will get in the way of their Fate
Marie-Lise Pagé

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Fate - 0 views

  • for its meaning as the prime cause of events is better expressed by the term Divine Providence
  • If anyone calls the influence or the power of God by the name of Fate, let him keep his opinion, but mend his speech."
  • Fate, in its popular meaning, is something opposed to chance, in so far as the latter term implies a cause acting according to no fixed laws.
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  • rules the destinies
  • find a cause for events which appeared to follow no definite law and to be the result of mere chance
Daryl Bambic

The Virtual Choir - Eric Whitacre - 0 views

  •  
    the humanizing force of the internet's connectivity is redefining what it means to be human
Daryl Bambic

Aristotle and the Good Life - 0 views

  • 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
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  • 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 Great Conversation: Aristotle's Useful Definition of Virtue | Associate's Mind - 0 views

  • One is a deficiency; the other is an excess.
  • enerosity is the mean between the vices of miserliness and profligacy.
  • the midpoint between cowardice and foolhardiness is courage.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Friendliness
  • Righteous indignation
  • to ac
  • to be
  • purposefully chooses the right path.
  • virtuously for its own sake,
  • certainty and firmness.
  • difficult task and is a long-term life goal
  • ecomes easier with practic
  • natural pleasure that comes with and from virtue
  • To be virtuous, be in the habit of choosing the mean
Mason Brenhouse

Libertarian Party of Canada - 0 views

  • Government is force. Libertarians believe in a win-win voluntary society where people cooperate through trade and charity. The moral issue here is that Libertarians believe that it is not right to take forcefully from one person in order to provide for another's needs. Libertarians believe in minimizing taxation and funding government by other means if possible. Welfare for those in need should be provided through voluntary means. Forcing others to "give" is not just or generous. Government should not be deciding who needs welfare, because welfare is damaging to some people because it encourages dependency, lack of initiative, and poor planning. A free economy will produce more wealth for everyone. Taxation is robbing people of their wealth and the ability to invest that wealth in new business, which would benefit the poor.
  • Think of the possibilities for giving in a society with extremely low taxation. People are concerned about providing for their own families and living responsibly and they need to be free to make their own decisions with their money. Most people in our daily lives are good most of the time - otherwise society wouldn't function - we trust people enough as equals. However, the more power we give to others, the more skewed things become. As Lord Acton said, Power corrupts.
  •  
    This is a site run by the Libertarians of Canada. They believe in minimizing the total amount of taxation. They also believe in the pricipal that someone's property is solely their's and no one else has the right to take it, even the government. 
Megan Levine

America and the 'Fun' Generation - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  • And now a count can declare the victors: “achievement” and “fun.”
  • term “excellence”
  • dropped out of favor, also elevenfold. As “fun” gained influence, mentions of “pleasure” fell by a factor of four.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • In the history of language, words rise and fall. We make and remake them; they make and remake us.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      Language is the philosopher's primary tool.  What do you think that the rising influence of 'fun' means for how we think about pleasure?
    • Natasha Campbell
       
      I think that overtime, we become influenced by certain attributes, or things throughout the day which makes us perceive certain things as entertaining... With new technology, and the way our world changes, we could view different things as pleasure in contrast of what people thought of as appealing way back when.
  • turning in American culture, and one that has influenced the world. It is a turning away from an arguably aristocratic idea of the intrinsic worth of things: from pleasure, with its sense of an internal condition of mind, to fun, so closely affiliated with outward activities; from excellence, an inner trait whose attainment is its own reward, to achievement, which comes through slogging and recognition.
  • Merriam-Webster defines “pleasure” as “a state of gratification
  • fun is “what provides amusement or enjoyment;
  • excellence” as “the quality of being excellent,” which in turn means “very good of its kind: eminently good.” “Achievement,” meanwhile, is “a result gained by effort.”
  • “Pleasure” carries a hint of the sublime; it speaks of a state of mind that comes organically, that need not be artificially induced.
  • un,” though almost synonymous with “pleasure” for contemporary speakers, often involves artificial inducement
  • If “pleasure” comes from being and from talking through ideas, “fun” comes from doing and, often, switching off the brain.
  • Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.”
  • “Excellence” evokes Aristotle with its overtones of virtue. Anyone can achieve
  • but how many can truly be excellent?
  • “Achievement” is a word more likely to come from American leaders today, and, like “fun,” it is outward in nature. It comes in doing specific things. It is more about checking boxes than fulfilling inner potentialities.
  • The achievement culture permeates life today
  • n American culture of instantaneous celebrity teaches young people that fame is an end in itself rather than an incidental symptom of excellence in craft.
  • But with that change has come another: what would seem to be a growing intolerance for merely being, and an anguished insistence on doing, doing, doing.
    • Daryl Bambic
       
      What are the differences between pleasure and achievement according to the author?   Do you agree with him?
    • Natasha Campbell
       
      Achievement is simply something we check off on our to-do list. It's not something we take great value in. As in pleasure, it's something that we treasure because it's something we don't get too often, because we're too busy being blinded by the 'fun' aspects of life. I agree with the author because I believe that many people today believe that they find pleasure in doing absolutely nothing, and to shut off their brains completely. I believe that discovering new things and letting your mind wander just enough is pleasurable. 
    • Megan Levine
       
      Today, pleasure is something that is very rare to find, since it is overshadowed by "fun". However, achievement is simply something that can be checked off a list, and is very easy to accomplish. Anyone can achieve something; they just may have a harder time being excellent at something. We take great value in pleasure, but not in achievements. I agree with the author because I believe that our generation is so caught up in technology, and entertainment, that we sometimes forget to seek for pleasure in our lives. I also agree that shutting off our brains does not give us pleasure; it just shuts away all the problems that will resurface. It's okay to have fun, but finding pleasure is something that is much more valuable, in my opinion. 
Daryl Bambic

The Republic, by Plato - 0 views

  • He was the greatest metaphysical genius whom the world has seen; and in him, more than in any other ancient thinker, the germs of future knowledge are contained. The sciences of logic and psychology, which have supplied so many instruments of thought to after-ages, are based upon the analyses of Socrates and Plato
  • The principles of definition, the law of contradiction, the fallacy of arguing in a circle, the distinction between the essence and accidents of a thing or notion, between means and ends, between causes and conditions; also the division of the mind into the rational, concupiscent, and irascible elements, or of pleasures and desires into necessary and unnecessary—these and other great forms of thought are all of them to be found in the Republic, and were probably first invented by Plato.
  • The argument of the Republic is the search after Justice
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • The first care of the rulers is to be education
  • conception of a higher State, in which 'no man calls anything his own
  • 'marrying nor giving in marriage,
  • 'kings are philosophers' and 'philosophers are kings;
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    The e-version of Plato's Republic. 
Daryl Bambic

Philosophy News | 5 Reasons Why I Love Philosophy - 0 views

  • Privacy
  • Philosophy teaches us to think about, contemplate, and clearly express the fundamental concepts of life. It explicitly identifies ideas that we have been thinking and living all along.
  • Philosophy begins in wonder and wonder bears fruit when it results in philosophical analysis
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  • life is not simple and philosophy helps both unpack the complexity and provide a way through it. Just reading about the problem of universals and seeing the different philosophical views about it throughout history has given me a greater appreciation for what it means to exist
  • do not get too comfortable with simple answers.
  • To the theist, God is ultimate reality and His nature and commands ought to be a fundamental consideration in how she makes decisions
  • Civil and criminal law rely heavily upon what someone knows and how this affected their actions
  • (logic) is essential to interacting with our own and other’s ideas. Reasoning properly is an example of logic in action
  • Morality is a daily concern in lif
  • s highly pragmatic when applied properly.
  • The reasoning and analytical abilities acquired from analyzing complex ideas and arguments are essential in a number of other of fields.
  • strong verbal and writing skills
  • is not an intellectual magic wand
  • carefully
  • humility and tentativeness,
  • seeks truth,
  • r self-deception
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    "Privacy"
mira ahmad

Human consciousness - 0 views

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    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.
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    I have a problem with the philosopher but I listen to him anyway because he's so intelligent.
mira ahmad

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

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    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.
Chrissy Le

Torture - 0 views

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    Torture: An act by which severe pain and/or suffering is caused, either physically or mentally. It is usually put into action when wanting to bring out a confession, or information in another individual. It has also been used as a form of punishment in the past and is still in use today (to a certain extent). Today, torture is prohibited under international law and the domestic laws of most countries. The method of torturing has been proven to be effective and of use. This website speaks about the definition of torture, the laws against it and what it means in various religions (What purpose it serves). The link will bring you to the different methods of torture that had been used in the past to how it serves us today.
mira ahmad

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

  • [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
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  • 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
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    This is a great resource Mira. I hope everyone gets a look at this!
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