Midterm Blogpost – Betsy Akpotu

   On Monday afternoon, it was really nice day, and I invited this awesome author which are Julian Baggini, Nigel Warburton, and Kurt Andersen at Starbucks or Panera Bread. I was so excited and had a lot of question but there is the one question I want to ask.  I got there and we were sitting in a corner full of I library books. I welcome them. Please all sit down. I would like to introduce myself. 

Everyone: Hello Betsy Akpotu!!!

Betsy: Now let get started. I have question for each of you. “Do you think philosophy can help people learn to respect truth, facts, reality, and one another, and to reject falsehood, superstition, selfishness, polarization, partisanship, and religion, ethnicity, nationality, belief, etc.? If so, how? If not, why not?” 

Betsy: Baggini, you were first to raise your hand and I am sorry, I felt like calling you Genie in Aladdin because that is interesting name to call you.

Baggini: That is okay. Hahahaha. I prefer that anyway. Well that a twisty question and I do not know. The way I see it is what do people think of this day and back in the past. Philosophy is the unknown, what we do and time and our history of what happen plus karma can bit you in the butt. 

Betsy: Hahahah, so you are saying is there no end in the cycle.

Genie: Close, (“Our days are organized by the progression of the clock, the short to medium term by calendars and diaries, history by timelines stretching back over millennia. In the beginning was the end. All culture sense of past, present and future, but for much of human history this has been underpinned by a more fundamental sense of time as cyclical p.107 HWT,”)

 Betsy: Alright, Kurt Andersen, what do you do you think of this question. 

Andersen: Hmmm…All I can say is this and this also hard question for me as well. What happen, already happen. Philosophy may or may not help for some people either its in the religion side or the other side. It depends on you. 

Betsy: Interesting. Can explain more for me. 

Andersen: Sure. The philosophers of the eight tenth century explained the gradual decay of religious faith in way very simple manner. Religious zeal, said they, must necessarily fail, the more generally liberty is established, and knowledge diffused. Unfortunately, facts are by no means I accordance with their theory… America one of the freest… nations in the world fulfils all the outward duties of religious fervor… In the North they are… superstitious and hypocritical in their religion and In the South, they are… without attachment or pretensions to any religion but that of the heart (FL p.60-64)

Betsy: Okay and finally Nigel Warburton. What do you think about this question? 

Warburton: What I see is this. People ask a lot of question that we still do not have the answers. Its your belief. What you see you do but your actions lead to your consequences. For example, everyone are seeking happiness and no more judging other people religion, if there is God then God exist, if not then we you make your own belief. No one is perfect but do not push people limits. Pascal, Epicurus, and Boethius are relative in between. Epicurus said that we should not fear death, but Pascal said if you aren’t sure whether God exists, what should you do? Obviously, there is a risk that you be on God and lose: that God turns out not to exist. But that is a risk you should take. Boethius provided a link back to the Ancient Greek Plato and Aristotle Happiness has to come from something that is more solid, something that can’t be taken away. (Chapter 4, 7, and 12. LH)

 

Betsy: Thank You so much. Baggini, Warburton, and Anderson. I really do appreciate and your best opinion on this.

Warburton: I have a question for you. 

Betsy: Yes

Warburton: What do you think. 

Baggini: Yeah, I curious too. What you think Betsy.

Anderson: Yes, what do you think.

Betsy. Well. Uhuh. Hmmm. I can tell you this. In this world we do not have the freedom to do whatever we want. We can make mistakes, lie, save people from danger, or try to make things better. The world is the unknown. We have a long way to go and its hard to change people perspective, you cannot. The only way is to give people some advice and let it be. If you are born in a religion place and believe in God than do you, but just do not cross the red line or plant seeds in their mouth. That is the way I see it. I wish more answers but that is a tuff question to put it.

Baggini (Genie): I have one question for you Betsy. Explain to me How would you answer James’s “really vital question for us all: What is this world going to be? What is life eventually to make of itself?” 

Betsy: I do not know what the world is going to be in the future, and I am sure you do not know either, all of you. If we keep going through this cycle, there is no end. As a Nigerian person and I was not born in the United States of America. I am afraid and terrified. I have been bullied, cursed at, and no one had carried for my life. I wish people could stop blaming other people. I cannot yell at them saying AAAAAAA go way. History has been lying to your face the whole time and you want to throw away the history book at the window. 400 years of racism and we are still going through this path, history have been repeating itself. The world is the unknown. Everyday, I feel I do not belong in this world. I feel I am out of place and should not belong here. If people listen to other different culture then we can hold hands and sing Kumbaya together, but on unfortunate we cannot. I am just tired. Well. I am done. Thank You authors for coming please enjoy Starbuck coffee. 

 (Posted for Betsy)