Up@dawn 2.0 (blogger)

Delight Springs

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Questions March 25

Wittgestein, Arendt, Popper & Kuhn, Foot & Thomson-LH 34-37, FL 27-28, HWT- Concluding Thoughts

  • Was Wittgenstein's main message in the Tractatus correct? 203
  • What are some of the "language games" you play? (What are some different things you use language for?) 204
  • Can there be a "private language"? 206
  • "Eichmann wasn't responsible..." 208 Agree?
  • Are unthinking people as dangerous as evil sadists? 211
  • Is "the banality of evil" an apt phrase for our time? 212
  • Was Popper right about falsifiability? 218
  • Was Kuhn right about paradigms? 220
  • How would you respond it you woke up with a violinist plugged into your kidneys? Is this a good analogy for unwanted or unintended pregnancy? 226
FL
  • Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?
  • What do Burning Man attendees and other adults who like to play dress-up tell us about the state of adulthood in contemporary America? 245
  • What do you think of Fantasy sports? 248
  • Was Michael Jackson a tragic figure? 250
  • Is pornography "normal"? 251
HWT
  • Is globalism and the decline or amalgamation of national traditions in philosophy and culture a good thing? 320
  • Is metaphysical agnosticism and "way-seeking" better than standard western "truth-seeking"? Must we choose between them? 324
  • Is "nature as much in silicon and steel  as it is in sand and sea"? 326
  • Is Pragmatism's "emphasis on what works" better suited to America than more traditional philosophies that assert truth-as-correspondence to reality etc.? 331
  • Is philosophy continuous with literature and poetry, or should it be? 334
  • If there cannot be a view from nowhere, can there still be views from everywhere? 338

DQ
  • Should we be silent about things we can't prove? Should philosophy concern itself with more than understanding the logic of language?
  • Do you use language as a pictorial medium, a tool for managing social relationships and expressing our thoughts and feelings, or what?
  • Are ordinary people capable of great evil? Are you? How can we be sure that a Holocaust will never happen again? What will you teach your children about that?
  • If the government attempted to round up, detain, and deport millions of Latinos and Muslims, how would you respond
  • Is "the banality of evil" relevant to our time?
  • [DQs on Popper & Kuhn, Foot & Thomson, FL, AP]



thinkPhilosophy (@tPhilosophia)
"What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence" - Wittgenstein's *Tractatus*: ow.ly/ClvRr #phil


thinkPhilosophy (@tPhilosophia)
Wittgenstein on problems translating language, computer science, and artificial intelligence. slate.com/articles/life/…



Ray Monk (@Raymodraco)
The video of my Turing/Wittgenstein lecture has now been posted & can be found here: britishwittgensteinsociety.org/event/eighteen…

Philosophy Matters (@PhilosophyMttrs)
Thomas Kuhn Wasn't So Bad ... buff.ly/2IpZf10

  • April 26 is the birthday of the man who said, “Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open”: Ludwig Wittgenstein (books by this author), born in Vienna in 1889. He was described by his colleague Bertrand Russell as “the most perfect example I have known of genius as traditionally conceived: passionate, profound, intense, and dominating.” He was the youngest of nine children; three of his brothers committed suicide. 


Wittgenstein was born into one of the richest families in Austro-Hungary, but he later gave away his inheritance to his siblings, and also to an assortment of Austrian writers and artists, including Rainer Maria Rilke. He once said that the study of philosophy rescued him from nine years of loneliness and wanting to die, yet he tried to leave philosophy several times and pursue another line of work, including serving in the army during World War I, working as a porter at a London hospital, and teaching elementary school. He also considered careers in psychiatry and architecture — going so far as to design and build a house for his sister, which she never liked very much 
Wittgenstein was particularly interested in language. He wrote: “The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.” And, “Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.” -Writer's Almanac



  • “The world is everything that is the case.” 
  • “Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.”
  • “I give no sources, because it is indifferent to me whether what I have thought has already been thought before me by another.”
  • “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
  • “A nothing will serve just as well as a something about which nothing could be said.”
  • “A logical picture of facts is a thought.”
  • “A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside it, for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably.”



  • What do we see when we observe the above figure? What we see in the above figure, of course, is dependent upon that with which we are familiar. Those who are not acquainted with the shape and form of a rabbit but are with that of a duck will see only a duck--and vice versa... When we normally speak of seeing in our everyday language-game, we are not inclined to say, "I see the picture as a duck," but rather we simply say, "I see a duck."
  • “Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.”
  • “If you tried to doubt everything you would not get as far as doubting anything. The game of doubting itself presupposes certainty.”
  • “Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.” 
  • “I give no sources, because it is indifferent to me whether what I have thought has already been thought before me by another.” 
  • “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
  • “A nothing will serve just as well as a something about which nothing could be said.”
==



  • “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”
  • “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.”
  • “The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together.”
  • It was as though in those last minutes he was summing up the lesson that this long course in human wickedness had taught us-the lesson of the fearsome word-and-thought-defying banality of evil.” 

New Republic (@NewRepublic)
Hannah Arendt's writings warn us that danger comes when people no longer care if something is true or not. bit.ly/2pieugo pic.twitter.com/j8Io2VanwA




45 comments:

  1. section 7

    HWT

    Is "nature as much in silicon and steel as it is in sand and sea"? 326

    Yes. I think a lot of people think of nature and Earth as grass and soil, but it's important to keep a balance of soil along with steel. One of my favorite artists Bjork has mentioned before how she has been told that her love of artificiality has been criticized due to it being inhuman and unnatural, and she stated that things aren't "human" unless you put your soul into them. the machines can only do so much, it's our job to control them and create with them. I think being surrounded by concrete and metal can be just as inspiring as being surrounded by forests and fields. How can we say that man made things are not part of our earth? it's in our nature to create, and I think it's a natural part of our world.

    DQ

    Are ordinary people capable of great evil? Are you? How can we be sure that a Holocaust will never happen again? What will you teach your children about that?

    Yes, normal people are capable of great evil. I am as well. I think to make sure an event as tragic as the Holocaust never happens again is to educate newer generations about it so that history doesn't repeat itself. if I have children, I plan to make sure that they're educated on the history of the Holocaust.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Itemized List - section 7
      Responded to questions for Jan 28
      Responded to questions for Feb 11
      Responded to questions for Feb 18
      Responded to questions for Feb 25
      Responded to questions for March 2
      Responded to questions for March 9
      Responded to questions for March 23
      Responded to questions for March 25

      Delete
    2. Interesting. I'm reminded of one of the first books about modern computing, "The Soul of a New Machine"... whatever we mix our humanity with, as it were, acquires some degree of our human spirit.

      Delete
  2. Section 8

    I found Sarte’s point on a human’s essence is very interesting. Saying you do not have a specific purpose in life but you decide what you do and how you feel. Everything being a personal choice.

    I wouldn’t say I think we are becoming fake humans but the temptation of believing all the false information and theories is more readily available to people than ever before. People can still believe whatever they choose to believe. You will be exposed to a lot of pseudo-realities in life. I think of it like “take what you want leave what you don’t”, taking what is most logical or what fits your beliefs, but maybe. It Is acceptance that allows these false realties, and hope that feeds them? Believing whatever you choose to believe as long as it lines up with what you want to believe.
    Responded to questions for Jan 28
    Responded to questions for Feb 2
    Responded to questions for Feb 4
    Responded to questions for Feb 9
    Responded to questions for Feb 11
    Responded to questions for Feb 16
    Responded to questions for Mar 4
    Responded to questions for Mar 9
    Responded to questions for Mar 11
    Responded to questions for Mar 23

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Believing whatever you choose to believe as long as it lines up with what you want to believe." How about choosing to believe what lines up with evidence and rationality instead?

      Delete
  3. I really resonated with the quote “A nothing will serve just as well as a something about which nothing could be said.”I think that this quote has a lot of saying behind it. Yes if something doesn't make something of itself, it it nothing. That is quite obvious. What I took from this quote is that some things just don't have meaning because they never make anything of themselves. As people, we have to make something of ourselves if we want to be known. We can't just live in the world and expect to be known by people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an "existential" interpretation of the statement, which can also be taken to mean that what some philosophers have said about what cannot be said is itself pretty vacuous.

      Delete
  4. Section 7

    LH
    1. Was Wittgenstein's main message in the Tractatus correct? 203
    - I too think that the more important questions we should be asking are about ethics and religion are far beyond the limits of our understanding, but I don’t think that we should stay silent. We need to keep in mind how little we really about know.

    2. Can there be a "private language"? 206
    - Wittgenstein thought there couldn’t be a private language because we use words to describe our experiences and can’t be based off private linking of experience with the word. It must be public, and due to his explanation, it makes sense why there can’t be a private language because it’s almost impossible to know if it means the same thing to everyone.

    3. "Eichmann wasn't responsible..." 208 Agree?
    - Eichmann wasn’t completely responsible for the systematic killing of Jews, but he isn’t free of guilt either. He may not have organized and actually killed any Jewish people, but he was in charge or transporting them to concentration camps. Which is almost just as bad.

    FL
    1. What do you think of Fantasy sports? 248
    - I think fantasy sports are a very interesting idea, and a great reason for guys to get together to play. It helps the sport because you’re more likely to watch your player’s team. Is it worthwhile? Well, I’m not a huge sports fanatic so I personally don’t understand the interest.

    HWT
    1. Is Pragmatism's "emphasis on what works" better suited to America than more traditional philosophies that assert truth-as-correspondence to reality etc.? 331
    - I think it is. We tend to think as pragmatists in the sense of what does or does not work for us.

    DQ
    1. Should we be silent about things we can't prove? Should philosophy concern itself with more than understanding the logic of language?
    - No, we shouldn’t stay silent about things we cannot prove. Rather we should discuss them but maintain an open mind since there is no way for us to be sure. I think philosophers should concern themselves with more than just understanding the logic of language, that’s such a small area to focus on when you have things like religion and the meaning of life that you could discuss.



    Responded to questions on 1/28, 2/2, 2/4, 2/9, 2/11, 2/16, 2/18,2/25, 3/2, 3/9
    Presented on 3/11 and posted essay on 3/11

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On responsibility and guilt: someone (Arendt?) said we're responsible for all the good we failed to do, as well as the bad that we did.

      And I agree that we should push ourselves to talk about difficult but important things, while acknowledging in principle that Wittgenstein is right to say that language- and thus philosophical conversation-have their limits. But you don't know where the limits are, until you try running up against them.

      Delete
  5. Section 7.

    The language games that come to my mind are things like using language for entertainment -- making jokes and laughing -- then there's argument's sake, trying to prove a point, and a final example would be descriptive games, in an attempt to describe something to somebody, to be vague.
    Largely, I would say he was correct in Tractatus. To an extent, there's some use dwelling on things beyond our understanding (sometimes it's fun,) but largely it makes sense to "stay silent" about such topics.
    As described, pro wrestling was the perfect mix of real and fiction. You had real people going out there on a nightly basis and sending fools through tables. That part was all 100% real. On the same token, you also had this fictional character playing his part in this grand storyline. It was almost as if you watched a movie or show series in real life. They did an amazing job at making it entertaining (thanks 90s attitude era.)
    Everyone is capable of evil. The main point in preventing massive bad events are instilling a proper sense of what is good and bad. People will still do bad things, but we hope that it will occur on a smaller scale if people tend to have moral weight behind their actions.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Jan 28: Responded to questions
      Feb 2-4: Responded to questions
      Feb 9: Responded to questions
      Feb 11: Responded to questions
      Feb 16: Responded to questions
      Feb 18: Responded to questions
      Feb 25: Responded to questions
      Mar 2: Responded to questions
      Mar 4: Responded to questions
      Mar 9: Responded to questions
      Mar 11: Responded to questions
      Mar 23: Responded to questions
      Mar 25: Responded to questions

      Delete
    2. "it makes sense to "stay silent" about such topics" - maybe it makes sense, in some contexts, to refrain from talking about "such topics" with other persons (though generally I think it's better to air our differences in public, in civil fashion)... but we should definitely continue thinking about those things for ourselves, carrying on an internal conversation in what Wittgenstein insisted was NOT a "private language," in search of clarity and understanding. And if we think we've gotten some of that, I say we should share it with others and invite their critique.

      Delete
    3. Indeed, I would agree with either stance. It makes sense not to dwell on them, but at the same time if there was a convention dedicated to discussing said topics, I wouldn't be against it. I can understand either stance.

      Delete
  6. Chloe Guzowski
    Section 4

    Pro-wrestling, and other things much like WWE, were always a form of entertainment for me and my family. My dad is mainly the one who got me into watching it because that is what he did when he was younger. I even went to go see a show live! But not once, until about a year ago, did I ever think it was fake. This comes as a shock to me that I actually thought it was real, but now that I know I often find myself making fun of WWE a lot. It is painfully obvious it is fake to me now. I think is it still popular though because it gives the people drama and violence in a safe manor. People enjoy watching sorts of violence and they make it very entertaining with all the outgoing or villainous characters with such catchy intro music and famous moves. And the good thing is is that no one ACTUALLY gets hurt but they do such a good job in making us think it does. If no one would have told me, I would still think that WWE is 100% real 

    Fun Fact: The WWE Wrestler Kane (real name is Glenn Jacobs) is the current mayor of my home county!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What does it say about humans that so many of us enjoy watching others suffer (or even just seem to)? Nothing good, I think. We'd better evolve beyond that, if we're going to survive as a long-lived species.

      Delete
  7. Matah Nan Section 4
    Basic Bio
    German-Jewish who came to America during the rise of the Nazi Faction
    1906 to 1975 age 69
    Origin of Totalitarianism(1951)--focus on Nazi and Stalin regeime
    Human Condition(1958)-- focus on fundamental categories of original philosophy
    Life of the Mind(Life of the Mind)--focus on examining the fundamentals of thinking, willing, and judging(Banality of Evil)

    Origin of Totalitarianism
    Communism and Fascism are just variants of totalitarianism
    They allow no political strife or opinion

    Human Condition
    Labor--The needs of a person for living
    Work--the actions needed to satisfy labor
    Action--public activity of a person in public

    Life of the Mind
    The Case of Adolph Eichmann--Banality of Evil
    Thinking, Willing, and Judging

    References
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. January 11, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/
    ‘Hannah Arendt, American Political Scientist’. Britannica. November 30, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hannah-Arendt
    ‘About Hannah Arendt’. Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College. . https://hac.bard.edu/about/hannaharendt/

    ReplyDelete
  8. How would you respond it you woke up with a violinist plugged into your kidneys? Is this a good analogy for unwanted or unintended pregnancy?

    Well as a male my first question would be. How? But I do believe its a creative and interesting analogue for pregnancy. As a child in the womb changes the every day life of a woman from eating patterns to sleep the list goes on. More importantly is bladder which during pregnancy will cause you to go pee 10x more. I think the analogue is funny but very true to the real world point of living with pregnancy rather then a unexpected one.

    Is pornography "normal"?

    Normal is a weird word but I can try and break it down. Is the act of sex in these films normal? Yes, its a part of human anatomy and has been around long before humans in animals of all sizes and shapes. Is how the movies portray sex normal? No, most people that have sex are not having it in some of the more outlandish ways that porn portrays it. Now Is pornography itself normal? Depends what normal is. Nothing was normal until it became widely accepted and with pornography studies show that a majority of people have or had watched it at some point in there life. I wouldn't say it was normal but then again, is anything really normal? Is working out normal if the majority of Americans are overweight? Is riding a bike to school normal when everyone else drives? normal is subjective to each person interpretation of what they view that normal is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Section 4

      Delete
    2. "As a male" I think you could plausibly find yourself attached to a violinist as well as anyone... which is to say, at least as described in this thought experiment, not at all. But Thomson's suggestion is that the dependency of another life on one's own, in pregnancy or whatever, does not in every case impose an ethical/moral obligation. Whether that analogy works, though, is certainly debatable.

      Delete
    3. "Is the act of sex in these films normal? Yes" - not in my experience. It's always pretty contrived, mechanistic, in-humane, often dehumanizing in a Sartrean way (treating others as objects etc.). But maybe I've not seen enough of them to say. Anyway, you're right: "normal" doesn't mean good.

      Delete
    4. I loved the point you made that nothing was normal abd it did not become accepted as normal until it was widely accepted

      Delete
  9. Are unthinking people as dangerous as evil sadists? 211

    I think it is dangerous to be a person that is "unthinking." To walk through life without being conscious of your own decisions, and basically walking without any regard for your actions is definitely dangerous. I think both are dangerous for very different reasons, but nonetheless dangerous. It is important to be constantly learning, seeking different perspective from people and growing. If someone is unthinking then they are not growing and that to me is an extremely dangerous thing.

    Is "the banality of evil" an apt phrase for our time? 212

    I think this is an apt phrase for our time. When looking at America, there are many people who are in positions of power, government and leadership who fit this description. There are people who are allowing someone else to influence their decisions, and they do not stop to think for themselves on whether or not their actions are good. There have been men in positions of power at normal companies who take advantage of women. There are people in government who are locking up innocent people. There are plenty of individuals in these common positions who are committing evil and wrong actions. This is an extremely apt phrase for our time.

    Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?

    Humans like to be entertained and it doesn't matter that the sport is staged, it is more about having a good time. I personally don't watch wrestling, but I have friends who do and for them it is just more about the excitement it brings. It's fun to watch because of how ridiculous it can be. It's less of a sport and more of a production and event. It's a show that brings people excitement and fun thing to do. That's why it's popular.

    Replied to a comment for Jan 28
    Responded to questions for Jan 28
    Responded to questions for Feb 2nd
    Responded to questions for Feb 4th
    Responded to questions for Feb 9th
    Responded to questions for Feb 11th
    Responded to questions for Feb 16th
    Responded to questions for Feb 18th
    Responded to questions for Feb 25th
    Responded to questions for March 2nd
    Responded to questions for March 4th
    Responded to questions for March 9th
    Responded to questions for March 11th
    Responded to questions for March 24th

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, there are a lot of unthinking people in our midst. Too many of them are in positions of power, authority, and influence. On the other hand, we're a big country and so there are also a lot of thoughtful people. Maybe not as many as the other kind. The key is to get more of the latter in positions of power and influence. For that to happen, thoughtful young people are going to have to step up, get informed and engaged, and vote for the thoughtful candidates, read and discuss good books, produce good Internet content, etc. etc. Y'all can do it. We're counting on you.

      Delete
    2. I agree with your point of view on stages wresting. if you compare it to a show it would be the same thing. it all comes down to entertainment

      Delete
    3. I agree that wrestiling even if it is staged can just be a fun thing to watch. It's the same as a joke where you know it's not real, but its still funny.

      Delete
  10. Section 8
    Pai S Ning

    HWT
    If there cannot be a view from nowhere, can there still be views from everywhere? 338

    Certainly. What is being said in the book is, "we have to give up the idea of the view from nowhere and accept that a view is always from somewhere." One can presume that if there's no such thing as "view from nowhere", what about "view from everywhere?" The view always comes from somewhere and that somewhere can be anywhere, anytime, and even at the same time. Everyone from everywhere has different perspectives, and that's from the view comes from.

    FL
    Is "pornography" normal?

    As mentioned in the text, normalization of pornography does have a big impact on society, and how women see themselves. However, I don't think it's normal. Still in many culture, even speaking out loud of anything sexual anywhere, unless you're alone, is seen as "disgusting" or "unholy", especially if you're a woman. I=I think it is okay that people fantasize or have unbelievable desires, but some of those should just stay in their heads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, we need views from everywhere...but no ONE view encapsulates the whole. That's philosophical pluralism.

      And again, "normal" doesn't mean good. Some fantasies are indeed best kept to oneself.

      Delete
    2. I also agree that it really affects how women see outselves. Not just that we have to look the women in porn but that we are reduced to merely sex objects and not real people. It is dehumanizing.

      Delete
  11. Renee - Section 7
    Was Wittgenstein's main message in the Tractatus correct? 203

    In a sense it is. However, discussions on ethics and religion or several things we are familiar with but, we cannot describe the essence. Such as social media.

    "Eichmann wasn't responsible..." 208 Agree?
    Absolutely not. Continuing to accept orders that resulted in mass death is equally as evil as evil as the dictator.

    Are unthinking people as dangerous as evil sadists? 211

    There are several scenarios where the answer is yes. For instance, the Trump administration a group of unthinking people got behind his ridiculousness lies and unintelligence, however, did not storm the capitol killing humans. Attention seekers want others to admire them and when and blindly following their orders without questioning your ethics or the true reason this one person is brainless. Following someone down an evil path makes you equally evil.

    Is "the banality of evil" an apt phrase for our time? 212

    Absolutely as I explained in my previous answer. Choosing to follow someone blindly and your actions ultimately ended in evil makes you evil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Responded to questions for Feb 2
      Responded to questions for Feb 4
      Responded to questions for Feb 9
      Responded to questions for Feb 11
      Responded to questions for Feb 25
      Responded to questions for March 2

      Responded to questions for March 4
      Responded to questions for March 9
      Responded to questions for March 11
      Responded to questions for March 23
      Responded to questions for March 25

      Delete
  12. Marim Sameer (3/25)
    Section 7
    Discussion answer/ weekly essay
    Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?
    To be honest I did not know pro wrestling was staged until not too long algo. That just means that it is staged so well that it is believed to be real. Just like how I did not know it was staged, many others may not have known either making it even more realistic or entertaining to them. However, even after knowing it was staged it did not take the entertainment out of watching WWE. Just like we watch movies that are clearly directed and fake, does that take away the entertainment aspect? Does it make you lose more interest into what may happen next on an episode? I doubt it. It is not whether or not if it's staged that grabs our attention, but it is the entertainment. Trying to figure out what is someone going to do after something had just happened.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Keylee Crutcher Section 8


    Can there be a "private language"? 206
    --I'm not sure if there can be one in the sense the book talked about, but i have my own type of "private language". I speak and write Korean and there's something called Konglish which is a mix with english, but thats just some words that were taken from english. Sometimes, I make up my own konglish with random korean words mixed in to mean certain things cause they're faster to write. A korean person wouldn't be able to understand it, neither would my friends or family. It's essentially code words i use to for specific activities or things. So I feel like a form of it is possible at least.


    "Eichmann wasn't responsible..." 208 Agree?
    --I don't really have a strong opinion, I lean on the side of us not having free will/ hard determinism. On the more controversial/modern side of this, are the "good cops" responsible for all the horrible things bad cops do? They support them, or cover for them, work and talk with them.



    (I'm keeping up with my stuff on paper, I'll write it all at the end but the total is 13 responses (plus this one so 14) and then my midterm summary)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Section 8
    Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?

    Pro wrestling is a perfect combination for those that wish to live a fantasy tale and also think as themselves as people who are reasonable. The outcomes are all staged and they have hero's and heels that have their following like a comic book character would. At the same time these men and women are also real people who are in spectacular physical shape similar to a superhero. A lot of people think of living a fantasy life with comics or imaginary characters as childish, but with real life human characters that gives adults an outlet to live out childish fantasies. This also bridges a gap between adults and their children to have something to bond over.

    I am still working on compiling my list of responses. I will have it done next week.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Section 8
    Was Wittgenstein's main message in the Tractatus correct? 203

    Yes, I think that the human brain has so many thoughts and emotions it is hard to put them in words and even when you do they fall short. The vocabulary you use limits you, and others if they can’t comprehend or they may be thinking about it differently.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Vernon Cooper
    Section 7
    Philosophy


    Are ordinary people capable of great evil? Are you? How can we be sure that a Holocaust will never happen again? What will you teach your children about that?

    Ordinary people are defined by your perception of the people around you. Based on that logic no one in their own minds are ordinary. With that being a fact to personal belief then people are in constant choice of good and evil every day, so a ordinary person can be evil if they decide against that of good in their daily routine. Purchasing a firearm is designed for you to be able to protect yourself in the event that harm is in your presence but if you decide one day to use your tool of self defense to become that very harm you wish to protect against, that has been a decision of the ordinary to become evil. Things like the holocaust may not happen in the literal sense because now there is the illusion of choice at hand. One may think that their health is being compromised so they act accordingly and that thing or choice may cause harm to that person. One may want to eat clean but the food they choose to eat is just as bad as the gmo food because there is no nutrients in the soil. We wont be able to see a physical holocaust but there may very well be a similar event happening to our minds as people by the media or our bodies as a product of destroying out environment. I will teach my children the difference between truth half truth and lies. They will be able to decipher the difference between good and evil because they will not see the illusion fake and ill intent from people who control information and narrative.

    Completion Log:
    Question answered on Feb.4th
    Question answered on Feb.9th
    Question answered on Feb.11th
    Question answered on Feb.16th
    Question answered on Feb18th
    Question answered on Feb 25th
    Question answered on March 4th
    Question answered on March 9th
    Reply to questions on March 11th
    Posted my Midterm summary under Questions March 11th
    Question answered on March 25th

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sydney Davis
    Section 7
    Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?
    I think its an outlet for some people, like their weekly sitcom they look forward to. Even though it may not be a "fair" fight in which the actual strongest may not win, i think its played out to be so dramatic. In that you may be rooting for one fighter, but maybe they get beaten up the whole time, you think they're going to lose, and then still pull through in the end. It's like story telling in a fight. I personally don't care for it, but i guess i can see why others might be so interested in it.

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  18. Section 7

    Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?

    I think it is popular for the same reason reality tv is popular. People like to watch drama and it doesn’t matter if it is scripted or not, as long as it is entertaining and distracting.

    Is "pornography" normal?

    I don’t think it is normal. The industry is filled with human trafficking and abuse. Furthermore, the number of things that are normalized by porn now are terrible and violent. I think eventually it will become a public health crisis as more and more people being addicted.

    Log:
    -Replied to Joshua Flowers on 3/25 post
    -Replied to Pai Shan Ning on 3/25 post

    -Answered questions on 3/25 post
    -Answered questions on 3/9 post
    -Answered questions on 3/4 post
    -Answered questions on 2/24 post
    -Answered questions on 2/18 post
    -Weekly Essay on 2/4 post
    -Answered questions on 2/2 post
    -Answered questions on 1/28 post

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  19. Prophetess Turner, Section 4:

    Was Wittgenstein's main message in the Tractatus correct?

    I agree that there are aspects of religion and ethics that lie beyond our understanding, but I feel that if we don't hear every one's opinion, meaningful or not, then we can't expect to reach any sort of realizations.

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  20. Can there be a "private language"? 206
    Yes, I definitely think there can be a private language. I think most children have a form of private language, at least I did. I had an imaginary friend named Strawberry when I was a girl and I created a private language of sorts that only her and I knew. Of course, I was the only one who knew it, but I believed Strawberry to be very real. I disagree with the book a bit. To this day, when I experience certain things, I have words or phrases that mean something specific to me. These sensations are recurring, and I am able to tell the difference between one or the other.

    How would you respond if you woke up with a violinist plugged into your kidneys? Is this a good analogy for unwanted or unintended pregnancy? 226
    If I woke up with a violinist plugged into my kidneys I honestly don’t know how I would react. Of course, I would be freaked out and afraid. I think this is a decent analogy for unwanted or unintended pregnancy. Unlike the violin example, if a woman is having sex she runs the risk of getting pregnant, contraceptive or not. I understand where the analogy is coming from, but I find fault in it. The only way to avoid becoming pregnant is to stay abstinent. However, I understand how the violinist is much like a fetus. They rely completely on you for their survival.

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  21. Ash Warner Section 7
    Pro wrestling is obviously staged. Why is it so popular?
    Growing up I actually had two friends who were extremely into the WWE. They would always have the specific championship belts all around their rooms, they had every action figure of every wrestler, they had a trampoline in the backyard where they would even practice all the wrestlers move and special moves. I never was really into the WWE simply due to the fact as the question says, it was fake. I never saw the appeal of watching a obviously staged sport, I felt like it took away from the purpose of sports, authenticity. But when id talk to them about the WWE, they would not really refer to it as a sports league or a sport really, it was more of just sheer entertainment. They understood that the moves and the dialogue is all faked for views/tickets but that did not matter them. They always would mention how there is some kind of story to an extent or at least a plot to it. So really for them, this was their favorite show/movie series in a way. Id assume the other appeal of the WWE is the hugeness of it. The amount of celebrity cameos there are during their events are insane to be honest. The WWE’s yearly main event is, WrestleMania, is currently breaking its own record with viewership. This past year alone 1.95 million people watched it just on the WWE network. The WWE is bigger than its ever been which adds to why people like it because more and more celebrities can go onto it.

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  22. Can there be a "private language"? 206
    I think that there can be a private language. The idea is that only the speaker can understand what is being said. As long as the language is following the generic language rules, then it can be considered a language.
    Is pornography "normal"? 251
    It is slowly becoming normal. I'm constantly hearing on the news of young people recently turning into adults turning to sex work, because it pays well and it's a popular way to get money. Music and TV/movies are promoting sexual topics, and people who don't know what it is, can easily look it up online. People look down on those who aren't sexually active, and it is considered undesirable. Pornography once was a shameful thing of the past, but now it's becoming a accepted thing.
    How would you respond it you woke up with a violinist plugged into your kidneys? Is this a good analogy for unwanted or unintended pregnancy? 226
    I would be really scared, because I definitely wouldn't want a violinist be plugged into my kidneys. But I don't think that this is a good analogy for unexpected pregnancy. This analogy gives me the idea that a violinist just plugged his/her violinist into my kidneys when I was unconscious, but pregnancy is a result of sexual relations. Whenever a man and woman have sex, there is always the risk of pregnancy, even with birth control, the % of getting pregnant may be close to, but not 0%. This analogy is a vague interpretation of unexpected pregnancy.

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  23. If the government attempted to round up, detain, and deport millions of Latinos and Muslims, how would you respond.
    I would not agree with such an act because many of these people struggled their whole life to enter this country and for them to be kicked right back out would make it an inhumane act. If they attempted to carry out such an act, I would imagine there would be great backlash and strikes against the government. I would feel really bad for those affected but if this were to really happen my response would generally be useless as I wouldn’t be able to help them in any dramatic way.

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