WGU -192
1. What hallmark of modernity reversed Plato's and Aristotle's judgment?
2. What gives life meaning, for Kant?
3. In a truly human society, according to Marx, how would our capacities to work develop?
4. Most jobs involve what, according to Paul Goodman?
5. People were certain, as late as 2008, that what?
6. What alternatives to consumerism have small groups begun to develop?
SSHM ch1
1. Calvinism set out, for Henry James Sr., what impossible task?
2. Kaag thinks the Civil War gave WJ his first intimation that what?
3. WJ's entire life had been premised on what expectation?
4. What did WJ say (in 1906, to H.G. Wells) about "SUCCESS"?
5. What Stoic hope did young WJ share with his friend Tom Ward?
6. What thought seeded "the dilemma of determinism" for WJ?
7. As WJ explicated determinism in 1884, the future has no what?
8. WJ found what in Huxley's evolutionary materialism alarming?
9. Determinism has antipathy to the idea of what?
10. To the "sick soul," what seems blind and shallow?
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Setiya Intro, ch1
1. What reminder does Kieran Setiya say he needed when he was younger? What kind of philosophy did his teachers say he needed? (pref) What has he experienced since age 27?
2. What is moral philosophy about?
3. Does Setiya think "everything happens for a reason"? What were Job's friends wrong about?
4. What did Nietzsche say about happiness and the English?
5. Who is Susan Gubar?
6. To whom should disability matter?
7. What's the difference between disease and illness?
8. What does Setiya think Aristotle gets wrong?
9. Who are Setiya's heroes?
10. What does Setiya say about Marx's vision of communist society?
11. What was Harriet Johnson's reply to Peter Singer?
12. What did Setiya appreciate about his fifth urologist?
13. What, contrary to Descartes, does pain teach us about our bodies?
FL 41-42
1. What became of the 1998 study that promoted the false belief that vaccines cause autism?
I agree with Thomas Hobbes, who said that leisure is the mother of philosophy. There have been many times when I've been doing the assigned reading for this class and thought to myself, how much free time these people must have on their hands? Most people have some sort of basic philosophy or approach to life, but those who have developed whole books and theories must have significantly more time to ponder than the average person. Then again, a lot of them do that as their job.
ReplyDeleteTo give a more recent example, I watch a lot of book reviews on YouTube, and many people who make those videos read 200+ books a year. Hearing that sometimes makes me discouraged and makes me think I should be reading more. However, reading is their full-time job. I am a student who has to go to class, do homework, go to work, and still make time to hang out with my friends. Our downtime is not comparable. Philosophers have so much time to, well, philosophize, because it is their job.
Very much agreed, I wish I had enough time to philosophize. In my mind philosophy should be accessible for everyone, regardless of societal and social class. However, it seems as if that is not the case and we must leave the philosophizing to the philosophers who have time, which is very unfortunate. I believe philosophy is extremely beneficial to everyone, but not accessible to those that need it most.
DeleteSection #1
DeleteAnd I think that's why people are so averse to philosophy-- they have a lot more responsibilities to take care of than dwelling on these topics. I also think that philosophy is paired with self-reflection, but it's just as much about other people, as well. People like Kant and other utilitarians focused on how to exist in society with other people, affecting how we interact with and respond to them.
This has been really interesting the more free time a person has the more they can think is what i am getting and before this i guess i never thought about it that way but it makes since constant work doesn't allow a persons mind to wonder to other topics.
DeleteI agree. It definitely seems that most philosophers only philosophize and don't have jobs, responsibilities, etc. However, I think it is still possible to have all the time in the world, yet never philosophize. I know a handful of people who are like this. They stick to their routine and never think "outside the box."
DeleteAbsolutely. I think this applies to learning as well. As a college student, I'm so busy learning what is assigned that I don't have time to learn about what I want! I think there's a discrepancy between what I need to become a successful financial professional and the general education I'm required to take.
DeleteI believe that because William James' father tried to push his own philosophy and career choices on him, it made him torn on what he wanted to do later in life. He tried so many different career options, but none of them ever fully fulfilled him. Maybe if he could think about it more when he was younger, he would find his passions sooner.
ReplyDeleteThis is sadly so common. I very much agree with John Stuart Mill on the conditions that promote human flourishing. We all must be free to express ourselves and our interests in order to discover what matters to us and find fulfillment in life.
DeleteI agree with your take. It seems that a person's youth is their most malleable period in life. I think that preserving childhood is vital and it also allows for children to reflect about how they would like to spend the rest of their life without the external influence of the grownups around them.
Deletei highly understand how this feels if i want to do something i am gonna give it my all but if somebody forces it upon me thank i don't want to do it even if i had liked it this takes away my hoice if wether or not i wanted to do it and just makes me feel like this is for somebody else.
DeleteWGU, PG. 192
ReplyDelete3. Marx believed that in a truly human society, out capacities to work would develop by eliminating the alienation of labor and not depriving workers of the fruits of their labor. This reestablishes what the word labor means in the first place, which is essential for all humans. Labor makes humanity "free of nature, hence almost divine."
I'm reminded of Sisyphus as I read this. In a workforce with so many people getting paid minimum wage (not enough to live off of) to do jobs that can be physically or mentally draining, it's so discouraging to know that their labor goes to benefiting the very richest in our society. I'm also reminded of Rawls' idea of wage equity and equality. If someone is abundantly rich, it must benefit those who aren't.
DeleteSection #1
ReplyDeleteSSHM
2. Kaag thinks the Civil War gave WJ his first intimation that what?
That he along with the rest of the universe was not free but rather fated.
5. What Stoic hope did young WJ share with his friend Tom Ward?
Everything can be stripped from a person except his or her free response to the horrible situation into which he or she has been thrown.
10. To the "sick soul," what seems blind and shallow?
Healthy mindedness
Section #1
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to add that my grandfather passed away on Sunday, and I'm strangely looking forward to philosophy class today. I've turned to a lot of things to distract myself-- friends, media, games, practice, school, praying-- maybe what we talk about today will help as well? I'm also thinking about Simone de Beauvoir and how she was largely negative towards the concept of growing old. I don't remember if this was one of her points, but I'm slowly realizing that the time I have left with my family and friends is limited.
2. Kant believed that life's meaning comes from contributing to the progression of society and building a more moral world. I really like this idea. It seems to me that no matter what position a person is in, they always have the ability to do good. There are always acts of kindness in any given situation, it's just a matter of doing them that counts. For me personally, I feel there is always room to grow into a better and kinder person.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Everyone can be and do good. These good and kind acts can help build a more positive world, even if they are just small ones.
DeleteFL 41-42
ReplyDelete1. What became of the 1998 study that promoted the false belief that vaccines cause autism?
The 1998 study was greatly disproven over the following years, and the doctor was stripped of license, with the original study being retracted aa dozen years after it was published.
2. How many people refusing vaccines can lead to the collapse of herd immunity?
The collapse of herd immunity can be caused by as few as 6 percent of people going unvaccinated.
3. What do experts say about most mass killers?
Experts says that “most mass killers are not psychotics or paranoid schizophrenics in the throes of clinical delusion; rather, they’re citizens of Fantasyland, unhappy people with flaws and failures they blame on others, the system, the elitists, the world.”
4. Who wrote a "demented" letter on behalf of gun rights in 1995?
Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association or NRA, signed the letter on behalf of gun rights against a “army of anti-gun government agents”.
In a world where the amount of guns you possess as well as their lethality have become status symbols amongst those who care so much, the whole right to guns debate becomes reminiscent of a video game lobby where players show off their power levels as well as their inventory of weapons and the amount of damage dealt with each one.
Section 2
ReplyDelete9. Determinism has antipathy to the idea of what?
Determinism, in common interpretations, refutes the concept of free will. For many, such as William James, it entails that the universe is on a set course which cannot be altered and has a definite outcome for every component, including human action. I personally find truth in determinism, which I attribute to my foundational worldview that the universe is entirely causal and there exists no supreme God-esque creator/ruler entity which can bend/change the laws of nature.
I also happen to find determinism not alarming or disturbing in the slightest (which William James and many others would likely dispute), because I also believe that:
-1. We are unsure if the laws of the universe are as rigid as science tends to interpret them (for example: quantum physics, though incredibly unknown and difficult to comprehend by even the most studied of physicists, commonly accepts the notion that matter can hold indeterminant states of being. What this actually means outside of abstract language, I am not very sure, but perhaps, if it literally means that uncertainty is a property of the universe, it could indicate that the predetermined nature of causation is less concrete than it tends to be taken)
*As a side note, I am well aware that this hypothetical would refute determinism in some aspects if true, given that it posits typically that events are always to occur as they do because of what came before, but it is still grounded in the principle of causation, so I believe it would at least be a derivative form of determinism which incorporates chance and randomness into it’s philosophy.
1. The impossible task was to exercise the human will freely.
ReplyDelete