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WGU
1. Being grown-up is widely considered to be what? Do you agree?
2. Is Leibniz's optimism more likely to appeal to a small child? Why? 3
3. What was Kant's definition of Enlightenment? 5
4. What do Susan Neiman's children say she can't understand? Do you agree? 9
5. Why is judgement important? Is this a surprising thing to hear from a Kantian? 11
6. Being a grown-up comes to what? 12
7. What did Paul Goodman say about growing up? Are his observations are still relevant? 19
8. Why (in Neiman's opinion) should you not think this is the best time of your life, if you're a young college student? 20
9. What did Samoan children have that ours lack? 27 Can we fix that?
10. What is philosophy's greatest task? 31
1.) Being grown-up is widely considered to be "a matter of renouncing your hopes and dreams, accepting the limits of the reality you are given, and resigning yourself to a life that will be less adventurous, worthwhile and significant than you supposed when you began it." I agree that this is what most people think growing up is, but I disagree that growing up is actually like this. I feel like most adults feel like they have to be serious and work all the time and that there is no room for things they enjoy. I also think that many people don't realize they have the free will to do things they enjoy or choose their own paths in life because they are so focused on being the kind of "adult" that most people define. Growing up really isn't bad, your childhood is not necessarily the best time of your life (contrary to the beliefs of many people), and you can still be happy and have fun even as an adult. I can't even imagine being the kind of adult who always works and never just relaxes or has fun.
ReplyDelete2.) Paul Goodman said that we've created a culture that does not leave space for grown-ups and that people need to create a culture of meaningful work rather than consuming goods. I think this is even more relevant today. Many people are obsessed with looking young forever and will spend an unthinkable amount of money on surgeries, cosmetics, botox, and other products designed to make you look younger, which shows how our culture doesn't really make space for grown-ups (or people who appear "old"). Goodman's statement is also relevant because of the consumer culture we have today, especially in the United States. Companies and websites like Amazon make it to where people can buy anything with just the click of a button, social media makes people feel as if they are missing out by not buying a product, and advertisements are everywhere, telling us to buy buy buy.
3.) Neiman says that we should not think that college is the best time of our lives because it's not necessarily an easy time and that belief makes many college students not look forward to the rest of their lives. As Neiman says, in the point of view of a college student, "If I'm torn and frightened now, what can I expect of the times of my life that, they all tell me, will only get worse?" Many people believe that life is a downward slope, getting worse the older you age and the further you are from childhood. I've been having an amazing experience with college so far, and I absolutely hate how so many people act like life just goes downhill from here. If people older than college-aged think their lives are so bad, then why don't they do anything to make it better? Do they not realize that they have to ability to choose what they want to do in life (excluding certain unfortunate circumstances)?