Presentations continue. Catch up... then,
#_ Camryn Noel-Philosopher Queens. @1 Baker Kilmartin-Freud. #2 erik angelo-Freud. Wyatt Coleman-Nietzsche. Keziah-"Can Letting Go Makes Us Happier? #3 Alivia Bond-Nietzsche
and then everyone else. Looks like we may have to wait 'til after Fall Break to finish them all. That's okay.
1. What's the point of James's squirrel story? Have you ever been involved in a "metaphysical dispute" of this sort? How was it resolved?
2. Who said truth is what we would end up with if we could run all the experiments and investigations we'd like to? (And what's a word his name rhymes with?) What does it imply about the present status of what we now consider true?
3. What did Bertrand Russell say about James's theory of truth? Was he being fair?
4. What 20th century philosopher carried on the pragmatist tradition? What did he say about the way words work? Does his approach seem reasonable to you?
5. What did Nietzsche mean by "God is dead"? (And what's a word his name rhymes with?) Does that statement seem nihilistic to you?
6. Where did Nietzsche think Christian values come from? What do you think about that?
7. What is an Ubermensch, and why does Nigel find it "a bit worrying"? Does it worry you that some of our peers think of themselves as exempt from the rules and norms that the rest of us follow?
8. How did Nietzsche differ from Kant but anticipate Freud? Is rationality less available to us than we think?
9. What were the three great revolutions in thought, according to Freud? Was he overrating his own contributions?
10. The "talking cure" gave birth to what? Have you had any direct experience with it, or any other form of "talking cure"?
11. Why did Freud think people believe in God? Was he right, about some people at least?
12. What was Karl Popper's criticism of Freudian psychoanalysis? Do you agree?
- What is Weiner's favorite movie? What philosophical themes does it wrestle with? What Nietzschean idea does it resemble? How would you respond to the "demon" who proposes it?
- How do we write well, according to Nietzsche? Have you tried it?
- What is amor fati? Do you have an "all or nothing" attitude towards life? What does that mean to you?
- What is the "as if" approach to life? Do you take it? Does it work?
- What is Sonya's opinion of Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence? Do you share it?
- How does the "Hollywood version" of ER differ from Nietzsche's? Which do you prefer? Why?
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"Best book in the MTSU library" (more modestly, the best book by me in the library):
1. James's squirrel story is about a man circling a tree while a squirrel circles the trunk, keeping its belly toward him. The question is whether the man goes round the squirrel, and James says it depends on what you mean by "going round." I think his point is that a lot of these big philosophical fights are really just fights about words. I've seen the same thing when people argue about whether AI "understands" stuff.
ReplyDelete2. Peirce, which rhymes with fierce. He said truth is what everyone would agree on if we could investigate forever. I take that to mean what we call true now could still get overturned.
3. Russell said James mixed up truth with usefulness, because a useful belief can still be false. I don't think that's totally fair, since James meant an idea checking out against real experience. But Russell had a point too, because James never really drew that line clearly.
Questions: Section #2
ReplyDelete5. Nietzsche, which rhymes with duh, meant that the belief in God had stopped being reasonable. I do not think that this statement is nihilistic, but rather what Nietzsche had observed in the world around him.
6. Nietzsche thought that Christian values came from envy. I do not necessarily agree with Nietzsche on this point. For example, I have known people who have done good, Christian things because it was morally just in their sight. There was no envy involved.
8. Nietzsche emphasized how emotions and irrational forces sharpen human values. I think that rationality is available to all who seek it. Depending on how people search for rational thought would dictate how possible it would be for them to achieve rationality.
Section 1
ReplyDeleteLHP 9-11
9. Cosmological, Biological, and Psychological. i believe his takes were the most important
10. psychoanalysis, i don't have any experience directly
11. He believed that religion is wish fulfillment, for some people he is right but for others they can find other reasons, or actual facts.
1.) Nietzsche thought that Christian values came from people who were envious of the ones in power. The people who were envious created new values that they deemed were better than the values of the people in power, so Christian values came from envy. I think it's an interesting idea, but I don't know that I necessarily believe that. It could be true for all I know though. What I do know is that I've noticed many, but not all, Christians will preach about the values they have but then act the complete opposite of their values. I do disagree with Nietzsche when he said that we should do away with Christian values. I think it's very important to treat everybody equally and to help the poor and weak when they need help.
ReplyDelete2.) An Ubermensch is "an imagined person of the future who is not held back by conventional moral codes, but goes beyond them, creating new values." Nigel finds this worrying because he thinks that it will support the people who "want to have their way without consideration of other people's interests." This was also the reasoning the Nazis used to support their views and actions. It does worry me that some people think they are exempt from the rules. "Rules for thee but not for me" sort of thinking. We see in both history and current times people who don't apply rules to themselves, many of which are rich people, and create worse living conditions for the less fortunate. Not only is this just a selfish way of thinking, but it leads to these people making the less powerful people have even more unfortunate circumstances and ways of living than before, like with Nazi Germany.
3.) When it comes to Freud, I have a few thoughts I'd like to share. First of all, I do agree that some people have some unconscious feelings that cause them to act a certain way, such as people who have deep-rooted childhood trauma, or people who have PTSD from a traumatic time or event in their life. These things are often unconscious and people don't realize that the trauma has been affecting their way of life until they go to therapy. However, I don't think all our real desires are unconscious (and I definitely don't want to kill my father and sleep with my mother, no matter how much Freud may think so). I definitely know things that I desire now: marriage, a bachelor's degree, being a published and successful author. And Freud is trying to tell me that those conscious desires aren't actually my true desires, and that my true desires are hidden unconsciously in me? I don't think so. I also think it's ridiculous how he tries to interpret things. I have a book that provides meanings for almost any dream you could think of, from being back at school to forgetting something to be caught in a natural disaster. It's very interesting actually, and sometimes I do find that the meanings of dreams I have relate to my waking life in some way. Freud's interpretations of dreams are also listed in this book, and I've always thought how odd it all sounds. Just because I have a dream about an umbrella doesn't mean the dream is about a penis. It makes me want to laugh thinking about some of his ideas, but I do think some of his views make sense.
Section 2:
ReplyDeleteLHP 9-According to Freud, the 3 great revolutions of thought were: Our planet not being at the heart of the solar system, evolution and natural selection showing our history, and finally his own revolution of the influence of our unconscious mind. I believe the discovery of the unconscious mind is revolutionary for psychology but I found it interesting that he would place his own theory up there which shows his high levels of ego.
LHP 10-The talking cure which Freud had observed from Joseph Breuer led to great advancements in psycho analysis and influenced Freud to implement free association.
LHP 11- Freud believed people gave their hope to religion as a form of wish fulfillment. People need an authority figure to provide protection, justice and meaning into their lives. I think this definitely applies to some people but would not generalize it to everybody.
Tyler Scherr - H02
ReplyDeleteLHP
3. He said the theory meant that William James had to believe Santa Claus exists. It was a fair analysis but I think it was taken out of context.
5. He used the phrase to encapsulate what he observed of morals in the world, and it makes sense how he came to his point. I don't think it is nihilistic. I think it is rather observant. (Nietzsche in common English pronunciation rhymes with the phrase "Nice to meet ya" and the rhyme can be used to help remember the pronunciation)
6. He said they emerged out of the world where the weak were envious and resentful of the powerful made new values which inverted current thinking. I think it would make logical sense in an evolving society if that is how it came into being.
12. He criticized it by saying that psychoanalysis was "unfalsifiable", meaning that it couldn't reasonably be tested. He used the example of someone drowning a child versus saving them from the river. Either way could technically be explained by Freud's theory, and as such, there in no way to validate or discredit it. I agree it is unfalsifiable, and it feels mildly unnatural that people can invent an idea that can't be formally validated or invalidated.
LHP
ReplyDelete2. C.S. Peirce said that about truth. His name, pronounced as purse, rhymes with hearse. This belief implies that the truth we believe in have been run through many experiments and investigations. These truths would have to be undeniable.
4. Richard Rory was the 20th century philosopher who carried on the pragmatic way of thinking. He believed that words were just tools. They allow us to cope with the world and digest what we experience. This seems reasonable to me. There are moments where words can barely describe an experience.
6. Nietzsche believed that the Christian values came from people who were powerless creating the values of generosity and care because they were envious of the powerful. I think this is a very pessimistic view of people. Instead of believing in people's kindness with no strings, their kindness is held in the values created by the less fortunate.
1. What's the point of James's squirrel story? Have you ever been involved in a "metaphysical dispute" of this sort? How was it resolved?
ReplyDeleteTo argue the possibility of an absolute truth. No, I have never debated any metaphysical topics.
2. Who said truth is what we would end up with if we could run all the experiments and investigations we'd like to? (And what's a word his name rhymes with?) What does it imply about the present status of what we now consider true?
C.S. Pierce, purse. It implies a lot of the info we pass of as true is really just good enough.
Weiner ch 11
What is Weiner's favorite movie? What philosophical themes does it wrestle with? What Nietzschean idea does it resemble? How would you respond to the "demon" who proposes it?
How do we write well, according to Nietzsche? Have you tried it?
With our feet. Metaphorically yes, literally no.
What is amor fati? Do you have an "all or nothing" attitude towards life? What does that mean to you?
Love of fate. Yes, I approach many of my main goals with this attitude.