Hume vs. Descartes

So today we decided that we are going to have a debate on Friday, on Hume versus Descartes. I'm on Hume's side.
So we basically have to have a rationalist vs. empiricist debate, which I've been looking forward to since reading Sophie's World. It's very interesting, because I feel as if I want to ideally follow the rationalists view, but I feel as if I personally agree with the empiricists, especially Hume's line, "Reason is the slave of the passions," because I really do feel that the first reaction to any situation is NOT logical, but based on your emotions, and passions. However, there is also the irrational response, which is backed by rationalists. Therefore, I think, on the whole, that I simply agree with Kant. I feel that both views have valid points, but only by including both can we really get a true picture.
This is a nice connection to Taoism, which I studied a bit for English this year. In Taoism, one of the main themes is the taijitu, or more commonly known as the yin and yang symbol. In this, Taoism states that nothing can exist without part of the other, and that "seemingly opposite things actually give rise to each other." But I haven't fully developed this idea. Maybe it will appear during the debate on Friday!

Quote of the day

"How you see the world is the same as how you react to fear"

Sophie’s World Essay (Online Submission)

Sophie’s World Essay

This book that we read over the summer has been one of my favorite books of all time. I think this is because it tells of and describes all these different philosophies, as well as simply these vastly different methods of thinking. And it wasn’t only just the content which astounded me. It was the method in which it was communicated to the reader. Gaarder (through Alberto) didn’t try to promote any philosopher, or state anything in his novel as an absolute truth. He simply stated that each of these different schools of thought exist, and allowed the reader take their pick, and decide for themselves if they wanted to believe it or not. There were certain philosophers who I adamantly agreed with on all points, and then there were others who I was certainly skeptical, if not downright angry with. An example of this later point was Sigmund Freud. Personally, I disagree with a vast amount of his theories. However, there are a few others which I have to admit that I feel a strong basis for truth about. If I had to state my favorite philosopher in the book though, it would be Rene Descartes.
Descartes is described in Sophie’s World as believing, “...that certain knowledge is only attainable through reason” (p.230). This statement correctly identifies Descartes as a rationalist. Being a rationalist, Descartes then relied heavily, if not solely, on his reason and logic to come to all conclusions about the world and reality. However, using this basis of reason, he quickly figured out that all the knowledge of philosophy passed down from the Middle Ages, “was not necessarily reliable” (p.230). Thus, this prompted Descartes to construct his own philosophical system, from the ground-up, thereby vastly limiting the possibilities for doubt. Soon, Descartes arrived at the point where he simply doubted everything. But this is where Descartes differed from many others. He figured, since I can doubt, I can think, which means I must exists - Cogito, ergo sum - I think, therefore I am (p.235).

This statement, I had heard before. It was not a new concept, or a new phrase. But the explanation which proceeded it, and the clarity with which it was expressed, let me truly understand this idea of “I think, therefore I am.” It was an epiphany moment of mine. I realized, truly, fully realized what this Latin phrase meant. For me, as a regular human being to be in the process of simply thinking, I was alive. I was more sure that I was alive, and self-consciousness than ever before. It was a fantastic moment of self-awareness.

Descartes’ rationalism also had another significant and profound effect on me. This was brought out during a discussion in class today. We talked about the differences between Descartes rationalism and Hume’s empiricism. This eventually led to a discussion about rationality versus emotions. And this was best summed up when Mr. Summers asked, “What is the strongest emotion?” The immediate response (me included) was “fear”. Almost instantly afterwards, people said, “wait, isn’t it love?” Thinking about this later totally blew my mind. It made me think, wait, what truly does control  or lead us? Our rational mind, or our emotions? Can a mutually exclusive relationship exist between them? This debate has made me question what rules the decisions that I myself make, and, to what extent, I really control them.

In short, this book has made me laugh, made me angry, made me question, but most of all it has made me think.

Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see | Video on TED.com

Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see | Video on TED.com:

'via Blog this'

Quote-A-Day

"How terribly sad it was that people are made in such a way that they get used to something as extraordinary as living."
- Jostein Gaarder (The Solitaire Mystery)

Mr. Summers' "speech"

Fun--I'm having fun--thinking about why it all works--it all develops itself--and that's what gets your excited to teach--fun learning should be fun--to those in Philosophy class who haven't participated much; we need to remove the shackles of our fear and anxiety over speaking up and not sounding perfect--if ever the was in imperfect discipline or academic subject it is philosophy and its admission that all of our certainty is suspect and subject to revision and that we must be able to question and to question is to use our faculty of reason and to live in the questions ala Rainer Maria Rilke--live in the questions and enjoy the process--as it is more about process than it is about scoring points and achievement, it all has it's rightful place, and accolades are nice--however, they mask the journey and the processing of experience that are essential to the realization and often times we expect epiphanies when goals are reached, only to find a hollow feeling an emptiness as expectations unfulfilled leave us wanting and confused about what it is we are supposed to be feeling and where our expectations align with reality and how our human thirst for knowledge and experience won't let ourselves rest upon goals and accolades when we know there is always more to be done, more to be seen, more to be shared, more to absorb, more to contemplate and learn from, more of the vastness and expansion of the universe to taste, see, feel, hear and smell--this cycle of the season and life's eternal cycles, unending, unchanging, but promoting the illusion of change thanks to the essence of time, this, this great big embracing of the big unanswerable questions; of the life of the mind, of the curiosities and wonder and mystery of the world--yes--this--is--what--we--seek.

Classroom discussion (9/15) and Sophie's World questions 7-10

Will write more on this later.

Blindfold and Earplug activity on 9/14

On Wednesday, as a class, we put earplugs in, left school, and walked to a nearby park. We had to walk there the entire way without talking, and, while still not talking, explain to a partner our views on Philosophy. I partnered with Elaine. It was a magnificent experience. Without being able to talk, it was down to gestures. So I had to think of hand movements to represent words like "me", "thinking", "Philosophy", etc. It was difficult. We both kinda got our points across, but when we discussed it afterwards, we both found out that we had gotten a crucial fact or two wrong. This made me think about what happens when someone tells something else something, and due to a simple misunderstanding, or even not hearing an entire sentence, how something can be misconstrued into something entirely different. Also while we were walking back later, Elaine was telling me about when she visits family in a different country (I cant't remember the country at the moment), how she understands the language they're speaking, but can't speak it herself. So, when they ask her a question, she can say yes and no and such, but can't ask them questions, or tell them anything. She told me instead she had to learn to gesture quite a lot to them. This speaks loads to me. Even if you cannot speak the same language as someone, who's to say you cannot befriend them? Why, just because you can't usher forth the same sounds from your mouth, should you not be able to interact peacefully? It left a lot to think about.

The 2nd part of the activity was when we reached the park. There, we sat in a circle, and put on our blindfolds, with our earplugs still in.
to be continued.........

Class Discussions on 9/13/11 and Sophie's World Questions 4-6

"The hardest kind of thinking is thinking about thinking" Anna, aged 9

This was our morning quote, which prompted our discussion on metacognition. Also known as Introspection or reflection, this is the process of thinking about what thinking is.

There were some good points made, especially by Maddy, "What do blind people dream of?" and by Jasmine, talking about our blindfold experience and how things were suddenly "in the forefront of your mind."

This prompted me to think about Plato's world of ideas, and world of the senses. I wondered, what did blind people dream of? Could they imagine colors, and shapes? What credit did this give to Plato's world of ideas? Can you ever discover something without relating it back to something else for a frame of reference?

Emma also made a comment about how the premise of Sophie's World (questions 4) is about the "top hat, and the white hairs of the rabbit." She stated that Hilde's father wants her (Hilde) to be on the very tips of the fur.

Also on question 4, Jasmine made a comment about how no one is too young to think about the philosophical topics discussed in the book, and how these are actually some of the most important things to discuss - about who we are, what are purpose is, etc.

Lastly, Anne stated that Philosophy matters to everyone.

Question 5:

I stated my thoughts that one of the author's beliefs was women's rights. I think this because of the frequency of times that Alberto brings it up when discussing his plethora of philosophers.
Emma - I think the author made the subject a girl to show how women can also think critically.
Kevin - More women actually go to college than men.
Helen - Even though women can be more educated, you look at Forbes list of top 100 CEO's and they're almost all men ( referencing Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers)


Question 6:
Luke- Free will is illusion- look at Sophie within her world
Alex - How is anything we perceive, even if it's all an illusion, any less real, at least to us?
Maddy - Sophie and Alberto think they have free will, but do they really influence anything?


This last question got me to thinking about free will. Do we actually have free will or not? Is there such a thing as destiny? Do our choices matter? I was talking to Alex about this, and we thought, that maybe there is a sort of fate, but it's not all-encompassing. Maybe, as Hegel believes, there is this "world spirit" which ultimately leads us to this end point, but there are a couple different choices for us to choose from. It's like a combination of free will and destiny, but with limits on all your choices. For example, I have the choice or option of jumping out my window right now, but it's quite rainy, and I'm warm and cozy at the moment. So that is something that is so unlikely to happen that it actually limits my choices. Maybe free will DOES exist, but in stricter sense than we imagine.

Blindfold Activity

Today, the 9th of September, 2011, each person in the class partnered up and was blindfolded for a portion of time.

To me, this demonstrated quite a few things:
1) The empiricists belief in sensory perception.
2.) The importance of the emotions, specifically trust.
3.) The sharpened focus of my mind on the task at hand. It was quite similar to the day where Mr. Summers asked us to "feel" each and every step.
4) It highlighted each of the 4 senses that I had left. The fact that my hearing was more acute was the most obvious change.

I really liked this activity, and I felt that I was an excellent way of demonstrating what exactly we are able to perceive.

First day of Class

This was our first day of IB Philosophy, 3rd Period, with Mr. Summers. We discussed our first three questions about Sophie's World, eventually ending up with the question, "What defines reality?"

Also, our quote of the day was "Reason is the slave of the passion." - D. Hume

From this quote, we stated that Hume would prefer instinct and reaction over reason and response.