Reflection and Connection #2

At this point in Sophie's World the book is getting more interesting; however, I am confused. Who is Hilde? Is that Sophie's dad or someone else's dad? I like how religion is coming into the book and how Christianity developed. I never knew that Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are Semitic religions. In Holocaust Literature we learned that a lot of Christians in Europe were Anti-Semitic. It feels like the book is no more about philosophy, but it's getting personal with Sophie Alberto. It's interesting to learn that there was a female philosopher. In those times women were just saw as a child bearers. I like learning about women power for a change. All philosophers we have learned about have been males and it's interesting to learn about how the world should be from a females perspective. Is Alberto going through chronological order for a reason?

In class we have been learning about fate this week. We learned about determinism. We were asked if we believed that god already planned out everything out for us, or do we live by free will and some stuff is fate. I do believe that god planned some things. For example, in the Bible it says that 2 towers will fall and in 2001 the 9/11 attacks took place with the 2 twin powers being destroyed. However, I do not believe God planned everything. Did God plan diseases, and the horrifying things that happen in the world. I know that the world has to have evil to balance out the good, but it seems like there has been more bad than good. Without bad, the world would be a utopia which is not possible. I believe that god puts everyone on earth for a reason, but I believe that he lets free will takes it place. I do not believe that people were meant to die at young or even old ages, I believe that free will took place and they were just cut down before their time.

Blog #55 - Which Hellenist philosophy works for you?

I believe my life can most relate to Stoicism. Although I am a very sensitive person, I had learned to accept things for what they are and don't let things get to me. Things happen, deal with it and turn a negative situation into a positive one. Everyday I learn more and more. I endure pain,instead of talking about it. I believe that things will one day get better and everything will come out in light. I have accepted that I cannot change things. Things happen for a reason and one day I will understand that reason.

Stoicism isn't the best way to think, but at the end of the day we should all think this way. Don't let your emotions get in the way of you doing something. Emotions only put a hold on things. I agree that Stoicism is how the way we react to events, not just standing by watching things happen. Stoicism is not supposed to be taken as a way to say screw the world. Stoicism does not mean that when somebody is killed, we show no sympathy and we just say" Well things happen." Stoicism means that when it comes to things that happen to us personally we should get over, especially little things that will not even affect our lives.

Learning to endure pain makes you a stronger person; however, holding in your emotions is sometimes bad. You can one day just explode because you had so many things bottled up. Sometimes I feel that hiding my emotions makes me see things better and more clear.

Blog #54 Plato's ideal state- Would it work today?

I believe Plato's society can be fit to make it more ideal for 21st century American audience. Some of Plato's beliefs and ideas are more modern then Aristotle's. Plato believes that women are as equal as men. Aristotle however, did not believe that. Plato believed that all women should be able to do the same thing as men. He believed women could be exempt from child bearing and house keeping. In today's society women are no longer expected to have children and be a homemaker (housewife). Women are expected to work for what they want just as men. That is one reason why Plato's society could fit into the 21st century because in the early 20th century and before that, women were expected to stay home.

Plato's inmate idea that we were born with knowledge is very debatable in the 21st century. I believe that it is somewhat true. When were are born as babies we automatically know who to call mommy, before even having skin to skin contact with her. That is because we know our mothers voices in the wound. For example, on the show Teen Mom, one of the teen mothers children is raised by her mother, but for some reason the child calls her mommy, barely even seeing her everyday. This is because despite him barely being around his mother, he knows his mothers voice. This could be an example of being born with knowledge. Technology can also be questionable. Today children at the age of 2 know how to work ipads, and iphones, etc. Is it because they were born in a century were technology is a basis for everything? Is that considered being born with knowledge or just being exposed to it? A lot of things like math, reading, and writing we have to learn in school.

Plato's inmate ideas would need to be fixed, because it is proven that we learn knowledge through teachings and observation, like Aristotle stated. Plato believed that true knowledge comes from reason and that our senses are unreliable. Like biology, we have never seen how something works, but we know from our own bodies and from what we have learned.

Plato's ideas in my opinion could be on a national level, if somethings were changed in his ideal society. Plato believes that we should live based on Socrates' ideas of justice, courage, wisdom, and beauty. Which could fit in today's society.

Sophies World Connection and Reflection #1

 Sophies World is a very interesting book. Many of the philosophers relates to the things we learned in science. In science we learned how many scientists believed that people and things evolved over time, constantly changing into different things. Like Heraclitus believed that constant change or flow was the basic characteristic of nature. Many of us doubt the theory of evolution because of religion purposes or other scientific discoveries like the big bang theory. Philosopher Democritus believed that atoms combine to form different things, but the basic four elements earth, wind, air, and fire stay the same. Today scientists are still in debate of how to world started. Then we have some people like Parmenides who believed everything has always existed and the world is everlasting. A lot of things in Sohpies World can be connected to the real world and the disagreements today.

The book is very interesting. I like that the book is written from third- person and still a very good book. I am usually not into books that are written from third-person because they usually are boring. I like how the man is kept a mystery. I am not sure what to think of him though. He is an older man sending letters to a 14 year-old girl; however, it is interesting that he is sending messages about history. Normally in these types of situations the person would send love letters if they are hiding their identity. I love the book and I am interested to see what happens. I like the chapter Fate. It is interesting to learn someones opinion on fate and learn about a philosophers opinion on fate.