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Post by Samantha Spindola on Jun 29, 2015 6:13:32 GMT
Week 1 1. Why was Socrates sentenced to death? According to the readings, there are two main reasons as to why Socrates was sentenced to death; the first being "that he did not believe in the gods recognized by the states" and the second "that he had corrupted the Athenian youth by his teachings" (pg. 2). Meletus, Socrates accuser claimed that Socrates was a poet, a maker of Gods, of news Gods and therefore had little to no regards for the old Gods which ultimately led to the corruptions of the youth (pg. 6). Because Socrates sought to explore what others had not in terms of life, religion, and science he was seen as a "neologian." Socrates was straying away from the norm, from the ideology of his time to a new train of thought, awareness, and belief. His views contradicted those of ancient belief which angered people like Meletus who were not open to new ideologies and explorations of the world and mind. (2014). How socrates died: A selection from plato's dialogues. MSAC Philosophy Group. Retrieved from www.neuralsurfer.com |
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Post by Samantha Spindola on Jun 29, 2015 7:16:37 GMT
Week1 2. Why is there conflict (for some) between science and religion? One of the main reasons why there was, and continues to be, conflict between science and religion is because science works on explaining the unknown, ultimately leaving nothing up to faith and belief, while religion strives on the notion of strong beliefs without having to have a mathematical/concrete answer to all questions. Furthermore and in simplified terms, science is not based on things that live on belief, rather on calculated explanations; "... science isn't a thing but rather a process of discovery and along that pathway there will be false starts, differences of opinion, falsifications, tentative hypotheses, and theories and even facts that are always subject to alteration or even wholesale elimination (pg. 15). When analyzing the following quote, " Even when inter theoretic reductionisms hold true there is no "just" about it, since the very phenomena under inspection doesn't lose its mystery by being contextually or algorithmically comprehended", argues that science seeks to find answers to questions people may have (pg. 12). The example that later comes into play is that simply because someone says that the ocean is made of Oxygen and Hydrogen doesn't mean that it simply is; science can prove this to be correct. Further elaborating, religion can make such arguments for other things without explanations and be perfectly acceptable. Now, the clash between both can also be supported with the following: " ... for any endeavor to be justifiably regarded as 'scientific' it must be willing to be correct, to be changed to be wrong" (pg. 14). This quote states that any endeavor can be proved to be wrong with science, but for religion although the facts may prove it to be wrong, it would remain true. Diem-Lane, A. & Lane, D. C. (2014). Matter vs. spirit. MSAC Philosophy Group. Retrieved from www.neuralsurfer.com |
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Post by sspindola on Jul 6, 2015 7:11:26 GMT
Week 2
1. Why is understanding physics and the general rules of the universe so important in doing philosophy?
Understanding physics and the general rules of the universe is essential in philosophy because it helps us to understand how and why things come about, what they are made of and why, what makes them into what they are.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
Taken from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, eliminative materialism also known as eliminativism is the "radical claim that our ordinary, common-sense understanding of the mind is deeply wrong and some or all of the mental states posited by common-sense do not actually exist." As mentioned in Matter vs. Spirit: The Great Mystery, the best way to understand the consciousness can be through the process of eliminative materialism, simply the process of elimination; "if the phenomena cannot be explained fully and comprehensively by mathematics, then one turns to physics, and if that too is incomplete, then to chemistry, then to biology, then to psychology, then to sociology, etc." To understand the unexplainable one must use the process of elimination. Take for example the advancement of science in the areas of astronomy, medicine, physics in comparison to that of old and new concepts. As our new found understanding of life expands we continuously replace outdated information with newer and more accurate information. As mentioned in both the readings and the short films we have replaced our understandings of: thunder caused by Thor, the Thunder God with that caused by electrical magnetic currents, bacteria and viruses to be the cause of diseases instead of angry spirits, and lastly that the central nervous system is actually controlling our movements instead of tiny ghost. Eliminative materialism therefore allows us to gain a more accurate physiological explanation (pg. 21-22).
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