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| Philosophy https://www.rsbandb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=77720 |
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| Author: | Duke Juker [ December 14th, 2009, 4:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Philosophy |
This year, I took my first real philosophy class in college. And to be honest, it blew me away. While it was just a basic class dealing with proper forms of arguing, we still got into debates over some topics. Sometimes, I'd talk to my professor after class and ask him what his other thoughts were to get a better idea. And every time we would part, we always came to the conclusion that there really is nothing you can know for certain in life. I just wanted to know what your thoughts about this may be. Is anything real? How do you know if something is real? Are there certain things that are true or false? Is there objective truth? If there is, where does it come from? These are some of the deeper questions, but really this can relate to anything. I'm pretty sure there is an answer that can fit everyone's beliefs. As for myself, I'm not quite sure. I might fit into the gray area answer. Sometime in life, you'll probably be faced with this if not now. It's always good to think about these things and be able to know what you believe. |
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| Author: | Adbot [ December 14th, 2009, 4:43 pm ] |
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| Author: | King Kulla [ December 14th, 2009, 4:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
It's hard to know. I also took a Philosophy class in the summer, and I think I got a lot out of it. The analogy that I remember best is that humankind is in a dark cave, content with being safe in the dark, whereas philosophers (those who seek more) are always trying to go out of the cave and climb up the hill outside, but no one has quite reached the top of the hill. It's a gray area, and very hard to define. One thing you learn in philosophy is how to argue. 
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| Author: | trekkie [ December 14th, 2009, 5:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
take a socialogy class and they'll show you that everything we do is based on symbols and perception. IE the christian cross, do you see a piece of wood stuck near the middle, or do you see a holy symbol of your lord ? |
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| Author: | power crazy [ December 14th, 2009, 6:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Everything that I do I know that I certainly did it. I am certainly typing the message. I think, therefore I am. |
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| Author: | Brad [ December 14th, 2009, 6:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Descartes sums up the "is anything real?". The whole evil demon theory. I read a few philosophy books last summer and the main thing I can remember is that Descartes asserted that while we can be sure of ourselves.. the whole cogito ergo sum, as others have stated, anything outside of ourselves is a total unknown in comparison. It's all quite interesting but I prefer to read about other subjects really. |
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| Author: | power crazy [ December 14th, 2009, 7:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Brad wrote: Descartes sums up the "is anything real?". The whole evil demon theory. I read a few philosophy books last summer and the main thing I can remember is that Descartes asserted that while we can be sure of ourselves.. the whole cogito ergo sum, as others have stated, anything outside of ourselves is a total unknown in comparison. It's all quite interesting but I prefer to read about other subjects really. I agree it's a really interesting subject but is kind of annoying/complicated to think about. I agree that everything you think is technically what you know is true only to yourself. I think it's possible that your own life could be an instanced scenario with great beings just just researching. In my opiniong though, people make things way to complicated. I think it's MUCH more likely that things are simple. Like religion, people just hope that bigger things are going on. |
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| Author: | Adbot [ December 14th, 2009, 7:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Register and login to get these in-post ads to disappear |
| Author: | Burnt Joint [ December 14th, 2009, 11:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
I'm taking a major in English with a minor in Philosophy; So I'll be looking forward to having all kinds of interpretive discussions in 2011 xD With philosophy, there is no real 'right' or 'wrong' answer; most of the topics are based around thoughts and beliefs, and saying that, you simply can't shun someone's opinion because you don't agree with it. For one of my Ext. English classes we were given a '101 Philosophical Problems' book which introduced us to our upcoming topic. It was great to finally see that there was a debate that actually made people think, rather than the usual pool of trolls and single-minded neanderthals. Really looking forward to it <333 |
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| Author: | Duke Juker [ December 15th, 2009, 1:08 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
King Kulla wrote: It's hard to know. I also took a Philosophy class in the summer, and I think I got a lot out of it. The analogy that I remember best is that humankind is in a dark cave, content with being safe in the dark, whereas philosophers (those who seek more) are always trying to go out of the cave and climb up the hill outside, but no one has quite reached the top of the hill. It's a gray area, and very hard to define. One thing you learn in philosophy is how to argue. Reminds me of Plato's allegory of the cave (which may be the one you are referring to perhaps). It is a great analogy for this type of question. Also, with Einstein's theories on relativity, it also makes you wonder how close your perception of something is to someone else's. Is reality individual to the person, or do we all share the same one? Complex, but very good stuff to consider. I also like Plato's idea of forms. For those who don't know, it goes something like this. There are four different forms of something. For this whole example, I'll use a pipe. WARNING: This may not be the exact theory, but only meant to get the idea across. I may have something wrong in it, but for the most part, it should be right. 1. The highest form is the concept. In the case of a pipe, the concept is that there is one pipe out there that all other pipes mimic. This pipe matches the exact description of 'pipeness' (a little hard to follow, but bear with it). 2. The next lowest form is what we think of as a pipe. It is not the 'concept of pipeness,' just a mere idea of what we as humans think is a pipe. 3. This form is the actual physical form of a pipe. Corncob, maple, balsa, etc. These are only copies of the idea in the human mind of what a pipe is. In theory, they are crude replicas. 4. This is the crudest form of something. This is a reproduction of the pipe as an image. A picture or painting of a pipe is an example of this. It is not a physical object, only an image of what another person perceives in his thoughts to be the image of a pipe. The best form is the first, the perfect pipe in all its 'pipeness.' All other forms of the pipe fall short of the first form in pureness. It's one of the many very interesting theories and ideas proposed in philosophy. I believe philosophy is good to study. It might confuse you at first, but in the end, you should turn out to be a better person for it with a better understanding on things. |
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| Author: | ryan1 [ December 16th, 2009, 4:34 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Philosophy that deals with "is anything real?" is just a waste of time in my opinion. You can sit around all day imagining yourself being in the Matrix (or w/e your preferred version of reality is), but it doesn't do any good when we only experience this reality, does it? Once you leave Philosophy 101, thinking in such a way is useless. We can and we do know things 'for certain'. If knowledge is so uncertain, why don't people turn on their oven and then touch the inside when it's 400 degrees(F)? Because they know that it will burn them and they know that this will cause them pain that is definitely real (in every useful sense). Objective truth doesn't have to come from anywhere. If it came from something, then it would be subjective. That is the point of the term objective. In a utilitarian sense: We may as well act as though everything around us is real because it is the only reality we know of. I exist. You exist (even if you are only electrical signals in my brain, the electrical signals that are you exist). Honestly, the only people who get excited thinking about this are philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers. |
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| Author: | Brimmk [ December 16th, 2009, 6:39 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
I Think that reality is a paradox. We can be completely sure that it doesn't exist and nothing is for certain, but at the same time we can be completely sure that our own reality exists. Philosophy in and of it self is a paradox, you can use Plato's cavern as a metaphor for what we are trying to reach, the real knowledge of the universe. At the same time you can take a more Socratic sense and say that all you know is that you know nothing (which is also a paradox ironically) and that we have reached knowledge but are too blind to see it. In philosophy and anything created by man, there will always be contradictions in our own knowledge, fallacies in our logic and opposing factors that we identify and end up in the same result, or vice-versa with the same factor producing two different results. The reality is that we as humans are incomplete, imperfect and impure by nature, and all of those things are a result of The Fall. I believe as a christian that we are only made perfect and pure by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that God is the Ultimate, final and Objective truth, that all stems from Him and all ends in Him. These are just my personal views, not anything that I am trying to impose on anyone. |
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| Author: | Duke Juker [ December 16th, 2009, 2:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
ryan1 wrote: <snip> Honestly, the only people who get excited thinking about this are philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers. But why is that? Or is that the case? I think not. Philosophy is something everyone should be excited about. It actually takes thought to think about these things, something which I'm sure most people don't like to do anymore. Instead of playing your xBox or Runescape or doing whatever the heck you feel like doing, take a minute to step back and think a second. You might be suprised by what you find if you leave your virtual/digital world and find the real one. I won't take it as a put down, but as a compliment. If everyone else got excited about Philosophy and actually thought like "...philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers," it would be a good thing for society. We need more thought and less play. |
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| Author: | power crazy [ December 16th, 2009, 3:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Duke Juker wrote: ryan1 wrote: <snip> Honestly, the only people who get excited thinking about this are philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers. But why is that? Or is that the case? I think not. Philosophy is something everyone should be excited about. It actually takes thought to think about these things, something which I'm sure most people don't like to do anymore. Instead of playing your xBox or Runescape or doing whatever the heck you feel like doing, take a minute to step back and think a second. You might be suprised by what you find if you leave your virtual/digital world and find the real one. I won't take it as a put down, but as a compliment. If everyone else got excited about Philosophy and actually thought like "...philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers," it would be a good thing for society. We need more thought and less play. He was talking about the part of philosophy concerning "is this world real?" No need to try to personally attack him and insinuate he's too caught up in a virtual world, lol. L2read |
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| Author: | Steven [ December 16th, 2009, 3:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Duke Juker wrote: ryan1 wrote: <snip> Honestly, the only people who get excited thinking about this are philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers. But why is that? Or is that the case? I think not. Philosophy is something everyone should be excited about. It actually takes thought to think about these things, something which I'm sure most people don't like to do anymore. Instead of playing your xBox or Runescape or doing whatever the heck you feel like doing, take a minute to step back and think a second. You might be suprised by what you find if you leave your virtual/digital world and find the real one. I won't take it as a put down, but as a compliment. If everyone else got excited about Philosophy and actually thought like "...philosophy students/teachers, and pot smokers," it would be a good thing for society. We need more thought and less play. You mad, brah? He was only talking about the "is this real?" side of philosophy. You should relax, he wasn't trying to be rude. xD |
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| Author: | Lord Zamorak [ December 16th, 2009, 4:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
Of course I can know some things for certain. For example, I can be certain that me farting will not make Pluto fly a trillion miles and then explode. In a more practical example, I can be certain that my dog that's been buried in the ground for over ten years is not alive. |
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| Author: | Duke Juker [ December 17th, 2009, 2:44 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Philosophy |
power crazy wrote: He was talking about the part of philosophy concerning "is this world real?" No need to try to personally attack him and insinuate he's too caught up in a virtual world, lol. L2read Steven wrote: You mad, brah? He was only talking about the "is this real?" side of philosophy. You should relax, he wasn't trying to be rude. xD Sorry. I didn't mean to come across like that. When I referred to the virtual/digital world phrase, it was to a generic you, a universal you, not to him personally. It wasn't clear, but that's the way I meant it. So I apologize for the misunderstanding. All I meant to say was that if the average person, whether it be young or old, escaped from this rapidly advancing tech age to really think about the real world rather than the virtual world that it would be a great benefit to the person. 
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