THANK YOU!

Hi Everyone!!
I just want to thank you for a truly wonderful semester. I think that you are the most amazing group of people, and I am so fortunate to have had the privilege of teaching you. I will remember each one of you for those amazing moments when you opened up and challenged yourself, one another, and me, in profound ways.
To those of who were able to make it out to Future's last night, thanks for a wonderful time. I hope you all had as good a time as I did. And I hope we can do it again!
Yours truly,
-H. Darby

Illusions and Reality

Descartes was skeptical of what we could ever really be sure of. He took away and invalidated things one by one until he determined that he could only be sure that he existed as a thinking thing. I really disliked what he had to say, in my mind I had judged him to be a nutbar with some good written communication skills and that was it. However, after taking a second look at what he wrote, I found myself letting go of my previous judgment. His idea was so far fetched that I couldn't accept it. Now I'm thinking about it, surely there are times when our reality is an illusion. Say you have a really high fever, or get knocked in the head. You can see stars, your vision might blur, you could even have hallucinations. At the point that your mind is altered you still are a thinking thing, even without full use of your scenes. While I don't agree that everything could be an illusion, there is something very real about the physical world, I think Descartes managed to bring humanity to its core. By nature (or design if that's your belief) humans are thinking things. That why are able to create so much in this world, we think all the time.

Nihilism :D

A cheery topic that on one seems to have touched upon.

Nihilism is a philosophy that covers many branches of philosophy which denies the possibility of any truth, absolute moral values, and intrinsic meanings to life. This may seem depressing for some, but for me it rather makes a lot of sense and here's why.

If one extreme end of existentialism claims that everything matters, and we are all one, then wouldn't it only make sense to say that anything we do IS pointless? How could the choice of whether or not for me to push you over in the snow for entertainment purposes with a chance hurting you possibly matter at all if you, me, the snow, and the very act of pushing is within, and IS the system?

In physics, there is a law that states every force has an equal and opposite reaction. Then wouldn't it make sense that all lifeFORCE would eventually and naturally die out to achieve a state of equilibrium? Or maybe life itself is only a temporary glitch in this great system, and in the end acted as an unwittingly participant that helped to facslitate this process of balancing, and the animals/plants we digest and the fossil fuels we burn and everything else we do are meant to take that concentrated energy, whether its a lump of coal or a dead bird, and spreading it evenly throughout the cosmos.

With this in mind, perhaps the the key to a happier life is to accept our meaninglessness and realize that through all of this we're all but one, and to ignore the boulder that is our lives like Sisyphus and fixate on the present. Carpe diem.

feel like this has happened before??

So i was thinking about history the other day, no particular history in general, but i was having a discussion with my two buddies and we were talking about wars. We talked about how countries have always invaded or conquered other country's which obviously lead to armed conflicts which in turn lead to war.
So, roughly, it started with the Greeks and Romans right? They went around conquering Asia and the Middle East, sparking conflict everywhere. Then it was the English in the middle ages, the British Empire conquered countries all over the world, which in turn cause more conflict and fighting as nations would resist occupation and being conquered. Then, jumping forward in time, there were the first and second world wars, although the second was ignited by a assignation it still ended up that Germany ( or the third Reich ) was trying to take over Europe. Jumping forward yet again, there were the most recent Iraq wars, were the United States invaded Iraq, for there natural resources. What can be next in our future? obviously more fighting, will there be a Galactic Empire (united states i would guess) that takes over all the planets, and have to fight against a small band of Rebels (excuse the star wars reference, but it does make sense when you think about it). So the point that i seem to be getting at is that all throughout time the country or nation that has been in the position of power has always tried to conquer everything around it. Could this be because of our instinctive evolutionary behaviour of being savage and aggressive has just never left, that no matter how much we evolve we just cant shake that 'caveman attitude' that is buried deep down in our very core. I'll use an example i got from the news paper this morning. In Haiti after being utterly brought to its knees by that earthquake, people have started looting for supplies, one man was caught by the people and was bound with rope, beaten by a crowd then set on fire and left in the street. This pretty much shows that if us as humans can be broken down enough, we will show our instinctual aggression.

And if you look at it in a different picture, of things happening already at different times, our weather goes through cycles, were it gets warmer and colder than normal, like the ice age etc. just not to the extent of all the chemicals that are being released into our atmosphere. This sparks one more question. What if civilization already happened before and ended up destroying its self, like 2012 happened for them, which brought them back down to the stone age. Then we developed as humans. But that's a question for another time

p.s. excuse the historical inaccuracy,

THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY...

The beginning of the class we study about he value of philosophy. Most of the people like manu students of science, engineering, business, education, abd even arts who would contend that philosophy is useless and effectively powerless in the modern world. It is seen in the light of the disciplines which today extended academic life. these are disciplines which are largely concered with contributing toward a specific career. they exist each to fill a particular role in society, to established purpose and to further explain that purpose, without necessarily expanding it. However, they think philosophy operates much differently. it has no established purpose, and represents mo exclusive career and they disregard the values of philosophy. well i don't think we should give only importance to science, and other careers. we also should study philosopy and understand what is its value in our life. Because i think the study of philosophy helps students develop their capacity to understand, criticize, and bulid arguments, to analyze and solve problems, and to expand their ides and present them in a clear, meaningful, and well-organized form.
SO people my question to you is what are the values of philoosphy in your life? DO you think it is valuable to study philosophy or it is useless?.

Exploring Bad Faith

As theorized by Sartre, living in "bad faith" is a form of self-deception that most generally means that one defines him/herself's existence through the social circumstances and appearances that surround them. When we judge ourselves relative to existence based on what Sartre believes to be the trivialities of life and that which we seemingly cannot surmount...we are classified as being of especially bad faith. If we score well on a philosophy test, and are positively overjoyed to have done so well--we are living in bad faith. When we don't do well, and begin to approach that failing grade...and the depressing thoughts begin to wallow within our minds--we are too living in bad faith.

Ultimately, Sartre suggests that the only way to escape "bad faith" is to realize that perception and existence are separate.

Does being in "bad faith", however, inevitably to a morose life of unhappiness? Does the rich banker care if his life is entirely based on his earnings if he's always in the top bracket? What of the poor McDonalds manager who places the same emphasis on money but conversely suffers a distinct lack of it?

Does Sartre's theory have any basis in modern society for you? How would you personally go about living in better faith?

Sexuality

It has taken me a while to discern how about I would go asking this question or how I myself would even go about answering it.

So, after examining the theories of Sartre on how we conduct ourselves in/during relationships (both friendship and romantic), I would like everyone to consider how we would then go about categorizing sexuality.

Are we born with a sexuality (i.e. homosexual, heterosexual, etc.) or do we create this persona based on the types of relationships we plan to form. And if such is the case, when would we first begin to develop this awareness of ourselves to decide what and who we are in that situation.

Discuss.

gogogo~

Study Group

Hello fellow philosophers! I hope you are as excited as I am to cram more philosophy into our impressionable minds.

If you would like, or have time, to come out please give us your best availability so we can decide the best consensus for a date and time. We are not limited to one session, so if you can't make it I am flexible. So choices for moi:
First: Saturday (as seemed the general day for those I spoke with in class).
Second (best): Monday.
Third: Tuesday before class or Wednesday day or evening.

I will tally up what works best and make the call on the blog on Friday evening at 8:00pm (not too late). But if you want confirmation let me know, I will be here updating after that too.

As for a place, I was thinking somewhere close to the school as that is where we are most familiar with as a whole. Maybe a coffee shop, restaurant, library (?), or if the group is big enough my place in Kensington Market is up for grabs. Feel free to make further suggestions!

If you have found a study method that works for you, please enlighten us with your pot of gold!

My e-mail : kristencarrington@gmail.com
My phone : 647.261.5250
If other means works for anyone, like the phone I can call you with the solid details.

Thanks! Looking forward to it :)

p.s. Ms. Darby, you better come!

Immanuel Kant says that our mind acts as a filter, or what he calls a "black box", something that takes what we are perceiving from our senses and sorts it out and filters it into what we are actually experiencing. so if this black box in our minds is the only thing that is separating us from what could possibly be actually reality, what happens when it breaks down, or doesn't exist in some people at all. this could be what mental illness is, or more so schizophrenia. schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric and mental disorder which cause an individual to have hallucinations, delusions, and confused speech and thinking. so what I'm trying to get at is, is something like schizophrenia is a interpretations of raw reality, so a reality that is not altered or filtered by our black box. but we cant see this because everyone else black box functions at optimal capacity, thus meaning that only the few people that actually have schizophrenia are the ones being fooled and deceived by their sense's. so then there are psychedelic hallucinogens which cause you to have psychedelic experiences, what if this is what happens when you damage your black box. like making a CD skip, if you still listen to Cd's.

FREEDOM

WHAT IS FREEDOM?
I BELIEVE FREEDOM IS BEING FREE FROM YOUR THOUGHTS!
THOUGHTS ARE WHAT IS CAUSING US TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH OF PAIN AND SUFFERING AND IF ONE FREE THEMSELVES FROM THOUGHTS CAN GET OUT OF PAIN AND SUFFERING. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Subject for another subject

So people my question to you is what do you think about what Sartre said about people not being capable of being subject for another subject? Do you think it is because we try so hard to fancy the person in the other side to the point where we lose our authenticity and the other person can not understand and see our subjectivity or something else? leave your interesting and creative responses below :)

Living and learning

As people say, we learn from our mistakes, but is that really true? Do you actually learn from the mistake, why did you make that mistake? Was it because, as Heidegger says you were being inauthentic to yourself and others or was this mistake made because you were being authentic and genuine? From your past experiences what do you believe? Do you believe mistakes are always a bad thing or could they possibly be positive, do you think that you have benefitted from a "mistake"?

What if everyone was born with their very own Other

Sartre created the idea of the "Other" to construct reflective consciousness. What if when everyone was born, they were born with someone who was completely the opposite of them in both looks and thought. Lets say you are a quiet, conservative, and well mannered, and your opposite would be.. well, the opposite of that. Oh and did I mention you both share the same body, as two heads? Your opinion would always be questioned by your other and you would always be witness to the other side of a perspective. Would this broaden your perception against biases and objectiveness against certain subjects? Would we become a more understanding person, more able to percieve that which is hidden behind our self-consciousness, our shame and our experience?

Being Your Authentic Self

Martin Heidegger’s theory of human existence is outlined by Dasein and creating your own most possibility through authenticity. However; he acknowledges that societal influences or 'das man' inflict potential instead of encourage possibility, which limits independent self development.

One of the ways my own possibility is being limited by 'das man' is though the idea of success. I am inauthentic because I do not know what I want in my life to feel successful, and I base a lot of what I think will bring me happiness on what is expected of me.

In what ways are you not being authentic in your life and how is that affecting your own most possibility? Do you believe that it is possible to be truly authentic and free from societal influences?

Coping with Amnesia

For few days now, I've been wondering about amnesia and the aftermath of it. For me, I wouldn't be able to fully recover unless otherwise, I wouldn't be able to cope with the fact of having amnesia. Having amnesia would certainly change my perspective on some things because of my past experiences and what I've gained from them. Now my question is, would you be able to cope with amnesia and how would your perspective change on the world and other judgements?

A thought......

Now Emmanuel Kant asserts that we can't have certain knowledge as the mind produces "sense data" which restrains our minds to a certain conceptual limit. Meaning, we can only grasp what is in our capacity of understanding for we see something uniquely to our own mind and filter it through our own thoughts.

In relation to this we can only understand things in terms of time and space. But what about abstract ideas such as the term never. Is there such thing as never in reality. You can't measure measure "never" through space and time as there is no prescribed time for the term never. Never won't ever happen, so it's unobtainable.

Respect

What is it that determines if a particular person deserves respect? Do we give respect to people only because of their actions?

Will it ever be possible for humans to respect each other entirely and equally?

does everything happen for a reason?

i have been doing lots of thinking recently, and what i have been thinking about the most is, does everything happen for a reason? there can really be two answers to this, either everything happens just by chance or fluke, or some divine being has everything planned out. personally i think everything happens by fluke or chance, for example, if you knock over a cup of water and it spills all over your phone or computer, then that's just bad luck. or if somebody drops their metro pass then you happen to find it, that's what i call good luck. but then again this can all have happened because our divine being had set it to happen, all the good and bad luck will eventually end the way they wanted it to. i guess if you think of it this way, everything happens and works together, like the inner workings of a clock, or the way a timing belt keeps everything in an engine working in a synchronised fashion. if the timing belt shifts or snaps, the engine will be damaged beyond repair, the same way if our divine being stops conducting or managing everything, our existence will be chaotic and damaged beyond repair. but that's only if our everything is controlled by a divine being, and so far to me it seem as if everything just happens cause it does, so the vase in the living room didn't fall over because a mouse ran underneath the stove in the kitchen.

If You Were The Last Person On Earth...

If you were the last person left on earth, how do you think you would spend your time? Would a great weight be lifted, or a void created? How long do you think you would dwell on the past before accepting your current situation?
If you were the last person on earth, how do you think your views on existence would change? Would life lose all meaning? Would life become "unbearably light"? Or would this new found freedom lead to a personal state of "childlike wonder"? Would joy even be possible, or could the scent of a flower cause an ecstatic state?

Does Philosophy Do More Harm Then Good?

In the beginning of the course, we read CHAPTER XV: THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY from Bertrand Russell's The Problems of Philosophy. We were then asked why philosophy is valuable to us and to the world in general. Which got me thinking, what would the world be like if philosophy never even existed in the first place? Is it possible the world would be a better place if noone ever asked the question "Why?"

Empiricists or Rationalist?

After studying about different empiricist and rationalist philosophers in our philosophy class. I always asked my self this question, which I am going to put forward to you guys is that, is it possible to live or believe as a hardcore empiricists or a hardcore rationalist?

Discuss.

Wassuup, fellas?

(Don't mark that for spelling please) ^

Alright, so after our last 'sharing' session in philosophy class, my mind exploded inside a little. That's how many epiphanies and conclusions I came to thanks to some of my classmates. Thanks guys. I haven't been able to put all of my thoughts into words just yet, but as soon as I do, it will be posted here.

Yesterday I asked a friend to hit me with an idea, or at least give me an emotion to write about on my philosophy blog. What he gave me was "Envy/Jealousy". He explained it, saying that he gets extremely jealous when someone he's interested in, is dating someone else. So jealous to the point where it hurts and to the point where he's trying to prevent a girl from going on a date, even if he knows he's not going to be with her.

Jealousy never struck me hard like this, and it made me wonder why do people experience the feeling at all. I, personally, consider it to be another limitation that we place on ourselves. It's like a fence that keeps you from moving forward and actually getting what it is that you want, instead of being jealous that someone else has it.

What do you think? Do you think people would generally have a better chance to become successful and qualify for what seems like an impossible concept - a perfectly satisfied, happy life, if they learned to go without envy and jealousy? I think so.

Alice.

Confusion

Hi Everyone,
I'm extremely sorry for all of the confusion regarding the blog format/layout. I believe I may have solved the problem and will discuss this with you in tomorrow's class. I also apologize for not responding to emails over the break, my tdsb account has not actually been working until today : (