Perception

Perception is the act of apprehending by means of the senses or mind, according to the dictionary. We all perceive things differently and we all notice that there are things around us inhabiting the same space as us. However, the scenario of a person seeing a rose arose in class. How does that person know that they are not the only one seeing the rose and not anyone else? Does the person have to go around to every single human being and ask if they see the same rose? I do not think so. I think that a person sees what is there and doesn't have to rely on others to make sure that they are not "seeing things". It is human nature to ask at least one other person , "Hey, do you see what I see?" However, a person should not initially doubt their perception of something. I feel that there are only special occasions in which a persons perception should really be questioned; when they are under the influence of drugs, when we see that something defies the laws of nature (a floating elephant), or a sick person ( one with schizophrenia).
Another thing I feel that it is human nature to do is pick and choose what we want to hear and see. Some people never want to be wrong, and always want to be right, however if someone is showing/ telling them something that would prove them wrong they would "close" their senses and only hear and see what they want to. The more and more I get into this class the more and more I believe in where I stood from the beginning. We are all different and it is difficult to take one general theory and place it one people.

Morality and Sex

While reading the Schopenhauer chapter, I realized that Pojman was right in saying that he is really pessimistic, however he did make some interesting points. The first thing he seems to imply is that there is no such thing as heroes, their are just "moral people." When people do a good deed, (especially when their lives are put at risk) they are just acting on moral impulse, so it seems calling them a hero would be a bit much, maybe even absurd.
Another thing that sparked my interest was when Schopenhauer touched on the topic of sex. He makes it seems that a humans highest achievement is to reproduce. This goes hand in hand with a persons will to live. A person want to live , however they know physical eternal life is not possible, sooner or later we perish and return to the dirt from whence we came. However, value wise, morally, knowledge wise we want to survive; and the only way to do so is to reproduce and teach our offspring what we believe hoping that they will keep the values we have. I do questions Schopenhauer position on this, however. What is he really saying about sex and the role it plays in human nature and life? Is he saying that one of our primary functions as humans is to reproduce?