It's human nature to...

We haven't really talked about this in class,however it is something that does relate to human nature. I was at a program today and the presenter stated that it was human nature to be reluctant to admit when we had a problem. I can't really say this is true for everyone but, from experience I can say that it is true for some. People are quick to say nothing is wrong when there is clearly something wrong; whether it be something wrong personally or with another person. It seems people rather act out than come to terms with the thing that is bothering them.
It isn't hard to say "You know what I have a problem and unless I finally come to terms with it I won't overcome it." It is crazy the things people go through than to just admit the truth. Maybe it's pride, a fear of maybe being rejected by others, or worse having to admit that they were wrong. If there is a problem it can easily be solved by naming it. If the problem is with someone else don't lie to others and yourself and go on without resolving the issue with the person. Things are made to be talked out hence the reason God gave us mouths and the knowledge to comprehend what people are saying. It isn't ok to not admit when a problem is at hand , because denial is a sad and sometimes tragic thing.

Hobbes and Rousseau

I do believe that after reading chapter 7 that we are dealing with two extremists. Though they do talk about two different extremes ,I agree with both to an extent. I agree with Hobbes when he says that people are naturally evil, because we have to be taught how to share when we are young. We have this innate behavior at around age two that everything is ours until it is scolded out of us that we need to share our stuff. After we are nurtured to share, it is then up to us when we are older how we want to live our lives. In the view of Hobbes we always look out for ourselves and when we do do a charitable deed it is because we want to alleviate the person's distress which is causing our distress. I disagree with Hobbes when he makes this point because I believe that there are people who are taught to be not selfish and stick to it and actually help people because they want to.
I have to disagree with Rousseau's idea that people are noble savages. I do believe we are born a blank slate, however like I stated in the previous paragraph when we are children the innate idea that everything is ours comes into play. I do agree with him when he says that the government is the playing role in the corruption of people. Government determines who has power and who doesn't and everyone wants to have power of some sort. Power and government is enough to tear family apart. In the movie "Man in the Iron Mask," it shows the life of a King in Paris, France. This King had a twin brother that he didn't know about until he was fifteen when his father told him on his death bed. The father separated the two sons because he saw too many kingdoms torn apart by brothers feuding and didn't want that to happen with his sons. After learning about his twin, the king imprisoned him and set an iron mask on him because he wanted to protect his power and his crown. The King was power hungry and it can be said that power can do this to anyone. Both Rousseau and Hobbes were smart men with great points, they were polar opposites and very extreme.

Knowledge is Virtue?

Moral Excellence, a good admirable quality, righteousness. These are some definitions of the word virtue. We have talked about virtue a lot in this course yet never gave it a real definition. I don't believe that knowledge is necessarily virtue, but i do believe that knowledge does lead to it. When you become knowledgeable about something you are able to be open minded about things and accept things more than when you are ignorant to facts. For example, I was told that I needed to call the holiday inn to make a reservation, the person who told me to do it told me that I should have "a white friend" call because maybe that will enable me to actually get a room. I think this is an example of a person who isn't knowledgeable about the times we live in and isn't knowledgeable enough to be proud of the skin they are in. It can be said that this person isn't virtuous because of the mind set they have.
To be ignorant isn't to be virtuous because if you are virtuous you try to be the best you can be . You try to be righteous but you aren't able because you don't understand the way the world works. So ignorance isn't always bliss, because ignorance is the opposite of knowledge and knowledge leads to virtue. Knowledge does encourage people to be open and accepting of differences that people have. Once you become more accepting , your more prone to doing virtuous things. :-)

Philosophers and Philosophy

OK, So in class we were discussing the topic of happiness, and you already see how I feel about Aristotle's view on happiness. But really, who is he to tell me that when I am happy I don't feel true happiness. Like I feel like questioning my happiness will eventually lead me to never feel happy before. I know that a person could force themselves to be happy and pretend that they are happy, but deep down inside they do know that they aren't truly happy and that it is just a front. Can someone be so good at faking to be happy that they start believing that they are happy themselves? I don't know, all I do understand is that when I am happy, I am happy in the moment, I am living in that moment.
I understand that philosophy is a really informative subject and it is a subject of much debate. However, I feel like philosophers expected people to take in their opinions on the nature of humans and not question it. Yes, people do have similar characteristics, but I feel like you cannot label one specific thing and apply it to all humans. Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, they were humans just like us who wanted to know more about how things worked. They did research and came up with theories, however I don't think their theories apply to everyone. I just think we should all live and be happy with ourselves and others.

Happiness? :-)

Happiness isn't anything that can be defined. It is a feeling that many feel, when something happens the way we want it too. The accomplishment of a goal or the achievement of a merit are things that people may feel happy about. I think we should not rely on others to determine our happiness, just as the example on page 64, we should determine our own happiness, we should feel happy with ourselves then try to make others determine how we feel. On the topic of happiness I do wonder is happiness a momentary escape from reality? When we find our self caught up in the moment are we unconsciously forgetting what the real world is like and are faced with illusions. When we don't feel the feeling of joy or rapture are we coming conscious of what the world is really like and we go back into trying to make ourselves happy again? The book says that happiness is a deception and when the thing that does make us happy is missing we are hit with the harshness of the real world. I don't know about this, I do know when I am happy I am in a place that I don't want to leave.
Is it a fact that people search all their life to be happy, so that's why they do buy expensive thing trying to fill the void. Is happiness a materialistic emotion? I have never thought of these questions, and I try not to because it ruins the emotion. Now a person who reads this part of the chapter is going to ask themselves the next time the feel joy, "Am I truly happy or is this just an illusion." Happiness is an emotion and a feeling that everyone has. Everyone finds their own happiness in things and it's up to them whether or not they want to question it.

Our Soul and Virtue

On pg 35 the book says, "What good would it be to gain the whole world and lose my soul?" I don't think one should take this quote literally. I feel that when Jesus said "the whole world" he didn't really mean the world itself, but the materialistic world. I feel like he is saying, to what extent would we let our desires drive us? Would we be over taken by our desires that in the process we lose our morals? our souls? What good is it to gain earthly objects and to lose what you stand for, or what you believe in? I think that is the real question asked, because sometimes we do let our wants get the best of us that we forget where we come from. Sometimes our desires overpower us that we will do immoral things to gain our wants.
Another quote that struck me was the one that says "goodness leads to the highest happiness." I do agree with this, because to be constantly good can be a challenge. It reminds me of the first Q & A that we have asking whether or not contemporary Christians are up to the challenge of loving everyone. To constantly be good, especially when people are evil to you, is hard to do. When some one does wrong by us we are angry and are quick to want revenge. It is hard to do good by those who wronged us. I think goodness does reach the highest happiness because it is a challenge to constantly do good. So when you do good it makes your heart feel good and then in turn makes you happy.

Knowledge

I don't know, after our discussion in class I just cannot fathom the idea of people trying to answer these questions that can be deemed as unanswerable. The questions "Why do we exist?" "Where do we come from?" Are there people out there who dedicate their life to this and actually try to find the answer? The answer I believe is that people are necessarily going to believe what they believe. They may not want to expand on the "lower knowledge" they have to gain "higher knowledge" that is spoken about in Chapter 6. Can we actually generalize knowledge? Can we actually give one basic definition to knowledge? How do we actually measure knowledge? These are questions I have been wondering about because of the class we had on Monday. I do think it is wrong (maybe ignorant) to pretend you know the answer to something, when you have no clue about the subject at all.
Another thing that was brought up in class, evil is a result of ignorance. I don't know how I feel about that. I mean I understand that this could be the case, but it isn't all the time. Some people just have no conscience. They know what they are doing is morally wrong, however they just do it because it makes them feel better about themselves. They aren't ignorant so to speak, they are just evil and don't care. Some people do say to themselves hey I do know this is wrong but I don't care, I wouldn't call them ignorant. I would just say that they just don't have any self control and are slaves to their own selfish manner.