What is Philosophy? (Video)

What is philosophy? (video)

Metaphysics - the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of reality
Epistemology - the branch of philosophy that studies the nature and scope of knowledge
Value theory: Ethics and Aesthetics
Ethics - the branch of philosophy that studies and evaluates human conduct
Aesthetics - the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of beauty and art
- Synchronicity - time together (the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible casual connection)
- How do I know if i'm right?
- How willI ever know if I'm wrong?
- Is there any reason that I should treat strangers different than the people that I love?

Philosophy

    Today in class we went over a new prayer we are going to do representing the victims and lost ones at mass gun shootings over the years and we started a crash course video about philosophy while taking notes.

Philosophy notes

- What is the nature of reality itself?
- Why do you do what you do? / Why do you think what you think? / Why do you feel what you feel?
- Mythos: storytelling
- Philos: science
- Philosophia is the love of wisdom
- Early definition: Philosophy - the academic study of anything
- Platos academy's rival is Aristotle's Lyceum
- Philosophy came to be understood more as a way of thinking about questions
- What is the world like? / What is the nature of reality?
- Is the world made up of matter and energy, or is there something else going on?

Group Projects

    Today in class we talked about a new project that we have to do and will be due some time in March. In a maximum group of four, we have to write an essay which is worth 50 points, present our topic to the class which is also worth 50 points, and all together will be another 100 points depending on how organized everything is. Once we finished going over the ideas and specifics, I got with my group which includes Maddie R, Valerie, and Jamie. We had many ideas but none of them spoke to us except for a project dealing with a certain food from Greece but another group already called it so we decided to go with Ancient Greece Olympics and we came up with a really funny idea where we get horse heads and act like we are the horses in the raise and two other people are like the chariot on scooters. I think this project will be really fun and will bring many laughs your way!

Philosopherlapalooza - Socrates

Philosopherlapalooza - Socrates

- looked to science and logic (not the mythological gods) for explanations of how the world worked
- the Socratic Method fostered critical thinking

More Socrates

- "the unexamined life is not worth living"
- Socrates was charged with serious crimes
- at his trial, he described himself as a stingly gadfly, and Athens as a lazy old Horse

Plato carries on

- Plato was a student and follower of Socrates
- He wrote out Socrates' teachings, and described his trial in Apology
- Republic was Socrates' discussion of Justice and the ideal state - one of the most influential books on philosophy ever written

Aristotle

- Aristotle was a student of Plato
- He helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination
- His school - The Lyceum - focused on cooperative research - building on knowledge gathered from all over the world

Did Aristotle invent the internet

- not exactly, but he did dream of having the sum of mankind's knowledge easily accessed in one location
- he wrote extensively on such topics

Western Civilization Test

  Today in class I took our first western civ test and it wasn't that hard but I still got a couple wrong. I always read over an answer and then switch it but then my original answer ends up being the correct one which makes me mad because if I got one more right I would've gotten an A. I wanted an A but I will settle for a high B and it didn't bring my grade down that much. While I was taking the test everyone else was writing notes from the new chapter we are discussing. It is about Democracy and Greece's Golden Age. Here are just a few notes I took after I finished my test.

Notes:

Democracy and Greece's Golden Age

- Pericles (wise and statesman) led Athens during much of its golden age

Direct Democracy: a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

Vacation continued

 Today I am still on vacation and I am enjoying it a lot. I know that today is the test on early Greece and I will take it on Tuesday.

Vacation

   Today I traveled to Florida for a little vacation time and found out that in class they just reviewed for the test which is tomorrow and I will be taking it on Monday.

The Greeks Video

Notes:

- Socrates: most famous philosopher
- Story of the rise and fall of civilization that changed the world
- 508 BC: the ordinary people have turned on their rulers demanding freedom

Cleisthenes (he would see that these ordinary people should have freedom)

- Born around 570 BC
- Taught that he was an Aristocrat
- Inspired by ancient tales and myths

Athens

- Athens was built around an acropolis
- Reading and writing was a rare skill for these Athenians
- The common Athenians lived under the rule of the Aristocrats
- Athenians had no part or share in anything
- They had grown up around rivers with many mountains
- It was impossible for a single ruler to dominate this tiny world
- Each ruler dominated a single city-state
- Argos had stood for over a thousand years

Sparta

- There was one city-state that had military power.....Sparta
- Spartan men were brought up for birth to be soldiers, raised in the field and separated from family
- The Spartans lived a life stripped from comfort
- They were always a threat on the horizon

The Pots

- What was inside the pot was worth more than the pot itself
- If you were a potter in Athenian society, you were respected

Hippias

- executed the murders of his brother


and more to come......

Who's who in the Pantheon

Who's who in the pantheon

Zeus - ruler of heaven and earth; father of Athena; god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice
- Had a temper and was known to hurl thunderbolts

Athena - goddess of wisdom, skill, warfare (and peace), intelligence, battle strategy, and handcrafts
- She was born from Zeus' head patron of heroes - such as Odysseus
- She was the patron of Athens (the city was named after her)

Just a few of the many

Apollo - god of music, arts, knowledge, healing
- Zeus was his father, Artemis was his twin sister
- He's associated with the sun, his sister with the moon

Poseidon - god of the sea, rivers, floods, earthquakes
- brother of Zeus, king of the sea and waters

Aphrodite - goddess of love, beauty, desire, sexuality
- her lovers included Ares (god of war), Adonis (demi-god of desire) and Anchises (a mortal who fathered a baby)

Demeter - goddesses of grain, harvest, agriculture
- Zeus's sister

The Fighting Spartans

- Greeks were certainly a warlike people - especially the Spartans
- Spartans were known for their tough, ruthless infantry: soldiers who fought on land
- Spartan boys trained from the time they were seven

Protesting

  Apparently what we did today not only confused the teacher but also confused me. We thought we might get a free mod because no one showed up to teach us and Ellie came up with an idea not to speak to the teacher to teach a lesson about Ancient Greece. I don't know the whole idea of why but all I have is......"Today in class we showed a resilience that only a class with great unity can show staying strong to our cause of silence." This was a pretty fun class but I don't know if I should be scared for what might come in the future. Then we played some music to show that 'we are the champions'. We also played other music just to have a jam session and it was all really fun.

Gods and Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

- What is unique about the Greeks' relationship with their gods, is the interaction with humans

- Poseidon (god of sea) interfered with Odysseus trying to return home

- Aphrodite (goddess of love) had lovers of both gods and men

- Dionysus (god of wine) was son of Zeus (a god) and of Semele (a human princess)

 

During that class, my mind blew up. I never thought about all the beliefs we have and other religions have. Some things that I believe in could be real or it could be fake because some of it is about things people saw vs things that actually happened and was written. It's really hard to explain and I am still very confused. Everything that I said probably doesn't make any sense because I was blown away.

More about Government Project

      In class today, we worked on our project some more and I finished my paragraph on democracy:

Building Democracy:

A nobleman named Draco took power in 621 BC. He developed a legal code based on the idea that all Athenians, rich and poor, were equal under the law. He made death the punishment for practically every crime. Another ruler, Solon, came to power in 594 BC and stated that outlaws debt slavery, all Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly, and any citizens can press charges against wrongdoers. More reforms were made around 500 BCE which allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly, the Council of Five Hundred was created, but only free, adult male, property owners, born in Athens were considered citizens. Next in line, Isagoras and Cleisthenes engaged in a power struggle. Isagoras had support from some fellow aristocrats and Cleisthenes had support of the majority of Athenians. Surprisingly, Isagoras won and became archon eponymous. He ostracized Cleisthenes but Cleisthenes supporters and the ordinary Athenian citizens revolted against Isagoras’ tyranny. They trapped Isagoras on the acropolis for two days and on the third day he fled and was banished in 508 BCE. Cleisthenes was definitely a member of the elite. He was very rich, insulated from the “hoi polloi,” and saw the value of tapping into the talents, intelligence, and the energies of the non-aristocrats (the middle class citizens). What Cleisthenes did was a huge step forward, but democracy had its limits. After several years, Athens practiced a direct democracy.

Government

Today we started working on our own textbook project. Here is a sample:

Democracy in Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, at one point that practiced a Direct Democracy. The citizens ruled the city-state. Their rule was based on citizenship. They decided on laws based on majority rule. Their method of voting consisted of using white and black stones which would represent yes and no. They would bring up an issue in the agora and various citizens would argue either side until they thought it was fit to vote. When they voted, they would make piles of the stones, white ones meaning yes, and black ones meaning no. After the citizens voted, whichever pile had a larger pile of stones would decide the outcome of the issue. This was first practiced under Cleisthenes in around 500 BCE.