New Mexico Tech has some of the most remarkable thinkers. Please enjoy the journey through our epistemological, ontological, aesthetic, and ethical musings using film as a mode of discovery
What topic, issue, or idea has been interesting to you during class this week? Or what is your primary interest in philosophy? Ontology? Epistemology? Ethics?
I'm having fun with the re-occurring question of who gets to define what is "ethical", since that's such a society-based thing. I think it's interesting.
I agree with Kristen. The ethical issues in philosophy appeal to me because they pertain to situations we encounter everyday. It's interesting to see how concepts philosophers thought about a long time ago still relate to today.
What I have found most interesting about philosophy is epistemology. Being an avid movie and TV show-watcher, the nature of "how we know what we know" is the beginning of plot advancement and character development. It is character development that we can relate with, learn from and analyze. Living in the 21st Century, the only time we address philosophical questions (other than self-enlightenment) whether unknowingly or knowingly is through analyzing media (music, movies and television).
What I've been finding interesting is the discussion of Truth.
Is there indeed a Truth with a bunch of truths pointing to it, coming out of different cultures? Or is there no Truth, just a bunch of personally- and culturally-defined truths? Or what? I have my own thoughts, but I like this particular topic... because EVERYONE has differing ideas about truth and what is relevant and true for them, which makes ethics (amongst other things) a whole lot more complicated.
The whole concept of ontology strikes me as fascinating; in particular, what I understand the "ontological crisis" to be is something I would like to explore in more detail.
I find myself questioning the reason for which we seek truth. It seems our entire existence can be described as one spent in search of answers. Why must we question that which we cannot change? I believe truth is false security. We fear what we do not understand, so we find answers, regardless of whether they are correct or not. Truth is not something that should be sought, if truth is indeed truth, it should find you.
Similar to DanGo, i am interested in Ontological Crises. I think they are important because they are timeless and therefore always relevant. Learning from these types of crises allows us to reevaluate ourselves and our identities and redefine who we are. Its difficult for all of us to remain consistent when everything is changing and i think ontological crises teach us how important it is to constantly change.
I find myself pondering the concept of dividing philosophy into categories (in the book these are ontology, epistemology, axiology, and logic). It seems counter-intuitive to try to separate knowledge the way we do.
For instance, you can't know anything about ontology without considering how you know what you know about the subject (epistemology), or some without framework for comparison through logic, ethics, or aesthetics.
The interconnections between how we define our study of philosophy underlines to me how subjective any conclusions we draw really are.
It's true that it takes the diversity out of knowledge when we separate knowledge in different disciplines or subjects. But on the other hand, it is necessary to do that in order to make sense out of things better. " Divide and Conquer." It is impossible to acquire the amount of knowledge that exists without dividing it. Moreover," Little knowledge is dangerous", if we all just have vague knowledge of everything then i think that could lead to great confusion.
I am also interested in the Truth and more on how the Sophists were discredited. In addition to that I have always been interested in ontology so anything along those lines I would enjoy :)
The ancient Greeks (among others) so often crossed the bounds of what we would consider distinct fields like philosophy and mathematics. It leaves the question of what is missed by imposing any structure to information, regardless of the necessity of the structure.
If I had to give a category of interest, I'd have to with ontology. However what I find myself struggling with in philosophy is how it so often ends up looping around on itself with different people plating themselves at different points along the way.
I've really enjoyed the topic of ethics and truth, and how we keep going back to the questions involving truth. Also, Deepak and Eli make really good points about knowledge. Too much knowledge would definitely lead to confusion, which is why I think we have the task of learning everything we possibly can. If we knew everything right off the bat, that would take a lot of fun and adventure out of life.
I find ethics to be the most interesting aspect of the course so far, mostly because ethics affect almost every aspect of our lives. From class to work to our daily dealings with others, ethics in some form influence us constantly. As one small example, one could find possible ethical issues in the way that Plato may or may not have copied Socrates' work without attributing it to him.
I'm rather intrigued on the concept of the philosophical argument, when in the end it's really all about a persons opinion and who will follow it. This just leads to who is the most convincing person, who are the sheep, and who are the outsiders, such as was seen in "Thank you for Smoking."
I did like Dr. G's posting of the Statis parts of an argument, and how we can go from being stuck on one to being stuck on another, and constantly circulating around the page and never reaching a real conclusion. I've tried arguing with folks online before and they always complain that I use too much circular logic, so it intrigues me how so many people in our time are able to argue with each other and expect to find a conclusion when so much can be missing.
One of the largest arguments of all time, and the rules of the internet, are not to argue about religion, politics, or similar things where bias overwhelms any reason or fact.
I see many folks above are saying that ethics are the most interesting part of philosophy, when it is true that in the end, it's all up to a persons opinion on the matter. Do we define philosophy as a science? Can we? With all the bias and opinions that drive an individuals every day life, how can anyone ever be truly ethical in any- and everything they do.
As we get older, we change; in our tastes for food, looks, fashion, etc. With this, so do our ethics change, and we make them fit what we want to please ourselves and feel it was ethical, just as the whites did back during slavery times. They probably felt it was just and an ethical response to labor problems, but what would they say in todays society?
tl;dr: How can we define philosophy on so many variants? How can we have so many variables and no constants combine to form a linked 'science'?
I think the ontology of what we are and where we are going is most interesting to me. The fact that we as human beings have been given a choice to think freely for ourselves is definitely worth exploring. Although there is a round about discussion of what is truth, what is knowledge, who is right, and define all of the above, I think it's safe to say that not one beings opinion out weighs another, it is simply that which appeals (and it is your definition of appealing) to a single being.
The entire concept of philosophy is very interesting. Having a college career that has been mainly scientific and objective, has now become subjective as well. The addition of ethics has given me an opportunity to further the study of myself and therefore ontology is of interest in this course.
Aesthetics, however, is the area of philosophy that I am most interested in. This topic is very subjective but is very persuasive and is usually encountered on a daily basis.
I'm having fun with the re-occurring question of who gets to define what is "ethical", since that's such a society-based thing. I think it's interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kristen. The ethical issues in philosophy appeal to me because they pertain to situations we encounter everyday. It's interesting to see how concepts philosophers thought about a long time ago still relate to today.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have found most interesting about philosophy is epistemology. Being an avid movie and TV show-watcher, the nature of "how we know what we know" is the beginning of plot advancement and character development. It is character development that we can relate with, learn from and analyze. Living in the 21st Century, the only time we address philosophical questions (other than self-enlightenment) whether unknowingly or knowingly is through analyzing media (music, movies and television).
ReplyDeleteWhat I've been finding interesting is the discussion of Truth.
ReplyDeleteIs there indeed a Truth with a bunch of truths pointing to it, coming out of different cultures? Or is there no Truth, just a bunch of personally- and culturally-defined truths? Or what? I have my own thoughts, but I like this particular topic... because EVERYONE has differing ideas about truth and what is relevant and true for them, which makes ethics (amongst other things) a whole lot more complicated.
Mulder: The Truth Is Out There...
ReplyDeleteThe whole concept of ontology strikes me as fascinating; in particular, what I understand the "ontological crisis" to be is something I would like to explore in more detail.
ReplyDeleteI find myself questioning the reason for which we seek truth. It seems our entire existence can be described as one spent in search of answers. Why must we question that which we cannot change? I believe truth is false security. We fear what we do not understand, so we find answers, regardless of whether they are correct or not. Truth is not something that should be sought, if truth is indeed truth, it should find you.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to DanGo, i am interested in Ontological Crises. I think they are important because they are timeless and therefore always relevant. Learning from these types of crises allows us to reevaluate ourselves and our identities and redefine who we are. Its difficult for all of us to remain consistent when everything is changing and i think ontological crises teach us how important it is to constantly change.
ReplyDeleteI find myself pondering the concept of dividing philosophy into categories (in the book these are ontology, epistemology, axiology, and logic). It seems counter-intuitive to try to separate knowledge the way we do.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, you can't know anything about ontology without considering how you know what you know about the subject (epistemology), or some without framework for comparison through logic, ethics, or aesthetics.
The interconnections between how we define our study of philosophy underlines to me how subjective any conclusions we draw really are.
--eli
It's true that it takes the diversity out of knowledge when we separate knowledge in different disciplines or subjects. But on the other hand, it is necessary to do that in order to make sense out of things better. " Divide and Conquer." It is impossible to acquire the amount of knowledge that exists without dividing it. Moreover," Little knowledge is dangerous", if we all just have vague knowledge of everything then i think that could lead to great confusion.
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in the Truth and more on how the Sophists were discredited. In addition to that I have always been interested in ontology so anything along those lines I would enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteThe ancient Greeks (among others) so often crossed the bounds of what we would consider distinct fields like philosophy and mathematics. It leaves the question of what is missed by imposing any structure to information, regardless of the necessity of the structure.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to give a category of interest, I'd have to with ontology. However what I find myself struggling with in philosophy is how it so often ends up looping around on itself with different people plating themselves at different points along the way.
I've really enjoyed the topic of ethics and truth, and how we keep going back to the questions involving truth. Also, Deepak and Eli make really good points about knowledge. Too much knowledge would definitely lead to confusion, which is why I think we have the task of learning everything we possibly can. If we knew everything right off the bat, that would take a lot of fun and adventure out of life.
ReplyDeleteI find ethics to be the most interesting aspect of the course so far, mostly because ethics affect almost every aspect of our lives. From class to work to our daily dealings with others, ethics in some form influence us constantly. As one small example, one could find possible ethical issues in the way that Plato may or may not have copied Socrates' work without attributing it to him.
ReplyDeleteI'm rather intrigued on the concept of the philosophical argument, when in the end it's really all about a persons opinion and who will follow it. This just leads to who is the most convincing person, who are the sheep, and who are the outsiders, such as was seen in "Thank you for Smoking."
ReplyDeleteI did like Dr. G's posting of the Statis parts of an argument, and how we can go from being stuck on one to being stuck on another, and constantly circulating around the page and never reaching a real conclusion. I've tried arguing with folks online before and they always complain that I use too much circular logic, so it intrigues me how so many people in our time are able to argue with each other and expect to find a conclusion when so much can be missing.
One of the largest arguments of all time, and the rules of the internet, are not to argue about religion, politics, or similar things where bias overwhelms any reason or fact.
I see many folks above are saying that ethics are the most interesting part of philosophy, when it is true that in the end, it's all up to a persons opinion on the matter. Do we define philosophy as a science? Can we? With all the bias and opinions that drive an individuals every day life, how can anyone ever be truly ethical in any- and everything they do.
As we get older, we change; in our tastes for food, looks, fashion, etc. With this, so do our ethics change, and we make them fit what we want to please ourselves and feel it was ethical, just as the whites did back during slavery times. They probably felt it was just and an ethical response to labor problems, but what would they say in todays society?
tl;dr: How can we define philosophy on so many variants? How can we have so many variables and no constants combine to form a linked 'science'?
I think the ontology of what we are and where we are going is most interesting to me. The fact that we as human beings have been given a choice to think freely for ourselves is definitely worth exploring. Although there is a round about discussion of what is truth, what is knowledge, who is right, and define all of the above, I think it's safe to say that not one beings opinion out weighs another, it is simply that which appeals (and it is your definition of appealing) to a single being.
ReplyDelete-amontoya
The entire concept of philosophy is very interesting. Having a college career that has been mainly scientific and objective, has now become subjective as well. The addition of ethics has given me an opportunity to further the study of myself and therefore ontology is of interest in this course.
ReplyDeleteAesthetics, however, is the area of philosophy that I am most interested in. This topic is very subjective but is very persuasive and is usually encountered on a daily basis.