Prompt 5

Prompt 5

            Throughout the book only certain philosopher’s ideas stood out to me. The ones that connected with nature and wanted to explain the difference between matter and mind really stood out to me. It made me think about all the questions they asked in depth and made me realize my views on things a little bit better than what I usually would have thought of things around me.

            I believed the most with Kant and Aquinas theories. They both had strong points and with less broad examples made the most sense to me. I believe that you should have an open mind on things instead of one certain perspective throughout life. I also believe with Aquinas on the fact that there is only one truth but I believe that there are different ways to believe it. As long as you know that there is a God, believe in him, and live to serve him I think how you come around to believing in him does not really matter. I also believe that he could use past teachings to prove God’s existence. Just like how he says we know God created nature because it is obviously all around us, but you have to have faith in God to understand everything else. A philosophy that I did not really agree with was Shelling’s idea of humans being one with nature. I believe that yes our bodies were created from the Earth but our souls are not connected with nature at all. Nature is only put on Earth to help keep us and animals survive. I do not understand how humans are supposedly spiritually can be connected to non living things and plants that are used to eat. The only thing that nature could have a spiritual effect on us is if God uses it to push us in a different direction or to show that he really does exist.

            When it comes to which side of the rabbit fur, I would have to go more towards the rabbits’ skin. I do not feel the need to question every little thing around me. I understand that there is a reason for me on this Earth and the only thing I am worried about is trying to live up to that and God’s whole purpose for me being here. I have no reason to question him, or if I am connected with the nature, or get a closer understanding of it when some day I will be up in heaven and God will simply explain it all. Living life worrying about things like that can lead people to become confused and question every detail in their life and all I am worried about is living life to the fullest.

            

Prompt 4

Prompt 4

            When Sophie tries on the red tinted glasses Alberto gives her an example on how Kant is trying to get his point across. Everything that she sees is everything she saw before, only now it is only in red. That is the only way she sees things from a different perspective with different unless she takes off the red tinted glasses. What Kant is trying to say is that if you are a close minded person and you only view and judge things by one way in life you will never understand the perspective of others and their ideas on life.

            By seeing things only one way you will never be able to have a relationship with one person. Everyone has different points of view and how they believe is the right way to live. If you only judge a person based on a little detail about them and never open your mind to their ideas you automatically will clash with that person and never be able to agree to disagree with them. You have to be open minded to the way people live their lives and be wise on choosing who you should befriend because of those ideas if you are trying to achieve a certain way of living. Like a person who is negative will only drag you down with them. Finding a person that you can understand their ways and tolerate them with knowing that they will not affect you is the way I believe to go. Judging people will only make you seemed close minded and will make people not want to be friends with you. Keep an open mind to everything and accept those for who they are, is the best way I have learned to go through high school. Things may change in the future on my way of thinking how to go through life, but right now that is what I believe in.

            Showing the example to Sophie with the red glasses is a perfect example on how to show somebody not to be close minded and judge mental but keep open ideas and learn to accept everyone for being the person that they are. That plays a part in surviving through high school when we all are starting to have different points of views on our lives and how we should be considerate of others ideas and ways of thinking. 

Prompt 3

Prompt 3

When philosophers were later introduced to Christianity and accepted it their views on past philosophers changed. They realized that some of the philosophers that had an impact on society were completely wrong. Yet, there were a few philosophers that had a close idea to of what Christianity is. Later philosophers but their input about how Christianity goes along with the ideas of philosophy which made things mesh for once and changed the views of people around the world about how they should view life and how society should be run.

            During this time period there was always the constant fight between Church and State and which should have more power over countries and how they should be run. The philosophers focused on how they thought everything should be done together. For with imbalance there is always a negative reaction. When the philosophers accepting Christianity into their thinking the views were immediately changed and it made sense to them everything they were doing wrong. St. Augustine believed that without faith nothing would make sense to a person for their reason of existing. He also stated that a person will never be content and feel at ease without trusting and believing in God. He believed ideas were created before the Earth, whereas the Greeks wanted to believe that the world had always existed. He also believed that man had a choice on how to live his life, but in the end God knows what will happen and if you will live eternally or be sent to Hell. With that said other philosophers took it upon them to understand his new logic. Aquinas was the next one to try to make works of past philosophers go along with Christianity. He believed that there was no need for conflict between philosophy and Christianity. He tried to prove how they went along, which he successfully achieved. He believed that there were two ways to believe in Christianity which was having belief by faith or belief and Christian teachings or by reason and senses. That made it so he could prove that the way Aristotle taught was in the way of Christianity, that they could be similar yet different.

            With those philosophers believing in the Christian religion it led to many new ideas and thoughts about the way the world works together. They proved that it all can balance each other and that no matter what you do religion always is the way to go with living a complete and happy lifestyle. Many people changed the way they viewed the Church and State and how things should be done. Their views on women changed to when it was shown that once you get to Heaven the fact of whether or not you are a male or female is irrelevant and the only thing left about you is your soul and how you lived your life on Earth.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Prompt 2

Prompt 2

                Aristotle’s view on women I believe is absolutely wrong. He believes that we are merely unfinished copies of a man. How could that be so when we can do everything the same as them? Women may never be able to be physically as strong or do certain things a man can do, but our minds are nothing different. We can have the same thinking ethic as them and work ethic. Plenty women work just as hard as or harder than a man. He looked down upon us because he believed we are just a part of the process of the reproduction of a human life. No, we are not only that.

            Being a person in general is the way you put your mind into your life. It does not matter whether you are a man or a woman. The way somebody works at something determines their pursuit of getting it finished and wanting to complete it. There are not only successful men, there are lazy unsuccessful ones also, and same with women. If you want to be a hard worker and become successful, you can put your mind to it and it would have absolutely nothing to do with being a man or a women. I feel as if he is trying to say that the only thing women are good for is reproduction, but we are not. Women today work and take care of children and are expected to keep things around the house orderly, where as men are only expected to make the stronger income and help around here and there. In the current society we also have single parent families which mean only one parent, usually a mother. There are plenty of successful single parent women out in the world and many thrive. But there are plenty that are not. It just goes back to the real idea of whether you put your mind to things and try is whether or not you become successful. This philosopher is saying women cannot live without a man but the real question should be could a man live without a woman?       

            The reason every person referred to is a man all goes back to Aristotle’s theory that man is better than a woman. The medieval time period favored his theory over Plato’s positive views on them and how we are all equal. Men were the only ones throughout that time that had any say in the world and how their lives should be and women had nothing to do with it. Men’s thoughts and beliefs were definitely favored over women’s thoughts. The women were simply there to do the dirty work and reproduce. Which is not right at all, yet only changed less than a hundred years ago.

Prompt 1

Prompt 1

In the first chapter the two questions "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" are sent to Sophie in the mail on a normal afternoon. Sophie takes these questions to a whole new level when she starts to over think why she has been asked these questions and what they are supposed to mean to her. She thinks of who she is and how she is important to the world we live in. She cannot come up with an answer for these questions leading her into deeper thought and questioning why somebody would send her these questions.

If I were to answer the first question “Who are you?” I would say something like this: I am Zoe Fisher. I was born with birth defects that made it a slim chance of me surviving. Yet with everything I went through when I was little, I lived through it and have been healthy, with some complications throughout the years. Since I have survived I believe there is a bigger purpose for why I survived, if there was not I would not have made it.  If I were to answer the second question “Where does the world come from?” I would have answered it like this: The world was made by God. I feel as if God was somewhat lonely in this huge universe and he needed company. He created us to live and have a reason in life, yet he made it so we need him to do so. When he created Adam and Eve he gave them everything they needed to be successful in life, but told them not to disobey him. When Eve disobeyed him things instantly changed for the human race causing us to become mortal to die for all the sins we were going to make in our life. Since that was decided for us from the beginning of our birth, God wanted to make it so that we could live. That is when he sent Jesus to suffer for us and let us live an eternal life with him because he cares for us. Ultimately, he created the world so that we could live with him and love him and keep him company.

That is how I would answer those questions. Sophie struggles with these questions because she questions whether or not God is real, yet she cannot justify any other reason of why we would be alive on the Earth right now without him. This causes her to go asking her mom about her point of view on it all, which just goes right into the ground. Sophie is extremely eager to find out the answer to these questions that would make most sense for her.