reply to the following Q&As. 350-400 words
JESSICA BLAKELY
Week 1, Thread 1
Question: How does Plato’s Values Theory align with religious morality?
Answer:
In Plato’s Republic, he tells a story about how life isn't just about going to work, coming home, watching TV, going to bed, then waking up and doing it all over again. He says that people need to live a life that has thought and growth to it. Plato goes further to say that the decisions that you make should also go into making the community better for everyone (Frede, Dorothea, 2017). At church, that is the same message the priest delivers on a weekly basis. Doing good things for the benefit of others and making selfless decisions. My priest also teaches that we should reflect and pray on our troubles, which is very similar to Plato’s idea on living a thoughtful life. Plato also discusses how appetites and spiritedness need to be reigned in by reason (Focus on a Philosopher: Plato (427-347 BCE), ND). I was taught in church that we have to control enviousness, adulterousness, and not become gluttonous by giving into our emotions. I believe that was what Plato was saying in his teachings. Those are just a few examples of how Plato’s Values Theory aligns with religious morality. After reading more on Plato’s values theory, I may be way out in left field but, I am inclined to believe the bible was largely based off of that came from his theory. It is hard to read all of this and not believe these teachings didn’t have a role. On a personal thought, I agree that thinking about how to better your life, and making decisions with positive intent behind them is important. I think it can also be damaging to some people to continually think about things. Lying in bed at night, contemplating how your decisions are going to impact other people is not necessarily healthy. Additionally, some people do not have control over when to shut off all of those thoughts, their brains just keep running on the same dilemma over and over, causing insomnia. However, I believe that may also fall into Plato’s thoughts that the suffering of one is acceptable if the masses are benefited.
Frede, Dorothea, "Plato's Ethics: An Overview", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Retrieved from: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/plato-ethics
Focus on a Philosopher: Plato (417-347 BCE), ND. Retrieved from: https://nu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/institution/National%20University/National%20University%20Online%20%28NUO%29/PHL%20-%20Philosophy%20%28NUO%29/PHL%20100/Week-1/Philosopher%20Lectures/Plato.pdf
RODERICK DAVIS
My first question is:
Why did Descartes feel the need to destroy all of his prior beliefs and how did he do this?
My answer to this question is:
Descartes’ theory, “I think, therefore I am,” means in order to have the ability to think, you must exist. In Meditations I, Descartes states that he wants to “freely address myself to the general upheaval of all my former opinions.” To me, this meant that he wanted to erase everything that he had learned previously because there was no concrete evidence that what he knew was entirely true. He mentioned that a lot of the things we know are due to senses and not due to facts and calls it deceptive. Descartes also believes in evil beings and that God has the power to make us deceive. He believes that God has the power to manipulate people into thinking that the pictures they see or thoughts they have are true when they are not. He starts to question small things and objects far away, such as a tall building in the distance looking smaller than something sitting right in front of him. Since he cannot go through every belief and determine if it is true, he must rely on common philosophies. Descartes declines the idea of reality and believes that everything he sees is simply an illusion or a dream. Descartes separates the mind and body into separate units, believing that the mind is the most powerful. He believed that he could deduce philosophy such as mathematicians did math. He suggested that we create a method that would inevitably evade errors. He went on to try to simplify philosophy into one simple certainty. I agree with him and his idea of dualism as far as the mind and body being separate entities, but I do not really understand his idea of dreaming reality and God manipulating us. I also believe that everyone is different in the way that they perceive certain things and that it is impossible for everyone to think the same. I do not think that you can use math to justify the way things are because there is not equation to life.
Reference
Rosenthal, D. (2015). René Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy. Topoi. 34(2), 541-548.