Civil disobediance

I believe it is fair to break the law as long as it doesn't improve any condition of the public or if it makes the matters worse for people. I would define an unjust law as a law which is not culturally or universally accepted. According to my point of view, if the government acting ignorant and careless, civil disobedience is the only choice. For instance, the cause for Mahatma Gandhi's salt march was to boycott the heavy tax imposed on salt, which was crucial for typical Indian meals. A group of workers who doesn't agree with a product manufacturer  and starts a sit- in in front of the company  could be described as an act of civil disobedience.As a whole I agree with the statement "an unjust law is no law at all".    

Mill Vs. Marx

In my point of view, I agree with Mill . Mill argues that unless you aren't being forced to do something by state, you are free. If you aren't being forced by the state or the government, you can be free. In the current society we are supposed to follow and obey rules. If we go against the rules we going to get punished. Since we know we going to get in trouble if we didn't follow rules, we are adjusted to follow rules. This is just like the lion in the circus. The lion climbs and sit on the chair since it is scared of the whip. Even though in a society without rules we could be free, I think without rules the society will be more corrupted and full of chaos. So I agree with Mill.  

Teachings in Buddhism

According to Buddhism the only way to get rid of suffering is to get rid of your own desires. I found this idea contradictory, even though I am a follower of Buddhism myself. In my point of view it is impossible to get rid of one's desires completely.It is part of human nature to provide satisfaction for the five senses constantly. For instance, if you go to a coffee shop with your friends there is a higher possibility you going to buy a drink for yourself even though you are not really thirsty. It is part of providing satisfaction to your tongue after your eyes catches the mouth watering, colorful and refreshing beverages in the coffee shop. It doesn't matter how full your stomach is; your mind is fooled by the refreshing looks of the different beverages. In my point of view, it doesn't matter where you are in United States or in another country, it is impossible to completely get rid of your desires due to the the constant satisfaction of sensory organs of human kind.   

Cosmological and design theory

 Religion is a combination of beliefs and other teachings and it's not something that we can see physically. Faith is a major component in any religion. Faith is something people chose to believe in order to achieve something or to improve their lives. In my opinion I don't think Philosophy plays a role in Faith. Faith is just a choice not an option.

Human Vs. Artificial Intelligence

John Searle said that computers are not really intelligent.Rather they just simulate intelligence. Just like computers human brains are programmed to survive in the society. I agree with Searle but also disagree at the same time. There is a certain acceptable, "programmed" way humans have to behave in the society. A computer is assembled in such a way to read commands and ease up our work. Human brain  is made up in a way for involuntary activities such as  recognize a physical threat, respond and even voluntary activities like tying a shoelace.Even though the computer can help us in numerous ways, it still can not be compared to human brain since human brain is more advanced than a machine. Nevertheless in some occasions like when creating a bar graph a computer can overpower human brains by creating the bar graph within a few seconds, while if we did it with our brain it could take about 20 minutes with all the accurate measurements.    

Dualism

I agree with Descartes on Dualism. Mind is like a powerful weapon where we express and digests our feelings and expressions while body is used to express physical expressions. Mind and body cannot be separated since without mind the body can't express anything. Without the mind body is just lifeless.

Pragmatism and Feminism

I believe pragmatism and feminism are two main concepts of Philosophy which challenges the idea of knowledge. Pragmatism is the connection of beliefs and theories through practical experiments. A person who engages in  religious rituals on a daily basis could be explained as a pragmatic person, but there is a chance he is illiterate. A person who never stepped to a school in his life could be a very religious person.When it comes to feminism, the concept where women have less rights comparing to men is challenged to knowledge, since developed middle eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia ban women from driving vehicles. So in my point of view both feminism and pragmatism challenge knowledge. We should think about knowledge as a method of developing our own minds with the help of intellectual individuals. I think knowledge as accepting your own beliefs while accepting others' ideas.      

Empiricism

I agree with the claim that knowledge is based on senses, but I don't agree that All of our knowledge is based on senses. For example we can distinguish hotness and coldness in our surrounding through our skin, we can identify sweet and saltiness through our tongue. In the same time two individuals can interpret the same food as spicy and salty. When we talk about math, it's the same thing. If we ask a kid to give two numbers with a sum of 5, one might say 4 and 1 and the other kid might say 2 and 3. Since we were kids there are different ways we interpret something. In my point of view, even in Philosophy, Experience Vs. learning is two different perspectives on knowledge.    

Methodological skepticism

Skepticism can be described simply as the claim that we do not have knowledge. Rene Descartes, a well known French Philosopher who lived during 1650's believed in certainty. His method of finding certainty was known as methodological skepticism. In my point of view, skepticism is the way people believe in something. It could be either believing in Science, Religion or believing in both. I think we follow our own believes  in our daily lives until it becomes impossible to believe them. For example most of us believed that kids were gifts from god, when we were kids. But as we grows up we learned that it is crucial for two individuals of opposite sex to have a sexual affair to have a kid. Although even after learning that some people are tend to not believe in that whole sexual intercourse procedure  due to their religious beliefs. So it's just the way we chose to believe in something, not exactly what it is. So methodological skepticism is neither  a good strategy nor a bad strategy since its a matter of different perspectives.  

Socrates-Allegory of cave

 In the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates suggests that, without philosophical education, we are all like the prisoners in the cave. What are your thoughts on this? How is philosophy supposed to be liberating? Do you think Socrates is right to be so pessimistic about life without philosophy? 
           
                  According to my point of view, I agree with Socrates. Most of us are used to do the same thing everyday; for instance wake up in the morning, go to school, come back from school, go to work, come home from work, sleep and then repeat the same thing again. From the school kid to the mature adult we keep repeating our busy schedules. Since we keep doing the same routine, and get so caught up in the same thing we keep forgetting that there is a way to do things differently, just like the prisoners in the cave. Philosophy is liberating because Philosophy is the key to changing the way of thinking with different perspectives, with different angles and different imaginations. I agree with Socrates again for being pessimistic about life due to two reasons; There is nothing wrong with thinking in a different way and nobody can change the way another person's mind see the world completely. Secondly looking at the world in a positive way is worth than seeing it in a negative way. 

What can I learn from my Philosophy 100 class?

In my Philosophy 100 class, I hope to learn about different Philosophers, their perspectives, teachings and beliefs. I would also hope to improve my writing and creative thinking skills through a Philosophical perspective. Hope to share my opinions with my fellow classmates.

My blog

This will be my Philosophy blog.