Sunday, April 25, 2010

I bid you farewell.

My semester is coming to an end, which also means this blog is wrapping up. Since I only made this for my creative project final, it's intentions were not only to educate you awesome readers on some interesting philosophy facts, but to also develop my own knowledge.


And it really has. Everytime I read something for class, I wonder to myself if it would make an interesting blog post. I'm a hands-on learner, so having this project has really helped me learn and connect things philosophically better.

I'm so happy to have had this oppurtunity, and I want all of you to go out and study philosophy for yourself! Who knows, maybe I even inspired you to take a philosophy class?

Comic Relief

Brain in a Vat

To me, this is something so wild and crazy that only a philosopher could believe it.

I found this theory or argument, if you will, that's common only to bizarre sci-fi stories. It says that a mad scientist removes our brain, sticks it in a vat of life-sustaining liquid, and send electrical impulses throughout it, we would never know. It would seem like we're still living, and having entirely conscious experiences. So right now, in theory, I could just be a brain in a vat.

Apparently this little idea was one of the inspirations for the movie The Matrix. Pretty cool, huh?

Oh philosophers, where do you come up with this stuff?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Lost + Philosophy = Mind Blown.

So the semester ends in less than two weeks, so I have been incredibly busy. It's amazing how much stuff I can get done when I'm under pressure though.

However, I always have time to talk about the best show on the entire planet -- Lost! The complexity of the plot has kept me interested for the last 6 years. You might be thinking 'Where is the closest mental hospital we can take this chick to, because what in the world does philosophy have in common with a silly television show?'

I hear you, but obviously you have never seen Lost.

Let me begin by saying that the show's creative team is great influenced by certain philosophical concepts and people. The central character often find themselves re-evaluating their own morals, values, and ethical belief systems. Many important universal questions of philosophy are posed throughout the episodes.

But even more interestingly, the writers have named many of the characters after influential philosophers, especially of the Enlightenment period. Personally, this keeps me interested in the big themes that Lost explores, as well as my actual philosophy class. Because when I see a name like Hume or Locke pop up in my textbook, it immediately grabs my attention and I compare and contrast them with the Lost character. Keeps things spicy!

There are MANY of these philosopher named characters, so I'll just highlight the big players.

Mikhail Bakunin- The character is a former Soviet soldier who was very loyal and believed people shouldn't question authority, while the real Mikhail Bakunin was an anarchist and rejected almost all authority figures, even God. Oh Lost writers, you love your irony.

Jeremy Bentham - This is used as John Locke's alias in Season 5. For more detail on the 18th century English philosopher, see my previous blog.

John Locke - The character and Enlightenment philosopher actually share a lot of the same ideas. In particular, the character Locke believes that everyone gets a new life on the island, which parallels the philosophical theory of 'tabula rasa'.

David Hume/Desmond Hume - Desmond and the philosopher are both Scottish, he actually was a proposer of skepiticism and felt strongly against miracles, something the character Desmond came to believe in.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau/Danielle Rousseau - Jean Jacques, a Genevan philosopher, promoted the idea of a 'noble savage' meaning that Man is born into a natural and innocent state but it corrupted by society throughout his lifetime. Danielle, the character, could actually be seen as a noble savage of sorts.

In addition, Lost references many other philosophy topics. In one episode, the phrase 'cogito ergo doleo' or 'I think, therefore I suffer' is a play on the very famous phrase by Rene Descartes 'I think, therefore I am'.

People even theorize that the entire show is based on Gaunilo's lost island argument.

Anyway! To sum it all up, Lost makes philosophy class more interesting, and knowing philosophical arguments and concepts makes Lost more interesting. Win, win. :)

Friday, April 9, 2010

Re-thinking Philosophers

My professor shared this quote with me today from Beyond Good and Evil:

“Gradually it has become clear to me what every great philosophy so far has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir; also that the moral (or immoral) intentions in every philosophy constituted the real germ of life from which the whole plant had grown.”


To me, it brings this whole new level of thought in my opinion of philosophers.
 
So, readers, go forth and ponder.