Philosophy Exam Essay

I believe that the quote â€Å"Education makes music out of the noise that fills life† has a broader meaning to it than it first appears. People would first think of simply the context of it and conclude that it makes no sense, however, to me I think it means that through everyday life, knowing and really  understanding  what’s going on and knowing how to do things really makes everything flow and brings joy to yours and possibly others lives. Education puts together the pieces of life, if you didn’t life wouldn’t seem quite; It’s like music having no notes, having no certain rythm or pattern. It just wouldn’t make sense, but someone who knows music could come along and make the song flow smoothly, which was learnt through education and the will to understand and learn. 2. Philosophy is the love of wisdom. The need to learn and really understand what is going on around you and in your life. It’s knowing who you are and realizing what’s really important. There is no way of avoiding philosophy, it’s in peoples everyday lives. Everyday, even if you don’t notice it you are making an ethical decision or spotting someone else doing something morally wrong and stepping in; or you could be thinking about your life and making some changes and thinking of what’s really important. Without philosophy, you would never truly know yourself. 3. In â€Å"The Apology† written by Plato, Socrates really embodies the definition philosophy as â€Å"philo-sophia†. The term â€Å"philo-sophia† literally means the love of wisdom; and in â€Å"The Apology† Socrates is sacrificing himself for wisdom. He is being true to himself even when put on a death sentence and speaking for his life, he says the honest truth. As quoted by Socrates â€Å"and he only gives you the appearance of happiness, and I give you the reality. †. He always spoke what was right and even when people accused him of being crazy, he never was shaken by these comments. Even when he knew by saying such things may lose him votes, he said what was knowledgable and true. Quote by Socrates â€Å"I shall never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times†¦ †. He gave wisdom to those around him in with his last breaths, and had no regrets. 4. Making an assertion, is much different from making an argument. When you make an assertion you are stating something and automatically saying there is no way you’re wrong. You’re saying your opinion without evidence or reasoning to back it up and prove you’re right. While making an argument is suggesting at the same time as stating your opinion  with  evidence and reason to back it up. One argument I remember in class is is if love is the only rational act. Many people believed it wasn’t the only rational act, but in my opinion it is. Real love is feeling the same way about another person endlessly and unconditionally. You see their flaws and still love them, waiting for them and spending time with them isn’t a burden to you. You enjoy time in the  now  when you are with them and you care for them as much as you care about yourself. Love is the only thing that seperates us from all other living things. 5. Knowledge is something all philosophers seek. It is a properly justified true belief. There are two components to knowledge; The first is belief. This is an important component to knowledge because beliefs make up who are, they chart our everyday lives and if we didn’t believe something, we wouldn’t do it and it wouldn’t be knowledge. The second component is truth. If the thing you believe isn’t true, than it is not knowledgable nor is it a proper belief. that is why, knowledge is a  properly justified  belief. 6. It is impossible to be an absolute skeptic because skeptics doubt everything and question everything. So, how can a skeptic be sure of his words? Without believing that his words are truer than others, he can’t even formulate his questions or challenges. If they didn’t believe anything, wouldn’t they have to believe that? Believe that nothing is true and that they themselves don’t believe anything? Therefore, it is impossible. Belief is inevitable in life. 7. I believe the quote â€Å"When you want to believe in something you also have to believe in everything that’s necessary for believing it† means that to truly believe something, you have to believe everything that comes along with it. Every detail and reason to why that belief is true, you also have to believe it. It relates to world view because a worldview is all of   your beliefs all compiled into one big belief of everything. In order to truly believe in your worldview, you have to believe everything else about it. A personal belief I have that illustrates this is my belief that Heaven is real. In order for me to truly believe it’s real I also have to believe in God, and in order to believe in god I have to believe that Satan is real, which would also require I believe there is a Hell. Which would also lead to believing that when you die you truly are judged for your life. One belief comes with many others. 8. â€Å"Is it correct? †, â€Å"Is it complete†, and â€Å"Is it coherent† are the three tests to measure a persons worldview. If you omit any of these tests, your worldview wouldn’t be true. You would damage your worldview or end up making it completely destroyed. 9. The Principle of Belief and Conservation are reasons why you should and/or shouldn’t believe something/ a proposition. Taking a stand towards a belief would require you doubting a lot of your current beliefs; you have no good reason or doubt all these beliefs; and no compelling reason to take a stand on the new proposition. When they beliefs pass their own test, everyone believes it to be true because there isn’t a way anyone can prove different. The Principle of Belief and Conservation cannot be used when trying to prove that Sense experience, Memory, or Testimony is true. It can only prove Basic Beliefs. 10. What William James meant by â€Å"Precursive Faith† is not just sitting back and waiting for the world to show us what is really true. You have to believe before you have evidence that is is really true, you must embrace all the truth you can. Taking this more positive approach will open you up to new things and experiences and discovering more beliefs. A time I had to use precursive faith was when I was little, even though now it doesn’t seem like a big deal, to me it was then. I had a pet fish I loved a lot and it got sick, and to cure it we had to give it this medicine that could either save its life or make the death come faster. I had to believe it would work, because if I didn’t do it my fish would die; and even though it could cause its death, it could also save it. So we gave the medicine to it and thankfully it cured the sickness. If I didn’t take this leap of faith, I would have lost something important to me. 11. The Virtue Theory relates to the idea of teleology for the human life because the virtue theory is if you are interested in true happiness, you must aim for all the virtues, which are certain charasteristics all human beings have. Encouraging and having these qualaties lead to human flourishing and a truly good and happy person. it relates too teleology because it is when you do something good and you hit the target and you fufilled your purpose, which in the end would make you happy. Therefore, when portraying one of the virtues that are necessary into being happy, and something good coming out of it you are â€Å"Hitting the target† and you are a good person. 12. A truly virtuous action must consider the motive, the action, and the context because in order for it to be truly good you must be aiming for something good and expecting something good. If you are being kind, only to get something you want is not virtuous. If you are being Loving someone just for there money, or you are saving a cat from a tree just so people can see you as a good person; it is not truly virtuous and doesn’t make you a good person. 13. â€Å"Money buys Happiness†   is not true in my opinion. Although money may buy you expensive things you want, food you love, the newest trend that â€Å"you must have† because everyone has it, it won’t make you truly happy. You may be happy when you get it, but does it really make you a happier person? You can’t buy your way through life, you can’t buy things and expect people to love you and really want to be with you. They may act like it, but not for you, for your money. When you are lonely and need someone to talk to, can you really buy someone who truly wants to listen and be there for you? Can you buy a wife or husband who will truly love you? No, and without affection and care from others, you cannot live a truly happy life. 14. I think the three most important characteristics of a philosopher are Openness, Truthfulness, and Boldness. A philosopher has many beliefs and has any of his or her own reasons to believe them, but if another person says something which makes more sense than what they believed, they must have  openness  and listen and possibly believe this new idea. The things philosophers believe must be true and have a good reason behind it, and when asked philosophers must state their true belief and have true reason behind it; that is why Philos ophers must havetruthfulness. Lastly, Philosophers must have  boldness  because if everyone else goes against his or her opinion, he musn’t back down just because the majority disagrees. He has to be bold and confident and stand for his ideas if he has better reason to believe so. 15. Plato stated that â€Å"Philosophy begins with Wonder†. I think he stated this because without wonder, nobody would have questions. And without questions, nobody would have anything to have an opinion; which would result in nobody striving for truth. And philosophy without truth isn’t complete. Two things I wonder about which spark philosophical reflection are, what is truly good, and what is my purpose in life.