Monday, November 28, 2011
Chapter 22-23 (page 305) in class activity
I Believe in the main Thiestic Package and not the Naturalistic Package. Why do I believe in the Thiestic package? I believe in the thiestic package because I belive that there indeed is a god,and these two chapters clearly state that if there is a God then there is meaning to life and a life after our death whereever that may be. I also agree that God gives us a soul and he allows us to have free will because it says in the bible that we are able to act according to our own will, which shows god gives us the opportunity of free will. The one thing I don't believe in from the thiestic package is the bullet point of bliss, because I dont believe that god intended life to always be happy and wonderful and perfect, but instead he wanted our life to contain obstacales that we must try to overcome through him and his power.
So why don't I belive in the naturalistic package? The main reason I don't believe in this package is because it says that there is no God, then it goes on and states that there is no hope, meaning, soul, free-will, and etc. If there is a God then there would be hope, meaning and all those other things that he listed, but since the author tells us that the naturalistic package believes that there is no god then it makes me not believe in the naturalistic package on the basis of that simple reason. I believe all those other things come with or after the belief that there is a god. In short I don't believe in the naturalistic package because the naturalistic package doesn't believe in God.
So why don't I belive in the naturalistic package? The main reason I don't believe in this package is because it says that there is no God, then it goes on and states that there is no hope, meaning, soul, free-will, and etc. If there is a God then there would be hope, meaning and all those other things that he listed, but since the author tells us that the naturalistic package believes that there is no god then it makes me not believe in the naturalistic package on the basis of that simple reason. I believe all those other things come with or after the belief that there is a god. In short I don't believe in the naturalistic package because the naturalistic package doesn't believe in God.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Ramachandran
Materialism is a form of Monism that most simply says humans are matter and only matter, and that they do not occupy a spirit, mind or soul. An argument that supports this argument is the brain chemisty argument. The belief of the brain chemisty runs paralell with the Materialism belief and states that everything we feel is based on a chemical reaction originating in the brain. They believe the feelings we feel are primarily based on how we live our daily lives.
Ramachandran's first example was based on Capgras Syndrome. When people have this syndrome they become unable to remember people by their appearance of faces, only being able to recognize them by their voice. This example strongly supports the Brain Chemistry argument, because the brain is experiencing technical problems that are based on a chemical reaction taking place inside their head.
Phantom Limb pain was his next example. This applies to the people who have a limb amputated. After amputation the subjects feel like the missing body part is still there but they can't feel it move, and it is known to be a very painful encounter for the victims. But amazingly the sensation is fixed with trickery of the brain by looking in a mirror and fooling yourself. This is also related to the Brain Chemistry argument because it shows how our emotions are corelated with what our brain thinks, which in this case is pain.
The last example he gave was about synesthesia, which is known to be a disorder where people see specific colors associated with a specific number. The cause of this is known to be a so called wiring mistake in the brain where some wires are connected in unusual places. This is also strongly related the the Brain Chemistry argument because it shows that our brain recognizes things chemically.
All three of Ramachandran's edamples corelated with the Brain Chemistry Argument for materialism, so we can conclude that he strongly believes that humans are nothing more than physical machines reacting chemically, without a spirit, soul or mind.
Ramachandran's first example was based on Capgras Syndrome. When people have this syndrome they become unable to remember people by their appearance of faces, only being able to recognize them by their voice. This example strongly supports the Brain Chemistry argument, because the brain is experiencing technical problems that are based on a chemical reaction taking place inside their head.
Phantom Limb pain was his next example. This applies to the people who have a limb amputated. After amputation the subjects feel like the missing body part is still there but they can't feel it move, and it is known to be a very painful encounter for the victims. But amazingly the sensation is fixed with trickery of the brain by looking in a mirror and fooling yourself. This is also related to the Brain Chemistry argument because it shows how our emotions are corelated with what our brain thinks, which in this case is pain.
The last example he gave was about synesthesia, which is known to be a disorder where people see specific colors associated with a specific number. The cause of this is known to be a so called wiring mistake in the brain where some wires are connected in unusual places. This is also strongly related the the Brain Chemistry argument because it shows that our brain recognizes things chemically.
All three of Ramachandran's edamples corelated with the Brain Chemistry Argument for materialism, so we can conclude that he strongly believes that humans are nothing more than physical machines reacting chemically, without a spirit, soul or mind.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Chapter 10-12 Relationship to the Truman Show
The Truman show was about a man named truman who lived in a so called perfect world. His whole life was set out for him depending on the choices he made. He has limited free will and choice. His world is set up for him based on his decisions. He can choose to do what he wants but their are people monitering what he does and setting some limits for him. He is a living reality show but he is an agent for his own decisions, because he is in control of how he acts, thinks, and what he does.
Like I said earlier Truman is not completely free in his decision making, and he has a few limits. He cannot go beyond certain points in the city because he lives in a virtual world so there are city limits, and he also cannot be with the girl he loves because she will give away the secret about trumans life. But despite these limitations in his life, truman is constantly doing what he wants to do, and going after his own desires. You could relate Trumans behavior to Immanuel Kants idea the we are take captive by our own desire. Likewise Truman is constantly going after his personal desire of finding the girl he truly loves beause in his heart that is what he truly desires.
Ultimately yes truman was free, eventhough he was limited in some areas of his world he still got to choose in the end to leave the virtual world for the rational world. This action of truman runs parllel with the Libertarain perspective which states that we freely make choices based on what truly makes us happy. And in the end this is exactly what truman did, he knew he was ready to leave the virtual world because he wasn't happ or satisfied there anymore so he decided to leave behind the world he knew and enter into the real world to find his true love.
Like I said earlier Truman is not completely free in his decision making, and he has a few limits. He cannot go beyond certain points in the city because he lives in a virtual world so there are city limits, and he also cannot be with the girl he loves because she will give away the secret about trumans life. But despite these limitations in his life, truman is constantly doing what he wants to do, and going after his own desires. You could relate Trumans behavior to Immanuel Kants idea the we are take captive by our own desire. Likewise Truman is constantly going after his personal desire of finding the girl he truly loves beause in his heart that is what he truly desires.
Ultimately yes truman was free, eventhough he was limited in some areas of his world he still got to choose in the end to leave the virtual world for the rational world. This action of truman runs parllel with the Libertarain perspective which states that we freely make choices based on what truly makes us happy. And in the end this is exactly what truman did, he knew he was ready to leave the virtual world because he wasn't happ or satisfied there anymore so he decided to leave behind the world he knew and enter into the real world to find his true love.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Miligram's Experiment
The Miligarm experiment was an experiment done that was used to test the question of why people act obedient. The supervisor of the experiment tells the volunteers to shock the people in the adjacent room which will cause them a lot of pain. What the volunteers don't know is that this shock is completely harmless. The supervisor claims that the shocking is under his supervision and he says he takes complete resposibility for what happens. He makes the volunteer shock the person everytime there is a wrong answer, with no pity even if the volunteer doesn't want to do it.
From this experiment we can conclude through the Agency Theory that the volunteer acted unethically out of his own free-will. We can conclude this based on the fact that shocking people is unethical and that he voluntered under his own free will.
So what exactly is the Agency theory? The agency theory basically says that a free act is an act which is caused by and agent, it also says its not the feelings that come from inside our brain that make us act freely but instead they are all caused by an agent, hence the name of the theory. So who is the agent? An agent is just basically someone in some form of power over someone else that does something, and what they do causes other things to happen and the cycle just keeps going on and on.
From this experiment we can conclude through the Agency Theory that the volunteer acted unethically out of his own free-will. We can conclude this based on the fact that shocking people is unethical and that he voluntered under his own free will.
So what exactly is the Agency theory? The agency theory basically says that a free act is an act which is caused by and agent, it also says its not the feelings that come from inside our brain that make us act freely but instead they are all caused by an agent, hence the name of the theory. So who is the agent? An agent is just basically someone in some form of power over someone else that does something, and what they do causes other things to happen and the cycle just keeps going on and on.
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Last Question
I believe that everyone has free-will, but I also believe that our actions are already pre-determined. So therefore I believe in determinism. Even though God gave us the right of freely choosing what we want to choose, He already knows what will happen and how it will happen, and he is always right. So in truth all the choices we make were already determined before we even made those choices. So how can true free-will exist when the choices we make are already determined? Thats right I they really can't exist thats why I believe in determinism and not true free-will, more like partial free-will.
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