Mid Term!!!

Mid Term/ PHIL5

4) Jeremy Fahey
5) FireMedicJMF
6) JMDFahey@msn.com
7) FireMedicJMF.blogspot.com
8) Most of them.
9) Yes I Have.
10) Weekly Post

Winter Week 1 #3
Through the philosophy films the question was raised “Who are you?” I believe we are molded into who we are by our parents, teachers, television shows, movies, our music, and many other influential environments. With the complexity of life and life experiences we develop a hard drive of reactions that affect how we react and respond in the future. In my experience most people conform to the environment that surrounds them. This could be in part from the fear of rejection. As the human race we strive to be accepted by those around us. This is all part of our subconscious whether we want to admit it or not. Through science, history, and even mathematics we are in existence. The further we dig the more complex all of it gets. We were put here without being asked. We work with everything that is around us. We believe everything that is around us is what it is because someone else told us to. If I raised my three month old son that red is actually blue and then the reverse, he would believe it until everyone else told him he was wrong. The main question is, “Is he really wrong?” There are many things that I don’t understand, but I just accept it.

Winter Week 1 #2
I found the questions that involved religion to be a little bit of an attack against those who live according to the faithful decisions they have made. I have given myself, through my religious faith, a light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that through my faith that my soul and consciousness will exist in the after life. I agree with the philosophers who say my body will decay and decease to exist. Through my faith I’m able to live my daily life not fearing the end. I’ve accepted and I’m ready to exist in the afterlife were there is no sadness, hate, crime, death, war, hunger, thirst, and so on. In retrospect I’m not going to not abuse the time I’ve been given here on earth. So do I believe in life after death? I prefer to say I have “faith” in life after death. I can’t prove it exist, therefore, I have the faith in my resurrection.In my OPINION religion and science can work together. It just baffles me how people can think that there is not a creator out there making everything work. As science progresses so does the complexity of the inner workings of life. The more intelligent we become the more complex everything is. All answers in life don’t need to be brought into existence through science. I just can’t bring myself into believing everything just came from the “Big Bang.” I agree with the three words “I DON’T KNOW.” I can’t answer everything that is asked of me. Will I know the answers to my questions before I die? No. I believe all my questions will be answered when I meet my maker/creator.

Winter Week 1 #1
I found both expert lectures to be very interesting. It was quite profound how Aldous Huxley thought we should base our existence on intelligence and good will (charity and good deeds) to make the world a better more EVEN society. Throughout history there has been hierarchy including the present day. The present day hierarchy is measured by our social/financial well-being. Everyone is striving to better ones self with the perception of being better than the next guy/girl. I think if everyone put all their efforts into good deeds trying to erase poverty, violence, genocide, war, and so forth. There is not enough energy or time to achieve such a goal.Now that we have so much technology the advancement of the human mind has grown astronomically. I think Francis Fukuyama might be right about religion. Adding religion makes it easier to have “Good Will.” The load is lightened up for everyone. As far as I know most religions don’t acknowledge self preservation and advancement. We are all to be united as one to whatever our GOD may be. I think for the world to be a better place we need to grow in our intelligence and through the help of religion perform our good will.

Week 2/ Required Reading
In regards to the assigned reading it was a difficult task. There was a lot of terminology that I did not understand. I found it interesting how the authors were trying to describe how things came into existence. The basis of all their theories came through physics and a little bit of science. I tried real hard to understand the philosophy behind all of the reading but failed to understand it. To obtain a better understanding I felt the need for a better education on physics itself. I also failed to understand how the readings were comparative.In my opinion the quest of answers just gets more and more complex with time. Every time something new is discovered it leads to the question of something new that is more detailed than what was just discovered. With the addition of theology I feel that we can be satisfied with what we see since we know there is a greater being that is in control of everything. That includes all of physics and Mother Nature in general. I believe that there is a starting point for everything. If something exists it had to come from somewhere. Thus the need for theology.

Week two/ Expert Lecture
I would like to start this post with regards to the lecture by Randall Wilson. I have no idea where he was going or even what he was talking about. The most I could gather is that he was saying that nothing is random but comes together through math, physics, and biology. I couldn’t gather how they all came together through his lecture. It might be more understandable if I had the necessary education involving his lecture.I found the video lecture of Lisa and Edward more entertaining and more appealing to those with a lesser degree of education. Is there really a fifth dimension? I think that is an answer given by Edward. The utilization of Religion solves these answers. I think there are dimensions we don’t understand because we can’t see them. I feel once again that I will receive the answers I’m looking for after the resurrection described in Revelations. If we took science and religion more of an understanding could be reached. In regards to Owens lecture I find his ideas more believable. I think more understandings could be reached if we use religion to fill in the blanks. With the complexity of science through physics, astrology, biology we won’t ever have all the answers. Everyone has faith in something. An example includes have faith in the other drivers around you on the freeway. You have to trust and have faith in perfect strangers. In regards to the Big Bang it just doesn’t seem possible that such details of everything would be possible without a creator.

Week two/ Philosophical Videos
In response to the philosophical videos I’m quite astonished that it can be conceived that Gods decompose. There are many gods that decompose but not all have. The Bible tells of the resurrection of Jesus Christ were he, then in turn, ascended into heaven. No body has ever been found to refute this historical documentation. The bible states that he is the only god and all others are just put together with matter and the imagination of man. In retrospect with the truthfulness and divine plan of God and his Son all other gods would and will decay. I found the short video on things that jiggle very interesting. The video seemed to show areas of great debate world wide. The progression of science and technology has made people more capable of things far greater than ever imagined. I wonder if this hunger of knowing more will ever be satisfied. We will only become more dangerous to ourselves if we keep progressing the way we have over the past few decades. We should let things occur as they were meant to be. Lets let science live the way it wants to and spend more time dealing with other areas in life such as depression, hunger, and so on.

Week Three/ Philosophy Videos
I found the videos from this week to be a direct attack on theology (mostly Christianity). The video “Truth Lies” said that to have belief in God means you are unable to carry on speaking. Darwinism is the best defense scientist use to refute creation. Didn’t Darwin himself say that his ideas were just theories and that he was wrong? Just because we can’t prove creation besides what is written in the bible doesn’t mean we aren’t good enough to be included in these philosophical debates. I can agree with the “Survival of the Sufficient” video that everything around us molds us into who we are. Life experience has proved that time and time again. I think more than our parents, teachers and preachers have a big role in molding us. The video did state our environment plays a role too but found that to be a little lacking in the full truth. The books, magazines, music, movies, television, commercials, billboards, ads, newspapers and other forms of entertainment also play a large role. In essence I guess you could say that everything we come into contact with from the time we are born to the time that we die we are being constantly changed. I look at this change as adaptation to our environment and not as evolving

Week Three/ Assigned Readings
I found the article on Sociology to be a little interesting. It was interesting to see how the author seemed to say that evolution wasn’t only concerned with the physical appearance but included the mental statutes as well. I think the changes in psychology and social status are more of an adaptation to the said environments that everyone is raised in. I think our environment as well as the willingness to accept change is what causes the day to day adaptation we see.I found the reading on meme’s to be the most intriguing yet. It took a little while to understand what the author was talking about but it all came together in the end. I like how it describes how things would be different if we would go back to the beginning and start over. I think this would be very interesting to see but I feel, with my religious beliefs that things would end up the same unless God wanted it to be different. I actually agreed with a lot of what I read that those with faith are blind and use it to justify anything. I don’t think that we will ever find all the answers people are looking for. Every new discovery will just create more questions. Through my religious faith I don’t have to worry about finding the answers. I have already found them even though I have no proof of most of them. I can see how that seems like a copout from the persons of debate. I just see philosophy as a way to debate on anything that you wish and that there will never be a consensus on one solid answer.

Weel Three/ Expert Lecture
I found Richard Dawkins to be very entertaining. It very interesting how he showed philosophy can just be a perception of what you want it to be. Does anything in our world really make sense? As I’ve said before the more we know the less we actually know. Nothing makes sense but we just go on living because it is what we see. Edward O. Wilson has finally hit it home for me in bringing ourselves to an understanding by trying to create an alliance between religion and science. I think you can use both to bring the world to an equal understanding. There is a sense of evolving, though I call it adaptation. I do not agree with the purposes though that he discussed. The interesting thing is that he appears to be discussing the end times discussed in Revelations of the Holy Bible. If there is such peace and cooperation world wide we are seeing the prophecies in Revelations coming true. I don’t foresee the two ever coming together. There would have to be too much compromise.


11) Lisa believes in multiple dimensions because we can see multiple dimensions, the second and third as when she talked about the three dimensional water drops on the two dimensional shower curtain. She also finds our gravity to be really weak. There is not current proof of additional dimensions but they have a new machine HCL that will measure gravity in approximately 2008.

12) Aldous Huxley’s view on education is that it is very important do to our survival. He thinks that we would be able to progress with the advances of intelligence world wide. With good will added we would be able to rid the world of poverty and other bad things. He thinks education should involve psychological and intellectual studies. Therefore good will and intelligence should unit together to achieve the common goal.

13) I myself do believe science and religion are compatible. I found Sircello put it best for me. This philosopher stated, “Science and religion are compatible, but they don’t have anything to do with one or the other. In other words, they answer the same questions, but in a different way. Where science is a controlled means, religion is not.” I also agree with Dumont in that both rely heavily on faith in the unknown. Even though they can’t answer the same questions with the same proof they both have faith built into their theories.

14) Socrates was put on trail for his ideas of philosophy and the wisdom he shared with others. He tried to defend himself by describing wisdom and how he shared it with those who wanted it. He also used his wisdom to show how ignorant his accusers were. He also tried to appeal to those he had helped through their troubles by not accusing any of them. He used his wisdom of many things as his defense and maintained his dignity through believing his beliefs to his fatal end.

15) The history of Philosophy

Eastern
A) India
a) Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, 800 BCE
b) Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism built by Upanishads
B) China
a) Confucianism
b) Taoism, c. 200 BCE

Western
A) Ancient
a) Thales of Miletus, 585 BC
b) Heraclitus
c) Anaxagoras
d) Pluralists
e) Eleatics Parmenides and Zeno
f) Sophists
1) Socrates
a) Trial and execution in 399 BC
2) Plato
a) Academy of Athens
b) The Republic
3) Aristotle
a) Aristotelian logic
B) Medieval
a) Thomas Aquinas
1) cosmological argument
b) St. Anselm.
1) ontological argument
C) Modern
a) Renaissance
1) 14th through 15th centery
b) 17th-century
1) René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Thomas Hobbes
2) dualism between spirit and material
c) 18th-century
1) "The Enlightenment"
2) David Hume, Adam Smith
a) Scottish Enlightenment (Francis Hutcheson)
d) 19th century
1) Hegel
a) Logic and Phenomenology of Spirit
2) Schopenhauer
a) negation of will
e) Charles Darwin

D) Contemporary
a) 20th century
1) attempts to overthrow older knowledges
a) advancement in:
1) science
2) new social status
3) improved economy


16) The big bang was caused by a uniform temperature and the change in critical density. This critical density stable value was equal to one and changed for a small point in time with a decimal change of fifteen places plus or minus to the one. The inflationary universe works through physics attaching itself to the big bang. It does so by utilizing how a false vacuum created the ability for the change making it possible for the bang to occur. You need to understand astronomy because it all deals with space and the physics behind light speed and the other elements dealing with the vastness of our universe dealing with how finely tuned it is and how flat the galaxy appears in its current day (age).

17) Einstein disagrees with Heisenberg’s views of physics and philosophy due to the lacking physical evidence of Quantum theory. Einstein disagrees with the quantum theory because it is uncertain in only using math, and math alone to determine the laws of physics. Einstein went beyond quantum theory to develop the standard equations and laws of physics today. They are similar in the fact they have taken physics to a whole new level with the research of both scientist. They will never agree on common grounds though.

18) The meme theory is the continuation of ideas from one generation to the next. It is described that the ideas move from society to society or generation to generation. It is the philosophy that ideas and actions are transmitted from one person to another and that they work together to survive. I found the ideas of meme’s plausible only in the sense that it is more of a definition for the survival of things/ideas in society. I don’t see it as a form of science from the reading of Dawkins.

19) According to Darwin’s theories, adaptation dealt with the physical needs with the surrounding environment. Dawkins theory furthers Darwin’s theory showing how the surroundings of an individual affect the character of each individual person. Wilson describes this as sociobiology. The understanding of biological evolution is necessary to understand human behavior because it show’s the cause and affects of everything we come into contact with. This includes physical and psychological

20) He feels it is a mental disease because it causes people to believe in their religion without physical proof. Christianity has faith that the bible means exactly what it says. He attacks the nature of the world only being young when science has proved, allegedly, that the earth is millions of years old allowing for evolution to occur. He finds using theology as fundamentalism as an escape goat for religions.

21) Edward Owens parts ways with Owen Gingerich in the sense that science and religion are like water and oil. They just don’t mix. Owen believes that life generated on its own. He thinks religion is adaptive to what you want it to be. I feel Gingerich is more persuasive because he believes that religion and science need to work together to have a better understanding of what and how we came into existence.

22) What did Mr. Fukuyama mean by the “End of History?” I think he means that history is coming to an end because there is no new direction for history to go. Do to the advancement in capitalism and democracy the power houses won’t create conflict with each other. He also believes that science is the main thing creating history because it is bringing on some many changes in the ways things occur around us and are constantly changing. He believes through religion, economics, and science we (people) will bring about or own ends.

23) His philosophy is that the more we know the less we know. Through history we have made significant advances in mathematics, biology, psychology, and even physics. Today’s knowledge only raises more questions of were things came from. The more we dig the more confused we are. Therefore there is nothing for us except unknowingness. The unknowingness being what I just previously described.

24) We haven’t actually killed God. Nietzsche is just saying we have created a figment of our imagination that goes away with the more knowledge and education that we obtain. We are making it to where we don’t need a god and throw what we believed in therefore it decomposes with time.

25) Physics is valuable to Philosophy because they have to work together in order for philosophy to survive. The purpose of philosophy is to predict what is going to happen to us (society) in the future. Physics is the science of knowing hoe things work. Physics is able to tell us how things move and are able to determine how the environment affects that objects change. Since we are constantly moving forward physics might help us determine how we will evolve.

26) In order for one to be free of religion one must be able to view things from additional perspectives. By freeing your mind of only thinking from the religious perspective you are able to better appreciate that which you are a part of. If you aren’t free from your religion then you are seeing and learning from only what the blinders will let you see.

27) He believes that faith is delusional. He feels that this is so because there is no substantiating physical evidence of any God. He thinks that faith is a scapegoat for the weak minded and a powerful tool for those who do it only for their own advancement.

28) I think science offers plenty of mystery as so do many religions. I think the sense of mystery is the fear of the unknown. In both science and religion we have to just accept things the way they are since we don’t have the answers right in front of us. There will always be pursuits of religion as well as the research trying to uncover each new mystery. Both science and religion are searching for proof but more mysteries lie around the bend.

29) It tells you how things form a pattern kind of explaining how evolution may have occurred due to the repeating patterns over long periods of time.

Weel Three/ Expert Lecture

I found Richard Dawkins to be very entertaining. It very interesting how he showed philosophy can just be a perception of what you want it to be. Does anything in our world really make sense? As I’ve said before the more we know the less we actually know. Nothing makes sense but we just go on living because it is what we see.

Edward O. Wilson has finally hit it home for me in bringing ourselves to an understanding by trying to create an alliance between religion and science. I think you can use both to bring the world to an equal understanding. There is a sense of evolving, though I call it adaptation. I do not agree with the purposes though that he discussed. The interesting thing is that he appears to be discussing the end times discussed in Revelations of the Holy Bible. If there is such peace and cooperation world wide we are seeing the prophecies in Revelations coming true. I don’t foresee the two ever coming together. There would have to be too much compromise.

Week Three/ Assigned Readings

I found the article on Sociology to be a little interesting. It was interesting to see how the author seemed to say that evolution wasn’t only concerned with the physical appearance but included the mental statutes as well. I think the changes in psychology and social status are more of an adaptation to the said environments that everyone is raised in. I think our environment as well as the willingness to accept change is what causes the day to day adaptation we see.

I found the reading on meme’s to be the most intriguing yet. It took a little while to understand what the author was talking about but it all came together in the end. I like how it describes how things would be different if we would go back to the beginning and start over. I think this would be very interesting to see but I feel, with my religious beliefs that things would end up the same unless God wanted it to be different. I actually agreed with a lot of what I read that those with faith are blind and use it to justify anything. I don’t think that we will ever find all the answers people are looking for. Every new discovery will just create more questions. Through my religious faith I don’t have to worry about finding the answers. I have already found them even though I have no proof of most of them. I can see how that seems like a copout from the persons of debate. I just see philosophy as a way to debate on anything that you wish and that there will never be a consensus on one solid answer.

Week Three/ Philosophy Videos

I found the videos from this week to be a direct attack on theology (mostly Christianity). The video “Truth Lies” said that to have belief in God means you are unable to carry on speaking. Darwinism is the best defense scientist use to refute creation. Didn’t Darwin himself say that his ideas were just theories and that he was wrong? Just because we can’t prove creation besides what is written in the bible doesn’t mean we aren’t good enough to be included in these philosophical debates.

I can agree with the “Survival of the Sufficient” video that everything around us molds us into who we are. Life experience has proved that time and time again. I think more than our parents, teachers and preachers have a big role in molding us. The video did state our environment plays a role too but found that to be a little lacking in the full truth. The books, magazines, music, movies, television, commercials, billboards, ads, newspapers and other forms of entertainment also play a large role. In essence I guess you could say that everything we come into contact with from the time we are born to the time that we die we are being constantly changed. I look at this change as adaptation to our environment and not as evolving.

Week 2/ Required Reading

In regards to the assigned reading it was a difficult task. There was a lot of terminology that I did not understand. I found it interesting how the authors were trying to describe how things came into existence. The basis of all their theories came through physics and a little bit of science. I tried real hard to understand the philosophy behind all of the reading but failed to understand it. To obtain a better understanding I felt the need for a better education on physics itself. I also failed to understand how the readings were comparative.

In my opinion the quest of answers just gets more and more complex with time. Every time something new is discovered it leads to the question of something new that is more detailed than what was just discovered. With the addition of theology I feel that we can be satisfied with what we see since we know there is a greater being that is in control of everything. That includes all of physics and Mother Nature in general. I believe that there is a starting point for everything. If something exists it had to come from somewhere. Thus the need for theology.

Week two/ Expert Lecture

I would like to start this post with regards to the lecture by Randall Wilson. I have no idea where he was going or even what he was talking about. The most I could gather is that he was saying that nothing is random but comes together through math, physics, and biology. I couldn’t gather how they all came together through his lecture. It might be more understandable if I had the necessary education involving his lecture.

I found the video lecture of Lisa and Edward more entertaining and more appealing to those with a lesser degree of education. Is there really a fifth dimension? I think that is an answer given by Edward. The utilization of Religion solves these answers. I think there are dimensions we don’t understand because we can’t see them. I feel once again that I will receive the answers I’m looking for after the resurrection described in Revelations. If we took science and religion more of an understanding could be reached.

In regards to Owens lecture I find his ideas more believable. I think more understandings could be reached if we use religion to fill in the blanks. With the complexity of science through physics, astrology, biology we won’t ever have all the answers. Everyone has faith in something. An example includes have faith in the other drivers around you on the freeway. You have to trust and have faith in perfect strangers. In regards to the Big Bang it just doesn’t seem possible that such details of everything would be possible without a creator.

Week two/ Philosophical Videos

In response to the philosophical videos I’m quite astonished that it can be conceived that Gods decompose. There are many gods that decompose but not all have. The Bible tells of the resurrection of Jesus Christ were he, then in turn, ascended into heaven. No body has ever been found to refute this historical documentation. The bible states that he is the only god and all others are just put together with matter and the imagination of man. In retrospect with the truthfulness and divine plan of God and his Son all other gods would and will decay.

I found the short video on things that jiggle very interesting. The video seemed to show areas of great debate world wide. The progression of science and technology has made people more capable of things far greater than ever imagined. I wonder if this hunger of knowing more will ever be satisfied. We will only become more dangerous to ourselves if we keep progressing the way we have over the past few decades. We should let things occur as they were meant to be. Lets let science live the way it wants to and spend more time dealing with other areas in life such as depression, hunger, and so on.

Winter Week 1 #3

Through the philosophy films the question was raised “Who are you?” I believe we are molded into who we are by our parents, teachers, television shows, movies, our music, and many other influential environments. With the complexity of life and life experiences we develop a hard drive of reactions that affect how we react and respond in the future. In my experience most people conform to the environment that surrounds them. This could be in part from the fear of rejection. As the human race we strive to be accepted by those around us. This is all part of our subconscious whether we want to admit it or not.

Through science, history, and even mathematics we are in existence. The further we dig the more complex all of it gets. We were put here without being asked. We work with everything that is around us. We believe everything that is around us is what it is because someone else told us to. If I raised my three month old son that red is actually blue and then the reverse, he would believe it until everyone else told him he was wrong. The main question is, “Is he really wrong?” There are many things that I don’t understand, but I just accept it.

Winter Week 1 #2

I found the questions that involved religion to be a little bit of an attack against those who live according to the faithful decisions they have made. I have given myself, through my religious faith, a light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that through my faith that my soul and consciousness will exist in the after life. I agree with the philosophers who say my body will decay and decease to exist. Through my faith I’m able to live my daily life not fearing the end. I’ve accepted and I’m ready to exist in the afterlife were there is no sadness, hate, crime, death, war, hunger, thirst, and so on. In retrospect I’m not going to not abuse the time I’ve been given here on earth. So do I believe in life after death? I prefer to say I have “faith” in life after death. I can’t prove it exist, therefore, I have the faith in my resurrection.


In my OPINION religion and science can work together. It just baffles me how people can think that there is not a creator out there making everything work. As science progresses so does the complexity of the inner workings of life. The more intelligent we become the more complex everything is. All answers in life don’t need to be brought into existence through science. I just can’t bring myself into believing everything just came from the “Big Bang.” I agree with the three words “I DON’T KNOW.” I can’t answer everything that is asked of me. Will I know the answers to my questions before I die? No. I believe all my questions will be answered when I meet my maker/creator.

Winter Week 1 #1

I found both expert lectures to be very interesting. It was quite profound how Aldous Huxley thought we should base our existence on intelligence and good will (charity and good deeds) to make the world a better more EVEN society. Throughout history there has been hierarchy including the present day. The present day hierarchy is measured by our social/financial well-being. Everyone is striving to better ones self with the perception of being better than the next guy/girl. I think if everyone put all their efforts into good deeds trying to erase poverty, violence, genocide, war, and so forth. There is not enough energy or time to achieve such a goal.

Now that we have so much technology the advancement of the human mind has grown astronomically. I think Francis Fukuyama might be right about religion. Adding religion makes it easier to have “Good Will.” The load is lightened up for everyone. As far as I know most religions don’t acknowledge self preservation and advancement. We are all to be united as one to whatever our GOD may be. I think for the world to be a better place we need to grow in our intelligence and through the help of religion perform our good will.