I thought the Ship of Theseus paradox was the most interesting thing I studied in this philosophy class. I found this to really catch my attention during the thought experiment because of the fact that it is a question you can answer although not with much conviction. Luckily there is a name for these oh so unsolvable questions; paradoxes. Logic has always been interesting to me and paradoxes are great for using it. The overall question this paradox is asking is, "If you replace every piece of an object gradually piece by piece, as needed over time is it still the same object or would the old parts be the object and the newly constructed parts be a new entity? There are many ways to think of this paradox, this is mine; The new construct would take the place of the old one and the old parts would be junked, yet the object still would have has the same name. Like the life cycle there is a need for renewal of old parts, nothing is unlimited. Although many different questions could be asked I will give you a chance to think of your own:) after I give my best answer for the for aforementioned question; I believe that the new construct would inherit the title or name of the previous, such things ships or possibly cars as well as socks. The ship keeps the name thus replacing and becoming the object and the old parts are just junk. All in all philosophy has been an inspiring and thought provoking class and have enjoyed not just this point, but many others as well.








The paradox:
http://clpccd.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_934509_1%26url%3D

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My favorite topic this clas is Love. I like this topic because everybody can relate to it and is experiencing it at one point in their lives. Also, before I have a hard time defining love to other people since it is something that is beyond what words can explain and its very abstract. But after learning Nozick's definition of love, I have now a concrete definition of its meaning. As he defines love is the unity of two I's that becomes a We. He also adds that in love, the welfare of one person depends on the hands of the other person in he relation and vice versa. So as a concrete example, we can see couples together forming a new entity as a "We" instead of seeing they as two I's.

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My favorite point covered in Philosophy was chapter 8 of Nozick’s Examined Life, Love’s Bond. I found this to be one of the more relatable subjects because I am in love. My well being is definitely tied to that of my boyfriend Josh’s. I enjoyed learning about the general phenomenon of love and what it takes to be in a we. Usually when you're in a relationship, and not taking philosophy, you never really stop to think about what is actually going on between you and that other person. After reading this chapter I was way more aware. I also liked how it separated friend love and romantic love. The last quote was really eye catching. "In love, we metamorphose. (pg. 86)" I left a couple links, hope they're informative!
-Natalie Slivka

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/bertolivier/2009/05/12/three-philosophical-accounts-of-love/

http://www.helium.com/knowledge/20475-distinguishing-love-vs-passion

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To me one of the most fun and interesting topics we have covered was through a discussion board. The question of whether we are determined or are free really intrigued me. The idea that someone could actually not have control over their own fate and destiny really made me think. It went against everything I had ever believed and everything I know. I was always taught that life is what you make it. And after reading the ideas from the helpful information and websites from Abrol, it really made me think and question what I have always believed. Now me personally, I didn’t truly buy into the ideas of determinism, however, I am not shutting them out. I believe anything is possible and the idea of determinism will always be in the back of my head that it is a real possibility. I feel that’s the one thing I have really taken from philosophy; is to have an open minded about things and to allow the opinions and ideas of other people and other teachings to be allowed into your mind and to be able to at the least understand their viewpoints. When you do this you truly open you mind to other ideas and other possibilities in this world and in your brain. Another reason I was really into the idea of determinism vs. freedom is because everyone in the class gave great feedback and it was nice to see everyone’s different point of view and thoughts. After taking the side of freedom, I looked back and read through the papers after the fact. What I found was that I’m not sure anymore if I believe in freedom or determinism they are both ideas. I found a pretty good website that offers some insight into the dilemma of freewill versus determinism, which offers some pretty interesting information and quotes from various philosophers.

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Free-Will-Determinism.htm

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My favorite philosophy points were the three we covered in the study of Nozick. I agreed with most of his points made regarding love, emotions, and happiness. It was extremely insightful and his points were well analyzed and well thought out. Nozick’s reading on love brought up some important points that got me thinking: Do you love the person or the person’s qualities?How can the qualities that are possessed by a person not define them as a person? Would a person who possesses certain qualities not be the same person if they lost those qualities? I love Nozicks definition of love as “when the well being of one person is intimately bound up with the well being of another. You don’t just feel bad for them when bad things happen, you feel like they happened to you.” That has been true love in my experience. I really enjoyed the way Nozick set up the risks, boundaries, guidelines, and self changes that come along with love and I found it very helpful. As for Nozick’s thoughts on happiness, I found it interesting that we care about more than just the total amount of happiness in life, but about the direction of the happiness. I enjoyed and agreed with the three kinds of happiness Nozick points out; happy with your life as a whole, being happy that something is the case, and feeling that your life is good now.I feel you would want to strive for happiness as a whole. That is achieved by setting standards for your happiness, and then evaluating your life to see if you measure up to those standards. So what I got out of it is happiness is what you make it! What I enjoyed the most regarding Nozick and emotions was that you should and are held accountable for your emotions and reactions to those emotions. I also really enjoyed his thought that belief plus a feeling is an emotion and that an emotion can be false. I just love all of Nozicks points. I learned so much from him and he has given me so much insight on life.

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The most interesting topic we have covered was the Allegory of Platos Cave. I have always herd of the story, but I never have analyzed it in this point of view. I never knew there was so much more depth and symbolism in the story. The aspect of the shadows, sun, shapes, and fire are all basic elements found in everyday human life. It was an inspiring story. There are millions of interpretations of the story, but I have discovered that there are multiple ways to answer a question. They dont need to be right .

Something I got that was really important was, be a radical. Society is always striving for unity and conformity. I would rather step into the light and experience the world in a different way than my neighbors. I also learned that Society can be unforgiving to ideas. But your own ideas that you are willing to die for will live forever. I feel a very passionate theme to believe in what is in your heart.

I live with the morals to live life to the fullest, go big or go home, and die for what is in your heart.

-Esther Kim

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I refuse to talk because I hate public speaking and recording an audio of myself for people to listen to is close enough. So I will take the latter and type rather than talk.
Through out this course there have been many topics that have impacted me. One that struck great interest was, "why am I myself rather than someone else?" This question made me think long and hard to decide who and what exactly it was that influenced or forced me to become the person that I am today. Before this class I had never thought twice about what has made me the person I am so it was quite enlightening to sit and brainstorm reasons why I am who I am. I drew the conclusion that my mom (unique, I know) has shaped me the most. She has influenced me not only because of the concepts about her that I idolize, but also because of the traits that she has that I despise. I make a point not to follow in many of her footsteps, and consequently she indirectly effects who I am. After thinking about this question I often find myself looking at my peers and family members and friends and wondering what it was that made them the who they are. Looking at some of my friends I can see that much of their personality is a result of their parents. I find it a common pattern that parents play an outstanding role in the development of their children, in good ways and bad ways. I have also observed that economical status and financial situations effect human character in more ways that one. All in all this has been a question with open ended answers that has caused me to think harder about each person that has had an impact on my life.

-Shelby Henry

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give us your thoughts, and thoughts about your thoughts, and links that link to your thoughts!

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If the one who I cooperated with doesn’t my friend, I will choose confess to get parole. In this situation I will just care about my self because we are all criminals, and no one will be release as innocent. This is not considered as unscrupulous, because if we know what moral right is, we would not rob the bank, and this is a kind of action I know what I did is wrong, and I want to return to the right moral track. Although this looks like I’m a selfish person, this isn’t wrong. I made something wrong and I confess that, this actually is the morals return. Why the police arrests people who violated the law, because it can prevent they do this again. In my opinion, the moral right is depends on the law.
In another situation, if the one who I cooperated with is my friend. I might have to remain silent. I just want to give a simple example to explain why I choose this. At 1937-1945, during the most chaotic time in China, all Chinese were resisting Japanese's aggression. When Communist party’s member had been arrested, they would not say any thing to Japanese soldiers even they had been maltreated, because they all have one goal. They think about others more than themselves, because if they said something to Japanese, their comrades will be arrested or killed. In this situation, remain silent is the best way to protect your friends, at least you will not make your friends in trouble or get punishment because of you. And I would like to spend more jail life to let my mind comfort because I didn’t make my friends in trouble.

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Hypothesis:When Mary leaves the room and her black and white world she will get a huge shock. She will also learn a lot. I expect she will be happy. There is a big difference in the sensations from a black and white versus a color world.
Set Up: When I was thinking about this I tried to come up with other examples. Things we think about then do. My idea was to compare how I felt and thought about something before I experienced it and after.
Experiment: Examples like flying in a plane, driving a car, going to college, shooting a rifle, jumping out of a helicopter. For all of these things the experience is very different from the theoretical knowledge. Therefore there must be two different kinds of knowledge. The kind that comes from experience and a kind that comes from studying theory. We learn and remember the experience kind of knowledge more easily. At least I do.
Experiment Results: We are only able to personally experience a limited amount because life is short. To learn most we must learn from other peoples experience and from studying theories as they summarize the learning and experiences of many other people. The fact that we learn something different implies that the mind and the brain do not operate with experience and theory as interchangeable. We are not made just by our experiences but they are certainly very important. More important than our theoretical learning.

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