What is Law?

Posted by our Chronicler, Brendt M.

           We defined law as the rules of right and wrong made by the government.

           We said that there were two kinds of law: public and private. Public law is concerned with matters that affect society as a whole, such as criminal law, tax law, and constitutional law. Private law (also called "civil law") deals with the relationships between individuals; those laws are insurance law, torts law, and property law.

           Laws help to ensure a safe and peaceful society in which peoples rights are respected. Without laws, the world would be a place of constant chaos and there would be anarchy.

           What is anarchy? Anarchy is a state of disorder due to lack of government. Anarchists believe that most people can govern themselves and would be happier doing so. Some philosophers defend anarchy as a legitimate political position.
 

           Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were philosophers that wrote about government and theorized about what man's "state of nature" would be if there was no kind of authority.  Hobbes described life in the state of nature as being "nasty, poor, brutish, and short." He believed that men are constantly at war because they cannot all have the same thing, and that the best form of government is to give all the power to one man.

 

 

Locke, on the other hand, theorized that our state of nature is a state of freedom, equality, and independence. In this state of nature one has the freedom to do whatever one wants within the boundaries of nature, that no one has power or authority over another, therefore everyone is equal, and that everyone is put into a state if independence, and they remain in it until they choose to become members of a political society. He believed that all of this would be governed by one law: the law of reason.

 

 

 

 

           Even in a well-ordered society, people have disagreements, and conflicts arise; the law provides a way to resolve disputes peacefully. An essential principle is that the same law applies to everybody, including the police, governments and public officials, who must carry out their public duties according to the law.

 

         Ever since people began to live together in society laws have been necessary to hold that society together. Imagine the chaos and danger if drivers just chose which side of the street to drive on!

What is a Paradox?

Posted by our new Chronicler, Brendt M.

We tackled the subject of existence. A few profound questions came such as, "How do you know you're not asleep?" And, "If I'm dreaming how do I know the dream is not real?"

           A French philosopher from the early 1600's named René Descartes challenged people to prove that they are not dreaming. He was famous for saying, "I think, therefore I am." Most people might think that this means: "I am capable of rational thought, therefore I am a human being." But what Descartes meant was if you think, you must exist.

           We also talked about paradoxes. What is a paradox? A paradox is a situation which seems entirely normal, but after further investigation proves to be impossible or self-contradictory. Take a look at the image below.

At first, when you look at this, you think it's just a bunch of weird-looking soldiers walking up a staircase and a second set of them walking down. But then you realize they are walking in a circle! You see, this drawing seems normal until you find the contradiction that makes it impossible.

Another example of a paradox is The Theory of Relativism. This theory says that there is no such thing as a single truth for everyone. It is easy to refute relativism, because it is self-refuting. A few examples of relativism would be:

"You should never tell anyone what to do."

"There are no absolute truths."

"No statement is universally true."

Obviously, these statements contradict themselves.

Most philosophers reject the concept of relativism because they believe that the truth is objective and a matter of fact. Basically, that truth is just...truth.

As part of the scholars' homework, we read a short story called A Letter to God. It was about a man named Lencho who lived on a farm in the middle of a valley. He had planted a field of corn, and was in need of a rainfall. When dark clouds finally came over the field, it turned out to be a hailstorm which destroyed all of his crops. He was very upset that all of his work had been for nothing. So he wrote a letter to God, asking for 100 pesos to resow the field. He then went into town and dropped the letter into the mailbox.

The postmaster saw this letter and, amazed at the faith of the man, was able to collect 70 pesos which he put into an envelope and addressed to Lencho.

The following Sunday Lencho came to ask if there was a letter for him. When the postman gave him the envelope he was not surprised to see the bills but became angry when he saw that it was not the full amount he asked for. He immediately wrote a new letter and dropped it into the mailbox. The postmaster instantly went to open it. It said:

"God: of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don't send it to me through the mail, because the post-office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho"

We decided that the themes of the story were:

1) Prejudice

2) Gratitude

3) Faith

We said that faith seemed like the main theme. Also there was a variation in how we felt after reading the story. Some felt happy, sad, humoured, and confused. Finally, we asked the question, "Can you be blinded by faith?"

What is the Meaning of Life?

Posted by our Chronicler, Jaron B.

Is the meaning of life to prepare us for life in heaven and to behold God in a second life in heaven? Or is it to find our full potential?  Or both?

Well without God there is no purpose for life.  But we all have purpose in life!  Some think the purpose is to be happy.  Happiness can be realizing that you are unique and amazing and lovely!

 

 

 

 

We all decided that this was NOT the meaning of life:

 

 

 

Life comes with lots of choices, responsibility, and decisions.

 

We also agreed that we find meaning when we "detect" our mission.  We disagreed with this quote as we felt that we do not "create" our mission - God does that.

 

 

 

 

 

We also asked "Are Happiness and Meaning the same thing?"

 

We discussed the different meanings for the following terms:

 

Deist (everyone in our group is a deist):  someone who believes that a Supreme Being created the world and left it alone.

 

Theist:  someone who believes in a Being Who exists beyond or outside the natural world, yet Who is able to be involved in the course of human events.

 

Agnostic:  someone who believes that we can never attain adequate answers to profound questions such as the existence of God or the meaning of life.

 

Atheist:  someone who believes that there is no such thing as God.

 

Nihilist:  someone who does not believe that life is meaningful at all.

 

One of our philosophers for the day was St. Thomas Aquinas

 

 

            1225-1274

•      Medieval Italian philosopher and Dominican priest

•      Famously illustrated with the church in one hand and Aristotle’s writings in the other

•      His views were often attacked in his lifetime but soon came to dominate Catholic philosophy

•      Canonized in 1323 and made Angelic Doctor in 1567

•      His greatest work was the Summa Theologica (summary of theology)

•      He believed that our essence is what we really are and existence is what we do throughout our life

 

Our second philosopher for the day was Jean-Paul Sartre

 

 

 

            1905-1980

•      20^th century French philosopher

•      One of the most famous atheist philosophers  - was an existentialist

•      He believed that free choice is the defining characteristic of human existence

•      He did not agree that God is needed to make human life meaningful.

•      He turned Aquinas’argument upside down:  he asserted that human existence precedes human essence

•      He thought that self-creation is what makes humans responsible for the way they live their lives

 

This is my last Chronicle!

 

 



What is Suffering?

Posted by our Chronicler, Jaron B.

Is suffering something we physically feel such as pain or is it something that we feel mentally, or spiritually?

 

Well let’s break it down with Socrates' four causes that we learned about a couple of weeks ago.

1. Formal:  What is it?

 2. Material: What's it made of?

3. Efficient:  Where did it come from?  Who made it?

4. Final:  What purpose does it serve?

Let’s start, so what is suffering? The definition of suffering is bad or unnecessary and unpleasant.

What is it made of what’s in it, or what is the content of it? Well suffering is something that we feel when were hurt in a couple different areas physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional.

Where did it come from? Who made it? Well, some people think God made suffering for all the reasons above.  Many of us agreed that God did not create suffering but allows it.  We create our own suffering.  When we hurt others, we hurt ourselves in the process.

What is it for? Some think it is to bring us closer to God, it makes us stronger and is what makes us who we are in this present moment.  It makes us strive to do better.

So the question becomes:  "How can you believe in a loving God with all the suffering that there is in the world?" Some people say the following.

If God is all-powerful, He could do something to prevent or end suffering.

If God is all-loving, He would want to prevent or end suffering.

There is a tremendous amount of suffering in the world.

Therefore, God either is not all-loving or not all-powerful.

Of course, as we are theists (people who believe in a Being Who exists beyond or outside the natural world, yet who is able to be involved in the course of human events), we do not agree with these statements. We acknowledge that God is all-loving and all-powerful and that he allows suffering in the world and makes all things good.

There are those who are deists so believe that God created all things but then left it alone.  They do not believe that God has a plan for us or interacts with us in any way.

Viktor Frankl, concentration camp survivor, once said "Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning, such as the meaning of sacrifice."

This week's philosopher was St. Augustine.  He had a powerful conversion later in his life through the prayers of his mother, St. Monica, was a prolific writer and was eventually named Doctor of the Church.  He believed in the perfect connection between faith and reason.

What is Art?

Posted by our Chronicler, Jaron B.

We talked about what art is. So what is art? Is it a way of showing feeling, expressing yourself, or just for the sake of doing it. 

Look at the object below.

Is that art?  It looks like art, don’t you think? Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher agrees that anything that represents something is art. He came up with the idea that if it represents something than it is art.

Aristotle

• Philosopher from Ancient Greece  469-399 BC
• Student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great
• He and Plato were great friends despite their disagreements
• Aristotle was interested in the physical world and focused on scientific study
• He promoted the representationalist view of art in which art imitates nature
• He wasn’t an artist but wrote about art in Poetics

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher but he disagreed with Aristotle's representationalist theory.  He felt that art was meta-physical (beyond the physical) and should go beyond the literal representation of the world around us. He thought that tragic myths are art.  His theory is that experiencing unhappiness is good for humans and he thought that it forces us to have courage and strive toward greater accomplishments.  He is also famous for saying "God is Dead".

                                                      We thought this was funny!

What is Beauty?

Posted by our Chronicler, Jaron B.

Is it something we observe, hear, smell, experience or are we emotionally attached to something of beauty?

 

 

 

 

To a sports fan, the football player made a beautiful tackle.  The elegance of the ballerina is beautiful because of the grace of her dance.  The Olympic gymnast is beautiful because of the poise in her routine.  Blessed Mother Teresa is beautiful because of what she has done for the lepers and sick people she comforted.

 

What do these four examples have in common?  They are all beautiful but the way we observe beauty is different.  How?  The three above Blessed Mother Teresa are all observable.  Now if you look at Blessed Mother Teresa, do you think she is beautiful?  Most will say no but there has to be something beautiful about her.  Is it the way she is dressed, sees things or her works?  Most will say that what she has done in her lifetime is beautiful.

 

Some other thoughts that we had of what beauty is were:

-Truth            -Observable              -Colours

-Goodness      -Smell                      -Patterns

-Time             -Work                      -Emotional response

-Grace            -Nature                    -Experience

-Hear              -Art

 

                

We looked at two different philosophers:

Socrates

•      Philosopher from Ancient Greece  469-399 BC

•      Considered founder of Western philosophy

•      He never wrote anything down!  His student Plato wrote for him.

•      He questioned everything and thought that the best way to learn was through asking questions

•      He was arrested, tried and put to death for corrupting youth- all he wanted to do was make them think!

•      He thought humans are born with rational thought including an innate sense of beauty is.

 

 

 

David Hume

•      Scottish Philosopher who lived from 1711-1776

•      He was skeptical of many classical ideas

•      He thought that desire rather than reason governed human behaviour.

•      He thought everything was learned through experience

•      He felt beauty was relative and based on individual taste

In summary:

Socrates thought humans are born with rational thought including an innate sense of beauty

David Hume thought everything was learned through experience and that feeling beauty was relative and based on individual taste.

The big question of the day was "If it is not beautiful, can it be art?"

Yes!  Most of us agreed that it can still be art if it is not beautiful because everybody perceives beauty differently.

 

Psalm 139:14

 

I praise you , for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;  my soul know it very well.