THE FiNAL BL0G.

THIS CLASS HAD TO BE THE MOST INTERESTING ONE I TOOK THIS QUARTER. FROM THE DIFFERENT ARGUMENTS TAUGHT BY DR. DEVITTO, TO BEING ABLE TO SEE THE PERSPECTIVES OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS IN MY CLASS. ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I ENJOYED THIS CLASS SO MUCH WAS BECAUSE I WAS ABLE TO SEE MANY THINGS WITH A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. IT GAVE ME THE ABILITY TO THINK OF MY REALITIES WITH A DIFFERENT MINDSET. FOR EXAMPLE, DURING THE FIRST WEEKS OF SCHOOL WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE REALITY OF WHAT WE THOUGHT WERE COMMON SENSE, I FELT LIKE THESE QUESTIONS HAD NO BASIS IN REASON, SOON I REALIZED THAT THESE QUESTIONS WERE NEEDED TO HELP TO STIMULATE OUR MINDS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS THAT WOULD ARISE IN THE LATER WEEKS. MANY OF THE CONCEPTS WE DISCUSSED WERE QUITE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT I FOUND THEM TO MAKE ME THINK OF FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES IN A DIFFERENT WAY. TO BE HONEST, THE CONCEPT HAVING TO DO WITH THE PROBLEM OF GOD DID TRIGGER SOME THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD THAT I HAD NEVER THOUGHT OF BEFORE, HOWEVER, DUE TO MY STRONG CHRISTIAN BELIEF THEY DID NOT CHANGE MY BASIC BELIEFS. OVERALL, I HAD A GREAT EXPERIENCE IN THIS CLASS AND AM EXTREMELY HAPPY THAT I WAS ABLE TO TAKE THIS COURSE THIS YEAR.

#41. THE PR0BLEM OF EViL.

DURING MANY MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES WE ASK OURSELVES A QUESTION THAT CONSISTS OF US WANTING TO KNOW .. WHY?

The 'bad' things that go on in our lives and in the lives of others have become a part of life. It is normal for us to turn on our television screens and see the destruction happening in various parts of the world, and even in our own backyards.

But the question once again arises.. WHY?

If you believe in an all powerful God, one that has the ability to stop all the evil in the world right at this instant, then then you understand why it is that asking WHY is this happening to me? is a valid question.

As the reading states, God not stopping all the evil in the world is what you can refer to as the
"PROBLEM OF EVIL"

When analyzing the Theistic point of view we see that there are 3 components to the our image of GOD.

the first one would be that 1. God is fully aware of what is going on in our lives
                                          2. God is able to prevent all the evil in the world
                                          3. and God WANTS to prevent all the evil in the world.

Looking around us we can see that the world is clearly with evil,
SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT THERE IS NO GOD?

The theistic belief would have us think, that if there is a God that he doesn't care, or that he just does not exist.

--> Just as God is defined as the greatest being. Greater than anything imaginable, maybe his intelligence is also so complex that we will not be able to fully understand the reasons for his existence. Maybe, Gods plan is not for us to understand and we must simply wait in patience to see his plans unfold.

#16 ENDS & MEANS

"THE END MAY JUSTIFY THE MEANS SO LONG AS THERE IS SOMETHING THAT JUSTIFIES THE END." -LE0N TR0TSKy, 1936

D0ES THE END JUSTIFy THE MEANS??

Have you ever been put in a situation where you have two choices to make?, WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG? but both choices seem to result in something or someone getting hurt?

That is where this concept of Ends and Means comes in. An individual must be able to decide whether the choice made for the intended outcome, is the correct one. 

Just as the readings said, the outcome of a decision can only ever be justified by the end. Regardless of the choice you make, the outcome is inevitably justified by the mere fact that you did essentially make the choice. 

The book refers to two types of approaches when considering this topic.

 Consequentialism & Deontology


A consequentialist would propose that to determine whether a choice you made is right or wrong, you must look purely at the consequences (or the end) . Everything is determined by the outcome, so therefore, that is the only thing that matters. 


A deontologist would argue that the actions are not only the means to and end, but that the actions in themselves are right or wrong. Actions do not only influence the end, but also weigh heavily on the choice you are making, which will then influence the outcome. 


We can then ask ourselves, what is it that determines whether something is right or wrong? How could we make decisions based on this concept if we do not ourselves know what right and wrong is?

#o6. THE TRiPARTiTE THE0Ry 0F KN0WLEDGE

PLAT0S DEFINITION OF KN0WLEDGE ;
   -' True belief with a logos' , a ' rational account' also known as a 'justified true belief'.

Plato's definition of knowledge is broken down into this concept; which consists of 3 points.
- there has to be a person to believe in something, let us say that this person believes in a table , then there has to be a justifiable reason for that person to believe that there is a table. This is known as the tripartite theory of knowledge.

Many questions can then arise from this theory, for example; what would be considered a 'justifiable reason' to believe in something? What some individuals view as justifiable could be completely different from what others could consider justifiable

For example, A justifiable reason for some to believe that there is a table, is that they can see it and touch it. for others, this reason would not suffice.

Just as Gettier presents in his short work, where he provides possible contradictions for this theory ; using the example of where somebody is so certain about something, they believe they are right and have reason to justify their beliefs, they can still end up wrong.

In the readings, it mentions a fourth condition to improve this theory. This fourth condition includes the concept of knowledge being 'indefeasible' which means that there should be no prior knowledge of anything else that might change somebodies perception of what they believe is happening.

So what is knowledge? How can we really define what knowledge is, when every persons beliefs and reality is different? Bringing in the concept that knowledge has to be indefeasible, wouldn't that mean that not person is knowledgeable since nobody really knows EVERYTHING?

# 19. THE G0LDEN RULE.

During many occasions in ones life, we have heard the infamous phrase;


'DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.' -Jesus c.3o AD


Phrases such as this one, which we have heard time and time again, eventually begin to loose their meaning. But what does the Golden Rule actually mean? Reading this article made me realize that the way people perceive things does in fact change the meaning and context of whatever it is that they are analyzing. For example, The reading goes on to tell us how when one looks at the golden rule too specifically it can in fact change the meaning of the phrase in whole. What one person can consider respect, kindness, and understanding can be completely different from the perception that someone else has on these things. 

The difference between right & wrong can be completely different to every single individual. As the book commented, it is better to look at the Golden Rule as a form of fairness and consistency with the way you treat people, rather than to try to look at it too specifically and not understand the universal meaning behind the idea of The Golden Rule. For instance, if a murderer decides to look at the idea of the Golden Rule too literally, He must expect to at one point also be in jeopardy of being the one on the other end of the murder. For this reason, the Golden Rule must not be looked at as a sort of literal concept but more of an idea used to regulate morals and ethics of individuals. 

However, when thinking about the other side to this coin we can figure that many people do express acts of kindness in hope that they will in return be treated with the same respect. So we ask ourselves? At one point should the Golden Rule stop being a universal rule? and start being literal? 

"WHAT YOU DO NOT WISH FOR YOURSELF, DO NOT DO TO OTHERS... AS YOU YOURSELF DESIRE STANDING, THEN HELP OTHERS ACHIEVE IT; AS YOU YOURSELF DESIRE SUCCESS, THEN HELP OTHERS ATTAIN IT." -CONFUCIUS,  c. 5oo BC