Blog 4: Reflection of the Course

Tomorrow is my last day of my Ethics class and I'm happy with what I have learned in it. Everytime I leave the class, it leaves me thinking of the different moral issues that plague our society. I also wish that the class was longer so that I not only had more time to absorb the information but also to catch up on the work I'm missing. 5 weeks of class, 5 days a week, 5 questions a day 10 blogs and 3 papers. A doable goal that I put off until the very end due to constant distractions and last minute music gigs. In hindsight, I wish I could have maintained my focus and get my work done. If nothing else, this was DEFINATELY a lesson in prioritizing that I have learned very well. Thinking of my current situation reminds me of all that I've learned in class. We as humans will put up with a great deal of discomfort before we decide to take action because we are lazy. On a more optimistic note we were given "free" will and that will can change from being lazy to focused and motivated to work. No longer am I afraid (nor can I afford) to submit my work even though its not my best. Socrates states, "The unexamined life is not worth living". I believe this is one of the truest quotes in the history of mankind. In my case, "The unexamined paper is not worth grading". So thats what I have in mind to keep me focused on what I have to do and apply all of this vast knowledge into writing. It will be quite interesting to see how things play out during these last couple of days. I believe I will carry on a few things from the class into the future such as the blogs, and questioning the morality of some of the justices and injustices of our society. Who knows, maybe philosophy will be more than just an academic endeavor for me.

Blog 3: Class so far.

So far I have really enjoyed the class. Everyday I learn a new aspect of philosophy and have a slightly different perspective on life. Although I struggle with putting what I think onto paper, I have really learned alot. So far the most difficult thing is the homework and blogs. When we come together and explain the reading in class everything is much clearer, but when I'm reading it for the first time and trying to piece together what they are trying to say, I have trouble making sense of it. Trying to create blogs has also given me trouble. The process for signing up was taxing for me because I kept forgetting my password and all the URL's that i thought of were unavailable. Although its about 3 weeks later I have finally made successful strides in making a blog page. Another challenge is the speed at which this newly acquired knowledge is coming. I enjoy what we have learned but feel like I would have gotten more out of it and been more effiecient if I had more time to let all of the information sink in. Especially while taking an upper level English classs that also requires an overwhelming amount of reading. Trying to balance out the course work of both classes has proven a great challenge. Overall I'm enjoying the class and discussions we have about the various philosophers and movies. I also think that my capacity for communicating what I think has improved a bit since I've taken this course. I can express myself and my ideas more comfortably and I'm not as coy about speaking in class as I initially was. I feel that this class is one of the few classes where I actually learned something here at Newberry College.

Blog 2: Philosophy (Society's Effect on development)

Today society is putting great emphasis on how we should act and behave. We see alot of commercials on how we should eat better do certain things to look good for the society. Most of perceive success as making large amounts of money, working for a large corporation, being famous and looking a certain way. Although these are not bad goals to have, success can also be measured on smaller levels. For example, someone who has graduated from school, raising a family, or being an active volunteer for a certain cause. Society overlooks this as being successful because these are more humble goals and do not have much monetary value to them. Its as if success is determined by how money hungry you are and what you are willing to do to get it. In the movie, "Thank You for Smoking", Nick Naylor is seen as a successful man with a dream job where he travels around the country, makes a large amount of money and gets to sleep with anyone he decides to. Most people would enjoy having Nick's job even though he is the spokesperson of an industry that is seen as taking lives of a good fraction of the population. If what Nick was the "good" then, according to Plato he would have shared it with others instead of being selfish and only thinking of himself. According to Locke, Nick was free to this however, he was not to interfere with others will by manipulation or otherwise which is what he was paid to do. Nick knew the ways of his society and he made his will in accordance to their wishes and so he knows what he is doing is not right, he continues to make a living truth spinning and manipulating weak minds to in his words "pay the mortgage". It is truly a shame that money is so important in our society that we can not even do what we enjoy and for some people, not even what they need without it. If money was less of an issue I feel that there would be less corruption, more trust amongst people, and everyone would go after what they truly desire to pursue their good and make society a better place.