Reflection and Application 6

Sophie's World, as a novel, has really lost all interest and hope with me. All it has to offer is nonsense that claims it to be the opposite. Personally, I prefer books that make sense while explaining the supernatural happenings and not using a cheap cop out like 'this is not reality, we are a figment of someone's imagination'. At first I found it kind of cleaver, as if Sophie's World was using different philosophical thoughts to explain the weird, if not stupid, events that had happened to Sophie herself. We had talked in class about taking on the view that we could be imaginary, and I thought that Sophie's World could this plot point to their advantage. But then I began to see that the author was going about it in the wrong fashion, using fictitious characters to somehow enhance the feeling of 'unease' or a dream-like sensation. After using this method over and over it got boring and thus the at first cleaver plot point of being imaginary fell flat in a not so dramatic and somewhat predictable way. I don't really mind that this happened because the whole book started going downhill long before this point was revealed.
In class we're learning about other philosophers viewpoints and questioned whether or not it was right to kill animals based on the view that they are sentient beings, as well as whether we would treat ourselves to luxury items or spend money on not so nice things while spending an equal amount as to donate to charities. On the animal topic, I don't completely know if they have thoughts, feelings, etc. however, I have read quite a bit about evidence suggesting that they do. But this does not mean I would quit eating meat if it was proven. Meat may be a 'luxury item' in some cases, and I don't personally feel any guilt with eating an animals flesh if I want to. I do know, however, that there are boundaries, and I won't cross them. To expand on the luxury item topic, I already have that mentality in me to not spend much money on unnecessary things. I don't want much out of life, therefore I don't spend too much money on nice shoes or pretty clothes. I do give in to temptations once every so often but not so much on items that would be deemed 'luxury'. As I stated that meat is a luxury item in some cases (in the way that we do not necessarily need it to survive) I find it different than household items. Meat is fuel. It is food from which we can function and though I won't give up the luxury to eat it I do respect the animals it comes from.

Reflection and Application 5

In Sophie's World, as we get more into depth with the explanation of Hilde's father and Sophie's birthday party, and all that sort of 'plot' (although, personally I wouldn't call it plot, more like a messy, cop out explanation) I'm starting to wonder how this book will end. I don't really have any hope left. With its insane reasoning behind the strange happenings of the letters, fairy tale characters, and such I don't think it could get any more disappointing. Personally, I wanted to have an exclamation that was not so magical but logical. I thought that although the events taking place in the book were strange, there had to be something that would clear it all up in a way that wasn't stupid. I was sorely mistaken. So as the book comes to a conclusion, I hope it can make up for its stupidity and do something different for once. Don't have Sophie confront Hilde or Hilde's father or any of that, have them explore boundaries, do something unexpected. Just please don't do anything dumb. Another simple request would be to have something make sense, not just jumbled up 'just because'. Also, have characters who question their own values, who feel things, who have a personality. Sophie's World has no one like this so far.
I find that once again in class we explore the concept of time, more specifically the time until we die, through a film. I see a pattern forming. Although this movie, In Time, doesn't seem to explore anything new, it did strike my interest (if only the concept of the whole thing). I've never personally thought too hard about my own death, at least the specifics, but I know that because I live I must die. Sometimes it seems that that is the one truth that is concrete in this world. There are always saying like 'live your life to your fullest' but I find it hard to do so. Our concept of time is so screwed because we think we have so much of it, and that is the problem. In my case, I wouldn't find it too burdening to have a clock on my hand telling me when the big day will be because  I would live the fullest life I could. The reason I would do so is because I know, and I wouldn't want to waste the time I have. However, I can't say that now. Because I don't know when I'll die, I spend my time doing trivial things. I bury myself in school, come home and read and study, and to tell you the truth I don't feel satisfied. So if I knew when I would die I think I would pursue other things instead of this bland life I live so far.

Reflection and Application 4

In Sophie's World there seems to be more and more references to Hilde. The questions keep piling up and I can't help but feel so unimpressed with it all. It seems as we go deeper into the book, it becomes less and less sure on what it wants to be, At first it was a sort of informational fiction type of work, with the plot of Sophie receiving these strange letters being enough to attain my interest. But as the book goes on making these idiotic references to Hilde and her father being 'magical', with a talking dog and the mirror blinking, and then altogether containing whole chapters full of context making the 'main plot' seemingly unimportant. It also strikes me as funny that Hilde is somehow vital in all this as well because at first the very existence of her was more of an afterthought than a plot point. This 'story' has becomes so mixed with both historical context and deluded plot it's hard to tell what it even is anymore. I'm having a hard time getting through each chapter, and I hope that it'll soon make LOGICAL sense because if it uses any sort of 'magical' explanation for all this in a philosophy book I won't be happy.
Since we finished Inception in class today, I've been reflecting on my own dreams. I find it rather funny how they depict dreams in the film as being completely clear and (sometimes) rational, while my own dreams are often fuzzy and delusional. Also, if it's okay to get into this subject, but I doubt dreams are some kind of 'window into the subconscious' as Freud would say. I personally see dreams as nonsensical bits of information the brain feeds to us at night. That's why Inception is so idiotic to me. Although an entertaining movie, its concepts are off. I don't think we can control ourselves in dreams, sometimes it's not even US that we're controlling. Sometimes we're controlling a different person, sometimes we aren't even a person. Sometimes we're watching a moment unfold, or sometimes we're walking down a long hallway that leads nowhere, or sometimes we are on a journey on the desert that suddenly turns into the tundra without any explanation (in fact we probably don't even care). What I'm explaining is that dreams are not ever mapped out to its very last detail. I feel that they are very convoluted and in the end don't mean anything whatsoever.

Reflection and Application 3

Once again, in Sophie's World it continues to get weirder and weirder, regarding human beings as magicians, talking about time periods from long ago as if they were only yesterday. Personally, I don't like the way it's going. When I first started to read Sophie's World, I thought it would be part of the realistic fiction genre. When it started it was realistic enough, mostly just explaining philosophy in a textbook like format, but as it went along and now, half way through, it's become deluded with it's story. The plot points of Hilde and her father have yet to be explained as anything other than magical, and the strange events around Alberto seem to happen without Sophie questioning it for more than a couple pages. Sophie herself continues to disappoint me in the way that she's still stuck learning about philosophy rather than thinking of her own ideas. With so many 'magical' things happening around her, like the mirror blinking at her and the letters appearing out of nowhere, I would think that she could at least think about the her own perception of reality just a bit. In later chapters, rather than focusing on plot points that seem magical and ludicrous, I would appreciate it if we could look inside Sophie's mind. That is, if she thinks of anything other than learning.
In class, we've been talking more about fate and free will, in other words soft determinism. Mostly this is because watching The Adjustment Bureau called for another lecture. This time, I came out with thinking about fate in another way. I used to think, as said in my first post, that fate was actually comforting to me because it means that nothing is ever wasted because of it, that I believe in fate. With the viewpoint I have now, however, I think along the lines more of a skeptic in philosophy. I think now that even if fate existed, how would I even know? I think that if it did, I would still uphold my views from my first post, however I think that there is no possible way of ever knowing that fate exists. Personally, if I were to learn of fate, or of something like the bureau controlling my life, I wouldn't want to stray away from the path. I would want to do what I'm supposed to do. In The Adjustment Bureau, Norris only realized that fate existed because of a slip up in the plans, because of an accident. He wasn't ever supposed to know that fate existed, and maybe neither do we.

Reflection and Application 2

In Sophie's World I noticed that it's been more focused on the religious aspects of philosophy for a while now. It’s not that religion is a bad aspect to cover, it’s more so that it’s so much related to philosophy that I can’t help but point out and applaud that it focused a whole chapter to cover different religions. Religion came into being with philosophy as its core: to find out where we came from, who created us, and what the purpose of life is. However, Sophie herself, once again, does not seem to take part in anything she learns. I find it annoying that she continuously avoids applying philosophy in her own life. Instead she becomes obsessed with who Hilde is and how ‘strange things are happening to her’. I want to instead learn her own views on religion, on fate, on what god could be. I want her to not only learn philosophy but tell us her views, her ideas. In the book she thinks about the ideas that Alberto gives her, but tells us nothing of her own. I want that to end. I want her to either tell us of her own thoughts, or form her own.

Not only in Philosophy class, but in my Honors Literary Humanities class we’re learning about religion. Although in HLH we’re learning about the Hindu religion specifically, I can’t help but connect it to my philosophy class. When learning about the different deities and when reading the Bhagavad Gita I think about its purpose and why it/ they were created. I think about how the religion of Hinduism changed the world and the life of those who practiced it. Hinduism is a polytheistic/ henotheistic religion, centered not around one specific god, but on many who make up the spirit of Brahman. Those who are Hindu often center their ‘worship’ only on one deity. I think the concept of many deities instead of one all powerful god was created as to explain the many aspects of the universe that, at the time, may have been hard to explain. Where does wisdom come from, or how can one get wisdom? I feel as though Hinduism helps people find these answers easier. I’m not saying that their religion is the ‘easy way out’, I’m merely saying that Hinduism is an amazing religion, made of many aspects of life. I think the reason I prefer eastern religion to western is because of this vastness.

Sophie's World Reflection & Application

My thoughts on Sophie's World are that it's like a textbook with fiction spewed throughout. It offers a look into the history and workings of philosophy while also telling a interesting story. What struck me about the book is that there was a chapter on fate, which reminded me of two quotes on the subject.

"I hate the word “fate.”... If our lives are already set in stone by fate, then why are we even born? There are those born to wealthy families, those born to beautiful mothers, and those born into the middle of war or poverty. If that’s all caused by fate, then God is incredibly unfair and cruel."

"I love the word “fate”. Because, you know how they talk about “fated encounters”? A single encounter can completely change your life. Such special encounters are not just coincidences. They’re definitely fate. Of course, life is not all happy encounters. There are many painful, sad moments. It’s hard to accept that misfortunes beyond your control are fate. But this is what I think: sad and painful things definitely happen for a reason. Nothing in this world is pointless."

These two quotes make me wonder about Sophie's individual thoughts on fate itself? Although she is young I wonder, other than what we have read, what her thoughts on fate are? In the chapter she only expressed lament on other's views, not her own. Does she think fate is cruel? Is it comforting? Rather than only learning the history of philosophy like the way it is now, I would very much like to know more about Sophie's own views on the things she's learning, not just 'oh my gosh, I never thought about that before!' and move on. It annoys me that all she does is think about others more than about her own life. She's looking too much on the big picture when I would like it more if she focused on the individual. I hope that as we go forward Sophie will develop her own opinions on fate, life, and the like.

When we talked about fate and reality in class, it awakened a love for philosophy (and quantum physics) freshly. I've always thought about why I was alive, and that the one in the mirror, the person I see, isn't really me. I've always thought that the person people see is not always me, but rather a variation of myself. I've also loved learning about quantum physics in particular because it can sometimes take a philosophical turn (such as Schrödinger's cat, a theory which I love), talking about what life is, and the many theories regarding dimensions. Philosophy wise, I've always loved the word fate. Like the quote above, I think that if one believes in fate nothing can be truly wasted, while free will allows wastefulness. This makes me feel empty, imagining a scenario where I've failed and it means nothing in the long run. Fate makes me feel more at ease, makes me feel like I don't need to shoulder a burden alone, similar to those who believe in god. So, in that case, how can fate be bad or lazy if it is like believing in a god? Although I am still debating on the presence of god, I believe in fate and I don't consider that to be bad.