Connection and Reflection (2)

                   Since today used to be a Tuesday night, my head is full of that wonderful show Glee. In the latest episode (aired on the 27th) Kurt wanted the part of Tony for West Side Story but Blaine was also thinking of auditioning for that role. Kurt realizes that Blaine would make a perfect Tony and he wouldn't get the part, so Blaine offers to try out for a smaller role. Sacrifice has had conflicting views in the history of philosophy. On one hand, the basic argument appears that you should live for yourself, life is too short to live it for others. The other side has the argument about conscience, and sacrifice may be hard, but its the right thing to do. I don't prefer one argument over the other, for me it depends completely on the circumstance. Should Blaine accept the role of Tony? On one hand, he's still a junior and this would be an amazing thing to give Kurt, as it would make him happy and help him get into the college of his dreams. On the other hand, while accepting the role would be letting Kurt down, he would be enhancing the show so it would make it more pleasing for the audience. Also, why should Blaine let Kurt determine what he can and can't do? Blaine does have his own life, and he should be able to live it to its fullest extent. My personal philosophical conclusion is that, although it would be an act of altruistic kindness, Blaine has every right to take the role. While he may be disappointing Kurt, he would be helping the arts program and all the people at the school by making the show suermegafoxyawesomehot because he's Darren Criss.

         My reflection for Sophie's World is going to be not very informative about what I read, but on page 122 there are some questions that Sophie had to answer, and I'm going to compare mine with her's.

Make a list of things we can know. Then make a list of things we can only believe: The basic differences between these lists are that the knowing list is stuff that can be experienced with your senses, or is technical in some term like that. The other list takes a large proportion of what we think we know. Maybe everything is history is just a setup by aliens and BAM! APUSH is irrelevant. In hindsight I didn't actually make a list at all.

Indicate some factors contributing to a person's philosophy in life: A lot of us are influenced by society, the people around us (if you grew up with people who locked you in a cupboard under the stairs, an average person might have a sour view on the goodness of mankind), how we're treated, our culture, icons (a lot of times people will agree with powerful people with powerful arguments. Or we can agree with idiotic people with power *cough*GeorgeBush*cough*), historic moments (my generation's philosophy about freedom of privacy on an airplane, or for that matter, anywhere, may be different because of 9/11).

What is meant by conscience? Is conscience the same for everyone? It is most definitely not the same for everyone. In some cultures, Blaine would be expected to give up his role, because self sacrifice is valued higher than personal freedom. I believe there are some basic values everyone has, but even those are in different priorities. The question above this one that I'm answering has things that can affect what our conscience is. I that aspect, I agree with Sophie.

What is meant by priority of values: Sophie used an example for a personal dilemma. I would almost agree with her that driving a car is less important than saving the environment, but lets say you live way far away from your school. I think it would take me over 2 hours to ride my bike to school, plus my backpack, so that's probably even more time. I do see the environment as a high priority, but I also enjoy sleep, convenience, and heated cars. Again, these priorities cannot be set in stone one way or another, they are circumstantial, just like Blaine and his priorities. This concludes my second reflection and connection. Now for something completely unexpected :) 

Connection and Reflection (1)

      Good morning universe! It's 4:52 am and I am currently typing words into my computer. I could go on for a while describing exactly everything I'm doing, but that's only amusing to the person who's typing about the wonders of their nose itching. So I will save anyone reading this from such writings, and without further distractions, may I present to you my first blog post that counts for a grade.

       My connection to philosophy in modern media lies in a movie that has caused me much disappointment when I go to the zoo and the lion cub isn't singing. Yes, The Lion King is quite philosophical. Most of the philosophy I find in this movie comes from Simba's decision to return to Pride Rock. It holds a few questions we should all look at a little closer. First, the statement about responsibility. The jungle he finds represents a carefree paradise, and after thinking he killed his dad, he was "turning his back on the world" by chilling in the woods. The motto there was Hakuna Mattata (no worries) which is a philosophy in and of itself. Yet Simba still has worries and returns to Pride Rock to fix them. Should he have done it? Was it actually his responsibility to become king? Then you have to ask why can't Simba choose to live for himself? Disney obviously wants to put in the message that you should take on leadership and take the responsible route, but is Simba responsible for anyone else than himself? A few questions to mull over as I get into the next theme. 

       Socrates asked the question "Who are you when no ones looking?" It seemed that the reason Simba returned was because he found Nala. Since Timone and Pumba didn't know Simba was king, he didn't act like he was anything special. When Nala came he suddenly has eyes on him that knows who he is, and he decides to return. Maybe Nala did convince him, but when no ones looking, Simba might just be a carefree lion, sure he had regrets, but I don't think he would have taken action if no one came to him or started "looking". 

       Alright, my final philosophical connection is that there are undertones of fate vs. free will. Was Simba fated to be king? He tried to back out of it, but Disney portrays fate having the upper hand and overcoming free will. Or it could just be a coincidence that Nala finds Simba in a jungle in the middle of nowhere. Either way, it poses some interesting questions and topics.

       My reflection on Sophie's World comes from early in our reading about the analogy of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. To be excited about everything and how awesometastic the world is is something I take with me. For example, right now I'm pretty excited because in like 2000 years some aliens will see this and be like woah! So I'm making my own mark on history as I speak. Even if some random person in Alaska sees this, I am impacting some random person in Alaska's life! Even if it was for a second when they realized it was made yesterday. Most of the world has this mature type of mindset. But I don't think maturity has to be that way at all. Instead of going down on the rabbit hair, maybe becoming truly mature is not letting the world become a habit and climbing the hair. I know a lot of things I do are habitual, some are my fault, some aren't. But either way, I think that even though Sophie's over there going all out on her mom, she does have a point. When I read her reaction about how she felt awakened, I sort of felt like that too. I didn't want to go flaunting it, but after reading about how people slip down into habits, I realized that I did not want to be like that at all and I was going to have to do something to change it. Yet, like the Lion King, there is a level of responsibility that plays into becoming awakened. I could be truly outgoing and do whatever the heck I want in class (the random comments and connections to Flobots, Pokemon, Harry Potter ect... would increase quite a bit) saying that I was shaking up the norm, but for those people who just want to learn, I would be disruptive and the teacher wouldn't be too pleased. I think this maturity is finding that balance between those extremes. I ended up agreeing with someone, I just don't know who. Despite my constant off topicness, this is my reflection on Sophie's World.

Introduction

Hello, my name isn't Sassafras. But it's a cool word so that's what I'm calling myself. If you happen to find this blog and you aren't in my philosophy class at Groves High School, then you will most likely be confused. In this class we are reading a book called "Sophie's World" (it's actually a good book, I mean if you have to study it and pay attention to all the little school details then, as all school books, it looses its charm, but I would recommend it for pleasure) and my assignment is to reflect on it. Apparently taking a picture of a mirror with the book in it and posting it on your blog doesn't count :P Anyways, this is my first blog, so don't be surprised if I change the background and template every few days. And don't get your hopes up for anything subtle and non distracting, despite the fact that philosophy is thought of as more calm and thoughtful, my design skills are not. So  thank you for visiting and I hope this gives a little explanation. (Oh yeah, and Mr. Wickersham, this doesn't count as an actual blog. I'm just making a positive influence on the internet at 4:30 am).

~ Sassafras