Post #5: Maybe I'm the Magician

Kennedy Moore

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English 8th period

5 August 2013

There were a myriad of influential and interesting ideas introduced in Sophie's World. Some of the beliefs mentioned I had pondered or heard of before; however, the ones that were special to me and reserved a place in my mind were the ones that derived out of true creativity and belief. The philosophers that dedicated their lives to providing explanations for subjects that nobody else believed in were most inspiring to me, whether I agreed with them or not.

        A belief system that I found intriguing and that stimulated some thought for me in Sophie's World was that of Hegel. Hegel had the philosophical idea that throughout history and in time, human reason changed. Seemingly, every human is endowed and programmed with the same process of thought and reason. Hegel introduced the idea that as time progresses, human reason does as well. For instance, a medieval sixteen year old girl had different ideas of what was appropriate for clothes, food, etc. than I do due to developments in fashion and technology in the world. Although I assumed there were different ideas of appropriate ways of living throughout time, I had never questioned the reasoning or logic behind it.

       I was pleased to read information on how Plato expressed his belief that women were capable and able-bodied humans. Also, I found it interesting and agreed with how Aristotle categorized the chain of life thousands of years before most humans ever thought of it. He believed that humans were at the top followed by animals and so on. However, I did not agree with his sexist philosophies on women and how he believed they were "incomplete men".

      Last, the idea of fate is something I neither disagree nor agree with. Like many philosophers, I agree that there is a set plan for our life and I believe that God has predetermined this because I am Christian. In the same aspect, I believe that the actions you take determine how content you are while you are on this path. In other words, although your life has a set plan, your demeanor and the level of success you achieve during this path is determined by your own choices.

     As for what side of the rabbit's fur I'm on.... I'd like to think that whatever path God has chosen for me is a great one. . and that along the way, I will not be a "microscopic insect" deep down in the rabbit's fur. I'd like to think that my perseverance and ambition will allow me to be successful where others have not and maybe I can change the world or something cool like that. Hopefully, one day I'll be the magician everyone queries about.

 

Post #4: What You Kan and Kant See

Kennedy Moore

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English 8th period 

2 August 2013

It is sometimes difficult to agree with other perspectives on issues or agree that what you believe on a certain topic is incorrect. However, in the "Kant" chapter of Sophie's World, Sophie is forced to step outside of her box and is encouraged to engage in the thought that almost every opinion is logical in some way. The "red tinted glasses" experiment, although simple, caused Sophie (and me) to realize that there are so many ways to twist situations and every person in the world sees things in different ways; therefore, who am I or anyone else to assume or decide who is wrong or right?

Alberto Knox's idea of instructing Sophie to place red tinted glasses on affected me more than any idea in the book thus far, possibly because of the simplicity and genius of it. Through the glasses, Sophie viewed everything in the world in monochrome. This is a metaphor for how each person sees everything in a certain way, or color, including yourself, which I think was an important moment for Sophie. Acknowledging that your views on life and philosophy are not necessarily correct because no one knows what is "truly" right or wrong can be one of the most challenging ideas to grasp, at least it was for me. However, everyone's perspective, or color, of life cannot be changed, and this provides the variety and characteristics of every person on Earth. 

"What can we know about the world?" We can know as much about the world as we want to make ourselves believe, I think, but we will never truly know what is right because it is beyond human reason. This chapter introduced Kant's philosophy that we can never know what the world truly is or who we are and that we must rely on faith. This idea of perspective correlating to faith applied to my life because as a Christian I have found myself questioning my faith over and over again, ultimately always finding my way back to Christ in the end. Overall, life is how we choose to see it and I agree with Immanuel Kant's idea that if you have faith in how you see something and believe in your own perspective, others will too.

Post #3: Faith and Reason

Kennedy Moore

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English 8th period

31 July 2013
 

      The "Middle Ages" chapter of Sophie's World elaborates on how famous thinkers such as Aristotle and Plato were "Christianized" so that their thoughts could be wider spread and shared throughout the world rather than being viewed as a threat on the Christian faith. Although some of the ideas expressed by Plato and Aristotle were beyond any of their time, they could not be accepted amongst a majority of the world during that time because so many people believed that their religion was threatened by them. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine correlated the clever philosophies of Plato and Aristotle to the Bible's teachings so that Christians everywhere could recognize the brilliance of these two people.
      During this era, Christianity was the primary source of philosophy and wisdom. People explained events in the world through Christ in order to fulfill their curious minds. Therefore, whenever other ideas contrasted the teachings of the Bible even slightly, followers of Christ felt threatened and therefore did not accept the ideas, no matter how brilliant. By "Christianizing" the teachings of Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine and Aquinas allowed the world to be exposed to a deeper level of thinking in areas they had never discovered.
      Aquinas explained the similarities between Aristotle's philosophical ideas and Christianity. For example, Aristotle taught that there was a single being or force that controlled every being on planet Earth. Whether or not this was God or not is unsure. However, by simply displaying the similarities, Christians were able to see that Aristotle was not threatening the Christian belief, but quite possibly strengthening it.
     By "Christianizing" Aristotle and Plato's ideas, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas exposed a whole new genre of thinking to a large portion of the world that is still apparent today. Without the correlation of the teachings of the Bible to the teachings of these thinkers, most people would most likely not know who they are and miss out on genius ideas that could cause change.
 

Post #2: Inequality is Ignorance

Kennedy Moore

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English 8th period 

29 July 2013
 

       It is incredible how someone with such ingenious thoughts could be so small minded when it comes to such a seemingly obvious, important issue. Even Aristotle, perhaps one of the most innovative and creative philosophers and thinkers in history, was subject to the absurd state of mind that women are inferior thousands of years ago. It is sad in my opinion because due to his and countless others' lack of respect for women, developments in architecture, medicine, and politics were postponed until many years later. Overall, assuming that women were unequal and less important than men stunted the growth of the world for years until women were given justice and respect.

       Aristotle and Plato's ideas contrasted in many areas but none as unfortunate as the subject of gender equality. On page 115, it is stated that Aristotle was vocal about how he felt that women were "incomplete" and "unfinished men". Whether it was because of reproductive parts or not that they felt this way is unsure, but I believe that men of this era and eras to come felt this way because of influences from the Bible. I feel this way because Adam was forced to give Eve one of ribs, therefore making it seem as though Eve was unable to provide for herself and compensate for lacking something she needed. As for Aristotle's belief that the child carried only the characteristics of their father, I do not understand. This belief is astonishing to me because obviously, Aristotle had both a mother and a father and most likely had characteristics and traits from both of them. However, this belief was probably just another addition to his sexist thinking and an attempt to convince the rest of his followers of the woman's inferiority.

        I was not surprised to learn that almost all of the thinkers and ideas spoken of in Sophie's World are men because when speaking of the past, a majority of the world was ran by men. However, I do find it interesting that among the genius thinkers mentioned throughout the novel, none of them ever thought to include women more often or even consider them equal to them. Not only did I find that issue troubling, but in the time of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, women seemed content with their place as being seen as lower class or not equal. Out of all of the thinkers introduced throughout the novel, Plato seemed to have the most progressive way of thinking when it came to gender equality. Although he didn't quite have a completely ideal way of treating women, he did say that "a state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm", which demonstrates his ability to understand that women were equal to men. Also, I appreciated that in a time when these types of thoughts were frowned upon, Plato dared to express his honest opinion on women.

Post #1: Who Am I?

Kennedy Moore

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English 8th period 

28 July 2013

        You, me, I, us... Have you ever pondered what those words mean? Have you ever sat for hours questioning who or what you are and what life really is? To me, through my eyes, life is a series of obstacles and I am an individual who has been created to try to overcome those obstacles in the most positive, productive way, hopefully helping someone or changing the world in the process.

        In Sophie's World, Sophie Amundsen, a girl close to my age, struggles with answering the mysterious questions an anonymous sender places in her mailbox. Chapter One describes Sophie's problems finding the answer to questions such as "Who are you?" and "Where did the world come from?" These questions seem so difficult to me because nobody has the answer. You cannot simply search these in an encyclopedia or Google or Bing them or something of the sort. Basically, those two questions are questions which can never be answered in my opinion, not until the end of our lives anyway. I know what my life has been composed of so far, but I will never know who I am. I believe who I think I am is completely different from how others see me. For instance, I think I am Kennedy Moore. I think I'm energetic, creative, and I like to push myself to my full potential, even though sometimes I am a little bit lazy.. I think I am all of these things and I can try to be how I want others to perceive me, but I will never be able to truly accomplish that goal, honestly. I believe that life is all about perception and how the eye of the beholder construes things.

      Next, as far as where the world comes from, I believe that Jesus Christ created the world, because I am Christian. As simple as that explanation seems, for years I have found myself questioning if my beliefs are accurate because there are so many other religions and possible explanations. Along with that issue, my most puzzling question is where did Christ himself come from? According to my religion and Genesis Chapter One of the Bible, God was the first person or being to exist. However, I question where he himself came from and what was before him, if anything. Where the world came from I think will never be truly apparent and it is actually really peculiar to think about.

     To be honest, I usually do not spend time thinking about these questions and what my response would ever be because questions such as these, that philosophers spend their whole lives attempting to solve, frighten me. I think that I am frankly scared of the simplicity and necessity of them and how they could both be taken from me in an instant. Here and there I find myself interested in philisophical questions such as "Who are you?" and "Where did the world come from?" However, I think sometimes it is best to leave the unknown the way it is.