Gorgias

After spending all day today sick I wrote more than a few blogs and the first I decided to put up is my blog on the pupil of Empedocles, Gorgias. Born in 483 Gorgias is well known for his metaphysical view that Nothing exist. He said that nothing exist (A) and even if existence does it exist it is impossible to determine (B). Lastly he says that even if it could be determined it could never be communicated. This may be a reason that he proclaims that although there is a such thing as right and wrong he believes in manipulation like many of the Sophists. In a way Gorgias can be used as an exact example of everything bad the Sophists have been accused of. He did not seem as worried about truth as he was about winning an argument. Although he is not determined to be the inventor of paradoxical language his "mastery" of it often leads historians to believe that he in fact was its creator. I do not consider him a philosopher but more a master of rhetoric who did as much if not more to hurt philosophy as to improve it. I think this is why Plato to finds quarrel with Gorgias. Although I do not agree with many of his writings and ideas, he is still remembered and studied today because he did in fact have a great impact on the minds of the men who would later change the world.   

Matrix

Although I noticed the similarities between the Matrix and philosophy before watching the Matrix Reloaded and doing a little research I found out things I had never noticed before. I had previously noticed the parallels between, Socrates visit to the Oracle of Delphi, Plato’s allegory of the cave and even a obvious influence from Karl Marx but I hadn’t been fully aware of its mention of Descartes and the overall feel of Empedocles it has.

            The first thing I was surprised to learn was that in the original Matrix Neo actually hides illegal software inside of philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s book Simulacra and Simulation. I have no yet read this but from the information I’ve gathered it describes mankind living in a world where simulations of reality have become the definition of real rather than reality itself. I later discovered that when Morpheus shows Neo the real world by bringing him to “the desert of the real” which is from the first page of Baudrillard’s book. This began to make sense when I learned that Baudrillard who I wasn’t familiar with was said to be a philosophical influence to Karl Marx. Marx understanding of an ignorant working class  is seen in the overall feel of the divide between the real world as Neo once knew it in comparison to the real world he know understands. While he is struggling to understand the real world that he know knows Morpheus takes Neo the meet the Oracle. This is much like Socrates’ visit to the Oracle of Delphi. Neo like Socrates said that he knew nothing and was showed a sign in Latin reading “Know Thyself”. He later uses this to fully free himself from the control of the Matrix.

            Neo is freedom from Plaro’s allegory of the cave when he sees the real world for the first time discovering that everything he once knew to be fact was simply an illusion. This leads to Neo later discovering powers, which he uses to make him “superman” like in the Matrix Reloaded. I believe this is Descartes’ ideas being put to use. Once Neo realizes that the world he is visiting is not real he does not let any preconceived notions limit him. He is able to defy the laws of the Matrix because he understands that they do not apply to him. This assignment actually made me like the movies more than I already did.

Anaxagoras: A man before his time

As I have continued to study Anaxagoras and his teaching the more I notice that he seems to focus on what he "knows". Although he doesn't specifically speak on certain things he seems to answer questions and address subjects if the reader is willing to read between the lines. While some would call his arguments vague at best i think he was simply leaving them up to interpretation. Anaxagoras unlike most philosophers did not seem to want to explain every detail of his thoughts but rather give an outline for others to follow and improve upon. Although he does not specifically explain many things by following his train of thought and main principles it is not very hard to understand what I mean. Anaxagoras seems very aware that he will not be around to explain the details of his theories on ethics and he understood that the world and people would evolve to understand much different ethics than those of his time. His focus on observation leading to knowledge is something that is a centerpiece in most sciences today but it seems to have been forgotten by many philosophers. I propose that philosophers of today get back to the basics and remember the importance of what once made the ancient philosophers famous and respected.

The Importance of Philosophy on a Global scale

Whether we are talking about the artistically detailed story line of a Kung Fu movie, the passion in a romantic movie, or the irresistible humor of comedy films; morals are always apart of filming. But it is not only in films, look into the world of video games, and TV shows.  The majority of what we do in life involves some sort of moral action and it is nearly impossible to live your life without any sort of moral conflict. Have you ever read a book or seen a movie without conflict? Most likely not because it would be boring and most people could not relate. Because of this, the problems philosophers commonly discuss are some of the most important so why aren’t they more important to the common person? The only reason I can think of is because they do not see moral importance in everyday life. Relating philosophy and everyday life is something that has been a problem since the formation of philosophy and has yet to be fixed. The most efficient way of improving this is through what all people love, entertainment. People have continuously been influenced by their favorite movies from the likes of The Godfather to Big Daddy. Philosophers must find a way to help others understand this fact and help them learn to better understand the importance of morals. What are your opinions on this? I would love to further discuss this in class. 

The Lecture Overview of a Untiring Student of Knowledge

Beginning with the intellectual observations of Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. We then followed the nomad like path of Xenophanes through his whimsical poetry detailing his exhaustive ideas on the essence of a greater being. Afterwards we calculated our way through the startlingly strict and exact theories of Pythagoras on his views of the world. After following his method of mathematical problem solving we made our way to the continuously changing characters which Heraclitus. His Obscure ideas were followed by the Parmenides thoughts On Nature.

            Learning about these philosophers, for me, help to better understand the later distinctions in Philosophy as well as the initial context of now respected and accepted principles. As we go forward into more historically influential Classic philosophers I look forward to continuing our in-depth discussions. By reading these classics I have not only been able to make distinct between them and the ideas of the Moderns but also societal and discriminatory differences on a global scale. Overall I consider learning about the past to enhance your knowledge of the future not only beneficial but essential to developing ones overall knowledge. 

Parmenides

Born in Elea, Parmenides is known for a single work his poem titled "On Nature". Even this only known work only exist in fragments. With the little we have from Parmenides it is the importance of what exist that speaks for his brilliance. He saw reality as unchangeable, uniform, essential and timeless in nature. These ideas would later become one of the most influential concepts within western philosophy and some say although they were known in Parmenides own time it was their influence on Plato that really caused his views on reality to become world known and respected. By using poetry to explain his philosophy, the story of his quest to the true nature reality is unlike that of most other philosophers.

Parmenides thoughts on the uniform and unchangeable aspects of reality seem to limit the abilities of not only the world around human beings but human beings themselves. By implying that reality is unchangeable it promotes the idea that one has no reason to continue to work or improve because things will happen how they are supposed to. Without a pursuit or an end goal individuals and society as a whole loses a reason to improve. The boy that works at Canes will not give the same effort if he is told that no matter what he does his life will going the way it is meant to. In contrast that same boy if promised opportunity for a more important job with a higher pay has a much higher chance of causing him to work harder whether his goal be to make more money or one day be the new Ceo of Canes. I agree that reality could quite possibly be timeless and essential, his concepts of the uniform and unchangeable aspects seem to be the "easy way out" and overly simplify the complexities of the universe and the ideas which make it up.  I am a firm believer in the abilities of simplicity as a key to knowledge but Parmenides ideas seem to be a bit lacking.