Reflection and Connection 4

Reflection:

Now that I know that Sophie's World is really about a book, it's not as confusing anymore. It makes more sense that Sophie and Alberto are part of a book that Hilde's father is writing, and it explains all the weird stuff happening to Sophie. That doesn't mean it makes sense though, Sophie and Alberto are apparently sentient beings inside the book Hilde has and they're trying to get out before Hilde's dad notices which I'm assuming means the end of the book? At least now I can write off all the weird stuff (like little red riding hood and the sea monster) as distractions to keep Alberto and Sophie from finishing their philosophy stuff and escaping the book, and it doesn't seem as weird when you look at the whole picture. It's cool to see how the philosophy lesson now has a reason in the story rather than just being Alberto taking Sophie in as his pupil for no reason.

Connection:

Recently we've been talking about Kant and his views on morals. To me, Kant and his philosophies are some of the easiest and most difficult to understand. His ideas on morality and how it's tied to your attitude makes sense to me. If you're doing something good to be rewarded, you're not doing it for moral reasons, even if your actions are good. Simple and to the point, it makes understanding his view a lot easier than if he had an abstract view on morality. But that's not to say he can't be complex. Kant's views on Law are just that. He thinks that everyone is bound to follow the same laws, but your following of those laws is only counted as moral if you choose a path that everyone else can also follow at the same time. To me this leaves a lot of questions, like if the law is unjust but everyone is following it because it's a law, is it moral to go against it? Since everyone else has the opportunity to, it should be a moral choice right? Also, who decides if the rules are right or not? People usually have the same consensus on what's right and wrong, but every once in a while ideas will clash. How do I know my decision is moral just because I think it's right?

Reflection and Connection 3

Reflection:

Sophie's World is starting to get really weird. It was never that normal to begin with, but now it’s just going nuts. Hilde’s father apparently knows everything that Sophie and Alberto are doing, and Alberto says Hilde’s father isn’t a good guy and that he’s toying with them, but he calls Sophie Hilde at least 3 times? The letters addressed to Hilde from her father are also getting co addressed Sophie, and the messages are starting to mention her more in detail. It’s starting to get really confusing and hard to follow. Not to mention Sophie’s starting to sass Alberto a lot. I find it interesting that Alberto’s using time as a way to explain what happened in which period to Sophie. At this point though, I’m more interested in the story than with the philosophers. I’m not a fan of Descartes, Spinoza, or Locke I guess.

Connections:

As we were learning about the Baroque era, I couldn’t help but think that there’s a little of that going on right now. It seems like there’s more and more “carpe diem” going on, not to mention the conflicts with religion. I’m sure it’s nothing close to the actual period but I feel like there’s a little hint of it going on. It’s interesting to see how the philosophers of this era and their theories are used in movies now. Chuang-Tsu’s butterfly idea is really close to the plot of Inception in my eyes, with him wondering if he’s Chuang-Tsu dreaming of butterflies, or a butterfly dreaming as a person. Descartes’s mind separate from body theory has been replicated throughout time, with Hillary Putnam’s ideas in 1987 and The Matrix where reality is a barren wasteland but people spend time in a simulation world separate from the outside.