Midterm

4. What is your real name?
Yu (Eddie) Zhao

5. What is your "user" name?
edzhao28

6. What is your email address that you use for this class?
Edzhao28@yahoo.com

7. Name and address for your website.
www.eddiezhao.blogspot.com

8. Have you done all the reading for the first three weeks?
No, but I read most of them and enough for now to answer certain questions for the midterm.

9. Have you watched each of the films that were required?
Same answer as above.

10. Please place here all of the postings you have done for this class.
Every post I made for the class is right below this posting. You can use the sidebar at the right to navigate through all my posts.

11. Why does Lisa Randall believe that there may be many more dimensions than we presently know in current physics? Is there any evidence at this stage for her beliefs?
Because she studies cosmology and she’s researched and explored these
dimensions. Even Albert Einstein says there are 4 dimensions, but there are
currently no hard evidence that supports her beliefs. We don’t know for sure
how many dimensions are there exactly. There could be 4, or 10, or 11.

12. What are Pythagoras' philosophical views in a nutshell?
A^2 + B^2 = C^2

13. Do you think science and religion are compatible? Be sure to explain your answer by GIVING THE EXPLANATIONS given by philosophers who side with your position from the Socratic Universe (cite and quote when appropriate).
Yes, I do believe that science and religion is compatible. I entirely agree
with Adam’s answer to the question, “Certainly they are compatible. There's a lot of scientists
who are religious (Socratic Universe).” many scientists are
religious and many men of faith are scientists.

14. Why was Socrates put on trial? How did Socrates defend his
position?
The Athenians thought that he was plotting against the government. They
feared and loathed his differing beliefs. Socrates did not give a conventional
apology because he believed that he did nothing wrong. In the end he
willingly faced execution by drinking the hemlock poison.

15. Give a brief history of philosophy using just 300 words (no
more). You may use an outline format, but be sure to
cram as many "factoids" (facts) as possible (key names, ideas,
dates, etc.). Remember, it must be
your own words and not merely a series of quotes.

Western philosophy

• Ancient Philosophy
• Greece, City of Athens
• Thales of Miletus 585 B.C.
• Theory about Athens
• Direct Democracy
• Slaves give time for Philosophical discussions
• Socrates
• Discovered errors of knowledge based upon “unclear percepts and beliefs”
• Executed for undermining Athenian religion and morals
• Drank hemlock poison, 399 B.C.
• Plato - student
  
• Plato
• Founded Academy of Athens
• Socratic method of inquiry
• Central idea = Theory of Forms
• Universal fact over assumptions
• Soul bigger than body
• City-state
• Wrote The Republic
• “Condemns tyranny, critiques democracy”
• Three tiers: workers, guardians, and philosophers
• Aristotle - student
  
• Aristotle
• Aristotelian logic
• Tried to organize syllogisms
• Real objects, no “empty classes”
• Medieval Philosophy
• Proving God exists with Aristotle logic
• Cosmological argument (Aquinas)
• Everything existent has cause
• Ontological argument (St. Anselm) - “God has all possible good features”
• Modern Philosophy
• Renaissance
• Ended 1800
• 17^th century
• Scientific revolution
• Empiricism and Humanism
• Galileo Galilei, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
• Dualism: spirit and material
• 18^th century
• The Enlightenment
• Newton’s natural philosophy
• 19^th century
• Science versus religion: Charles Darwin
• Contemporary Philosophy
• Series of conflicts over basis of knowledge in philosophy

(Wikipedia)

16. Explain the big bang and the inflationary universe. Why is it important to know astronomy in
order to do philosophy?
It’s important because science in general can almost explain the fabric of
reality and if one studies astronomy, one can realize the infinite amount of
of knowledge that is out there that is impossible to obtain. It’s also important
because the early philosophers always tried to theorize truth and how the
universe functions based on “instinct.”

17. How do Heisenberg's views on philosophy and science DIFFER from
Einstein's? How are they similar?
They both believed in different models. Heisenberg's focused on probabilistic models, whereas Einstein was more of a realist. They are both geniuses and uses mathematics to solve the world's mysteries.

18. What is meme theory and do you find it plausible? Explain your
reasoning.
The meme theory illustrates the idea that we are all solely designed to
absorb ideas and transmit these ideas to others throughout our entire life.
Yes, I do find it plausible because I believe we are constantly learning new
Information from another person or source, especially in this age of
information.

19. Why is understanding biological evolution so important in
understanding human thought and behavior.
Understanding biological evolution can enlighten a person to the natural
thought process and/or behaviors of humans. In a way it shows our purpose or
design as sentient beings. It gives logical reasons for the spawn of consciousness.

20. In one of the films you were required to see, the narrator argued that fundamentalism was a mental disease. Why? Do you agree or disagree and please detail your rejoinder.
Fundamentalism locks the mind in an uncompromising state, refusing
anything other than it's own beliefs. It is harmful to the growth of the mind because
it prevents it from growth. It shuns out all factors that grind against their
conventional beliefs, making impossible to have respectable judgment.

21. Where do you think Owen Gingerich "parts company" (fundamentally
disagrees with) Edward O. Wilson? Who do you
think is more persuasive in their reasoning about religion, Owen or
Edward? Explain.
I think they disagree with each other at the point where they talk about creation and how the universe came to be and also the existence of God. Gingerich believes in a higher being, whereas Wilson believes in the big bang theory. Although I would like to see Gingerich being the more persuasive one, but truthfully, that is not the case. For religious people like me, we understand the concept of faith so we would obviously root for Gingerich, but for most people, scientific evidence is most convincing. Thus Wilson wins because he supported his claims with scientific evidence and facts whereas Gingerich merely quoted other experts.

22. What does Francis Fukuyama mean by the "end of history." Do you
agree or disagree? Explain.
Francis Fukuyama asserts that in present day, human society as a whole has reached a certain stability of life. Fukuyama believes that life will be very stable because of the spread of democracy. He reasons that "the most powerful countries are liberal democracies" and so "people would not compete with each other in a military sense." Thus, life would be peaceful and constantly stable. This, of course, cannot be applied to the general human population because many third world countries today are still at war with poverty, hunger, and themselves. I think that it will not be the end of history. There are so many people in existence that the future is unpredictable and that it is ignorant to suggest an end of history. Fukuyama also says that there is yet to be an end of science. If science can still progress, then there can still be a progression to history. I believe that life will never reach stability because there will always be change, and change will never cease to exist because science will never fail to progress.

23. Explain Nicholas of Cusa's philosophy of "unknowingness."
Cusa states that the "more he knows he is unknowing, the more learned he will be." That is, people know things only through relative comparison but ultimately humans should know that they understand little to nothing about life. I believe he is trying to say is that the more a person knows there is more to learn, the more knowledge one will obtain. However, one will be limited to his capacity for learning new things if the person believes that he is an expert on a certain subject.

24. According to Nietzsche, how did we actually "kill" God? Think before you leap on this one.
Nietzsche’s “God is Dead” is an extremely poetic passage carrying heavy weight on the nature of our being. In a nutshell, Nietzsche states “we” as humans have killed God. Nietzsche meant our understanding of religion and spirituality has been outsourced to logic and rationality. The idea of God has been killed rather unintentionally, due to the evolution of thought. Although our times have not realized this, it has happened. God is dead. This statement is not of hostile nature unless a person presupposes God’s existence. The statement Santa Claus is dead is much less offensive because a large majority of people do not believe Santa Claus exists. The death of God is an idea that takes much time to assimilate into the cultural norm.

25. In the movie, Little Things that Jiggle, physics is explained by
a series of slogans. Why, then, is physics important in the study of philosophy? Substantiate your answer.
It's important because physics defines and explains all the matter in the world. It is based upon empirical evidences and gives people universal facts that further human understanding of the world and even the universe. Physics can solve complex equations and answer some of the world's mysteries where religion cannot.

26. How do you explain the following line, "To have freedom OF
religion one must also have freedom FROM religion."
To be free to follow a religion one must have the choice to pick their religion. This would be impossible if another religion was forced upon that person. Thus one must be free from religion to have freedom of religion.

27. Why does Dawkins believe that believing in God is delusional?
He believes that the concept of a God is something that is merely made up by people. To him, the theory of natural selection and other similar scientific theories are superior better explains the living world and the cosmos compared the "God Hypothesis".

28. Can science offer a sense of mystery comparable to what certain
religions offer?
No because most of the variables in science can be supported by evidence
whereas religion is based on faith and mystery.

29. How does an understanding of celluar automata suggest a "new
kind of science".... according to Stephen Wolfram.
Wolfram says that cellular automata suggest a “new kind of science” because of its ability to quickly compute patterns. A whole new perspective is born form this discovery. Where scientists once thought that the universe was extremely complicated, scientists should now consider the possibility that it is instead based off a number of a simple rule that result in random and complex patterns. Understanding this new program offers a new way of thinking that could lead scientists to change what they are looking for.

30. What were the key turning points in Darwin's life?
I believe there are two main turning points in his life. One was when he was inspired from observing the finches, and the other was when he published his theory of natural selection.

31. What is spooky physics? And who do you think won the Einstein/Bohr debate? Explain your reasoning.
Einstein’s Position was a firm deterministic approach. He said, “God does not play dice” and believed in an objective real world free from human intervention. He thought of quantum theory as an incomplete theory that would soon be bridged. He wanted to explain the world of very large and very small, but he didn’t see the point for two sets of laws. He believed that science or the eventual understanding of quantum physics would lead to bypass of human’s limited understanding. Bohr, on the other hand, was an indeterminist. He countered Einstein by saying “God does play dice…Einstein, don’t tell God what to do.” He argued that reality is fiction. Saying that we have no hope of ever seeing Plato’s light, or objective reality. That by simply observing we change reality, rendering everything subjective. He argued that quantum physics is weird and will always be. It is not an incomplete theory and cannot be understood. I don’t believe its black and white as to whether or not Einstein or Bohr won the debate. It can be argued from opposite sides for an infinite amount of time. But since we have not grasped quantum physics yet, it may be a sign that Bohr had the better half of the argument, but only the future can tell.

32. What is evolutionary philosophy and how can it best explain the emergence of self-reflective awareness?
Evolutionary philosophy is philosophy that is based on the theory of
evolution. it suggests that self-reflective awareness is purely evolutionary. Consciousness helped our species survive. While other related species relied on simple instincts, our self-reflective ancestors where able to preconceive numerous outcomes to their situation, which made them more likely to survive. This theory takes away the glamour of being self-aware. It views consciousness as an advantage our species holds.