Plato, Desire and its Unrelenting Love

Jan 092009
 

Love is often argued to be the most powerful and moving emotion. It drives us. Whether for sex, wealth, greed, power and/or for any other selfish need, we rely on this false ideology of love as being beautiful, untouched and selfless to claim our actions as permissible and out of the best interest of our hearts desire. It is this obsession with love which has intrigued philosophers for hundreds of years, and as a result, the reason such deliberation and rationality has been extended to it. Plato, a Greek philosopher, mathematician and writer, is often considered to be one of the most influential figures of western culture in relation to loves desire. His work on “Eros” or passionate love, is recorded in the play The Symposium, in which, Plato delves into the mystery and philosophy of love, sexual drive, homoeroticism and the duality of love. The following essay will express the importance of desire and truth according to The Symposium and Plato’s work.

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The Basic Conventions of Moral Philosophy.

May 262008
 

Moral philosophy is the study of ethics in relation to the ultimate questions of morality. There are two main branches of thought being Metaethics and Normative Ethics.

Metaethics:

Question: What is the nature and methodology of moral judgement?

The study of Metaethics studies the nature and methodology of moral decision and judgment and asks questions along the lines of:

What does “good” and “ought,” mean?

Can we justify moral truths?

Whether there is rationality between right and wrong?

A metaethical view normally consists of two conjoining parts.

1. The definition of “good” choices.
2. The selection of moral principles.

Methods of consonance often base morality on social convention, self-evident truths, God’s will, or personal feeling.

Normative Ethics:

Question: What underlying principles should we live by?

The study of normative ethics is broken down into two levels.

1. Normative Theory – We should maximize everyone’s happiness.
2. Applied Normative Ethics – Studies particular areas such as abortion, suicide and depression.

Both levels defend moral principles and are justifiable ways to explain moral action.

Summary

- Metaethics is the study of nature and methodology of moral judgement and choice. Its main purpose is to justify and rationally defend beliefs about right and wrong.

- Normative ethics is the study how we ‘ought’ to live. It characterises social normality and looks for constraint in arguments about what is worthwhile, right and wrong, just and virtuous.

Why put off ’til tomorrow what you can do today?

Mar 122008
 

Generally, a person should never delay longer than required, nor do today, what they could put off till tomorrow. Insight may be gained for tomorrows deeds today and if you could have prolonged what you chose to do today, you may have been able to do it better tomorrow.

“Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Delay may give clearer light as to what is best to be done.”

- Aaron Burr

Why are fools and fanatics always so certain of themselves, but wiser people are full of doubts?

Mar 022008
 

I met a girl the other day at uni who asked me my view on this question.

A personal conviction is easier to formulate if you have lesser knowledge about a given topic.

Our world is outside absolutes. The actual possibilities are relative to constant variables and factors that influence all aspects of the impossibility.

Therefore, if a fool or fanatic is certain of himself or herself, it only means that they are certain within their limited scope of knowledge.

Their answer was easier to formulate opposed to a wiser person, as they only knew a limited amount of possibility.

So obviously, the more knowledge and wisdom you attain the harder it is to formulate an answer.
The story of Bec:

Bec is an 18-year-old girl who lives with her parents. She has a formal education, up to year 12, and believes she has a solid understanding of religion and philosophy.

I met her the other day at a youth retreat. I asked her what her thoughts were about the meaning of her existence.

She looked at me, smirked and told me that life is a dance floor and that God is the DJ.

I thought this was an interesting response so I asked her another question:

At the end of the night, when the lights have faded, the music has stopped and the DJ has left with everyone else, where will you continue to dance forever and where?

I never got a response. She changed the subject after about three minutes of silence.

If you eliminate the impossible, must whatever remains be the truth?

Jun 052007
 

Not necessarily.

If you were able to eliminate the impossible, you would be left with the possible.

Just because something is possible does not mean it is the truth.

Therefore, if you eliminate the impossible you are not left with the truth only a possible entity.