What is life - Assignment Example

Philosophy 10 January, Essay Questions Life, for me, is living at the present moment; to attain the ideal perfection of human capability. In my view, it is our mentality and behavior towards life that decides the worth of our lives. It is the relationships that we maintain that makes us social beings. But it is the quality of the relationships that we build up in our life time that makes us worthy, be it family, friends or colleagues. In order to feel ourselves worthy of our lives, we need to achieve happiness. Happiness cannot be perceived by all those who are wealthy and honorable and are indulging in the pleasures of life. Instead, happiness can be achieved by only those who are equipped with all these 'external goods of life' and are highly virtuous in their deeds as well as their thoughts. I agree with Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, who describes that life will be meaningful only when we are able to distinguish the Good, by the pursuit of knowledge. As per Platonic epistemology, the idea of Goodness is innate and it is buried deep in our souls. This goodness, which exists in us even before our birth, is recalled in to our memory through learning. Learning helps to reflect this goodness in our actions and behavior. I also agree with Plato and his apprentice Aristotle in that the goodness of some people may outweigh others. It is this uncovered knowledge of goodness that inspire us to question the conventional wisdom if it seems contradictory to morals and human existence as life is made meaningful by revealing the ultimate truth of life, which can be revealed only by observing, interpreting and questioning the existing facts. For Epicurus, a worthy life denotes that one is essentially 'good' in nature, self-sufficient and enjoys a happy and tranquil life. He will be free of pain and fear, which are the indications of evil. As in the view of Augustine, the goodness in men is an indication that they are of the substance of God. It hence also means that everything that exists is ‘good’ and to lose goodness or to sin indicates that a man becomes unworthy of life. I also agree to the view of Tolstoy who exclaimed that life is impossible without the knowledge of oneself and one's purpose. The ideal purpose of life, according to Tolstoy, is to love and to serve humanity as we are the particles of the 'eternal source' and our life becomes meaningful when we become successful in making tiny changes to happen for the sake of humanity. I however object to the pessimistic view of Sartre who proclaimed that life is meaningless and that it ceases to be of worth once the illusion of being eternal is lost. Human life is and should be a representation of moral and intellectual righteousness and the feeling of being worthy to live is the end result of achieving the virtuous desires of life. 2] Our sensory perceptions are too limited that we cannot perceive the knowledge related to those things or concepts that go beyond our sensory capacities. Our knowledge as well as the concepts of the world will be limited if we are to rely on the knowledge gathered by mere sensory perceptions. Human beings are valued and considered superior to other life forms by their sheer ability to construct, receive and evaluate new perceptions, concepts and representations in the brain which are above the limits of senses.        Gathering of knowledge refers to its learning from experience, which was defined by Aristotle as the unorganized product of sense perceptions and memory. Experiences derived by the use of senses provide us with knowledge. Sensory perceptions that consist of sensations, feelings etc. are also experiences and they provide us with some knowledge. Here, we can indeed say that sensory perceptions do provide us with awareness and knowledge. But, based on the above refinements, it will be inappropriate to state that knowledge derives solely by sensory perceptions. In the view of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, knowledge derived from sensory perceptions lack certainty and infallibility, which are the unique traits of true knowledge. Sensory perceptions are susceptible to changes according to the state of mind and thought processes of an individual. The experiences occurred to a group of individuals regarding a particular matter since can vary as the sensory perception gathered by them will be different, so will be the knowledge derived, which in turn, will affect the nature of uniformity of true knowledge. This prominent factor of changeability of the sense perceptions denies the attainment of true knowledge through senses. Hence he held the view that knowledge cannot be obtained from the sensory perceptions but is gathered from a higher level of awareness called the ‘Forms’. He held that that the knowledge obtained from the senses are the miniatures of the genuine and infallible knowledge gathered from the Forms.         Descartes held that mind contained innate ideas and that we can conceptualize ideas that are beyond our apprehension. In the view of John Locke knowledge is “derived from experience, either directly or by way of reflection on ideas of sense” (Hamlyn par. 4) though its certainty is limited. He held that ideas cannot be innate but are built up in the mind during the process of thinking. These ideas can either be simple or complex and are derived out of sensations or on reflections on sensations. For Hume ideas are weaker impressions of the sensory perceptions and ideas cannot exist as innate in minds since ideas are inspired by the experiences or are formed by the combination of different experiences. Hume was essentially an empiricist and argued that human knowledge is formed of cause and effect and is essentially a result of habitual sensory perception. For example, we know the rising of the sun not because it is an undeniable law of Nature but because we see it countless times. Kant rejects the view of Locke and Hume that all knowledge is perceived from sensory experiences. For Kant knowledge is conformed to the possible experiences and it does not bear accountability to the metaphysical ideas such as God, immortality. Kant held that it is the inherent nature the mind that is responsible for the molding and structuring of sensations in to ideas. Kant also stated that experiences can provide only generalizations and not the truth. Knowledge and truth are structured by the mind and it can independently be derived and advanced in the mind. Kant argues this by taking mathematics as an illustration. James’ Pragmatism on the other hand holds that knowledge is the modified product of the older truths and new experiences. James also argues that knowledge is always susceptible to changes as per the evolving thought processes of the mind. 3] Fact, which refers to something that exists, is one of the mostly used words that have different interpretations in the different branches of knowledge. This word though also stands for truth, at times represents observation or stipulation of something. In philosophy, fact is accurate and is in close relation to truth. It is the fact that verifies and validates a true statement. Harrington gathers information or fact from his experiences and constructively molds them to create his theories. Popper holds the view that facts as well as the scientific truths cannot be verified by scientific testing; there is clear demarcation between facts and scientific truths, hence, facts can easily be falsified by observation and verification. According to Kuhn, facts denote the collection of relativistic findings that are empirically adequate with scientific observation and experimentation. For Sokal and Bricmont facts are the relativistic beliefs availed from the terminology of diverging branches of science or pseudo-science. 4] Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, played a crucial role against the alarming presence of the materialistic minded scientists and chemical manufacturers and their technologically engineered controls of nature. This book was an eye-opener that brought out the harmful effects of chemical pesticides on Mother Nature and its inhabitants, including human beings. Carson's book gained both support and criticism. Support- Carson pleads to restrain the use of chemical pesticides, especially DDT that was observed to be concentrating in the food chain of birds, poisoning them. She was praised for her effort to bring out the harmful effects of insecticides. She also was successful in increasing the public awareness on the uncontrolled and unexamined use of insecticides. With this book Carson was able to encourage the responsible and careful use of pesticides in a way that it will have lesser impact on the biotic system of Mother Earth. Against- Carson's book caused for the ban of DDT, an effective insecticide used in Africa against the spread of malaria. DDT was the single most effective chemical agent that worked against the transmission of malaria, by killing the parasite-carrying mosquitoes. The book inspired anti-DDT campaign and it was subsequently banned. Carson indeed stands along with the dictators who caused bloodshed as she is responsible for the death of several millions of people around the world. Defending Carson- Carson cannot be held responsible for the death of those millions who lost their lives in their battle against malaria. Carson’s mission was to point out the harmful effects that the unrestricted use of insecticides had on human and non-humans and the earth’s atmosphere. Through her book she intended to increase the public awareness on the use of right use of pesticides and she pleaded to the government to restrict the unnecessary use of insecticides. She did not oppose the use of DDT or any other insecticide as she was aware of its significance in the control of harmful diseases. In fact, she lashes out to those chemical manufacturers who advocate its mis-use. Work Cited Hamlyn, D. W. Empiricism. n.d. Print. Read More