Posted: September 13th, 2017

Philosophy

“What do we know and how do we know it and what is a good life?”

If you look at the index of your text you will notice that chapters 5-8 of the text have focused on philosophical issues relating to Epistomology and Ethics. Epistomology deals with such questions as: What we can know about the world? What is the nature of what can be known? What is Truth? Ethics deals with such questions as: What is a good life? What should we value? Which choices are ethical and which are not? What is the relationship between the individual and the larger society? And there is that final chapter on the meaning of life. Thus I would like this second philosophy paper to discuss issues relating to your views on truth and knowledge, Ethics, and the meaning of life. I am suggesting three parts to your paper:

Part 1 a) What is your take on Knowledge and knowing? b) What is your take on the nature of the universe as we know it today?

Part 2 is your take on on Ethics and how we should live with each other.

Part 3 is your take on the meaning of life.

I have provided questions below for each part to help you focus but I am most interested in your own thoughts on these matters. You should feel free to make this paper as creative as you want and you can take it in any direction that makes sense to you. Still, I do want you to deal deal with the world and what you can know about it. I want you to deal with how you make ethical decisions and I want your take on the meaning of life. You may want to use some outside sources and your text to help you focus. If you do use sources make sure you reference them. Internal footnotes are fine. It should always be clear when you are quoting or paraphrasing a source and when you are doing the writing yourself. You also need to let me know what the source is.

Use the following questions to help you get started though again, you may take the paper in any direction that you feel deals with the general nature of the assignment. Your paper should be, as a minimum, at least 5 pages, double-spaced using 12-point print and a traditional font, such as New Times Roman or Arial.

1. Part 1 a) is your take on Knowledge and knowing

As you think of the universe in which you live, what are you most certain of and why do you feel so certain about it? Upon what basis do you think people should decide to believe something, that is to claim that they “know” it? What do you feel are the most reliable sources of knowledge? Is it possible that you could be wrong about your most certain knowledge? Imagine what conditions might allow you to be deceived about what you feel most certain about. Is there really any way to overcome the discrepancy between what you perceive internally and what the world actually is in and of itself?

Part 1 b) is your take on the nature of the universe as we know it today..

Consider the portrait of the universe and life presented to us by modern science. You searched the web for some of this in connection with Week 6. It could include such things as: The vastness of the universe and the billions of galaxies discovered by the Hubble telescope, the origin of the universe with a Big Bang, the odd nature of matter presented by Quantum Theory, Einstein’s odd conclusions about the relativity of Space and Time and the nature of gravity, String Theory and the search for a Theory of Everything, the inter-relationship of all life on the planet and the theory of evolution, the genome project and the wonder of DNA to code what kind of life form an organism will become, neuroscience and the growing understanding of how neural systems enable thinking and consciousness, and other ideas you might come across about the nature of the world from the scientific perspective.

Talk a bit about a couple of these “portraits” you find the most fascinating. What is your reaction to this kind of view of life and the universe? If you assume this picture is reasonably accurate how does it effect your own sense of meaning? Your sense of your place in the universe? Your sense of how one should live? How would you speculate life will change in the next 1,000 years given the continuing advance in our knowledge of life and the universe?

Part 2. What should one choose? What is the good life? How should we go about deciding this? What should we value? Which choices are ethical and which are not? Are you a Utilitarian or a Kantian, or what? What are the strengths or weaknesses of your approach to Ethics? What is the relationship between the individual and the larger society and to government?

Part 3. Does life ultimately have any meaning? What do you think it is? Why do we contemplate such questions if there is no way to know whether we have the right answer? Is it wrong to think there is a “right” answer? Is the purpose of your life created by you, or does it come from something outside of you? If you are truly free, and you alone must create your own meaning and purpose, what is it for you? If you don’t know, how are you to discover what it is?
Place your finished paper in the drop box. Save it as a Word or rtf (Rich Text Format) document.

The paper is graded on the following criteria:

Handed in on time, using correct format, directions followed completely.
Essay is free of grammatical errors and typographical errors. Uses college-level writing, and is in a logical, easy-to-follow format. Quotations used when needed. Reference cited correctly both within the paper and at the end of the paper.
Level of analysis. Is there adequate depth of discussion of ideas? Is the quality of writing demonstrating a reasonable understanding of the topic? Are ideas and opinions sound, and backed up with details? Is the paper reasonably thoughtful, creative, interesting, etc.?

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