Help me with my homework! (please)

[Bhikku]

Complex, yet simple. I think that the only thing that is real is what I, personally precieve as real. No one can tell you what is real, because that would be subjective. Therefore, whatever your answer is, your teacher cannot tell you that it's wrong. As for the evil genius thing, I have no idea what that is.

"Look within, thou art the Budda"

[Winged_Wolf]

I don't personally think it's possible for us to perceive reality, just an approximation of it with a lot left out.

If I perceive something, I tend to doubt it.  If others perceive it as well, I doubt it less--the more, the better.  But I'm never totally convinced.
In general, I tend to assume that what I perceive is real, and treat it as such, though.


--Winged Wolf
"I will stare at the sun until its light doesn't blind me, and I will walk into the fire, 'til its heat doesn't burn me, and I will feed the fire...."

[Kristen]

Hi -

I've decided that it doesn't matter whether or not what I percieve and believe is real objectively because in my percieving and responding to any one thing - deluded and decieved or not - my responding makes whatever I am responding to some thing (a thing).  In relation to any other perception/response set any other person may or may not have, my perception/response set is just as valid because  we are all subject to the same human rules - we all have evil geniuses.  Maybe reality is the result of a statistical mean of a set of subjective perceptions (and I think it sort of is).

Kristen

[PeacefulWarrior]

Thanks everybody, for all the input.

I suggest looking up info on Descartes however to get a better idea of how he faced this issue of "what is real" and about the concept of the evil genius.  To put it into perspective, the professor showed us a few clips from the Matrix...for that is the idea of the evil genius who is tricking us all into thinking what we percieve is real, when in fact, it is not.

"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"

[Kristen]

Hi Daniel,

"I suggest looking up info on Descartes however to get a better idea of how he faced this issue of "what is real" and about the concept of the evil genius"

I'm sorry professor Daniel for my shoddy work.  Are you grading on a curve?  No?  Can I rewrite and resubmit it?  (Gee whiz, I wish I never signed up for this class guys... the prof is tough).

But really... was your question posted to determine your reader's familiarity and understanding of Descarte?  

Reality as perceptual object, reality as an object that can be percieved.....  two different things; or, maybe not.  What is reality, where does it exist, who gets to define it, how is it measured, and why does it matter?

Kristen

P.S.  Been there and done philosophy 101

[PeacefulWarrior]

Kristen:
First of all, settle down... it sounds like you took my comments way too seriously.  
"P.S. Been there and done philosophy 101"-Kristen.

Good, I am happy for you, however, I am still trying to make sense out of the following statement you made:

"I've decided that it doesn't matter whether or not what I percieve and believe is real objectively because in my percieving and responding to any one thing - deluded and decieved or not - my responding makes whatever I am responding to some thing (a thing."

I have a feeling that if I were to propose this idea to my peers they might end up a little confused.

Descartes believed that only two things were "real"...his existence (not his body, etc. but his consciousness) and then he built his ideas from that foundation.  Of course we have come a long way since those days, but his basic proposition still fuels a lot of debate.

I am taking Phil 1 for fun and I must admit that because I still feel as if I know nothing, I think I am on the right track.  I will always be a student, and I hope that I never right "been there and done that" in regards to such a grand and expansive subject such as philosophy.

[Kristen]

Hi Daniel -

One of the difficult things about communicating over the internet is that people can't see and hear the speaker and so can not easily tell with which tone something is being said... I wasn't taking you as seriously as you thought I was. I was poking good natured fun at you though.

You know, when my 15 or 12 year old asks me for help with their homework, or come to me with life problems, or what-have-you; sometimes they get frustrated with me when I take it on faith that what they really want is help - and so try to give direction and hints without actually giving the answer - sometimes they get really frustrated with me and in their infinite teenagery wisdom expound on and on about the significance of various historical events or what the math equation demonstrates, what its operations are really supposed to go like, or what their friends would think of that and so on.  Usually the tone is one of "God mother how can you be so stupid?"  They are also quite unimpressed with the knowledge I paid so much for and spent so much time aquiring.  Oh well, maybe when they have children of their own they'll realize how much they didn't know, and what a pain in the rear end they were.  

*poke-poke... dammit! there I go again!*

Kristen

P.S.  I'm so sorry Mom!

[PeacefulWarrior]

The following is a question which I must post a response to on in the next few days.  Those of you familiar with Descartes will understand the evil genius part of the question, but what I really want to know is how you all decide "what is real and what is not?"  I thought it would be interesting to get opinions from you, my friends, here on the "Astral Pulse" website.  (ps-the class is phil 101)
-Dan

How can we tell what is real and what is not? Does
        Descartes' idea of the evil genius threaten the
        possibility of us ever knowing what is real? Why or why
        not?



"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"