Can anyone answer 3 questions in a discussion for philosophy due by 11:59 tonight

Phil 70 – Questions for Online Class Discussion – 6A – Gentry

Discussion Directions: Post answers to 3 total of the following 7 questions in this Discussions Assignment. Answer ONE question from numbers 1-2 below. Answer ONE question from numbers 3-4, and answer ONE question from numbers 5-7. Then comment on 2 different students’ posts, students who have no more than one comment on a given post, so that every student will get someone to comment on their post for at least one or two of their 3 posts. Worth 15 points total for 3 posts and 2 different student's posts comments. Question #2 is worth 1 point more than the other questions. It requires a little bit more thought and work. Thanks!

1. Kant’s influence on philosophy set a view that metaphysics is not a science of the underlying reality of the world, but as a set of hypotheses or guiding assumptions which the mind must use in order to make sense of the world. In order to live, think, communicate, people must regard their perceptions as referring to discernible entities. Humans must think of the world as made up of physical objects even if it is not! (Stewart, Blocker, & Petrik, Fundamentals of Philosophy, 8th ed., 83) “The value of metaphysics, therefore, according to this view lies in giving us a comprehensible view of the world. Ironically, those who continue to conduct metaphysics in the old positive and constructive sense of actually discovering the most basic structure of the universe are mainly scientists, rather than philosophers” (Stewart, Blocker, & Petrik, 83). Based on Kant’s redefinition of our understanding of the nature of metaphysics, how does metaphysics in this sense (above) relate to metaphysics in the older sense of an “inquiry into ultimate reality”? (See Phil 70 Reader, 106-107, “Lecture on Kant,” 170-72).

2. The list of 20 items as candidates for reality excerpted from the Phil 70 Reader article “Introduction to Issues about What is Reality?” (91-96, especially 92-93) - is given below. Which would you rank as most real, more real, less real, or not real? Hint: Think about what criteria you use to decide if something is real or not. [Rank each from 1 to 5: 1 = least real; 5 = most real]. Which of them do you think should be excluded from the list as unreal? Why? What other realities might you add to the list as “real”? Why? [Just give a one-line answer for each “1,” each “5,” each you would exclude from the list as unreal, and each other reality you would add; be brief, but even so, this answer will be over ½ page to a page. You do not need to give reasons for your rankings of 2s, 3s, or 4s].

1. The laws of gravity

2. The chair you are sitting on

3. The person sitting next to you

4. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution

5. Your love of your parents

6. The number “7”

7. God

8. Your thoughts at this moment

9. Your own body

10. Your own soul

11. The planet Jupiter

12. Water

13. Beethoven’s music

14. Beauty

15. Human rights

16. The meaning of the words on this page

17. Einstein’s ideas

18. Einstein’s brain (when he was alive)

19. Justice

20. Hamlet

1. The ancient materialists (today’s physicalists) agreed that materialism removes the fear of death. For if all consciousness ceases when the body ceases to function then there is nothing to fear after death. Do you agree that a materialist (physicalist) view makes death less fearsome? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that a materialist (physicalist) metaphysics is supported or threatened by contemporary views of natural science? [Include points both from the philosophy of quantum physics video-lectures we have studied and points from astronomy and astrophysics (for example, changing the designation of Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet). Include points from the YouTube video-lectures on “Interpretations on Schrödinger’s Cat” and “Dr. Quantum – Double Slit Experiment.”]. Give reasons for your answer.

3. In what ways is the identity thesis a problem for the materialist? (See Phil 70 Reader, 22-23). Does it also present problems for an idealist? Explain.

4. What, in your view, is the most serious problem associated with metaphysical dualism? (See Phil 70 Reader, 79-80, 193-94 VB1-3). Support your answer.

5. How do you think a person’s view of the mind-body problem would affect that individual’s practice of medicine? Of psychotherapy? How would a person’s view affect their attitudes regarding the penal system? Our response to substance abuse? Terminal illness? Others? Give reasons for your answers. [Discuss any two or three of these. (See discussion in Phil 70 Reader, 21-23].