Ch3

Chapter 3 Responses

1. The belief of materialism is that material things: things that can be seen, touched, felt, tasted, etc. are the only things that make up reality.

I disagree with this belief because the perception of these material things may vary from person to person. In my view, there is only one true reality that remains the same to every person. If material things were what made reality ?real?, then people, having different perceptions of the material things, would each perceive reality to differ from everyone else?s, meaning that each person would have his/her own reality.

2. The belief of idealism is that reality exists in the mind and that material things are unimportant to reality.

I also disagree with this statement. As mentioned above, I believe that there is only one true reality, and if reality existed in the mind then everyone would have a different view of reality, meaning that there would be countless realities. I think the only possible way for idealism to work is if there is an absolute mind (which I think is the Zen belief) that every person is a part of. In that case, there would only exist one true reality, since we are all part of the same mind.

Note: I know that, in a way, I've contradicted myself in the above two answers. My belief is that a person cannot trust their perception of things as a judgment of reality. A person's mind cannot be trusted either. I'm not saying that the world we live in today isn't the real world, but I'm saying that there is a possibility that it isn't the real world; that our perception might be wrong. So, by that belief, I cannot agree with either of the above statements.

3. Dualism is the belief that both material and immaterial things (such as the mind, spirits, etc) make up reality.

I agree with this statement to a certain extent. I think that material things may exist in reality because I perceive them and perception can be terribly convincing. But, I also believe that perception cannot be trusted to judge reality, which is why material things may not exist in reality. I do think that immaterial things (mainly the mind) exist in reality, but cannot be trusted either, since it is common knowledge that a mind can be mistaken (which also affects perception).

4. Pragmatism is the belief that the argument between Realists and Idealists is pointless since, if a definite reality were discovered (say it was proven that reality is all material) people would still live their lives in the exact same manner as before. Since the argument has no impact on society, it is pointless.

I agree with the idea that the argument between Materialists and Idealists is completely pointless but not for the same reason as mentioned above. I think the argument is pointless because there will never, ever be a solution. There will never be a way to prove reality as one thing or another because the only people who may know the truth are the dead, and dead people cannot communicate with the living in such a way. I think that if a definite truth were to come out, it would have an impact on the way people lived. If reality were proven to be all spiritual and nonmaterial, more people would begin to live like the Zen, who place no value on material possessions. If reality were proven to be all material, people worldwide would live as we do in Southern California, placing material possessions ahead of everything spiritual.

5. Logical Positivism is the belief that the only meaningful statements are those that are analytic and synthetic statements.

I disagree with this belief because it contradicts itself completely. It says, "The only meaningful statements are those that are analytic and those that are synthetic." That actual statement is neither analytic nor synthetic, making it, by its own definition, meaningless.

6. Realism is the belief that a true reality, a "real world" exists outside of our minds, and is independent.

I agree with this statement. I think that, underneath our clouded minds and mistaken perceptions, there is a real world that remains unchanged from person to person. That world will exist even if it isn?t seen, heard, felt, sensed by anyone. In answer to the (in)famous question, "If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" YES!

7. Antirealism claims that every person has their own little "world" that is completely dependent on their thoughts and perceptions.

I agree with this statement. I think every person lives in their own "world", created by their perceptions of things. A deaf man thinks the world is silent. A blind man thinks the world is pitch black. Everyone sees the world differently and lives in that world that they see.

I know that it appears here that I've contradicted myself again, and I admit that I did play around a bit with the wording of antirealism's views in order to agree with it. I think (as I mentioned earlier) that there is only one true reality, but I also think that each person has his own perception of reality. They believe each of their own "realities" to be the real reality, and they live in that reality. Just because a person believes something to be real, however, does not make it real. There is only one true reality, and I don't think any single person can see that reality clearly.

8. Sartre believed that the thing that makes a person who he/she is, the essence, is completely up to each person to create.

I agree with this statement. I don't believe that people are necessarily born evil or born good. I think that people are just born. In each person is the capacity for great good and great evil (the only two things that I believe to be absolutely true, by the way) and it is their choice which one to follow. A person's essence is entirely what that person makes of it. It is his/her choice, completely.

9. Determinism states that every single thing a person does in his/her life is pre-ordained by earlier events and that these actions can be predicted by observing a person's past.

I completely disagree with this belief. People are always free to make their own decisions, and history has proven that man is all too unpredictable. Past events do have some sway in a person's decisions without a doubt, but in the end the person makes their own decision. Free will exists and you can never predict what a person does.

10. The belief of libertarianism is that a person has complete free will over their decisions and that determinism is false.

I agree with libertarianism. A person does have free will to make his or her own decisions. Many things might have influence on these decisions (such as past events) but a person can always make their own choice.

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