Prompt #3

Peighton Tindle

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English Language

2 August 2013

Religious Reasoning

            Medieval philosophy is very closely entwined with Christianity and religion, two things which are not usually related. Aquinas found a bond between religion and reason in Aristotle as St. Augustine did with Plato. This revelation between Christianity and philosophy finally made it acceptable for the most devout man, whether it is to God or reason, to have “one answer” or a chance to look at both religion and philosophy from different angles.

            Aquinas brought the similarities of Aristotle’s beliefs and religion’s belief out into the public because he believed that a person could reach God through either path. The fact that reasoning and the bible hold such similarities is what led him to believe that there were “natural theological truths”. It was so astounding that a man of faith and a man of reason could now have joint “truths” or beliefs. The Medieval Era is said to be sad and dull compared to the Renaissance, yet here these great thinkers are possibly changing the course of human-kind.

Prompt #5

Peighton Tindle

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English Language

2 August 2013

Me in the Middle

I can most well relate with Socrates when he acknowledges that he is wise enough to know that he knows nothing. I would like to take that further in saying that even though we know more of the world and what resides within it than he did, we still know next to nothing about where and what this world is really about. I fell across these lyrics, “I wish I knew what the world had in store for me and all of my life,” while writing this response and found the aforementioned lyrics to be very fitting to my situation and my writing. I can also relate to him in the fact that he was known not to lecture or teach but to discuss and learn from others, not have others learn from him.

            Now onto a philosopher whose beliefs I am not too fond of, Aristotle. Although, he was once a student of Plato, he disproved many of Plato’s teachings. He also baffles me in the way that he has such an intelligent mind yet such an ignorant outlook on the roles of women in everyday life. Also, I am not quite sure on his theory of how the universe got here, then again, I do not much believe religion’s theory either. I have no evidence or documentation on how the world got here so who am I to say what is correct?

            As for where I nest on the rabbit’s thin hair, would be somewhere in the middle. I do not hold the curiosity of a young child or philosopher, nor am I naïve enough to believe there is not a picture bigger than just us creatures here on earth. I do not want to waste my time making up questions in which I will never be able to answer but, I also know that there is more to life than just going about our days with our minds shut. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this response being mine, so I hope you respect my beliefs and outlooks as I will respect yours. 

Prompt #4

Peighton Tindle

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English Language

2 August 2013

Look at it this Way

            What you see is not always what you get. I remember being told once that studies have shown that everyone perceives colors differently because one person’s eyes will accept the reflection of light differently than another person. Therefore, the color blue that I see in the sky is a different shade blue than the one that someone else will see. What the “red-tinted glasses” experiment is meant to show is that everyone has a different perspective on what is happening around them.

            Alberto was trying to demonstrate to Sophie that while wearing the glasses nothing around her will alter but the color she sees the objects as. It is a great example of what Kant was saying that senses and reasons within our mind can alter our perception of the world. The questions that arise from this experiment can be answered by the process of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. While I may be experiencing the world through my specific pair of glasses, or shoes, someone else is experiencing the same circumstances in a different way.

            This experiment can be applied to my life by looking at it like this. My friend and I are in a fight over an unimportant subject. While we are both arguing with the other person about the same thing, we might take what the other person thinks they are saying out of context because of the way we think it is said. Why? Because, both of our home lives are different, both of our social lives are different, one is in a long-time relationship and the other is not. All of these conditions, and more, can alter how we accept the world and what goes on in it.

            Everyone on earth perceives what is going on around them differently, which is what the “red-tinted glasses” experiment is supposed explain. Our reasoning and senses will modify how we view the world compared to the next person. Always try to put oneself in the other person’s shoes before saying or accusing someone of something.

Prompt #2

Peighton Tindle

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English Language

2 August 2013

Nothing but a Physical Difference

            The world’s thought on women have varied immensely from the point and place in time throughout history. Some people, like Aristotle, think or have thought that women are here for nothing more than to produce children while others have more of a 21^st Century approach to women’s rights and belief that females are equal to men. No matter one’s thought process, one thing that is known is that Earth has been male dominated for thousands of years along with science. Aristotle thought of women as a lower species, or “substance” in his terms, but others disagree with him even though other philosophers are mostly male like him.

I think Aristotle’s view on women is completely justified for his time period because, at the time women had no rights and were reputed to stay at home and reproduce. However, I find it almost disturbing that someone who is considered one of the world’s greatest thinkers can have such an ignorant outlook on life. Aristotle thought of women as nothing more than the soil for a man’s seed and the children claimed no traits of their mother, only the father. This is unfortunate in the fact that many people accepted this as the truth for many years throughout the government and religion, as stated on page 116 of Sophie’s World. Feminism would not be recognized socially until the late eighteen hundreds, not to say that others have not tried to enrich women’s lives.

            Which leads me to a great women’s rights activist, Olympe de Gouges, who was unfortunately beheaded for voicing her political views during the French Revolution in the late 1700s. She fought for the opportunity for women to have the same rights as men. Gouges went as far to create the Declaration of the Rights of Women because, she saw that the Declaration of the Rights of the Citizen mentioned nothing of females’ independence. She was far ahead of her time in women’s rights and sparked a thought in others’ minds around the world.

            The philosophers featured in Sophie’s World were predominately male which I found to no surprise. Up until the past couple of centuries the world was dominated by males, save for a few decades in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, so I would expect to find that most recorded philosophical thinkers are men. The way I look at it is that history is what it is and cannot be changed so why waste time reveling over the fact that men have most of the focus?

            Women are nothing but a “substance” according to Aristotle, and even though most philosophers are male he has been disagreed with in the form of women’s rights activism. The world has been controlled by men for as long as there has been documentation of civilization. Although, that way of thinking began to change in the late 1700s and thereafter thanks to a woman by the name of Olympe de Gouges who fought for females to have the same rights as males. Aristotle did not believe that women were anything more than “fertile soil” for a man’s “seed”.

Prompt #1

Peighton Tindle

Mrs. Wilhelmus

AP English Language

2 August 2013

Simple Questions with Infinite Answers

            I can honestly say I have told others that I think those two little questions are stupid.  “Who am I?” and “Where does the world come from?” Although, as much as I would like to believe that I find them foolish, it is a lie. For how small these questions look upon first glance, they are larger than life itself. Thinking long and hard about the two, short questions scares me more than I would care to admit. Albeit how small they are, these questions open up endless possibilities of answers.

            “Who are you?” It should be a simple enough question to answer, right? “I am Peighton Tindle, Daughter of Tom and Sharon Tindle. I have brown eyes, hair that I have constantly dyed different colors since the eighth grade, and a love of all things to do with art.” Anyone could go into a brief description of themselves like something a person could access from any “About Me” page, but really this question is about more than that, it requires a lot of deliberation. There are limitless lists of hobbies, thoughts, actions, likes, and dislikes that make up who I am; some of which might change by the minute and others which may never change. But, if there is one thing that I do know, it is that the possibility of whom I am at this moment and who I will be in 10 years are just as infinite as the possibility of where the world came from.

            Before I even begin to try and answer the question of “Where does the world come from?”, I would first like to point out that scientists have proven that holding the average human hand up to what appears to be a small area of black, empty nothingness in the night sky actually contains millions upon millions of galaxies and solar systems. The point of this fact is to help others understand that we on earth as a whole are nothing but ants in our Universe’s garden waiting to discover, or be discovered. “Where does the world come from?” is a question that has plagued science for hundreds of years and may never be answered, so how is measly high school student such as myself supposed to concoct an answer? I can speculate on my own and conclude what I please or I can agree with other’s theories, science’s theories, or religion’s theories, but how can I agree or speculate when I do not even know what I believe in anymore? The vast knowledge we have of the universe or how correct religions might think they have it, there is still not enough evidence to make me believe I have even an inkling of a clue how to answer this question. How is anyone supposed to answer where the world came from when there is no documentation of the earth’s beginning? To put it simply, I wish I could answer this question, but other than stating that I have absolutely no clue how the earth and all of its living creatures came from, would be a lie.

            Who would have thought that two, deceivingly complex questions would open up an infinite list of answers? “Who am I” and “Where does the world come from?” are nearly impossible to answer and provoke a lot of thought. These questions scare me because of the universe’s vastness and my ability to be a completely different person each day.