John Searle disagrees with Rene Descartes' views on dualism. Descartes' view on dualism is that humanity's consciousness is its spiritual being and that this being is separate from the body. Searle believes that there is no separation and says this view does not go with modern physics. Physics states that the amount of matter/energy in the universe is constant. But according to Descartes' view it seems to indicate that there is another kind of spiritual energy, that is not fixed by physics. Therefore, if dualism is true then it means that the law of conservation is not true.
Compare, contrast, and evaluate the views of George Berkeley and Thomas Hobbes on the mind.
George Berkeley states only ideas are real. This is idealism, which states that all real objects are nonphysical. Meanwhile, Thomas Hobbes claims that only motion exists in our bodies. He stated that thoughts, ideas, and feelings are the physical entities that happen by motions in our brain. At that time there was no knowledge on any neuroscience which we now know.
Explain and evaluate what David Hume means by saying that we have no evidence of the self.
Hume means that all the knowledge is established by our impressions and experiences. Therefore, any origin of identity is based on impression. The self is not only one impression because it represents an illusion where we are constantly changing, so there is no proof of our identity that prove who we are.
How is Hume’s view of the mind related to that of the Tibetan Master Milarepa’s on this subject?
Hume believes that there is no evidence of the self in which he states that humans are the fictional self. The self is only an illusion and can sometimes have an understanding of the real self. Since people change many times, over time we tend to lose perspective of our self, therefore there is no proof of who we are. Hume’s view is correlated to Milarepa’s view because Milarepa believed as well that the self was only an idea. Milarepa believed that the self was only an illusion.
Chapter 5
Explain, compare, and contrast the views of Anselm and Gaunilo regarding the Ontological argument.
Anselm argued that a perfect being is necessary to exist. In this argument God is a perfect being therefore he must exist which is the ontological argument. Guanilo thought this argument was ridiculous and believed the opposite. Just because something is perfect does not mean that it exists, and he used an example of a perfect island. The island is perfect so according to Anslem’s view it should exist, but the island ceases to exist so Guanilo proposed this argument to be reduction and absurdum. In comparison they both agree that just because something is perfect it does not exist but in contrast Anselm believed that God was an exception to this because God is a different matter and Gaunilo does not believe God is an exception to this view, although he believes in God he does not agree with the ontological argument as evidence of Gods existence.
Explain, contrast, and evaluate the views of Freud and Nietzsche, on the rationality of religious belief.
Sigmund Freuds view is that the belief in God is to escape the truths of reality. Freud called the belief in God a wish fulfillment but did not have any proof. It gives people something to look forward to after death instead of facing the facts that once you die there is nothing. Friedrich Nietzsche had a similar view in that an intelligent person can understand that God is a myth used by the more powerful to control the weak. He believed that the people of power created a fake perfect being named God to worship in hopes of controlling the believers with their religious laws and practices.
Explain, compare, and evaluate the views of Tolstoy and Kierkegaard, on the rationality of religious belief.
Tolstoy and Kierkegaard had similar views about religious belief. Kierkegaard argued that God and Jesus are real, they exist, and truth is subjective and irrational, but it is possible. Tolstoy stated that religious belief gives meaning and sense to his life. He expressed that life with only rational knowledge is meaningless at the point that he wanted to kill himself. He only found relief and meaning through religion and belief in God.
Explain and evaluate Pascal’s Wager. Would belief based on such an argument get you into heaven?
Wager stated that believing in God was better for ourselves, and it was more what we were going to gain rather than lose. This is a prudential argument. There were four possible outcomes in Wager's argument, and only one of the outcomes was going to heaven. Therefore, the other outcomes send you to hell or speak about the "time you wasted" believing in God.
Explain and evaluate William Paley’s version of the design argument. Does the argument provide a rational basis for belief in some sort of creative intelligence behind the universe and life?
William Paley created an analogy between a watch and nature. He stated that if we could not believe that a watch was created by itself then it had a designer. Paley believed that the universe had a designer as well because it is more complicated than a watch, and if the watch could not make itself that neither could the universe. I believe that it is a good analogy because behind every creation that is made, there has to be a creator.
Explain and evaluate the problem of evil.
The problem of evil claims that why is there evil if God exists. If God is so good, and powerful then why does he let evil roam the earth. There is so much evil in the world then why doesn’t God stop it. I believe that it is normal for people to question these things due to the fact of all the horrible things that occur everyday.
Chapter 6
Compare and contrast the main tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
Hinduism is the collection of faith that are believed to have originated in India. Buddhism is philosophical tradition, founded by Gautama Siddhartha Buddha in the fifth century. Taoism is founded by Lao Tzu. In Taoism it is believed that human life is influenced by the outside force that act according to Tao.
Explain in detail the connection between the Tao, Ying, and Yang.
In Taoism the Tao controls the universe. The Tao is divided by Ying and Yang which represent every opposite in the world. The Ying represents men, the sun, heat, light meanwhile the Yang represents women, the moon, cold, darkness. Within the Tao, the Ying and Yang work together to run the universe.
Articulate how principles of Taoism serve as the foundation of the art of Feng Shui.
The principles of Taoism serve as foundation of the art of Feng Shui. Feng Shui is a type of divination, and a method of influencing our destiny, which is based on Taoism principles. The knowledge of Feng Shui has been closely guarded secret in the East and completely misunderstood in the West.
Explain and evaluate the views of Sogyal Rinpoche regarding death and human activity in the modern world ( from the readings at the end of chapter 6).
Sogyal Rinpoche shows how to follow a spiritual path in the modern world and teaches the practice of compassion. He supports people to die a good death and helps everyone to experience a peaceful death that will end up in a positive impact for next life. He also teaches how to live a happy life. He educates us about the interaction of life and death. Sogyal observed death as a normal process. He knew that it is impossible to escape from it. Therefore, he stopped worrying about it. According to him, if we want to die well, we must learn how to live well.
Consider and explain the evidence for reincarnation and the experience of other levels of reality presented in the chapter.
There are many examples of the cases that show the memories of a previous life and there are several examples of the little children who remember the phrases from their past life. An example of this incident in this chapter is that Taoism was studied, and the same raises the existence of reincarnation. According to Chuang Tzu, “death is not an end … There is no continuity in a starting point”. He states that reincarnation exists, and according to Taoist’s believes, immortality can occur if you follow the path of Tao.