Approaching Questions beyond Science Philosophy vs Religion - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1236 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/03/11 Category Religion Essay Level High school Tags: Science vs Religion Essay Did you like this example? Dread—the driving force of some of the greatest minds to find answers to life’s biggest questions. An equally perplexing challenge is how to begin tackling such problems. By focusing on one dilemma and comparing how both schools of thought attempt to solve the problem, a hint may be revealed as to which approach to prefer. Philosophy is based on open discussion and human reasoning, as a result it is better suited than religion to explore what is beyond science—the meaning of life. Within themselves, philosophy and religion do not produce a satisfactory answer because of disagreement. Two well known philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Aristotle give starkly contrasting answers to life. Nietzsche argues in his book â€Å"The Birth of Tragedy† that there is no inherent meaning in life at all, instead it is art that gives it meaning (p. 52). While, Aristotle would say that happiness is a central purpose of human life (pp. 2). Religion disagrees within itself just as much evidently. Each spirituality has its own entirely different doctrine. Disagreement is at the core of this search for â€Å"The Answer†. Through open discussion, this becomes a weakness for religion but a strength for philosophy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Approaching Questions beyond Science Philosophy vs Religion" essay for you Create order The principle of symposium within religion was terminated when each religious historical figure claims his doctrine as the ultimate truth. Jesus Christ establishes Heaven and Hell as the afterlife in Christianity. Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism, proposes a path to enlightenment to go beyond life and pain. This list of differing teachings can go on indefinitely. The crux of disagreeing beliefs among religions is that it is treated as a dividing force. Any disagreement is enough grounds to simply separate oneself from a denomination and start their own. Albeit the controversy was not on the meaning of life, the most famous example of this was when Martin Luther started a cascade of dividing denominations with his 95 theses. Disagreement was present in the Catholic Church, their solution—division. Although relatively harmless when compared to religious crusades, the division of religion has only made the search for a single agreeable teaching even murkier because the amo unt of doctrines claiming to be the ultimate truth multiplies. In religion, disagreement is a drawback because not only does it cause separation, it is counterproductive against humanity’s attempt at finding a solution. On the contrary, in philosophy, disagreement and discussion is at the heart of finding certain truths. Theorist Edmund Burke, in his dissertation â€Å"Of the Standard of Taste†, he demonstrates how two wine critics with differing critiques were partially wrong alone, but correct together. At a wine test, one critic tasted leather and another tasted iron while unknown to them there was a key on a leather strap at the bottom of the barrel. Both initially disagreed, but through open discussion, synthesized their findings and resulted in a true critique. This concept is not only limited to artistic taste, it is prevalent in all of philosophy. In other words, approaching â€Å"The Big Question† with open discussion and proactive synthesis aims humanity’s attempts in the correct direction. Moving on from how both schools of thought handle disagreement and approach an answer, one must step back and consider what their views are based on after all. In the school of philosophy, theories are based on human reason, rationality and logic. Although not all religious beliefs are this way, most divine beliefs are based on pure faith. If enough steps are retraced, then it becomes evident that an assumption is at the root of any theory deduced thereof. It does not necessarily immediately discount its validity or mean that they are not true. Such theories are to be taken with a grain of salt because of its inherent uncertainty. The advantage in philosophy is that it isn’t held back by uncertainty. Although religious beliefs on how to live life are hardly disputed, its claims on a higher power are based on an unverifiable argument and are indeed heavily disputed among religion. In Christianity, an elaborate and elegant afterlife is depicted, and Jesus is the guide to said afterlife. These claims are true, if Jesus without a doubt is indeed The Son of a Higher Power. The inability to neither prove or disprove Jesus’s divine affiliation, makes it a postulate at best—an assumption. This axiom ,based on pure faith, gives birth to Christianity and makes all theories of the divine derived from Jesus true. Islam’s axiom is Muhammad’s legitimacy as Allah’s prophet. Making a decision, or believing something to be true because of faith is, effectively a low risk gamble. Religion approaches the meaning of life by effectively gambling on an axiom, complicating the validity of i ts claims and falling on the wrong side of Occam’s razor, an english philosopher’s greatest contribution to human reasoning . In philosophy, it is Occam’s Razor that declutters the sea of countless theories on the meaning of life. His razor is a principle that states the explanation that makes the least assumptions should be prefered. Occam’s razor does not confirm the validity of a theory, instead it merely serves a guide as to which theory to employ. What heavily differentiates philosophy from religion is that, assumptions are hardly used, if not entirely avoided. The basis for a theory on philosophy is usually deduced logically from given information rather than postulated. After observing the similarities between the real world and art, Plato deduced that Art imitates life. In a modern world context, neuroscientist/philosopher Guillaume Thierry conducted an 18 year study on the brain and concluded that the meaning of life lies in our brains ability to deduce meaning at all (pp. 2). The key point from this is that philosophers observed the subject matter first then through human reasoning a nd logic, deduced a verifiable argument backed by empirical evidence. In other words, assumptions were avoided. Occam’s razor states that the simplest theories with the least assumptions should be sought first. Philosophy approaches the meaning of life through basing its theories on verifiable arguments, empowering its certainty and earning priority consideration in the search for an â€Å"answer†. Alas, philosophy is not perfect. Human reason is the pillar of philosophical thought, but it may just also be its crux. Since human reason is secular, it may only exist and operate within the secular realm—it is incapable of coming to a supernatural conclusion without making the leap of faith. Religion’s only advantage over philosophy is its ability to consider and theorize the celestial. Because the spiritual can neither be confirmed nor denied, this advantage is neutralized. In other words, philosophy’s limit is the heavenly realm, but because the divine realm cannot be confirmed the religious realm is no greater but no less than the known secular realm. Figuring out how to answer the meaning of life is just as daunting as the question itself. Religion approaches it by basing its theories on axioms. On the other hand, philosophy deduces principles through observation and reasoning. It also improves its current theories through finding common grounds among disagreement as an indication of a certain truth. Religion’s ability to consider the divine proves itself to be no less but no greater than secular reasoning. Considering Occam’s razor, overall certainty, and its principle of open discussion, philosophy is indeed the school of thought better suited to explore what is beyond our observable life.

The Matrix the Cave and Meditations Essay - 1829 Words

The Matrix, The Cave And Meditations PHIL 201 John L. Hill II Liberty University John Hill Professor Allyn Kyes Philosophy 201 October 18, 2012 The Matrix, The Cave And Meditations Thesis: There are many similarities in the Matrix ( Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski 1999 ), The Allegory of the Cave ( Plato ) and Meditation I of The Things of Which We May Doubt ( Decartes, 1641 ). It appears as you take a close look at the Matrix that it is a retelling of â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave† with elements of â€Å"Meditation I of the Things of Which We May Doubt† in it as well. I. Introduction A. Overview of â€Å"The Cave† B. Overview of â€Å"Meditation† C. Overview of â€Å"Matrix† II. Comparisons A.†¦show more content†¦Descartes wonders what else that he can know by using this same logic, but first must establish the idea of God and that God is not deceiving him. He reasons that God exists because he as a mortal could not create the idea of such a powerful being, and only a being as powerful as God could have caused an idea of a God that is perfect. Descartes goes on to reason that because God is perfect, then God would not deceive him about anything. It’s not that Descartes is being deceived, but rather his lack of knowledge or understanding about the matters at hand is causing the problem he is facing. Descartes is now clear on his perception of God so he looks at material things. He points out that a body must exist in reality, because for him to dream about his body, it must exist before he would know what to dream about. So although he can perceive qualities of material things, he is still confused about some things because of is imperfect perception. He concludes that the senses are meant to help him get around in the world, not to lead him to the truth. ( SparkNotes Editors, 2012 ) Matrix The Matrix ( Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski 1999 ), is a story that presents a dilemma. Is virtual reality just for fun, or is it being used to imprison you? That is the question Neo faces as he is manning his computer doing some hacking on the side. It is through his computer work that he meets with Morpheus who presents NeoShow MoreRelatedComparing The Matrix With Readings From Plato And Descartes1023 Words   |  5 Pagescontrasting The Matrix with readings from Plato and Descartes This essay will discuss The Matrix, from synopsis of the following; The Republic by Plato, depicting the famous cave allegory, and Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes, offering doubt that some senses are accurate. By examining these two readings, and the movie, it will allow the author to show some comparisons, and to show how they are also different as this essay indicates the world is very real. 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Modern Lighting Industries free essay sample

Only six months into his current assignment at Modern Lighting Industries, Inc. MLI), he was starting to worry that his string of previous successes had hit a serious snag. Working for Cardullo had become as confusing, unpredictable, and frustrating as anything he’d ever experienced. When Cardullo, president of MLI, had interviewed Turner and invited him to join the company as vice president for marketing and sales, Turner had found the older man smart, friendly, even charismatic. Cardullo had offered him a free hand in reorganizing the marketing area, and had all but guaranteed that Turner would take over as president within two years. Before long, however, things began to go wrong: Cardullo started to seem distant and critical, and he intervened frequently in marketing decisions, sometimes undermining or even reversing Turner’s decisions. The turnaround Cardullo was attempting to engineer at MLI had stalled, sales were again declining, and things in general were rapidly deteriorating. Turner didn’t know whether to be happy or anxious—or both— when Alan Oliver, the CEO of MLI’s parent company, announced that he would fly in the following week to review the situation. Turner thought it was critical to resolve his differences with Cardullo before Oliver arrived. Hoping to talk things out, he had asked Cardullo to join him for drinks after work, and then for lunch each of the next two days—but Cardullo declined all three invitations and shared lunch with other managers instead. Today Turner planned to approach Cardullo as soon as he came in. Cardullo usually arrived at 9:00 a. m. , which gave Turner almost half an hour to organize his thoughts. Jamie Turner A native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Turner had attended Notre Dame and graduated near the top of his class. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2011 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 254 | Jamie Turner at MLI, Inc. awaiting him at Globalbank, he joined Wolf River Paper in Dayton, Ohio, a world class manufacturer and marketer of consumer paper products such as facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels and napkins, and other specialty products. As a rising star in Wolf River’s marketing division, he became product manager for disposable diapers in two years and senior product manager only a year later. By the end of his fifth year, he had doubled his starting salary. Nevertheless, at 30 and single, he felt himself stagnating in product management and started to think about moving on. Launching new products at Wolf River involved applying the same welldefined procedures over and over again. Moreover, with strong hierarchical controls and endless rounds of executive meetings for required approvals, he worried that he had not really tested himself. In fact, he imagined that it would be hard to fail at Wolf River, although the company had recently made a disastrous acquisition which was forcing all subsidiaries into austerity measures and would probably restrict any further advancement opportunities, at least for the near term. Lambowland. com. Turner learned of a senior marketing position at Lambowland. com, a startup Internet-based sports marketing company headquartered in Milwaukee. He signed on as VP for planning and marketing, for a 15% premium over his previous salary plus stock options in the event of an IPO. At first, he relished the challenge and autonomy of his new job—but trouble soon followed. Lambowland fell into a serious cash flow bind, and Turner found himself undertaking a second job search in less than 18 months. Two things about his time at Lambowland still bothered him. First, although he did not consider himself a job hopper, he worried that others might start to see him that way. Second, while he had often felt critical of the late hours and foul language that his coworkers enjoyed (none of whom had graduate degrees), he now began to wonder if he’d been too harsh in his assessments. Perhaps that explained some of the personal animosities he had developed there, which ultimately might have harmed the company’s performance as well as his own. MLI, Inc. A month after leaving Lambowland, Turner met with an executive search consultant who told him about the position at MLI, based outside of Chicago, with fabrication and systems assembly facilities in Illinois, Missouri, and Mexico, and sales and distribution centers in Kansas City and Chicago. A paternalistic, family-owned organization whose lighting products ranged from incandescent and halogen light bulbs to office and warehouse lighting systems and mobile lighting units, MLI had suffered several financial setbacks following the death of its founder, and had recently been acquired by a much larger conglomerate. The acquirer was a large division of $3. 5 billion San Diego-based Specialty Support Services (Triple S), which had a strong history of governmentsupported contracts for military operations and field medical units, and specialty work servicing the petroleum extraction and film industries as well as facilities such as clean rooms for biotech and hightech operations. With peak annual sales of $75 million, MLI was larger and more established than Lambowland, but far smaller and less rigidly organized than Wolf River. MLI urgently needed to fill the new position of vice president of marketing and sales, and the consultant thought he could arrange a 20% salary increase over what Turner had received at Lambowland, plus a 25% bonus if Turner took the job. There was also significant room for advancement: MLI’s new president, Pat Cardullo, wanted someone who could take more responsibility relatively quickly. Turner agreed to meet with Cardullo the following week. 2 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Jamie Turner at MLI, Inc. | 4254 In repeated assignments with Triple S, the search consultant had developed a close relationship with COO Arthur Lipsky, who was Cardullo’s boss and mentor. After Turner signed a confidentiality agreement, the consultant offered a few other observations for him to consider as he prepared for the interview. First, Cardullo had been the only high-level executive at Triple S to champion the acquisition, which was probably why Cardullo himself was MLI’s president. Cardullo had argued that a large regional lighting distributor such as MLI would provide an alternative commercial channel for selling many of Triple S’s lighting-related systems, such as security lighting, field mobile lighting units, and clean room lighting systems. Cardullo’s relations with some of his peers at Triple S seemed strained, but his strong track record and his close rapport with Lipsky had tipped the balance in favor of adding MLI to Triple S’s business portfolio. Lipsky was in line to take over as CEO when Alan Oliver retired in two years, and Cardullo was widely expected to replace Lipsky as COO. The search advisor added that at MLI, Cardullo seemed to have excellent relationships with his executive assistant, Richard Garcia, and the new controller, Julie Chin, both of whom had come over to MLI from Triple S. In fact, the consultant said he’d recently seen Cardullo, Chin, and Garcia together at a basketball game. Finally, he noted, Turner should be aware that at least one long-time MLI employee—the current VP of operations, Ernie Dennis—saw himself as Cardullo’s likely successor. Signing On. Cardullo interviewed Turner over lunch at Harry Caray’s, a famous steak house in the Chicago Loop. Turner placed him in his mid-fifties, slightly overweight at medium height with heavy jowls and a full head of gray hair. Originally an engineer who had spent much of his career in high-tech companies, Cardullo impressed Turner with his ability to integrate and evaluate large amounts of information. He had a quick sense of humor and seemed genuinely interested in Turner’s background. It seemed strangely unnecessary for Turner to â€Å"score points† with Cardullo during the interview. Turner was surprised to learn that Cardullo was also president of Triple S’s $600 million mobile systems and support group (Exhibit 1 shows a partial organization chart for Triple S). Cardullo explained that he was only acting as steward at MLI until he could find an aggressive, intelligent young manager to take his place within the next 12 to 18 months, and intimated that Turner would be a likely candidate. Without making any specific commitments, the two men agreed to speak again soon. Turner left the restaurant feeling excited and optimistic. He headed for O’Hare and flew out to spend a few days with his parents in Scranton. The search consultant phoned the following week to ask if Turner was still interested in the position, and whether he could come back to Chicago for a company visit. Turner agreed to meet Cardullo at his office the following Monday morning. Turner arrived promptly, and after a brief tour of the facilities the two spent several hours discussing company operations. Turner had done as much research as he could, and was able to conduct a knowledgeable, intelligent discussion. In fact, at times he had the impression that he knew more about the specifics than Cardullo did. Cardullo had also expressed strong opinions about how to run a business. He believed firmly in management by objectives, and stressed the importance of good communication among the top executive team. At the same time, he thought each manager should run his or her own area with minimal help from other functions. He emphasized the importance of the controller as guardian of the company’s assets, and the need for efficiency and inventory control in production.