My philosophy course

[Fluffy]

Not sure if anyone will be interested in this but I'll post it on here anyway just incase . If people are and it starts turning into a debate then it might be a good idea if a mod could move the thread to a debate forum.

I am starting a philosophy course at my school this year and I had my first 2 lessons today. Omg I love it so much. I have an attention span of two seconds and this subject held it for an hour . I love it to the extent that I wish I could just take philosophy modules for all my A-levels and screw having a balanced education .

Ahem but to get away from me lusting over my course, I thought that some of the things we learn and talk about would be perfect for threads on here. Our course is split into three modules, 'Epistemology' (which is what we are doing at the moment hence the thread title), 'Philosophy and Religion' and 'Descartes'. So without further ado I'll go on to some of the interesting things which people can discuss on here if they want .

Basically, we started to look at the nature of knowledge. The main thinking points were, what is knowledge and is 'true' knowledge attainable? Is skepticism a preferable worldview given the answer to these questions?

Additionally we looked at the responsibility of the transmission of knowledge. We were challenged with the following scenario: A time capsule has been invented that can travel back to ancient Rome. It is very small and can only contain a piece of paper half the side of a sheet of A4. Given that translation will be 100% accurate, what would you put on that sheet of paper.

 

[Darkdale]

Additionally we looked at the responsibility of the transmission of knowledge. We were challenged with the following scenario: A time capsule has been invented that can travel back to ancient Rome. It is very small and can only contain a piece of paper half the side of a sheet of A4. Given that translation will be 100% accurate, what would you put on that sheet of paper.

Don't Kill Jesus Christ of Judea.

or

You can't hold England.

 

[Fluffy]

Yup we had the don't kill Jesus Christ one. The Christians in our class raised some interesting objections to this, however, which I hadn't really expected but thinking about it now, it should have been obvious. Illustrates the responsibility of transmitting knowledge perfectly though.

 

[Aqualung]

Yup we had the don't kill Jesus Christ one. The Christians in our class raised some interesting objections to this, however, which I hadn't really expected but thinking about it now, it should have been obvious. Illustrates the responsibility of transmitting knowledge perfectly though.

Yeah, I woudn't think don't kill Jesus would be a very good one, and I also don't think it would be effective. I think they would kill him anyway. If they killed him after all his miracles, what would they think of a stupid peice of paper that said not to kill him? I don't know what I would write on the peice of paper, because I have no idea what the reporcussions would be. Maybe something like "rats are the source of the black plague," or something. But then that might cause for a prematurely huge population. I really have no idea what I would write.

 

[michel]

I love the idea of this thread, but, like Aqualung, I am at a loss of what to write.

*goes into corner of room and starts mumbling*

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't know. If you sent the timecapsule back, then it would get to Rome, but possible the capsule was already recieved, so the information already influenced history.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

I don't know if this would help history or not, but I wouldn't post it if I didn't think it would...

"Don't burn the library of Alexandria and don't hurt the librarian! You idiots!"

 

[Druidus]

What would I send back? Does it rely on weight, or on size? I'd love to send back an iPod. That'd be weird... If not, though, perhaps I'd send back miniature designs for the internal combustion engine. They had magnifying glasses back then...

On a more serious note, however... Perhaps I'd send back notes explaining exactly when and where Hannibal would land in Italy, and a tip for the Brutii family. "Don't attack Thebes or Athens. Not a good idea. Perhaps after Thermopylae, but not before."

I wish I could send back a palm pilot with a decent sized scientific library.

 

[joeboonda]

Thanks for the hot and cold running water!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I would probably write down the lyrics to Pantera's song Walk. I can envision a slightly humorous pre-battle tradition of the Roman soldiers standing in ranks, and shouting "RE......SPECT.......WALK!" and the general follows up with "WHAT DO YA SAY!?", and the thunderous voices scare the opposing armies into surrender.

 

[YamiB.]

I was signed up for a Foundations of Philosophy class for this year, but it didn't run V.V

I don't think I would send back any note, I would be too worried about how I would change the future. I don't really like thinking about time travel much, I always wind up thinking about the paradoxes and overloading my brain.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

I'm sorry, LW! I managed to get the wrong song in my head and 'heard' you and the Roman soldiers singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect".

My mind... A scary place.

 

[Unedited]

"Look behind you."

 

[Mike182]

i think i would have to send them the best monty python quote ever - from the life of brian:

"he's not the massiah, he's a very naughty boy!" :biglaugh:

 

[Unedited]

i think i would have to send them the best monty python quote ever - from the life of brian:

"he's not the massiah, he's a very naughty boy!" :biglaugh:

:biglaugh: It's fun just to picture their reaction!

 

[Mike182]

:biglaugh: It's fun just to picture their reaction!

oh gosh, it could change history as we know it

paul could have ended up writting about the life of jesus, and all the naughty things he got up to