First Seminar (The Part I didn't Miss)

The seminar just went over in examined detail what we went through when we read chapters 1 to 9 from our Bertrand Russell book. Indeed, I am one of the 25 students that did buy the book and read what was assigned.

Interesting as it may be I'm not a big fan of everything we went through in the seminar or perhaps the way some key figures were approached. I might have misinterpreted the lecturer but Aristotle was very undermined and underrated, we are talking about the genius student of Plato. Guilty of such phrases as "He who has overcome his fears will truly be free" ...something that once was only spoken by Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Master of the rhetoric and a great role model to myself due to his political inclination "Man is by nature a political animal".

It seems that the lectures take us to the very essence of interpretation itself where the content is not the prime subject but the vessel of the content itself aka The Philosopher in matter.
I feel very inclined towards exposing an alternative to the image that was portrait of him by our lecturers who seem more eager in worshipping the confused and paranoid Rene Descartes who of course was not fond of the great Aristotle either.
On the other hand I find it appealing to hear from those who are here to educate me, ideas that don't correlate with my own, this is an excellent example that the personal quest for truth is but personal and entirely in solitude since even those who are there to guide you must sometimes mislead you.

Nevertheless I am very happy with my first seminar. However I must add that Rene Descartes was just crazy and he came to the same conclusion as Socrates came two millennia before him which is that we simply know nothing, for it was Descartes who believed that as long as a theory can be created to question your idea of truth then you will never know for certain, leading to the conclusion that nothing is certain unless you find no one creative enough to create a theory that will question your truth.
Furthermore his argument towards existing through the thought, which is 'we think therefore we exist' is nothing but superficial and empirically questionable since it is possible to experience through the act of no mind. If we follow the law (which in Journalism has great relevance) that once we experience we will be able to interpret, thus believe we know, proving that we exist.

Correcting Mr Descartes 500 years too late. "We experience, therefore we exist"
Somebody should have introduced him to meditation, the connection between soul, mind and body where mind becomes dormant and the soul can experience on its own.

Redundancy and discovering what was once discovered is something we human beings have been perpetuating through history. The Dark Ages was like pressing the 'reset' button from our historical database and once we reached the 17th century we celebrate Descartes modernity of thought but we forget that once, before our memory was erased there was a greek philosopher that preached the same ideas, perhaps even with more eloquence.

A lesson of Irony, both Socrates and Descartes died because of their beliefs, were Descartes was fond of sleeping and the Queen of Sweden (his boss) was not. Honorable death. Socrates on the other hand decided to accept his punishment by the law and solemnly drunk the poison that killed him minutes after. [The Last Days of Socrates by Plato - Excellent book]

I look forward to the next seminar.



Let the foul language and the cartoons fool you not! There is a lot of important information in this video

Firt Seminar (The Part I Missed)

Sorry as I was for arriving late to the seminar (merely 5 minutes) I was more sorry when I realized I missed my favourite part of philosophy which is anything that has to do with Socrates, father and pioneer of what I interpret as philosophy. Let's just say that in Politics & Global Studies my role model is Nelson Mandela, here I have Socrates.

When I got to class the lecturer was going over Plato, Socrates’ friend and student.
It seems (at least so far) that Socrates is barely mentioned, he did nothing but set an era from presocratic to postsocratic, he is but a mere chronological division in the vast ocean of philosophy, I couldn't disagree more... Socrates is as relevant to History as the supposed birth of Jesuschrist, setting the year 0 thus commencing a new era, the beginning of times. Socrates was not far from this achievement for it was him who came with the ultimate conclusion and most revealing piece of philosophical evidence in history! "All I know is that I know nothing", registered by his fellow student Plato in 'Republic' Socrates contradicts all understanding of philosophy claiming to know nothing.
Knowledge is just a belief, there is nothing that we could know for certain, not even gravity is for certain...every scientific discovery has a percentage of error, everything. All we believe to know is just an interpretation based on different memories that recollect through experience and belief, through empirical and idealist methods produced by our mind through logic and sense perception.

I strongly believe that this blog will not leave the Greek wheel of birth for our quest of truth is nothing but a witch hunt which will lead us to the only inevitable truth which was previously mentioned by Socrates. Nevertheless as a strong empirical believer I will experience this quest myself in order to reassure what I so strongly believe thus removing whatever drop of idealism I have left within me.

Let the Quest begin!

[1st Post]
So it seems part of my Journalism course will be engaged through my blog! Quite frankly I’m not exactly sure of the approach I’m expected to give the subject through this spontaneous and informal cybernetic exploration but I'll do my best!

I have to admit that our seminars have been truly revealing, needless to say that I’m extremely interested in the philosophical part of this intriguing course, I was not aware that we would dig in such complex matter as mind itself; thoroughly examining the presocratic philosophy up to modernity.
Redundant as this may sound, THERE WILL BE A LOT OF INTERPRETATION in this blog.
This quest for truth begins with the very root of our existence (if we believe that Rene Descartes interpretation is accurate)"I think therefore I am" and consequently I blog my response therefore I interpret.

As our first assignment:
Read Mr Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy from chapters 1-9. I encourage myself not to be deceived by his humble sense of humour and the easy language for this book summarises the western interaction of mind from Pythagoras to Leibniz, tackling centuries of enlightening discoveries and mind blasting theories.

...So far the only truth I have is that this subject will demand more power of mind than I thought