In the film Miss Representation, Jennifer Siebel Newsom states that “we’re here for an instant in an eternity, and all that really matters is what we do with that time” (Miss Representation). This is a profound thought. The Earth has existed for billions of years, yet most people consider themselves lucky to live for 100 years. That’s a relatively insignificant amount of time. Our names won’t be remembered forever, but we have the capability of creating change that will last far beyond us. In order to spark this change, we need to ask questions and determine what needs to be adapted; this is where philosophy comes into play. This semester, I have examined a variety of texts and films that have helped me determine what philosophy is and how …show more content…
Each student attempted to create a concrete idea, but all we really knew was that it included deep thinking and challenging past thoughts. In the end, we were not wrong, but we missed some details as well. After our brainstorming, we then began at the beginning of philosophical thought with Socrates and Plato. Socrates spent his time asking questions and trying to educate citizens. When talking with Euthyphro, Socrates questions the younger man’s definition of piety. Every time Euthyphro tries to answer, Socrates points out the flaws in his response. Philosophy includes exploring topics and challenging what we know in order to find truth. Questions are at the heart of what philosophers do. Furthermore, our discussion of Socrates led us to the idea of epistemic humility — realizing what we don’t know. Socrates’ wisdom comes from his realization that he lacks more knowledge than he possesses. To illustrate this, we imagined a balloon; as more air is blown inside, the surface area grows and touches even more air. However, Socrates also argues that we do not really learn anything, we just remember it. This has the implication that everyone can learn, for everyone already possesses the knowledge inside themselves. Then philosophy is simply asking questions to unearth the knowledge that is inside
Philosophy is defined as the ultimate quest to help humans seek answers to questions that orbit knowledge, reality and existence. Philosophers begin their study of knowledge by asking questions they may or may not have an answer to. One famous philosopher, Socrates, utilizes this process to question his understanding on the concepts he had already attained knowledge for. At one point during his life, Socrates is proclaimed to be the wisest man alive by the Oracle of Delphi. Upon being declared the wisest man alive, Socrates begins to question everything he thought he knew.
in the way women are portrayed in modern culture and society. The documentary forces us to
Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own
Socrates and Euthyphro cross paths one day at the courts of Athens. At the time, Euthyphro was there to prosecute his father for murder. Socrates takes the opportunity to ask Euthyphro what the meaning of piety is. In this paper, I exam the issue at hand, how Socrates uses his question to doubt Euthyphro’s thesis, and give an explanation as to what this question means for someone who maintains that God is the origin or foundation of morality.
Can you imagine what females could accomplish if they spent as much time volunteering to local charities as they did worrying about their physical appearance? So many dreams, goals, and aspirations are thrown away because of something as simple as low self-esteem. The film Miss Representation focuses on that exact social issue. Various people come together in this documentary to tackle the matter of gender stereotyping through the media. We will cover gender stereotypes, the role media plays in shaping them, and what can be done.
Media influence is one of the most powerful economic and cultural forces today. By deciding who gets to talk, what shapes the debate, who writes, and what is important enough to report, media shape our understanding of who we are and what we can be. You could go to a film, switch on the TV, tune in to the radio, turn the pages of a magazine, or surf online. Regardless of your choice of media, you’d have a good chance of encountering stereotypes that perpetuate gender discrimination. The “Miss Representation” documentary film written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.
In Miss Representation, many female actresses, news anchors, politicians, directors and producers talk about how females suffer a lot of social, political and economic inequalities in today’s society. There are double standards against women in magazines, on TV, in movies, the news, politics, and the workplace. The media is an influential part of modern culture. When women are portrayed as objects for men to use -- never as the protagonist or president -- and when female news anchors are objectified, this will cause girls of all ages to begin viewing themselves as objects. Girls grow up in a world where their voice does not count; where our culture does not embrace them in all of their diversities, where
Philosophy can be defined as the pursuit of wisdom or the love of knowledge. Socrates, as one of the most well-known of the early philosophers, epitomizes the idea of a pursuer of wisdom as he travels about Athens searching for the true meaning of the word. Throughout Plato’s early writings, he and Socrates search for meanings of previously undefined concepts, such as truth, wisdom, and beauty. As Socrates is often used as a mouthpiece for Plato’s ideas about the world, one cannot be sure that they had the same agenda, but it seems as though they would both agree that dialogue was the best way to go about obtaining the definitions they sought. If two people begin on common ground in a conversation, as Socrates often tries to do, they are
Plato's "Euthyphro" introduces the Socratic student both to the Socratic Method of inquiry and to, or at least towards, a definition of piety. Because the character of Euthyphro exits the dialogue before Socrates can arrive at a reasonable definition, an adequate understanding of piety is never given. However, what piety is not is certainly demonstrated. Euthyphro gives three definitions of piety that fail to mean much to Socrates, who refutes each one. In this paper, I will present Euthyphro's definitions along with Socrates' rebuttals. I will also show that Socrates goal in the dialogue is two-fold: 1) to arrive at a true definition, and 2) to exercise his method of teaching/inquiry. At the conclusion of this paper, I will give my own definition of piety and imagine what Socrates might say in response.
Their knowledge, unlike non-philosophers, comes from a greater understanding of the truth. Socrates describes the process for acquiring this higher understanding of the truth in the allegory of the cave.
In Plato's Dialogues, there is the singly ignorant person, the individual who is ignorant of some information or truth but who knows that he is ignorant, and the doubly ignorant person, the individual who is ignorant of his own ignorance. Socrates, in the Apology, maintains that he is singly ignorant when he states that the only thing he is that he knows nothing. The singly ignorant person is in a far better position to learn than the doubly ignorant person, because the singly ignorant person admits of his ignorance and can, if he desires, take the necessary steps to remove that ignorance. This is what Socrates does in his dialoguing, a.k.a. "teaching." He is attempting to remove his own ignorance, and in some cases (such as in Euthyphro) move the doubly ignorant person to a state of single ignorance. This paper will show in context the meaning of Socrates' "ignorance" in the Apology and how it relates to his search for the truth about piety in Euthyphro.
The message that was presented in the video “Miss Representation” was that the media is a powerful tool to shape the world. However, the media has been utilized not for the benefit of human being instead in the most negative way that anyone can possibly think of. It has indeed shape the representation of women globally in this generation. It degenerated the name of woman and what they are capable in this world whether they are use for political, and/or economical. The trailer for Miss Representation presented this powerful message through the usage of a video of selected people being interviewed about feminism and the cruelty that they endure during the twentieth century. This highly sensitive message in the video of Miss representation is
Socrates had a unique way of teaching and expressing his thoughts and ideas. He taught by constantly posing questions with the assumption that any person could approach the truth through logic if he set aside ingrained prejudice and received knowledge (Hattersley 17,18). His dialectic method of questioning consisted of a subject being broken down by one or more people, in search of the same truth but with differing views. Instead of merely trying to convince listeners, Socrates would approach others by questioning what they felt to be true and therefore would be able to determine that person’s true feelings and the basis for those feelings. Socrates was open to receive knowledge wherever he could find it, yet when he approached people who claimed to be wise, he found they really knew nothing. He would challenge preconceived opinions, based on the words of others and fallacious logic. Many felt that he was attacking their identity and security causing them to resent Socrates when he pointed this out. Due to his search for truth, Socrates would, eventually, pay the ultimate price. Socrates teaches us to assume nothing and to question everything. In scientific study today, this is a fundamental element of scientific study, starting with a theory and afterward refining it to the point of when a decisive conclusion is made.
Philosophy is about questioning life and the world one lives in. Without questioning and wondering, life and philosophy would be worthless. An unexamined life would lead to one that was without question and curiosity, something which Socrates could not fathom. Without the curiosity that comes with examining life, philosophy would fail to exist. According to Socrates, a great philosopher, life would not be worth living without the addition of the philosophical thinking that helped to make our lives more exciting and worthwhile. Socrates lived his life to question and to wonder. The addition of philosophy made this possible. If examining ceased to exist, so would the life of those who
Socrates, in skepticism, began a search for those with a reputation of wisdom. After studying men and their knowledge, he reasoned that the only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing. Although one may have extensive understanding in one area, there is way too much knowledge in the world to be contained by one man. Socrates stated, “I found that the men most in repute were all but the most foolish, and that some inferior men were really wiser and better” (Plato, 23). Those who believed that they knew it all could not be more ignorant, and those who admitted ignorance achieved the highest wisdom attainable on earth. Socrates accepted the idea that he, just like all men, contained very little or no wisdom at all. He was content with knowing this, and upon meeting others that lacked this philosophy, felt he was superior to them. He was unsure of the limitations the afterlife had on wisdom, but he was aware of it’s constraints on earth. This self awareness is what gifted him with the highest sense of enlightenment.