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Throughout my Padlet board, I wanted to find elements of society today that contributed to what we’ve been discussing in class, either by reflecting a philosophy we’ve been learning about or by showing the opposing side to the philosophy. I found that overall, writing these posts has helped me to further think about and make connections between the topics I discussed, the philosophers we studied, and society today!

Padlet #1 – Risk Taking in Today’s Society

For my first Padlet response, I reflected on the quote “Do not be afraid to change. You may lose something good but you may gain something better.” When I came across this quote, it instantly made me think of Kierkegaard’s discussion of risk-taking, so I decided to apply Kierkegaard’s idea to society today, paired with the quote. In Kierkegaard’s essay “The Present Age,” he comments that “Action and passion is as absent in the present age as peril is absent from swimming in shallow waters.” Both the quote from my Padlet board and Kierkegaard’s quote remark on the importance of taking risks in order to achieve growth, both as an individual and as a society. Reading the response to this Padlet response helped me to further think about the importance of not just action for the sake of action, but action for the sake of passion. Kierkegaard’s comment pushes both action and passion, and the quote on the board emphasizes passion by suggesting striving for something better, even if it’s risky. Action without reason is not likely to achieve much, but action with passion to change the world for the better is what leads to positive change in society. This Padlet post, through Kierkegaard’s ideas, the quote I used, and the comment I received, led to further reflection about risk taking, motivation, character growth, and making an impact on society as a whole!

Padlet #2 – Views of Truth

While coming up with a topic for my second Padlet post, I kept thinking about all the different views of truth the philosophers we had studied held. These views all disagreed with the Christian view of truth that I have, so I found an article listing Bible verses on truth to compare with the ideas of the philosophers. In this Padlet, I wrote about Sartre’s view of truth and morals as relative based on the individual’s actions and attributed to the world around them, about Darwin’s view of truth and morals being based on qualities that made a group survive better but that were unnecessary in themselves, and Freud’s view of morals as standards keeping people within a society at bay, which are useful but not necessary, and not a source of truth. Then, I went on to list some of the Bible verses I found in the article, such as Psalm 25:5, “for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” The Bible verses overall show the view of God’s absolute truth and goodness defining the world. The comment on my Padlet post brought up more good verses on truth, which I enjoyed reading and caused me to further think about God’s truth!

Padlet #3 – Weber and the Spirit of Capitalism

After our discussion on Weber, I was still unclear on a few of his ideas, so for my third Padlet response, I decided to find an article on Weber’s ideas. I found an article titled “What Did Max Weber Mean by the ‘Spirit’ of Capitalism,” by Peter Ghosh. The article, though it didn’t cover some of the other topics about Weber that I’d wanted to see more about, did have an interesting discussion of how in Weber’s use, the term capitalism points towards modernity as a whole, which changes the meaning with which his ideas are to be interpreted. The article went on to discuss how Weber viewed modernity as bringing about a change in ethics where emphasis was more on the individual than the society as a whole. It also mentioned a shift from religious values to more individual values. I connected this concept to Freud’s idea of societies shifting away from religious values, and the response to my Padlet brought up how more of the philosophers we’d studied also had connecting ideas about the shift in culture with modernity. Overall, this Padlet helped me to make more connections between the ideas of all the philosophers we’d studied relating to modernity.

Padlet #4 – Society’s View on Picking a Major

As a college student who has a variety of interests and is also quite indecisive, picking a major was quite difficult for me! Rorty’s discussion on the division of subjects made me think of picking between those subjects for deciding a major, which led me to want to write the Padlet on our society’s views when it comes to picking a major. I found an article giving students advice on what to look for in a major, which stressed a balance between interest in the subject, its relationship to a desired career, and the amount of money it will end up making. It was interesting to both read the article and read the response to my Padlet post, both of which reached the conclusion that considering all the factors is important, and finding the right balance is based on an individual’s situation. That conclusion connected to my previous Padlet post, which talked about Weber’s idea that society’s values are based more on the individual now. Overall, it was interesting to see different opinions on picking a major, and in this case I did agree that considering a balance of different components in one’s specific situation is important!

Padlet #5 – Lewis Quotes and Postmodernism

For my final Padlet post, I was excited by the idea of writing a post about C.S. Lewis, as there are a lot of quotes of his that I love! In this response, I linked a website with Lewis quotes, and listed some of my favorites, including “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  I love how this quote reflects on the extent to which God impacts both the world and our lives as a whole as our Creator and Redeemer! I also loved reading the response to this Padlet, which further reflected on the quotes I’d given and brought up some more! It was great writing this post and reading the response to it, because the quotes both provided cool, insightful points about Christianity in addition to further presenting the idea of God’s absolute truth, which ties into the views of truth we discussed throughout class!

Overall, writing these Padlet posts helped me to further reflect on both the philosophies we studied in class and our culture today. Making connections between how these concepts both coincide and disagree with one another was interesting! In addition, I especially liked comparing the differing ideas of truth in the philosophers we studied, then finding articles, quotes, or ideas that showed God’s absolute truth and goodness!

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In relation to our discussion of C.S. Lewis, I found this website, which lists one hundred influential Lewis quotes, along with the works they came from.

https://www.kevinhalloran.net/best-c-s-lewis-quotes

Here are some of the quotes that I came across which were both cool to read and seemed to relate to ideas we've discussed over the semester:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

All of these quotes are impactful in both the images they create and the points they illustrate about Christianity. They also show a worldview quite different from many of the ideas promoted by both modernism and postmodernism. The first two have to do with having faith as well as noticing how creation and our need ultimately point to God. In addition, the third quote uses the idea of a set standard for goodness, and the last quote demonstrates the importance of seeking absolute truth.

These quotes provide cool, insightful points about Christianity in addition to presenting ideas that connect with and oppose the views of other philosophers we’ve discusses over the semester. What are some more examples of how these quotes connect and contrast with modernism and postmodernism?

What’s another quote from the article that stands out to you and why?

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In the video we watched in class today, Rorty discussed his opinion that the divisions between subjects were only created to allow for opportunities in job specialization. During our class discussion, this topic made me think about how college students pick and specialize in a major, which is, as Rorty says, designed to prepare us for a career relating to our field of study. This topic made me think about our society’s attitudes towards choosing a major; are students encouraged to take majors based on job opportunities or on what subjects they enjoy? I came across this article on choosing a major, which presents some interesting ideas. Overall, the article has three main points: “choose a major because it will prepare you for a specific career path or advanced study,” “future earning potential is worth considering,” and “if you love what you’re studying, you’re more likely to fully engage with the classroom and college experience.”

The article stresses a balance of studying subjects that will relate to a career path, maximize earning potential, and that connect to one’s interests. In my opinion, it would be important to find a major that relates to both your interests and desired career path, which hopefully go hand in hand. In addition, in the case of students uncertain about what they want their job to be, studying topics they enjoy can further help them to gain insight about their strengths and talents.

Overall, this article is an interesting reflection of society’s values towards picking a field of study. Are its points an accurate reflection of our society’s view of choosing between different subjects? Which aspect of picking a major listed in the article do you think is the most important?

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/choosing-college-majors

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https://aeon.co/ideas/what-did-max-weber-mean-by-the-spirit-of-capitalism

Article: “What Did Max Weber Mean by the ‘Spirit’ of Capitalism,” by Peter Ghosh

The article “What Did Max Weber Mean by the ‘Spirit’ of Capitalism,” written by Peter Ghosh, gives more insight towards Weber’s ideas that we discussed in class. It says that in Weber’s view, capitalism meant “quite simply modernity itself,” and that it “controlled and generated… the code of values by which people lived.” It continues to explain that Weber’s definition of capitalism means that “the ‘spirit’ of capitalism is also an ‘ethic,’ though no doubt the title would have sounded a bit flat if it had been called The Protestant Ethic and the Ethic of Capitalism.” The article further discusses how Weber viewed a change in ethics as happening with the onset of modernity. It says that “Weber supposed that all previous ethics – that it, socially accepted codes of behavior rather than the more abstract propositions made by theologians and philosophers – were religious.” In contrast, the spirit, or ethic, of capitalism that came with modernity was, in Weber’s view, changed as “values were increasingly the property of the individual, not society,” and “correct behavior… was rational… logical, consistent, and coherent; or else it obeyed unquestioned modern realities such as the power of numbers, market forces and technology.”

Multiple other people we’ve studied this semester had thoughts relating to this idea, such as Freud, who said that society first depended on religion to establish morals, then eventually left religion behind. Weber and Freud would probably disagree, however, in their analysis of this type of shift.

Ghosh’s discussion of Weber’s ideas made interesting points about the shift from religious based values to more individualistic values. The article’s comment on how “values were increasingly the property of the individual, not society,” seems to be relevant to our society today. Looking at our society now, would Weber say this is the same type of shift he was discussing, or something different? How would he compare the way our society emphasizes individual values to the way his did?

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Over the past week, we’ve seen a variety of different views on truth. Sartre sees truth and morals as being relative; created based on the individual’s actions and ideas and then attributed to the world around that individual. Darwin saw truth and morals as being developed based on qualities that helped groups as a whole to be stronger than groups without them. Freud saw morals as important standards in keeping the evils of the people within a society at bay, and thought that religion was a way of pushing those morals, but that truth could only be found in science; through concrete facts and observations.

These views all contrast with the Christian idea of God’s truth, and His absolute standards for what’s good, right, and true. When I was thinking of the Christian idea of truth compared to all the definitions we’ve seen over the week, I came across this article, which lists twenty-four Bible verses about truth. One of the parts that stood out to me was John 18:37, where Jesus says, “for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Another verse that caught my attention was Psalm 25:5, “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” This reminded me that, amid all the world’s ideas of what truth is, God is with us and is guiding us, working to reveal His truth to us. Overall, looking at these verses made me further reflect on the importance of reminding ourselves of and continuing to learn more about God’s truth, especially when the world has so many different ideas about what truth is.

Questions to consider:
What do you think led the people we've discussed this week to form their views on truth?
What are some Bible verses about God's truth that stand out to you or have made an impact on your life?

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-truth/

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“Do not be afraid to change. You may lose something good but you may gain something better.”

I recently came across this quote, and it reminded me of Kierkegaard’s discussion of risk in his essay “The Present Age.” Kierkegaard remarks that “Action and passion is as absent in the present age as peril is absent from swimming in shallow waters.” Kierkegaard is commenting on how, in order for change to occur in society, people need to be willing to take risks and work towards goals that they care about. The quote in the image made me think about how Kierkegaard’s idea can apply not only to society as a whole, but also to everyday life; being willing to take risks can lead to positive change, in small ways in the lives of individuals as well as in ways that impact the world on a global scale. When making decisions, we usually assess whether a risk is worth taking based on its potential consequences. Kierkegaard, who puts emphasis on action over thought, seems likely to lean more towards taking risks even in the face of any consequences. In Kierkegaard’s essay, he complains that risk is absent from his time, especially compared with the revolutionary periods that had taken place before him. I think that people today still do take risks and work towards change, both in small-scale and large-scale ways.

Some questions to reflect on: What makes a risk worth taking? How willing are people today to take risks? What risks have you seen taken lately in society and in your own life?

http://iiquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/positive-thinking-quotes-2.jpg