Grade 12 Big Project by Spencer Orr SDS

Reading Goals

spenorr550 — 2024-04-15 13:14:18 UTC

Read a philosophy book

Gain a deeper understanding of the english language

Understand more of modern philosophy

Questions For Investigation

spenorr550 — 2024-04-15 13:14:52 UTC

What is the core of Nietzsche philosophy?

Why were his books so influential on the academic world?

What is absurdism?

Why is it a beautiful book, which sections were most intriguing?

why keep moving forward and why keep this dance of life going?

Free will

spenorr550 — 2024-05-09 13:10:06 UTC

"the desire to bear the entire and ultimate responsibility for one's actions oneself, and and to absolve God, the world, ancestors, chance and society involves nothing less than to be precisely this causa sui." (Beyond good and Evil) In this quote Nietzsche shows his in-depth use of language with his use of the analogy to bearing the responsibility of ones own life to becoming God. In this he also is able to make you think about what is not under your control and how you truly have very little say at all in the direction of your own life.

Words I've learned during this project

spenorr550 — 2024-05-16 13:03:49 UTC

polemical

doltishness

causa sui

Cogito, ergo sum

reify

absurdism

antinomy

Myth Of Sisyphus

spenorr550 — 2024-06-04 13:22:25 UTC

This philosophical essay was the beginning of what is known as Absurdism. The essay begins with "THERE is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide" and with this Camus sets the tone and theme for the rest of this essay. Camus goes on to talk about how the world is an absurd place and that how there is no meaning to anything that happens within. And yet he continues on to proclaim happiness, he achieves this by stating that you should live your life by reveling in art, music and the mundane. I believe this Idea is best expressed in the final page where Camus leaves the reader with the best conclusion I have ever read and think will ever read. "I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." In this conclusion Camus shows how beautiful you can make this meaningless world and why the meaning to life is in the act of simply living through seeing a beautiful sunset and getting lost in the majesty of the world itself.

To end this section I thought it best to end it with this, when I am bored to death by school, when I would rather brush my teeth then chug orange juice instead of writing another word or solving another math problem I think of his closing sentence "One must imagine Sisyphus happy." for I might be doing something I despise or writing something I don't believe. However I'm alive, I'm breathing, how strange is that. there's a ball of fire in the sky waking you up in the morning and there are oceans in the sky casting shade just for you. The world is a meaningless place but that doesn't make it any less beautiful, so as Camus would suggest if its raining go dance in it, if there's music sing to it. As long as this confusing ball which we stand on is still spinning enjoy, enjoy it as much as the human condition will allow. This one sentence to me is the purist embodiment of the elegance of writing.

spenorr550 — 2024-06-06 14:55:30 UTC

I have in the past never really read anything other than Fiction however with that stipulation I read everything that caught my eye be it A Song of Ice and Fire to obscure books such as The Pariah. I enjoyed all these books however as I aged I felt like I was missing a lot from skipping over Non-Fiction titles and as I began thinking about the future and how I will move forward. I could never bring myself to finish any Non-Fiction book I opened as they would put me to sleep the instant I reached about the second chapter. Its was only at the beginning of last year when I began reading Dostoyevsky I discovered how much I enjoyed Philosophical literature and this project has I want to deepen my understanding of the base beliefs of modern philosophy. And I hope that I can answer the question of why life, why do I we moving forward.

The skeptic

spenorr550 — 2024-06-06 17:11:08 UTC

Nietzsche in this book looks at many things but one of the most important topics he covers is Descartes magnum opus statement of "I think therefore I am" Nietzsche immediately points out the flaw in this statement by writing "Let the people suppose that knowledge means knowing things entirely; the philosopher must say to himself: "When I analyze the process that is expressed in this sentence, 'I think,' I find a whole series of daring assertions that would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to prove—for example, that it is I who think, that there must necessarily be something that thinks, that thinking is an activity and operation on the part of a being who is thought of as a cause, that there is an 'ego,' and, finally, that it is already determined what is to be designated by thinking—that I know what thinking is" (Beyond good and evil). In this Nietzsche rebuttals descants claim by interrogating the "I" which Descartes claims to do the thinking and Nietzsche in this breaking down of Descartes statement and exposing the will to truth. In this one quote Nietzsche uses the dashes to expand his commentary of Descartes without interrupting the thought which he is expressing in the sentence. He also utilizes "I" to express how he is expressing his own rebuttal to Descartes.

Bird by Bird

spenorr550 — 2024-06-11 01:45:12 UTC

In this book Lamott talks about her life and how writing has affected her throughout it and the challenges she faced through on her journey through it , while also encouraging people to write about their own lives and observations. “Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do—the actual act of writing—turns out to be the best part.” In this book and throughout all the quotes she uses many "writing moves" more than many other pieces of literature I have read. Lamott uses dashes to allow for much more detail within the actions she is describing and for inserting further explanations into her writing as if to catch the reader up on what she is saying. This book she uses a lot of point of view as she takes you through writing and her life with some retrospective on why they are so intertwined. She goes on to say “Maybe what you’ve written will help others, will be a small part of the solution. You don’t even have to know how or in what way, but if you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse.” In this she repeats how important the act of writing itself is to the enjoyment of writing. She also utilizes likins the truth to a lighthouse which will draw the reader's attention. These "craft moves" allowed Lamott to Impart her knowledge with much higher efficiency and better effectiveness.

Question

spenorr550 — 2024-06-11 03:50:41 UTC

What is the core of Nietzsche philosophy?

As I read Nietzsche I can confidently say I realized how little I knew and how It would be a long time until I ever glimpsed an iota of the genius of this mad german philosopher .

Reflection

spenorr550 — 2024-06-11 04:31:51 UTC

I believe that I achieved all of my reading goals and answered all of my Questions for Investigation.

Throughout this project I have discovered my love of philosophy and most importantly camus absurdism. I have also realized my love of writing and poetry.

As I continue Reading I would love to read more of Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard and Sartre to learn more about the development of modern philosophy. the more I learn about philosophy the more I want to learn about theology and would like to re-read the Bible and learn about the resurrection of religion in modern times.