https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp en-us 2018-09-07 14:32:09 UTC 2025-11-06 15:03:35 UTC hello@padlet.com shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/278872720 When I was reading through Sartre's article, I found it hard to understand what exactly he was trying to say Existentialism is. I wanted it explained like I was 10, just so I could understand the concepts he was trying to explain. So, I Googled "Existentialism for Dummies," just like all of those "for Dummies" books. Turns out, it's its own book! One of the links that popped up was a cheat sheet that book brand made, so that's what you'll find attached. It's a brief overview and understanding of what Existentialism is, who major Existentialist philosophers are (and what they did), and what the key concepts of the philosophy are. To me, it's a great, concise way to understand it without getting into quite everything Sartre rambles on about. 

P.S. Ignore the picture included with the link, I'm not sure why that's on there. But it is a real website, so it's safe to follow!]]> 2018-09-07 14:36:51 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/278872720 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/281699481 A couple weeks ago, we discussed Soren Kierkegaard's "The Present Age," and one of the questions we talked about was whether or not Kierkegaard's "present age" was the same as ours. According to R. H. Lossin at The Brooklyn Rail, it is. In fact, he says, our age is even more so what Kierkegaard was describing than his own age, in part because of the public nature of social media. Lossin makes a couple of interesting points and claims throughout the piece, specifically in terms of art. He takes the ideas presented in "The Present Age" and applies them, or rather reveals their truth, in artists of today. I found it to be an interesting take on Kierkegaard's article, especially in looking specifically, if not solely, at the artist's role in our present age.]]> 2018-09-15 15:12:46 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/281699481 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/284665009 This week we talked about Freud, especially his views of religion as something created by man to, basically, help us cope with the world we live in. As Christians, we don't believe this. But I was curious to see what non-religious people might believe about the nature of religion, so I searched on YouTube for "ted talks about religion," assuming that would come up with more intellectual arguments and discussions, as opposed to some people just spouting off about whatever they felt like arguing with. That's when I came across this video. In it, Alain de Botton talks about parts of religion that even atheists can agree with. I think this contrasts with Freud, who (in my opinion) seems to say that religion is completely false and simply our defensive mechanism to help us survive. Botton, on the other hand, recognizes the importance of religion both to the individual and the culture. The only links the video has to Freud are the ones I tried to make, but it is at the very least an interesting argument. ]]> 2018-09-22 19:12:55 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/284665009 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/286810486 In looking for something to post, I found a lot of really interesting articles, some claiming that Christianity is pro-capitalism and others arguing against, and among them some presented whichever side in a markedly positive and others in a markedly negative light. It is somewhat surprising to me that it is so difficult for people to have an open discussion about it without having to be so one-sided and biased. I looked into cartoons about the topic (which of course are just as one-sided and biased), and that's when I found this one. I think there are multiple ways one could understand this cartoon, but the primary way in which I see it is that we cannot serve two masters. This does not necessarily mean anything for or against capitalism, it simply means that our pursuit is Christ, not money. After the class discussion today, I thought this tied in really well and still left me to contemplate the correlation and connection between Christianity and capitalism. ]]> 2018-09-28 04:48:22 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/286810486 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/289830792 After our debate on Tuesday about Marxism, I decided to look more into just why Communism doesn't work when actually carried out. Along the way, I found this interesting video comparing the atrocities of Nazism with those of Communism, and why one is seen as so much worse than the other. I think this video shows a lot of interesting comparisons about the two ideologies, as well as why we are so ignorant about the one but not the other. ]]> 2018-10-05 21:47:55 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/289830792 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/291936191 I think, with a lot of the things we read either in Honors class or in general, it is easy to rather immediately agree or disagree with whatever standpoint the text is taking, especially when those standpoints relate to worldviews, philosophy, religion, etc. However, I liked this articles by the North American Mission Board because it doesn't immediately disregard all of postmodernist thought, but tries to objectively evaluate it. Of course, one of the values it sees in postmodernism is the recognition that we are speaking from a biased view point, and the fact that this article is put out by the NAMB is clear evidence of bias, they make good points in both directions, as well as how to confront postmodernist thought with our faith. ]]> 2018-10-11 19:36:33 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/291936191 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/294629768 Obviously, the way I titled this post, in Nietzsche's opinion, does not end with a question mark. In fact, his Parable of the Mad Man ends it with an emphatic exclamation point. Time Magazine doesn't seem quite so sure. In 1966 the cover of perhaps the most iconic magazine company simply asked, "Is God Dead?" (For a funny but adamant response, Christianity Today's magazine then came out with a cover looking exactly the same but saying "God is Not Dead Yet.") However, a few years later in 1969 Time had a new question and a new cover to ask it on: "Is God Coming Back to Life?" Unfortunately, I couldn't read the whole of either headline article, because Time Magazine wants money and I am a poor college student. But I think the covers and the sequential order speak for themselves in many ways. We talked a bit in class about whether or not Christianity will have (or has recently had) a resurgence, whether it is simply moving to different areas of the world, or whether the end times will soon come to pass and Christianity will witness a gradual decline with no revival. But the fact that Time Magazine came back only three years later about the resurrection of the God they had just considered dead seems pretty interesting in this discussion. I can't say a whole lot without reading the articles, but its definitely something to chew on. ]]> 2018-10-18 22:15:22 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/294629768 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/297544926 When we wrote responses to a similar question for the process day on Thursday, I think I just wanted to hear other people's point of view on why philosophy does or doesn't matter, specifically in regards to that which we have been reading. I think philosophy has merit, if only for its effort of asking hard questions and not shying away from the search from difficult answers. I found this video where someone gives other reasons why it matters and why it should be taught in the school systems, like it apparently is in other countries. Though I don't think some of his points were as strong as he might have, they are at least attempts to make practical applications out of what we are currently studying, and what he seems to think everyone should have a basic knowledge of. ]]> 2018-10-26 18:44:57 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/297544926 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/300104106 The biggest thing I took from our discussions this week was the idea of objective vs. subjective truth. Thus, that is exactly what I am posting about. When searching for opinions about this topic, I did not intend to search for one from a Christian website; in fact, I was actually trying to avoid that, because I was fairly sure of what side they would argue. Though the website I found, as a Christian website, did indeed argue for objective truth, I found it interesting in his presentation of it, as well as his focus not on truth, but on moral truth. His arguments demonstrate the importance of Christians to clearly understand when truth, specifically moral truth, is and is not objective. He doesn't shy away from the arguments in the "gray" area, about lying to save someone's life, and things like that. But the phrase he wrote that really stuck out to me was, "The culture has effectively eroded our confidence in objective moral truth claims." I though this article presented a lot of strong ideas and their importance in our daily life, so it is definitely worth the read.]]> 2018-11-03 19:46:13 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/300104106 shoover155 https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/302310921 A lot of our discussions lately have revolved around truth being either objective or subjective, and how they are balanced with each other. Then today, we also introduced the topic of tolerance. This cartoon brings in both elements in a very real way. Of course, these are statements that no one would actually make, but we see the effects of this type of thinking throughout society. Tolerance has become something our society demands but rarely practices. So what is the solution? With how far we have gone with it, it is difficult to say that there really is a solution to be found anymore. As Christians, I think this shows us even more the importance of being grounded in our faith, because our society is constantly shifting and unstable.]]> 2018-11-08 20:16:53 UTC https://padlet.com/shoover155/uc4lxerbinyp/wish/302310921