Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / April 12, 1979, edition 1 / Page 9
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Page nine/Carolina Journal/April 12, 1979 Coming of age through intro philosophy By Richard T. Elmore Fifty-five “older adults” attentively lis tened. This group of stu dents, ranging in age from 57 to 82, was a class in philosophy. Each person many years before had come of age—physically and le gally. Hopefully, as the result of the enthusiastic and helpful guidance of Dr. John Lincourt of UNCC, they had another 15 weeks of guidance every Tuesday for two hours; becoming of age in philosophy. Coming of Age in Phi losophy is a book com prised of selective wri tings of philosophers from the earliest age such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, to the more modern philoso phers such as Descartes, Hume, Marx and James and Whitehead. The out standing book by James K. Fieldman entitled Understanding Phi losophy was used as pa rallel reading which helped the students to understand this pro found subject. A record of attendance of this class showed full attendance each session. We looked forward to the next meeting and the scholarly presentation by our young instructor. Philosophy requires deep thinking. We learn ed that philosophers, throughout the ages, have undertaken a big job and they will be a long time in completing Student Government of UNC-Chapel Hill presents SPRINGFEST an outdoor concert the 21st of April in Kenan Stadium starring Jimmy Buffet with special guests The Spinners Also featured is Nantucket Tickets available at School Kids in Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Greenville, WDBS, WDNC, and WDCG in Durham. Also at Stewart Theater (NCSU), and the Carolina Union an the Chapel Hill campus. Ail tickets: $8.00 it. Whenever progress was made and problems solved a new area of ig norance opened up at the same time. It is basic to know what is philoso phy. Yes, that goal is dif ficult. We soon learned one is either a determi- nist or a follower of the theory of freedom of the will. The first believes that man's thought and actions are, without ex ception, the necessary effect of a priori causes. The second says a thing is either true or false without exceptions. Our class soon learned that religious concepts could not be used in solving or understand ing principles of philoso phy. There is a vast dif ference between the finite and the infinite. However shocked we were at first, our minds were set at rest when we learned we were dealing with reason which go verns philosophy. We knew God is a belief. Al though we could not touch Him, we could be lieve in Him. In this res pect, Kant helped us be cause he said we need Him. Therefore, we must think of Him as existing. Kant argued we must have God to satisfy our moral and esthetic needs. Philosophy to us be came very profound. My former personal belief that everything, how ever difficult, can be reduced to a simple pre mise was shattered. This became increasingly im minent as we attempted to probe the depths of philosophy. It was diffi cult for us to correlate the different philoso phies, or the elaboration of them, throughout time since the Golden Age of Greece. This age produced three major philosophers; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; whose influence has ever since been felt. It is in teresting to observe Plato was a pupil of So crates and Aristotle was a pupil of Plato. Socra Newell House Nursery i Horticulture Advice & i Low Prices i % mile from UNCC ! 8325 Old Concord Road i Patio Tomatoes §1.99 ! Marigolds 6 for §1.00 I lO-inch Fuchsia baskets §7.99 i Geraniums §1.29 I Azaleas (15 varieties) §3.00 i Herbs (20 varieties) 99 cents I Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. IO a.m.-4 p.m. 1 597-7699 i &ocoooo®o®eeooooooossc»eo»s tes did not write but his teachings are recorded by his pupil, Plato. Philosophy for Socra tes was the quest for wisdom. To be wise meant to be good. It is an ethical concern the force and depth of which is immense. Philosophy is a diffi cult subject which uses ordinary words in a queer way that have no practical application whatsoever. It has been stated, authoritatively, philosophy is a science without supposition. It is a system of truths which have been con structed without admit ting as groundwork any truth that is given as proven outside of the system. It is known phi losophy is the working tool of inquisitive men. It seems simple answers often leave complex questions behind them. Many approaches are us ed. Locke used appear ance and reality. It seems we just go on and on in our endeavor to reach a final conclusion if we can. We often won der where the end is. In the final anaylsis in phi losophy, we have to put it all together with em phasis on the word all. Descartes said, ''I think, therefore I am.” The influence of Des cartes has been almost out of proportion to the amount of his writings. But he opened the door and his succesors poured through. He gave them a chance. They could in vestigate mind or they could investigate mat ter. The philosophers seized on mind as their special province. Des cartes separated mind from matter. For in stance, Plato developed the philosophy of ideas, using mind. Kant’s whole theory of know ledge is as much a con tribution as, say, Plato's theory of the idea. Kant's whole theory is based on experience but no one ever experiences Kant's experience anymore than they ex perience Plato's theory of the ideas. Thus it is understood why philoso phy is so nebulous. Kant was the chief of the thinkers who took the road in the eight eenth century. One key to Kant is he saw all of it as being his own exper ience. The universal ideas which were not products of experience could be linked to it by calling them a priori, be cause they came before experience. The rest was a posteriori, or with ex perience. That put everything, both the ab stract idea which we have and the sense data which we encounter in direct relation to exper ience. One philosopher who relied upon sense experience alone for re liable knowledge of reali ty was David Hume. The first thing he doubt ed was philosophy itself as it had usually been presented. He was a con vinced skeptic and a hard man to prove wrong. Empiricism is the fancy word for sense experience—-the only source of knowledge. To digress from the 18th century to the age of the early great philo sophers, 600 BC-400 BC, it is important to note Socrates' motto to us was “The unexamined life is not worth living,” and he invites all and sundry to examine life with him. He recognized only one good: know ledge, and only one evil: ignorance. Thus Plato held the highest form of human life is the intel lectual contemplation of ideas. Stated differently, Plato was an idealist. Aristotle, contrary to his teacher, Plato, was a realist and set up his own school apart from Plato. (continued on page 12) Summer Jobs State Wide Openings Work part-time Hours. Earn full-time pay. $5.77 hour plus. Interview on campus in Cone University Center, Room 08. April 18-10 a.m.-3 p.m. April 19-11 a.m.-2 p.m. (on the hour only)
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April 12, 1979, edition 1
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