Discussion :
• Answer someone else's question (i.e., do not answer your own question).
• Do not answer a question that has already been answered.
• Your response should be (approximately) a minimum of 200 words and a maximum of 350 words.
• Remember to support opinion with reasons why: facts, statistics, expert opinion, personal experience, etc.
• If you refer to a particular image or idea or argument from another author, remember to cite your source.
Objective: Please give a response to the following post:
Question 1:
Philosopher SorenKierkegaard, was one to always be constantly curious and questioning upon the purpose of ones existence. To him, the idea of placing ones trust in God for the promise of salvation and eternal life in heaven was all too great of a theory to possibly be true. He was always, however, overwhelmed with thoughts of his own death. His struggle in faith eventually led him to create and philosophize in his own theory of existentialism, the belief of having a sufficient meaning and purpose to ones life. The two main ideas which laid within the core of Kierkegaard' s existentialism were both that of "subjectivity of truth" and the "leap of faith". As Wolff suggests, "when Kierkegaard says Truth in Subjectivity, he is denying the ancient philosophical doctrine that the truth of an idea or a statement consists in its conformity to an independent object" (Wolff 308). By this, Kierkegaard means that the truth is a means of full resignation toward a persons beliefs; He did not believe in treating the promise of salvation as merely objective (like the Hegelian system would). By "leap of faith" Kierkegaard is referring to believing in God's promise even though you can not prove it to be true, not even to yourself, but to believe in it regardless. But in performing this leap of faith, we must absolutely trust in God's word, with no doubts.
Although Kierkegaard was first trained to abide by Pietist Protestantism, like his father wanted him to, Kierkegaard was only driven in to a life of self-indulgence. He was also engaged, before later breaking it off with her because of second thoughts. It seemed as though everything that Kierkegaard went through during his life, all helped to accompany his theory of existentialism, in him determining his true beloning and purpose.
What I think that Kierkegaard tryied to establish by taking a "leap of faith" is proving to ones self that if you are going to believe in God, then believe in Him with all of your will, not just partially or 'on and off'. He is attempting to reach out to those of religious faith and have them question themselves "Do I really, with all of my heart, believe and trust in the Lord?" because what Kierkegaard believes is that the way you believe in something is just as important as what you are believing in.
Question 2:
Plato based his philosophy on the concept of appearance and reality. He thought that in countless cases something that looks right and good in appearance turns out to be wrong and evil in reality. He claimed that art fits into this category. The thesis of his philosophy is "that the metaphysical order of the universe is mirrored in the inner psychic order of the soul" (Wolff, 2012). He believed that art detracted from the proper inner order of the soul and that art was an appearance and not a reality. He concludes that art clouds reality by rousing our emotions and that in turn distorts the message of the art. Art is just an imitation of reality that pushes us further away from the truth of nature.
Arthur C. Danto argues that imitation is no longer a necessary criterion for something to be called art but insists that an artistic theory is still necessary to distinguish something as art. He calls this new theory "Reality Theory of Art", and this theory recognizes that modern artists successfully create new real forms that aim "not at illusion but reality" (Wolff, 2012). He claims to see something as art, a person must make it into art using the "is" of artistic identification. By this he means art can not be identified without the knowledge of theory and history and one can not identify something as a work of art until he has fully understood the "is" of artistic identification. I really believe that art is a matter of subjective taste. I believe a work of art expresses emotions and is capable of stirring up emotions in the person that views it as art. I believe that monetary value of art comes secondary to the emotional value art has to an individual.
Question:
Is our existence just an appearance (mirage) or is it reality (truth)? Explain your certainty.