First, please share a little about yourself.
What philosopher(s) has influenced you the most and why?
At what point did you realize you had to pursue Philosophy?
Please share your opinion on any or all of these topics. I have been thinking about these ideas and would love to hear what everyone else out there is thinking.
1. The human race and the environment. Are we humans here to exploit and get everything we can out of the planet without any looking at the consequences and how it effects future generations or are we citizens of the planet. Is it finders keepers? In Aldo Leopold's "A Land Ethic" he explains how the role of Homo sapiens changes from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it with all living things. He says we must be aware of how our actions affect the planet and future generations.
2. Technology and humans. This idea is explained very well in the movie Gattaca starring Ethan Hawke, we also discussed it last semester in Professor Hanewicz's Ethics and Values course. When you and your significant other decide on having a baby would you genetically enhance your child as much as possible? Where would you stop? If your child could have perfect eyesight, no chance of any disease's, incredible strength, if everything could be "upgraded" would you? Would you leave it up to chance? In the movie Gattaca they have the genetically altered babies and those produced in the traditional manner were referred to as "love babies". How does this effect the future of the human race? Would it change what constitutes a human?
3. What are you? If you have taken a Philosophy course you most likely have heard the question before. Are you your body, are you a spirit inside your body or both? If you are the spirit, where do you reside within your body? If you lose a limb does par of your spirit stay inside that limb? If you are a spirit when did you begin and what comes of us after death?
4. Global governance and War. When I lived in Jamaica for a couple of years, Jamaicans did not hesitate in calling America the world police. In the media we hear critics say that we must stay out of other countries business. When is war inevitable? What about Bosnia, Darfur, Somalia, Iraq, hunger crisis' around the world, civilians being killed in Egypt and Libya. When should we step in and in what capacity?
Heya P. Discipuli! TCT (The Closet Transhumanist) here. I can't say when I realized I had to pursue philosophy, but it was in my ethics class that I realized that I contemplate life much like famous philosophers do. Does that count? In other words, I would read Plato or Foucault or Nietzsche and think, "I've thought that before."
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you bring up technology and humans. It doesn't look like we can avoid discussing the implications of our technology much anymore. Would I genetically enhance my child? It depends on whether or not I had their permission; doing so while they are in utero seems like such a violation. However, I'm willing to keep my mind open, though the idea unsettles me.
As far as what constitutes being "human," I think the definition of human will evolve with our technology, if only so we can claim to be "human" far after we no longer resemble what was once a "conventional" human. Why do I think that? Personally, I think it has to do with our fear of death as a species that will keep us referring to ourselves as human. That is, unless it becomes vogue to classify ourselves as something else. In that case, I think the description of "human" will disappear rather quickly, or else be used to describe a social class that is less than popular.
Just my two cents. Great questions!