Imagine you were born in the time of Socrates in 470 B.C.E
Socrates and many other very wise philosophers had different and sometimes untrue ideas about psychology.
If you would not have any scientific proof, and you did not have this knowledge about the things that are true and untrue about psychology, how would you answer these following questions and why?
- Are mind and body related, why do you think so?
- Do you think nature shapes us more than nurture?
- Are ideas inborn or are you born with a blank slate?
Question to ponder about: Socrates and Plato both believed that their mind continues existing after their death. Why do you think did they believe so, and don’t we have a similar belief with our soul? What does this mean?
Dearest sister,
ReplyDeleteI must say your comment is very intellectual and I had to ponder for a very long time to answer. I’m going to answer each question you posed yet I will do so out of order. Firstly, I believe that the body and mind are definitely related. We need our mind in order for our body to function and vice versa.
To be frank, I don’t really know why Socrates and Plato thought that mind and body weren’t related for I do not personally know them. However, if I had to guess I would assume that perhaps they believed that their mind was trapped in their body and would simply be released and be free once they die. Maybe they were trying to establish hope that there is life after death since they lived in a time where death was very common.
I came up with a new idea about what I think about whether our ideas are preexisting or not. I think that we are definitely born with some ideas or else we wouldn't be able to function the way that we do when we are children. In addition, I believe that as we grow older and explore and discover new things, we learn new ideas.
I most certainly believe that nurture shapes us much more than nature does because our environment influences much more than the characteristics we are born with. If you would like to know more about that subject my dear sister I suggest you look at the awesome blog I posted and write what you think. =) bye!!!
My dearest most intellectual sister,
ReplyDeletethat was a wonderful commment. I agree with you belief that mind and body are definately related.
I think your idea about whether ideas are preexisting or not is just like Plato's belief that certain ideas are inborn and Locke's idea that our ideas grow and our mind gets "written" as we experience new things.
I enjoy the way you took different ideas of previous philosophers.
1. I would think that mind and body are related because even though I don't know that sometimes what we do is caused by our brains, I know that when I am angry, I make my mouth open so I can scream and I make my hands turn into fists. My mind controls my body.
ReplyDelete2. I would think nature shaped us because back then, people actually lived in the real world, not the virtual world inside their warm, safe homes. How I behaved would depend on my environment- if I lived in a place where the weather was always cold and killing people and I could only eat fish or something, I would probably be the kind of person who did not care about others (because I need to be used to death and not get sad when someone dies). This is called self preservation.
3. Ideas must be learned, because my parents are the ones who taught me how to hunt and talk. I didn’t just know how to do it.
Ponder Question: I think they believed this because you’re always so aware of yourself, being yourself, that you can’t possibly imagine ceasing to think, to exist. How could you just die? What would it mean to just stop? We’re so conscious of ourselves that imagining ourselves not existing isn’t actually possible. Try it. What happens to you? Do you fall into a black void? What does it look like? Nothing, because you don’t exist. But you can’t really imagine nothingness, because you’re so aware of yourself and the world. When they said mind, I just assumed it was the same thing as soul.