What
experiences in your life are hard to reconcile with our course
material? (Be specific in identifying the material). Why is it hard?
What else could you do to square your thinking/philosophizing and your
lived experience?
More Philosophy? Would you take an additional philosophy course if money/time weren’t factors? Explain.
I'm fairly blessed that I've never really had to experience the death of a close loved one, but nonetheless, this course has forced me to face some fairly harsh realities (particularly the existence or lack there of an after-life). I feel like talking about death and dying in a classroom setting is good to help prepare us for grave times, though I don't know what we will think when we are faced with death ourselves. This could be in reference to not only our own death, but the death of a loved one. It's hard to always reconcile the course material with our own experiences because I feel that people tend to fall back on emotion rather than rational thought in times of crises. In a way, a philosophy course gives us answers, but in doing so also creates more questions too. Nevertheless, I think that the more philosophy classes one takes, the better prepared they are to face not only death but other critical issues in their life. The greatest problem facing humanity is that of ignorance, and being well-exposed to philosophy is a good solution.
ReplyDeleteI have had to deal with several loved ones passing away. Both of my grandmothers from both sides of my family passed away within roughly two weeks of each other. This was very hard for me since (being an only child) I was very very close with both grandmothers. Such a loss did not immediately hit me until I realized that I would no longer be biking down my lane to go visit grandma. I would certainly be willing to take more philosophy courses if time/money werent an issue. In fact, I would love to have a major in everything if money and time were not an issue. Haha. One can dream though!
ReplyDeleteAlso, it was hard to deal with the death of my grandmothers because up until recent years say around the age of 16, I did not realize, as deeply as I do now, how good my grandmothers were to me. As an only child, I had always been under the assumption that everyone's grandmothers do these wonderful, loving, and very nice things for their grandchildren. Being 20 now, almost 21, I feel that I do realize that not everyone is as lucky as I have been in life and as such I have felt an obligation to my friends for the longest time to share what I have with them so that we can maintain happy and exciting lives filled with laughter and joy.
ReplyDeleteIf money and time weren't an issue i would definitely take another class, maybe 3 or 4 classes.
ReplyDeleteIn june of 2012 my grandpa passed away as soon as i left his side that night to go home and get ready for school in the morning. that was my first encounter with death and of a loved one. This made me feel as if i should of never left his side. That i should of been there to listen to his out of breath jokes and watching horse racing. My grandpa's first name is Nathaniel but everyone called him Nate for short and i was " Nate jr. " everything that my grandpa did when he was young, i did such as play basketball, baseball, billiards, and bet on horses. Even though i was busy with sports and school whenever i had time i would go and chill with him at the horse track or at his house and listen to his funny comments about anything.
Its tough losing your other half so i live now with the thought that he is right there on my right side completing me and spreading the joy and smiles that are expressed by others i encounter and even my family.
The whole discussion with suicide really got me going. With going to training and building the bonds that I did with some of my friends and already the bond I have with Rob, it is very hard to deal with the fact that if it came down to me taking a bullet for them, it would philosophically be labeled as suicide. I will never understand it, nor do I want to hear why it could be. To me it is a selfless sacrifice and an honorable one at that. I am very passionate about the Marine Corps and the men and women who serve in the Corps. I will stick up for any one of them and if I feel like someone deserves to be defended over something as courageous as those who have given their life for others and their country, I will do so. I have tried to think on the opposite side and I just do not get where suicide and sacrifice can be linked. It may be a personal opinion, but in the eyes of service men and women I have talked to, it is a wrong opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that. Suicide has been given a very negative connotation. Even though a broad definition is that suicide is voluntarily taking your own life, I feel like that there should be another word for a heroic deed to save others' lives when you lose your own life in the process.
DeleteI can see why calling any self imposed death a suicide would be for you guys. Going into the military it very well may be something you will have to deal with. I think your ideas of death may be very different from the average person due to your imminent experiences.
DeleteI have lost 2 grandparents in the past 3 years, luckily both were of old age and not due to anything sudden or unexpected. Personally I was able to handle both these deaths fairly easily because we all knew it was coming and we had time to get closure. Im blessed to say that I havent had to experience any sudden or tragic deaths in my life time but thanks to this class I feel that im now better prepared for any future deaths that I will have to experience. I believe this class is set up in a great way. It's completely none bias and looks at death and dying from many different angles. This class covers plenty of different philosophies and religious views of death.
ReplyDeleteMy friend was murdered by her father when I was thirteen. It struck the whole town pretty hard and forced my class to grow up sooner that others. A lot of the kids coped in very different ways, some so very young went to drugs an alcohol, others transferred schools, and others like me took the antisocial route. Being afraid to ever get close to anyone not just because of her murder but also my grandma died the day before my birthday that same year and then my grandpa was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's so it felt like all the people I had loved was dying. That was a tough pill to swallow at such a young age
ReplyDeleteI am a member of a very large and extensive family so I have had numerous encounters with death including the deaths of both of my grandparents on my dad’s side. So I can tell you first hand that death, to many, is an end that looms somewhere in the future and takes a person away from all that they know and deprives them of the company of their loved ones. In light of this preconceived view of death a subject in this course that was hard for me, at first, to reconcile was that, “Without the experimental life cycle, including the prospect of death, our entire understanding of what it means to be human would be altered in fundamental and perhaps, impoverishing ways,” (Barry 234). The fact that death can be impoverishing to life is something that is at first hard to swallow but after taking this class one can see that death does enrich one’s life. For example, without death, life would be endless and the things that we treasure in this life would lose their value.
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on the many topics surrounding death that we have discussed this semester, I find that I am much more aware of the meaning of death and of life. We have discussed the topic of death from many viewpoints and I feel that I have a deeper understanding about death and a deeper appreciation for life. As I have mentioned before, I have experienced a close encounter with the possibility of dying and this class has helped me to bring some closure to some of my many questions concerning the nature of death, afterlife beliefs, and the many questions surrounding the end of life decisions.
ReplyDeleteI recall that Kierkegaard said, “The fear of death is the catalyst of growth.” This quote remains with me and helps motivate me. I feel that I have been given a second chance at life and I sincerely try to make the most out of each day. I look forward to being with my family and friends and push myself to do my best in whatever I am doing. I do believe that the fear of death does push me to live my life in a way that when it does come to an end I will not have any regrets.
from SHAD
ReplyDeleteFor me the entire class is kind of hard to reconcile with, due to the fact that I have a terminally ill family member. Although, I believe our class has helped to me to learn how to deal with the situation in a positive way, and prepared me for what is to come. One specific section I had trouble with was the topic of when a person is really dead (whole brain, upper brain, etc.) because my uncle has stage 4-brain cancer. This means at any day he could lose consciousness, and it was hard for me to accept and pick which definition defines someone as dead. it was conflicting because if I picked one that defines someone as dead and then my uncle is in that mental state I would feel guilty.
I did find it difficult to reconcile with the class especially at first. I definitely did not think about many of the questions that were brought up before this class. I think that it is a good idea for students to take this class because there are not many opportunities to freely discuss all these topics. It is tough to bring up a discussion with family members to reflect on life and talk about death. My grandpa died of a heart attack when I was in fifth grade. I will never forget my dad's face that night when he found out and was talking to my mom. Even though my family all lives very far away, and I usually only see them once a year, we are very close. My grandma was hospitalized a few years ago with another bout of cancer. She was in the hospital for over a year because the surgeons nicked her bowel. Philosophy courses require a different kind of thinking than other courses do. I believe that this is important for all majors because it creates a more well rounded person. Not all questions can be answered in one subject. I am very excited to be taking another philosophy course over Christmas! It should be a unique experience to study in another country, and I believe philosophy is the perfect subject for that. This is an opportunity that I will not take for granted.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I had difficulty reconciling with was the idea that the individual has the rights regarding death. I understand that people have rights to get treatment, choose when to die etc. But I can't connect that emotionally. Death is a very emotional topic for me; just thinking about an important person in my life dying can bring me to tears instantly. So I had a lot of trouble understanding why someone would choose death, even despite their suffering, when they know how hard it will affect family or friends. Yes, those left behind can move on, and why should a person prolong their suffering? Rationally, I can accept a person dying. But that emotional connection between death and desire not to die is still hard for me to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI also have some difficulty reconciling with the actual definition of death: brain-dead versus cardio-pulmonary death. As a nurse, cardio-pulmonary death dictates death. But to me personally, brain death does. Hopefully this will never come up in my practice, but the distinction is important in how I will interact with patients. My definition may different from patients, or my personal distinction may affect how I counsel or advise.
Yes, I would take more of this philosophy because having the knowledge of different theories of life will help me cope with and to deal with helping others through deaths. This will help me more to assist others and be there emotionally for them in my profession in the military.
ReplyDeleteI have been extremely lucky in terms of i have never had to deal with a death in the family in my lifetime. i still have great grandparents. However, i have had to help a handful of friends deal with the unexpected death of their fathers. I knew them pretty well so along with being upset because someone i knew had passed away, I had to help a friend deal with the loss of one of the most important people in their lives. I didnt really know what to say or what to do, but just be there when they needed me. for the most part they didnt want to be left alone and thats all i could do.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of taking more classes, i would. it makes you think and help to understad.it can also help to think deeper about certain topics.
Going into this class, I thought death and dying was going to be a hard topic for me to learn since my grandma has passed on not too long ago. I feel like as the class went on, it helped me to cope with death and that everyone does go through it. It is just a matter of how people view death differently. I like learning about philosophy and I think it does help with thinking things through and also other classes. In terms of taking other classes, I would if I had the time (Nursing School Problems).
ReplyDeleteI didn;t really have trouble connecting the idea we talked about in philosophy to my life. While some of the concepts were hard to grasp (as is to be expected with a course as in depth as philosophy), it never seemed irreconcilable. Like I said in class, I don't know what I should believe and therefore have no right to try and discredit anyone else's opinions.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to take more philosophy classes if only I had more time.
There was really nothing in the course that was difficult to reconcile with my life. I actually came into the class looking forward to the topic. I am one of those people who enjoy talking about death and similar subjects. I have a morbid mind, but I don't think that death is really that bad of a subject to talk about.
ReplyDeleteI have been around death a few times in my life. Currently I have no biological grandfathers alive, with one dying when I was young. That didn't hit me too hard, and I remember being happy because I thought he was mean. I was in first grade at the time, and I was just glad that I got to stay at home instead of going to school. Three years ago a person in my high school class committed suicide. My high school class was small, so everyone knew each other. I wasn't really close to him, but it still touched me since I had been in classes with him for a few years.
I probably would take more philosophy classes just because I enjoy the discussions. I am taking another class next semester to fill my requirements, but perhaps later I will take a course or two just for fun.
I have faced the death of both my grandparents on my dad's side. First my grandpa died in 2003 of a stroke due to smoking related causes. then in 2006 my grandmother died of a heart attack also related to smoking related causes. I personally handled them well because I was not super close to them. They lived in Illinois and only saw them every few years until their deaths. I do remember how devastated my dad was because he has always hated smoking and killed him to think that it is how his parents died. My memories I do have of them are nice. They were kind people who loved their sixteen grand children very much. I also loved being around my dad's side of the family in general because it was so big. I have always been a tough guy and handled difficult times well. I was there for my dad when he needed emotional comforting.
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