What's Wrong Here???

Attention Philosophers of 414!

Remember! Making SENSE of an argument and SEEING what's wrong or right with it takes TIME! STARE at your arguments, identify the CONCLUSION, THINK about how the various premises fit and link together to FLOW to the conclusion. I asked you to examine the following argument and think about what's problematic with it. Use this space to write down what you identify as the flaws in this argument!

"When prisoners under sentence of death are given the choice between life in prison and execution, 99% of them choose life imprisonment. 

This shows that they fear death more than they fear life imprisonment. 

Since one is most deterred by what one most fears,

it is evident that the threat of the death penalty is more likely to deter most potential murderers than is the threat of life imprisonment."

What say you? What's wrong here?

What is life? What is death? Is there such a thing as life after death? Or does death not mean the end of life?

Attention Philosophers of 314!

We set off on a little learning quest to think about the various ways to construe the above questions. We set off on different learning journeys to examine what various faiths have to say about these questions. Use this space to record your findings - what do Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity have to say?

Is it possible to have a concept of X, without knowing the opposing concept not-X?

Attention Philosophers of 314!

Today, we examined this question:
"Is it possible to have a concept of X, without knowing the opposing concept, not-X? For example, is it possible to know happiness without knowing what unhappiness is?"

We had a very fruitful discussion - many issues and ideas were thrown up. Use this space to consolidate your thoughts and opinions, state any issues or ideas that continue to to plague you. If you have possible answers to your fellow philosopher's queries, do feel free to help resolve them :)

Have fun!

Thomas Hobbes on why we need or created government and law ...

Attention Secondary Two Philosophers!

English Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes (1588--1679) once said:

"All human beings’ actions are selfishly motivated. So, for purely selfish reasons, a person is better off living in a world with moral rules than one without moral rules.
For without moral rules, we are subject to the whims of other people's selfish interests. Our property, our families, and even our lives are at continual risk.
Selfishness alone will therefore motivate each person to adopt a basic set of rules which will allow for a civilized community.
Not surprisingly, these rules would include prohibitions against lying, stealing and killing.
However, these rules will ensure safety for persons only if the rules are enforced.
As selfish creatures, each of us would plunder our neighbors' property once their guards were down. Each person would then be at risk from his neighbor.
Therefore, for selfish reasons alone, we devise a means of enforcing these rules: we create a policing agency which punishes us if we violate these rules—the government, the law."

What is Hobbes trying to say?
Do you agree with his point of view?

I think ...

Attention 404 and 410

Dear 404ers and 410ers, 

Behold the REVIVAL of the BLOG!!! *evil laugh*
For your 2-week assignment, pick ONE piece of news from TODAYonline. READ the article, ANALYZE the issue(s), WRITE:
a RESPONSE to the writer (~ a SRQ response) OR
a COMMENTARY on the issue(s) (~ an exposition).
Do make sure that you POST your comment on TODAYonline ITSELF, like so:

After you have posted your comment(s), PRINT out a copy of your post with the URL (either you print straight from the website or you copy and paste your comment along with the URL in a Word document).
Submit your printed post to your LA Rep.

Due date: 25th Feb, Friday, Before 2pm.

Have fun! Please use your real names and email addresses but be careful to exercise cyberwellness caution.

** DO NOT post silly, undesirable, disrespectful, inappropriate comments. It is a public forum and we must exercise due decorum. People might read and comment on your comments, so think before you write.
** DO post insightful, critical analyses or comments. Be measured, fair, objective in evaluation. Remember to think about the issue(s) critically and in different perspectives.

What does it mean to be Chinese?

There are various ways to go about this question.
What does it mean to be Chinese?
What is Chinese-ness?
Is there such a thing as Chinese-ness?
Is there such a thing as race?

Post your thoughts and comments here. Either offer a new idea, or respond to a friend's idea. The minimum word count (I hate having to place rules like this) is 350 words and your posts will be judged on two criteria:

1. Whether you have subjected your thoughts to rigourous scrutiny; and
2. Whether you have worded your ideas accurately and precisely (such that correct meaning is conveyed).

Have fun with it :)

Images and Sentiments

Dear 304 and 310,

Please go to this link, http://voicethread.com/share/1230848/ and do the following:

Select 5 or 6 photographs that speak the most to you.
They should be the most powerful photographs to you, the most poignant images, snapshots that evoke the most sentiment in you.
After you have made your selection of 5 or 6, roughly pen down words, phrases or sentences that come to mind when you view the photograph.
This is an exercise in raw writing so just write what you feel sans editing.

P.s. write down using the comment button and feel for the photographs.