To many, the word "philosophy" conjures up images of ancient Greek men with long beards, wearing long flowing robes, and doing, well, nothing! There is the tendency to think that the Greek philosophers are not doing anything more than thinking about things that no one will ever understand, know, or care about. To be fair however, these Greek guys believed they were doing something, something of supreme importance.
If you want to be able to critique your political leaders, or if you appreciate any sort of technology, you might want to reconsider your views about those old Greek guys. After all, the ideas of democracy and of the scientific method (hence the technology part) can be traced back to Greek thought.
Old stuff, new stuff
"Very well," you might say, "but philosophy is still nothing more than just old stuff. It was useful back then, but it no longer is." This claim is simply mistaken, and it comes from a naÔve understanding of what philosophy is. For example, we all love iPhones and smart technology, right?
Research in artificial intelligence (AI) continues to produce tech toys that do increasingly complicated things. But will smart technology ever really be smart in the way you and I are? Questions like these are inherently philosophical, and the future of AI depends on the philosophical position adopted.
The value of philosophy, however, extends far beyond producing novel technologies. Do you ever find yourself (perhaps in the middle of the night) asking questions like, what is the meaning of life? What is real? What is good? What is true? And how do I know it?
We have all heard comments like, "Everyone has his or her own opinion, and we can never know the answers to these questions!" Suffice it to say for the moment that philosophy can, and does, provide such answers and in fact holds vital importance for thinking persons.
Thinkers of the world, unite!
Thus, everyone is invited to attend the meetings of the AWC Philosophical Society to discuss issues such as the compatibility or incompatibility of God and evil, or to hear guest speakers on evolution and creation. The group meets Mondays from 11:00 to noon in room 2116 of the 3C Bldg., directly above the bookstore.
The Society also will be having special debates on issues like abortion choice, the existence of moral values and the nature of the self (i.e., is there a soul?). Last spring the Society hosted a debate was on the existence of God, and this semester it will host three.
One AWC student who attended, Mat Watson, had this to say: "I came away more informed and with the desire to explore the issue for myself."
Another student, Fabiola Vazquez, said, "It was such a controversial issue that I believed many people thought the debaters would get too defensive about the things being said, but they stayed professional."
Finally, everyone is invited to "like" the Society on Facebook to stay informed about what's going on. Those old Greek guy would approve.
