The Rabbit's Fur

Riley Draper

AP English

8/6/2013        

            Throughout the novel Sophie’s World there are many different ideas and theories that were introduced by various philosophers. Many of their teachings were very interesting and some were fairly impressive considering the time period many of them lived in. I think the philosopher I agreed with the most overall was Plato. His teachings seemed to the most influential and understandable to me personally. Also, I think Plato is one of the better philosophers because he laid somewhat of a foundation for future philosophers by creating an academy for philosophy and other subjects. He also introduced some new ideas that changed philosophy throughout his time teaching.

            A large majority of western philosophy trails back to Plato’s philosophy. Like I stated before he created the first academy where philosophy was taught and many of his pupils, like Aristotle, became great philosophers as well. He thought that women had the same capability of thinking as men and he believed that our soul is linked with a world of ideas. He stated that when something is born physically they lose all their intelligence and regain it throughout their lives. Plato taught during what was known as the natural philosophers era, where other philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle lived, so I would have to say this era philosophy would be the one I agree the most with.

            Before I read this book I did occasionally think about questions that were general unanswered like “Where does the world come from?”, and “What are my goals in life?”, so I think I would classify myself as around the middle of the rabbit’s fur back then. After reading Sophie’s World I definitely feel like I should start thinking and questioning everything more so I now I think I am getting closer to the top of the rabbit’s fur everyday.

The Red-Tinted Glass

Riley Draper

AP English

8/3/2013

            The “red-tinted glass” experiment in the Kant chapter was when Alberto had Sophie see the world through glasses that made everything a shade of red. The purpose of the experiment was to change the way you perceive the world by experiencing as different forms of the same color. Kant believed that certain things controlled our perspective of the world and color is just one example. There are multiple ways that this concept can still be applied to current everyday lives.

            Everyone has there own way of perceiving and evaluating certain things. For example, if you mentioned football to some people they would just see it as a simple pastime, but whenever someone mentions football to me I start to listen more and become more interested in the subject being discussed. I put a large amount of time, interest, and effort into football so it has become worth more to me than many of my other past experiences in life. If you brought up football to someone who has only played soccer their entire life they would likely rather discuss soccer or do soccer-related activities than football. So I believe past experiences definitely change everyone’s perspective on certain things and how much they care about them.

            Another way our perspective is change throughout daily life is through variety and uniqueness. Much like when Sophie looked through the red-tinted glasses in the “Kant” chapter I think everybody would look at everyday objects differently if they had different colors. If everything was the same color everything would seem less diverse and blander. Also, certain colors seem to be connected with certain actions in some scenarios. For example, when we think of a stop sign we usually think of the color red. So if the stop sign was green instead of red I would perceive it differently because I have become so used to stop signs generally being red.

            There are many different factors that have an effect on our perspective of the world around us. Our own personal thoughts and decisions decide how we see the world and no two people probably see the world exactly alike. Everyone has their own personal views on everything and that is what makes everyone themselves and gives them there unique personality.

The Effects of Religion

Riley Draper

AP English

7/31/2013

            In the Middle Ages, Christianity became a great influence on philosophers of the time.  For example, two philosophers that incorporated Christianity into their teachers were St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.  These two philosophers adopted Plato and Aristotle’s philosophies but added their religious belief systems to them. Basically, their goal seemed to be to combine reason and religion successfully.

            St. Augustine was a Christian follower of Plato’s teachings.  He combined Christian beliefs with Plato’s beliefs into his own teachings.  He pointed out that there are limits to how far reason can explain religious questions and that religion was needed to fill the gaps.  He adopted the belief from the Christian views that evil was “the absence of God” and that you could reach salvation through the church. 

St. Thomas Aquinas tried to show that reason and faith can co-exist and don’t always cause conflict.  Aquinas believed that certain truths could be attained through both faith and reason. God could be found through a path of reason and also through a path of faith.  If the follower truly wanted to find God, then either would work.

            The result of these two philosophers is that they were able to gain followers from the camp of reason as well as the religious followers.  They wanted to show that the two could co-exist and that reason would not be a threat to religion, nor would religion threaten reason.  Knowledge and faith could almost be symbiotic.  Their teachings would create a larger Christian following, but also could give each party the ability to justify their own personal beliefs through reason or faith without the internal conflict or the judgment of society. They, in a way revolutionized philosophy and started a movement where religion would become more acceptable throughout the world.

Who Am I?

Riley Draper

AP English

7/25/2013

            In Sophie’s World, Sophie receives a letter that asks the questions “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?”  Initially, Sophie didn’t really know where to begin with her response and I found myself in the same situation.  I would have to say if I were asked by a stranger “Who are you?”, I would start with the basics of my name and age.  I am Riley Draper, and I am sixteen years old.  That would be the most basic answer.  Obviously, there is much more to this question that the inquirer wants to know. 

            To go a little further, I live in a family of four.  I’m a student and a football player at North High School.  To be honest, only being sixteen years old doesn’t give me a lot of experience on things.  I don’t know a lot about life, yet I think do know a lot about certain aspects of it.  What I know is relative to my age I guess. There is no wrong or correct way to answer this question and I think no one truly knows one hundred percent who exactly they are. I think all my past experiences have shaped me to be who I am today. Whether it be football or something school related, I think I have been challenged mentally and physically multiple times throughout my life and I think that has influenced me to be the person I am right now. What does all of this mean?  It means that even at sixteen, I’m a confident person in some ways and that in others I am still inexperienced and unsure of my abilities.

            The other question, “Where does the world come from?” is also something I am unsure about. There are generally two ways that I see people answer this question. The more scientific answer that the world was created from an explosion, or “big bang”, and the religious answer that states that God created this world. Much like the question “Who are you?” there is no definite answer. I personally believe that God created this world mainly because my family raised me that way. At the same time, I cannot fully be sure that God created this world or where God comes from in the first place. There will most likely never be a proven answer to this question but it is a very mysterious subject.

            You could spend countless hours trying to answer both of these questions and you still would not be able to find an undoubtedly correct answer. I am satisfied with what I know right now and I am just grateful to be given the opportunities I have been.

Views On Women

Riley Draper

AP English

7/27/2013

            Aristotle believed that women were more passive and referred to them as “unfinished men”.  Basically, he showed no beliefs whatsoever that women could be equal to men in any way.  For example, he believed that in childbirth, the newborn child only inherited the father’s traits, and that none of the woman’s traits were passed down.  Unfortunately, his views on women held firm throughout the Middle Ages and in result, a false interpretation grew that woman had no religious significance in the Bible.

            Obviously, Aristotle was biased and wrong, but he also was a product of his time period where a majority of men held these views of women.  Scientifically, he was wrong about his beliefs in child birth and the traits being passed down from only the father.  Current science shows that traits are passed down from each parent.  Religiously, it’s also known now that women are portrayed in strong roles in the Bible, as shown with Eve, Mary, and Ruth.  The only thing I could somewhat agree with is his views is his statement about women being passive.  However, that is more of a trait in some people in general, shared by both men and women.  It’s common knowledge there have been many strong and assertive women throughout history to disprove his beliefs.

            The philosopher Plato had the more admirable views concerning women.  He recognized that men and women were too different to even compare in some ways.  For example, the obvious physical differences between men and women, and that women would not be as physically strong.  But he recognized that women had certain strengths that made them superior to men such as parental instincts.  Plato was one of the first philosophers to show women respect for their strengths and recognize their important roles in society.

            The fact that the majority of the authorities were men is just a statement about the world at that time.  Men were widely thought to be the superior gender, so they would obviously be placed in positions of power and importance.  The fact that the authorities were male dominated was no surprise to me based on that. 

            Aristotle, despite being a great philosopher, was simply a man influenced by the times he lived.  Today his views are seen as being sexist, but in his time his views on women were widely accepted.  Plato showed more of an ability to see the differences and strengths in women, although he never fully gave women the respect they deserved either.