Frankl-y Speaking

Man's Search for Meaning showed me a very different view on the Holocaust.  I was used to reading books like "Number the Stars," "Night," or "The Diary of Anne Frank." These books showed me what the Holocaust was like in a more censored way than how it was described in Frankl's book.  Never did these other books explain how Jews were turned against Jews (the Capo's for example) and were not as graphic in detail and in the horror that Frankl's book describes.  Also, I found it very interesting how Frankl used these experiences to develop his own method of psychotherapy, logotherapy, that focuses on the future to calm people and show them how thier lives are meaningful, considering that Frankl himself has quite a lot to look back upon in his past, and still looks to the future.  I also really liked his idea of a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast to complement the Statue of Liberty in the east. I googled the current plan to build this statue in San Francisco bay (which at the moment is being developed, but with little funds) and got some pretty cool pictures of what is trying to be built. It would be two hands clasped together, working together (the hands are pretty much replicas of the Statue of Liberty's hand holding the torch). The idea that with freedom and liberty, we need responsibility is a great one, and I really like the idea of building this project.

Thankful for A Classmate

It's hard to believe that this year is almost 1/4 over already.  In that time, I think this Philosophy class has really opened my eyes to some ways of seeing the world, and from points of view I would have never even thought of before. In our class, I am thankful for both Johns. John Vitzileos always has something to say in our discussions, and the points he makes always spark more debate; the debates being something in our class that I find very insightful, and really like participating in.  John has some good ideas and is a good debater, which I think is essential to dissect what we do in our class and be a good philosopher. John Cetnicar too has some good discussion ideas, and isn't afraid to interject them. Also, whenever I don't know if we have homework John C is always a reliable guy to check what we have to do and he knows whats going on. Thanks Johns!

How the Class is going

I really like the direction our class is moving in and what we do in class.  I'm a fan of the books we have read so far, and the discussions that come out of them. I think we should have more "circle" discussions where as a class we really debate what we think about certain things.  I don't really have a problem with the groupworks, as I had a class last year where group works were pretty crazy and extremely long and in my opinion sometimes unneccessary. I guess we could always have less groupworks, that would be nice. Another thing I would like to add is I really like how you incorporate music to a lot of what we learn and do in class. Music is a passion of mine and it's really fun to learn about new music and relating certain songs to what we are learning. For my English class last year, we would watch a movie after we finished a certain book, whether it is the film version of that book, or a movie that didn't seem to have to do with the book itself, but had very similar underlying themes and related to what we just read in a very interesting way.  So, watching a movie that related to what we read would be interesting, and I'm not just trying to waste time or anything, this was just something that I thought was really cool with my other English class, and a suggestion that you may incorporate it into our class. Otherwise, awesome class!

Voltaire and Camus are voting for....

Nobody. At least Camus isn't voting for anyone. In his mind whats the point in voting? Life and existence is meaningless and absurd so no matter who is in office, that person will have no point or use.   Besides, everyone is going to die anyways so voting would just be a waste of our short, minuscule, pointless lives that already have no purpose or impact on the universe.  So just sit at home and do nothing, because you can't commit suicide to end your pointless and meaningless life. That would be cheating (which then gives living a purpose, and creates a paradox loop that will never end) Camus needs to chill a little about how pointless we are, just have some fun and try not to think. Heck he should go vote and prove his life has meaning by having an impact on a country's new leader.

Voltaire is voting for Candide.  He is a naive person who doesn't have any corruption of the outside world and hopes for the best.  No matter what comes in Candide's way, he could only be living in the best world there is, so just forget about it and push ahead.  Candide could bring some real change and positivity to the political spectrum. As long as the skeletons in his closet of killing people don't get out, he should have a pretty good chance against that Nothing candidate.

Meaning in My Life

Something that I find meaningful in my life has been being a junior counselor at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp for the past 3 summers. As a camper I would always look up to my counselors, and I thought it would be really fun to do myself. My first year as an SDP (thats what the junior counselors are called) I had a first year camper that on one night when there was a huge thunderstorm, got really scared. I helped comfort him until it was over and he eventually fell asleep.  At the end of that week, he told me he really wanted to come back the next year, and was looking forward to see me. This was the first time I really experienced and felt that my actions had an influence on campers, and how just like I looked up to my counselors, they looked up to me too.

Are Candides Punishments Fair?

I think that when Candide has to be punished as a deserter, technically his punishment is fair as by the millitary rules.  Desertion is not allowed in any army, and if caught is a pinishable crime, so as his punishment he "runs the gauntlet." Although Candide was forcefully conscripted to the army by the two soldier he meets, the millitary law still technically applies and candide has to face punishment for his action. These are the laws of the military and of his country. Candide is ignorant to millitary laws and to being in the army because of his sheltered life, but the fact that he is now a member of the army still means he must follow millitary regulation and law. On the other hand, we see that Candide is naive and mostly a sheltered and innocent person. He was also forced into the millitary against his will, and doesn't want anything to do with it, so Candide deserts.  If one looks at this perpective, one would say he is unfairly punished and mistreated.  I think that someones opinion on Candide's punishment is up for discussion, can be viewed in either of these scenarios, and we can't really decide which one is more correct as both arguments are equally valid and true.

How do I know what I know?

I know the things I know basically from what has been taught to me or things I have experienced firsthand.  If we don't see things or witness things for ourselves, I guess we don't really know anything but as humans we assume and trust other humans to what they say or know, even though we may not know for certain.  I think that if humans only believed things they have experienced, then the world we know would most likely be a completely different place.  For all we know, if people didn't take leaps of faith in trusting other people, the world could be centuries behind in technology or advancement, or if more people trusted others, we could be centuries ahead of our time.  This is a very speculative discussion that many may have trouble understanding, but I think that as humans, the majority are wise enough to decipher and figure out what is real and what isn't

Not Examined Life / Modern Gadfly

I think that the non examined life is still worth living.  I don't think that every little aspect of our lives should be dissected and thought about for every single thing we do.  There are certain times where it is important to think about and examine out lives very closely and carefully, like when choosing a college, career, marriage, where to live, etc.  If we spend our whole lives worry about whether to examine every little thing, then we could be wasting important moments because of our focus on examining life so much.  In all, some things should be examined, but some little decisions we can brush over.

I think that a modern Socrates is David Letterman.  His talk show has been going on for almost 30 years now and he has always featured provocative material, although with a humorous aspect. When dealing with politicians or even celebrities he pokes fun at their ideas or thoughts that seem to not benefit the American people, and even on an event like 9/11 he got really serious and had a very motivating monolouge directed towards Al-Queda

Eulogy

Gordon Bentley was born in Chicago on May 31, 1995.  He first lived in the Wrightwood neighborhood until he moved to Old Irving Park in 1997.  He attended Lasalle Languave Academy from 2000 to 2009 where he took Italian as a second language.  While at LaSalle, he liked to read A LOT of books and never had videogames growing up. He has a passion for music and a music library (digital and vinyl) that is constantly growing. Gordon was raised Jewish and he had his Bar-Mitzvah in seventh grade in 2008, but after that gravitated to being more non-religious.  He began high school at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in 2009, where he played sports for the boys 16" Softball team in the fall, and did Volleyball and Lacrosse in the spring.  During his summers he would work at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin.  He went to this camp for 8 years and in 2012 finished the Staff Development Program.  In school he liked English and History classes the best and continued to take Italian through his junior year. Gordon never liked math of any sort but some Science interests him such as aerospace or outserpace.  He is interesed in many colleges including the University of Michigan, UW-Madison, the University of Illinois, NYU, Boston University, Colombia Univserity, Harvard University, and more.  He has always been a Democrat or a liberal, but not through parental or other influence pushed upon him through school, etc. but through reading political artlices and watching the news and finding out his values and morals.  He wanted to vote for Barack Obama in 2012 but unfortunately doesn't turn 18 until May, so he'll have to wait until 2014 to vote in an election.  His future plans are unknown, but is more interested in the fields of buisness, economics, politics or even government.