Philosophy Assignment. Help needed!

[Vasha]

So, I went back to school yesterday for my last day of higschool, and I'm already busy! Philosophy is proving to be just as tough as I was expecting: I already have a five page paper on Monday, and this assignment, due Tuesday, which I need your help on!

So, I'm supposed to ask five people five questions. He says he wants people we don't know, so if you're new here, it would be awesome if you can do this for me, but I really don't mind taking answers from just any of you. He says this is just supposed to be a knee-jerk response to the question, so you don't really have to write a lot. In fact, I'd prefer if you didn't write a lot

The five questions are as follows:

1)  What is truth?
2)  How do you know something?
3)  What is real?
4)  How do you determine right/wrong?
5)  Who is God? Does he exist?

It would be awesome if I can get at least five people here to answer, cuz if not, my partner and I will have to go to walmart and interview strangers or something, and I don't want to do that, and neither of us are really talkative or anything. Whether you help out or not, thanks for your help!

[Merlandese]

Alright, preparing my knee-jerk responses mentality.

1)  What is truth?: The concepts, ideas, and natural realities that form with or without the presence of an observer.
2)  How do you know something?: You never truly know anything. You do your best to discover reality with both your own intelligence and the legacy of experience left to you, which must be taken with a grain of salt.
3)  What is real?: Any and all things, though categorized in sub-files based on their dominance, tangibility, area of effect, etc.
4)  How do you determine right/wrong?: You compare it within the world your life touches--however far that is--and make decisions that have the least negative impact on the happiness of others while still providing a positive outcome to your own.
5)  Who is God? Does he exist?: God is an idea expressed by many people for many different reasons, some good, some bad. He exists with the same amount of credibility as Smokey the Bear, Peter Pan, and Ghandi; all of which currently have arguable states of existence yet maintain an overwhelming effect on people.

I really hope this helps and keeps you from talking to strangers at Walmart. Good luck with your assignment, sir.

[Vasha]

Thanks, Merlan! Not only does this let me be relatively lazy, it's also cool to be able to see what you guys think and poke your brains a bit. Definitely helpful!

Oh, he also wants a first name, so if y'all can either gimme a name or I'll just slap some random name on there

[Merlandese]

Name's Lan. And no problem.

[Stardale]

Vasha, Philosophy NEVER pretended to be difficult.

Lol, you know, ever since I sat at the foot of the Venerable Master (my Philosophy professor), I find it so hard to answer all these questions in just a few sentences (since I usually argue in my papers), but here's something I think could help you:

1) Truth is something that should work, be agreed upon as a group, given by correct authority, stood the test of time, a custom, anything revealed by a divine being, and finally, something that appears to your senses!

2) You know something through discovery, which usually comes from an inquisitive mind - a person that asks questions. It's the fruit of a person's curiosity, and this proves not only his imminent ignorance but also his natural capacity for knowing.

3) It depends on what context you are referring to. I may say that real is something that exists, and I can say that it is something that experiences pain.

4) If your ways are against the custom of a certain region, or it is against the morals of which you are supposed to follow, then it is something wrong. If it is something that follows those two, then it is right.

5) Do take note that there is a Theistic View, Atheistic View, and an Agnostic View, but I will only explain the Theistic View, since I am having difficulty with understanding the other two views. For St. Thomas Aquinas, he explained God's existence by presenting five ways of God's existence: Motion, Causality, Possibility and Necessity, Gradation, and Design. There are also some who argue that there is no such thing as a divine being, and there are also some who argue that this divine being is dead and we're on our own feet.

My name? Tell your teacher that my name's Dale, and if he asks why my responses are like that, tell him that I majored in Philosophy and for some reason, I am not surprised with the kind of questions.

[Ruben]

1)  What is truth?
Eventually, nothing can be proven to be true. Truth is subjective, truth is belief. Everything is true what we believe is true – or nothing is. Because there always has to be an axiom at the deepest level of thinking, I can question everything.

2)  How do you know something?
I do not know anything. I just believe. But this is or might be enough to treat something as knowledge.

3)  What is real?
There is no such thing as reality we can prove. Everything I think is real is real for me. There is no general reality. Everybody has his or her own reality and neither of them are right or wrong.

4)  How do you determine right/wrong?
Something is right for me if I think it is right – and vice versa. There is no general right or wrong.

5)  Who is God? Does he exist?
He certainly does exist because there are people who believe in God. This does not mean God exists for everyone, but God exists for the people who believe in God. You might as well ask: "Who are you? Do you exist?" or "What is this world? Does it exist?" – the answer would still be the same.


That's basically my answer. Generally, I responded to all questions with the same answer, more or less. If you have questions, I will comment more elaborately. 

Name = Ruben.

[Vasha]

Thanks, you guys!

And, Star: It's not exactly DIFFICULT, it's just... busy. But I think that, when I get into the swing of things, everything should be fine.

[Stardale]

Heh, wait until you have Logic and Aesthetics. I can understand Logic has a lot of terms to remember, but just wait until you have Aesthetics as a subject.

[Just Lance]

Hey Vasha I know this is out of date but I also ghave sorted my answers if you're interested:

1, Truth is opinion of a person what is right, based on it's own judgment and the tradition of this persons society.
2, Because the brain which we have stored many datas and manipulate with them.
3, Ererything and nothing at once.
4, On my own judgment developed by culture I've been taught.
5, God and gods are beeings which we made based on our fears. I'll not deny existence of beeings which could be called gods but in decline theisic mean. Thus there are still powers of nature and thing we will never manage to understand.

[Vasha]

3)  Everything and nothing at once? How does that work? How can something both be real and not real at the same time?

[Just Lance]

That's the paradox because we can define something by our sences but there are also things that are much more out of our understanding or from our senses so these are those "nothing" and the things we can get to know and to understand which can be defined as "everything"

[Vasha]

So... let me see if I understand what you're saying:

-There are things that can be seen through the senses, which we can know.
-There are things that can not be seen through the senses, and, thus, can not be known.

So... Empiricism pretty much. But, how do you know you can trust your senses? Like... I'll just use the example we did in Philosophy class today: We had two people with toast-and-nutella in front of them, and one person with what LOOKED like toast-and-nutella, but it was actually some really disgusting Aussie toast spread. It LOOKED like Nutella, but it wasn't. So the person's sight lied to them.

...And in dreams, things look and sound real, but they're not.

...

...-is not sure he is following you-

[Just Lance]

Maybe most simple: Things we can understand, get to know, learn etc. are "everything" things we can't but it is (or it isn't) is "nothing".

[Vasha]

So... I'm still a bit confused. You said what is real is everything (that which we can know) and nothing (that which we can't know)? Do I have that part right?

[Just Lance]

Generally yes but nothing is also that what we currently don't know.