Ethics

Ethics

Are there any Objective Ethical Rules, or Does Every Moral Judgement Depend on the Circumstances?

Ethics is not only a crucial and largely influential topic of consideration in human affairs, but a controversial one as well. This is because there are many disagreements within groups as well as between individuals, when considering something to have an 'ethical value'. Each person has a unique set of beliefs regarding what we should and should not do. I believe that the objective ethical rules simply scratch the surface of ethics as a whole, and each decision is to be made with the ethical interest of the majority of humans in mind as well as circumstantial factors, which undoubtedly play a major role in ethics. We should not only consider the action, but also the result in coming to an ethical judgement.

Why is the Study of Ethics Important?

To begin with, ethics describes the branch of knowledge concerned with moral principles, sometimes referred to as 'moral philosophy'. It therefore, is not synonymous with morals, but is simply the study of it. This is highly crucial in human affairs as it is necessary to limit humans in terms of what they can and cannot do, with the overall protection of our species as well as the external environment in mind. Some may argue that ethics simply constrict human studies in reaching their limits and that we would advance and develop considerably without the need to consider ethics in scientific affairs. This is not necessarily untrue, but there are things that scientists should bear in mind with regards to the interest of the public, in not going against certain moral standards that others may not approve of or feel strongly against. This all occurs in a balanced manner, as science has advanced considerably up to date and continues to do so acceleratingly, yet some factors must exist to control the limits that we reach in our advancements. 

Religious Knowledge Systems

Religious Knowledge Systems 

To What Extent are Religions Supported by Ways of Knowing other than Faith?

It is an undeniable fact that faith is the dominating factor when considering not only religion as a whole, but the beliefs of many religions around the world as well. Faith is defined as 'a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction, rather than proof', whereas Religion itself is defined as ;The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods'. It is clear from this that religion and faith are highly interdependent and rely on one another. Religion is not exactly supported by other knowledge systems including memory, arts, sciences as well as mathematics to name a few. It simply seems to be supported by belief, as in faith.

How Similar are the World's Religions?

At first glance, religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam seem completely different from each other but there are many things that they have in common. An example of this could be the belief of history and many events that have occurred. These religions also similarly belief in the existence of one God, unlike some other religions. Despite this however, there is a stark contrast between the majority of other beliefs held by the followers of these religions with regards to not only everyday life but beliefs of a global scale as well.

Is it Possible to Possess Both a Scientific and a Religious Outlook on the World?

Many scientific theories including Charles Darwin's 'Theory of Evolution' do not necessarily 'disprove' religions as such, but simply disagree with it on a large scale. I believe however, that someone's religious beliefs are highly specific and each person can choose to believe in certain aspects of a religion but not others. This is why it is possible to have an open mind regarding the subjects matters together, in order to ensure the development of one's individual knowledge and understanding of the world.

Mathematics

Mathematics
What is Mathematics?

Mathematics is more often than not, considered to be the literal opposite of the arts, due to many reasons. An essential conclusion could be its analytical nature as well as its basis on complete objectivity, relying heavily upon every aspect of its structure being in alignment with one other. However it is not entirely reasonable to assume that the arts and mathematics are completely autonomous, reflecting on the fact that many art-based fields incorporate mathematics so heavily into their operating actions. These include design, architecture, medicine and well as engineering. Mathematics is defined as 'the branch of science concerned with number, quantity, and space, either as abstract ideas (pure mathematics), or applied to physics, engineering and other subjects (applied mathematics)' telling us that its basis is heavily reliant on other subject matters.

Why is Mathematics considered the universal language?

We all speak different languages with different alphabets, sentence structures, background linguistics and application rules, but the concept of mathematics as well as the numbers, symbols and concepts are recognized and understood on an equivalent basis worldwide, regardless of one's spoken language.

Is Mathematics Purely Human-Made, or was it Discovered?

This is a significantly debatable topic matter that has not definite answer, but it is quite interesting to consider whether what we believe we have invented could have existed already and all we did was discover it and begin to apply it to our daily lives as well as international field-applied knowledge systems.

Arts

The Arts 

Do We Need a 'Knowledge' of Art to Know Art?

The arts can he a tricky category to explain reflecting upon their controversial and debatable defining factors. The dictionary definition of art would be 'the expression of creative skills through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture'. This does not settle the case however, as what some consider art can be highly different from what others do. This is why art is such a complex knowledge system; it cannot exactly be defined completely. 

Do we need a knowledge of art to know it? I do not believe that we do as art is expression and expression is subjective. Some people will consider anything to be art while others have strict and specific categories for something to have to fall under in order for it to be considered art in their eyes. This is why in my mind art can definitely be used in different ways and be considered a valuable knowledge system. It can be used to visually communicate q message to its observer in a possibly more through manner than any verbal communicative system could have. It can be used to make an observer feel a certain emotion very effectively. It has the power to completely change the views and ideologies held by the observer up to that point. Art, therefore, is a crucial aspect of human life as well as human expression and communication, and should be preserved and valued accordingly 

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

What are the Natural Sciences

We've heard of the natural sciences multiple times but what exactly is it that classifies a factor that falls under this broad yet seemingly specific category. Well the term 'natural science' collectively depicts any science which deals with the physical world. Physics, chemistry, geology and biology all fall under this category accordingly, yet what is it that connects them when we all know them to be highly contrasting to each other. What connects them is the fact that they are highly similar knowledge systems that humans understand on a deeper and deeper scale as time progresses due to not only modern technological advancements, but advancements in human sociological understandings as well.

All of the laws in physics were not discovered in one day, in fact they took centuries and centuries of studying and understanding different aspects of our world by humans as well as coming about gradually, one physical advancement depending directly upon another. The same situation ocured for biology, geology and chemistry altogether. Through these advancements we as humans have been able to become more self aware and understanding of the environment around us that any other species on earth and it is of colossal significance that we categorize these scientific systems as crucial ways of knowing accordingly. 

Faith

Faith

What Exactly is Faith?

Firstly, it is important to point out that faith does not necessarily refer to one's 'religion', contrary to popular perception. Faith rather refers to the complete trust or confidence in someone or something, potentially ranging from a single person, some organization, some movement, to a political party or a sports team. This can be perceived by different people in completely contraceptive ways. Of course it can be interpreted as a religious aspect, yet its definition cannot simply be limited to this on its own.

Does Faith Provide Us With True Knowledge?

This can be considered highly arguable and debatable, as well as being specific to each individual's opinion and perception. One's faith is highly dependent upon their culture as well as the knowledge community that they belong to. This is why the relative and subjective nature of faith provides fuel for lively discussions on whether or not it should be considered a confirmed way of knowing. Faith also seems to be highly dependent on the beliefs and assumptions of a person themselves, thus holding a potential store of bias, reflecting on the fact that each of us can believe in something wholeheartedly regardless of confirmation of facts and logical thinking. This is why the classification of faith as an aspect of storing knowledge is debatable and unconfirmed.

Language

Why is language so important?

We utilize language constantly throughout everyday life. Without language we would not have a medium of communicating our language, we would not be able to describe details of situations or record and pass on important facts. We would simply lack means of sharing information effectively, not having the reassurance of the one receiving our information comprehending and discerning it thoroughly as it is.

Where do languages originate from?

There are multiple theories and assumptions made with regards to the origin and evolution of languages, many of which highly oppose others, but seemingly the most popular theory of all suggests that our human language and vocal abilities initiated from the imitations of sounds heard through time. For example our ancestors could have possibly heard sounds made by other animals at the time and attempted to vocally reproduce these sounds, eventually leading to the development of certain sounds referring to certain things. There is no official evidence to confirm this theory and perhaps we will never know certainly how and when we acquired this gift of verbal and written communication, but this ability is undoubtedly one we would not be able to survive without.

What does your language say about you?

Language is arguably considered the basis of nearly all communication and the sharing of knowledge. We read, write and speak a language and are thus able to transfer information using these mediums, but how exactly does our language system work? How come we have numerous different languages worldwide rather than a single universal language that everyone is able to understand? What is the purpose of incorporating a number of words into our highly complex language systems that mean the exact same thing? Firstly we must touch upon the primary origins of our modern language systems.


How come the human language is so different from the language incorporated by other animals?

What is the reasoning behind the complex and intricate structure of our verbal and written communication system? When studying other animals and the means through which they communicate their information, it is evident that these methods are incomparably different to those of humans. For example many animals communicate by movement alone and even those that communicate verbally do not incorporate language systems as complicated as humans. Also, it is important to note that most animals of the same species can communicate with every other animal of the same species, yet we humans have divided ourselves into groups of individuals taking into account the language that we speak. Surely we can somehow get our message across by communicating gestures and images to an individual who does not speak the same language as we do, but of course this will be much more difficult for us to do as we have become so adapt to our language system and communicating with only those who speak the same way that we do.

In conclusion, our languages are exceedingly unique and extraordinary and we as a species have developed an extremely efficient and useful way of communicating information, and perhaps, in the future, we may all be required to speak a single universal language, but for the time being, knowing as many languages as possible could be a highly advantageous ability.