Extended Project

As a philosophy, RS and psychology student I am often asked why I chose these subjects as 'aren't the all the same?' After explaining what each subject is people then go on to wonder why I study philosophy and RS as 'aren't they irrelevant nowadays?' This thought to me, is bizarre as I have always been interested in the subjects and see their influence all around. I though of the extended project as a perfect way to investigate why this view is often held among young people and to investigate to what extent is it true.

July 2014

- After having our first EPQ meeting I decided to entitle my project: How relevant is philosophy to young people in today's culture? Exploring the gap between public perception and actual relevance.
- I decided to divide my overall subject into subtopics.
- I chose 'religious reference in popular music' and 'current affairs' to start with.
- I want to create a presentation as well as write an essay on this topic. I decided that in my presentation I want to include recorded interviews of people my age asking what they believe philosophy to be and whether they feel it is relevant. Also what they know of religion and how accessible they find it.

September 2014

- I started recording all of my ideas/thoughts on a word document.  Today, (the 16th September) it looks like this:

How relevant in philosophy and theology to young people in today’s culture? Exploring the gap between public perception and actual relevance.

It is my view that in today’s youth culture many people do not seem to think philosophy is relevant. This seems to go as far as people not even really knowing what philosophy is and confusing it with subjects such as psychology and sociology. As someone who studies philosophy and psychology I find this baffling. It seems to me that philosophy and theology are both subjects that are very relevant today.

I hope to explore a sub-topic of religious reference in popular music and to also look at a relevant political problem such as the conflict in Gaza to show the immediacy of the two topics.

I also want to create a presentation involving interviews with fellow students – firstly asking what they think philosophy is and building from there. My prediction is that at first people will not be particularly aware of the prevalence of philosophy but by the end will have changed their minds.

Religious Reference In Popular Music

-          Religion has been made much more accessible through the media eg music

-          Whether through songs of praise or passing reference to God

-          Does the throwing around of religion in music and the media devalue it?

-            Christianity (59.5%)

  No religion (25.7%)

  Not stated (7.2%)

  Islam (4.4%)

  Hinduism (1.3%)

  Other religions (1.8%)

-          Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ Is a song currently in the charts and has a clear gospel influence. The music video consists of him singing in a church surrounded by a gospel choir.

-          The way that religion in represented through the media has made it for some almost a fashion statement eg people wearing crosses. However, the influence of religion is all around us in the way we make decisions, what we consider is appropriate public behaviour and what we consider to be moral.

-          http://scf.ifl.net/cgi-local/snpfiltered.pl?t=c&u=http://rap.genius.com/Busta-rhymes-thank-you-lyrics

-          Busta Rhymes ‘Thank You’ consists of various artists rapping about all of the wealth, drugs and girls that they get from their fame. All of the men are thanking their ‘Heavenly Father’ for ‘shining your light on me’ ad they do not believe that their success could have happened without him. I find this particularly interesting as living in extreme excess, which could be described as greed, is not a way of life often attributed to religion. I believe that songs like these are large contributors to the changing perceptions of religion in youth culture and modern society. The above link explores this in more depth.

 Current Affairs

-          When do we decide it is time to get involved in foreign conflicts?

-          How should we help them?

-          Whos side should we choose?

-          All of these decisions are made through philosophical ethical theories such and Bentham;s Utilitarianism.

-          This is an example of the current use of philosophy.

- I am regularly updating the word document with new ideas and showing it to my supervisor.
- I am considering changing the focus of my project to just 'religious reference in popular music' as in researching this I have realised how much there is and how interesting I find it. I am not sure however as I am very interested in the public perception of philosophy.
- I am finding starting an essay very difficult to get into.
- I have also been looking into past decades for religious references in then popular music to try and compare what it used to be like to how it is today.
- After speaking to my EPQ supervisor on Friday the 12th I have been looking at some books which try and make philosophy accessible for young people. One of these is 'The Philosophy Files' by Stephen Lay and another is 'Philosophy for Teens by Sharon M. Kaye and Paul Thomson. I am looking at these to try and see how and where philosophy is made accessible to younger generations.
- After much deliberation I have decided to put much more of an emphasis onto the 'religious reference in popular music' element of my project. I still want to look at the public perception of philosophy and theology but would like to approach it through this topic to look at how the presentation of religious and philosophical ideas in the media have changed how it is perceived. I would also like to keep my focus on youth culture as I find this area particularly interesting. I would like to include the representation of religion through popular music during previous generations as well to look at how the references have changed and compare them to the corresponding beliefs of the time.
- I am looking into the song Hallelujah as Alexandra Burke's version was one of the top 100 singles in the 2000s. Further from this, it is full of religious reference and has had a huge influence - with over 300 versions known and it being translated into many languages.

October 2014
- While writing my personal statement (philosophy and theology) I was looking into surveys of religious beliefs in the UK and I found that in a 2011 census, 59.5% of people were said to be Christian, with only 25.7% claiming they were not religious. In 2013 however 50.6% of people said they were not religious. I am looking into how popular music may have had an effect on this.
- I have started writing the essay and am making a particular effort not to drift from the research that I have already done so as to keep my essay on the point. So far my research has been sufficient.
- I had some difficulty writing my essay recently as some websites I am using have been blocked by the school sever due to explicit language in song lyrics. This has been slightly difficult as I much prefer to work at school as I find it easier to concentrate. Today however (14th), the website has been unblocked and I can continue to work at school.
- Due to various difficulties outside of EPQ I have found getting on with my essay fairly difficult. I have also found that most of the research I have done is fairly descriptive and therefore difficult to write a long and detailed essay.
- I am now working on getting more research from critics to add some depth to my essay and considering widening the subject title to talk more about philosophical thinking on current affairs.
- I have added to the content of my essay by writing about use of philosophical theories in the running of a state and tried to apply them to current affairs. At the moment I am writing about Utilitarianism and the decision to join the air strike campaign on Syria and Iraq.

November
- The essay writing is going well. As I had some difficulty starting the essay I decided to not start it. I've been writing lots of different sections and am now in the process of trying to bring them all together.
- I have also decided to include a section the current debates surrounding the niqab and burqa and Halal meat and whether religious laws should transcend that of the state.
- I have created a sources evaluation document so I can evaluate my research as I go rather than having to do it all at the end. It looks like this:

- I have also started planning my EPQ presentation as I am giving it on the 2nd of December.

- I have also started  including visual aids in my essay as I feel that will help to break it up and make some of the concepts I am describing clearer. Some examples are: 

- The essay is basically finished however I do not feel it is ready to hand in yet as I would still like to go over and make final edits.

- I have finished the presentation and am now making final changes and running through it.

December

- I am mainly focusing on my presentation as it is tomorrow (today is the 1st).

- I have had a run-through of my presentation with my supervisor to make sure it included everything needed.

- The presentation went well. I received good feedback from all of the supervisors.

- I am now making final edits on my essay and making sure I have all the components to my folder.

- I am also making sure I have included all the correct references in my essay.

- After going through my essay many times I have decided it is finished

- I have now finished putting all the parts of my folder together as well

- Finished!

How Were Aristotle's Works Recovered?

One theory about how hos works were preserved and recovered after the Library of Alexandria burnt down is described by Stabo in his Geography and Plutarch in his Parallel Lives. It is said the manuscrpits were left by Aristotle to his successor, Theophrastus, who then left them to Neleus of Scepsis in his will. According to Stabo and Plutarch, Nelus took the writing from Atens to Scepsis (a disciple of Aristotle), where they were left in a cellar until the 1st century BC. They were then discovered by Apellicon of Teos who purchased the manuscripts and brought them back to Athens. Supposedly, Apellicon tried to repair some of the damage done while the scripts were in the basement resulting in errors produced in the text. Later, Lucius Cornelis Sulla occupied Athens and brought the Library of Apellicon to Rome where the texts were first oublished in 60 BC.

Explain what is meant by the claim that 'any world created by God is the best of all possible worlds' (30 marks)

It can be argued that 'any world created by God is the best of all possible worlds'. This would claim that the world that we live in is the best it could be. God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, therefore he has the power and love to create out world to the best of his ability - the best there is.

 17th century philosopher Gottfried Leibniz presented this idea in his work Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil. He argues that God has an idea, or knows of infinite universes. God has a choice to make as only one of these can exist. All of God's choices are made under the principle of sufficient reason (all things occur for a specific reason), and God is good, therefore, all of God's choices will be the best possible, or most perfect decisions. Leibniz puts together these two ideas an concludes that as a omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient being, God would only create/choose a world that is the best it could possibly be.

 Many people argue that this world couldn't be the best possible one with the existence of evil and suffering. Leibniz contradicts this argument by saying that we need evil and suffering to grow and produce character, primarily courage. Leibniz argues that without evil and suffering we would not have courage and therefore would not know what it is to help others and stand up against thing we know as being wrong.

 Further support of this argument comes from the interpretation of Genesis from Hebrew. In Hebrew the word 'Tam' is used many times to describe God's creation (in the English translation the word is 'good'). One translation of the word 'Tam' is perfect or unblemished, this would imply that there is no more that can be done to the world as God has made it as good as it can be.

PS I'M REALLY SORRY MISS I COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO WRITE!!!

Woman in the Bible

It seems to me that references to women in the Bible are few and far between and when they appear they seem to be entirely unpleasant or almost saintlike in their actions. Even when referring to God the adjectives all seem very masculine, for example: Lord, Everlasting Father, Strength, Prince of Peace etc. In the Gospels God is called 'Father' 170 times and 11 in the Old Testament. He is never called Mother.

When presented with women in the bible we seem to get one of two extremes; they are either practically perfect in every way or entirely sinful, disgraceful beings. One example of a good girl is the Virgin Mary. She follows God's will without question and is even grateful. After Mary's told she will give birth to Jesus she sings a song called 'The Magnificat' (Luke 1:46-55) in it she says: "my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid."  This shows hoe she feels blessed by the fact that God has bothered to do this for her as she is nothing but a servant to him.

Another example of a 'good' girl from the Bible is Ruth. When Ruth's husband dies she stays with her mother-in-law Naomi, and wehn Naomi suggests she sleep with (and therefore marry) Boaz, a rich land owner, in order to protect the both of them from poverty and hunger she does so without question. Ruth is good because she shows compassion and loyalty towards Naomi: "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." - Ruth 1:16.

There are many not so good girls, however, one of them being Eve. Eve is weak allows herself to be tempted to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. As if this wasn't bad enough she then goes on to temp Adam into doing the same thus resulting in the original Sin and the human inheritance of concupiscence. The role of the serpant is often overlooked as Eve should not have allowed herself to be tempted in the way that she was.

Potiphar's wife is another example of a 'bad girl'. Potiphar is a rich man with many slaves and his wife falls in love with one named Joseph, she tries to tempt him into sleeping with her but when he refuses and runs away she accuses him of rape. In this story Potipher's wife tries to use her power as a woman and also her social status to dominate Joseph, a man. Not only does she try this but when she does not succeed she relies on her Husband's power to punish him.

Personally, I think that this story is told from an incredubly biased perspective. Never once do you hear it from the point of view of Potipher's Wife. The fact that she is not even granted her own name seems to make her even more of a piece in this story to show how bad a woman can be. There are many refrences in the story to show that prehaps she was unhappy with a husband who did not care about her for example the description of Potipher: "he had no concern for anything but the food he ate." These details, however, are ignored and once Joseph is unfairly punished and the woman showed to be an eveil temptress she is not mentioned again.

Overall I think that there are many more stories of women being sinful and evil than there are of them being 'good'. And when they are showed in a positive light they are shown to be pure and perfect, never once stepping a foot out of line. To me this dies not seem fair, nor realistic.

Fatalism, Determinisms and Predestination

The disapearance of Madeliene McCann according to a fatalistic, deterministic and predestinationist point of view:

Fatalism: Madeliene was always going to go missing at the exact time, place and way she did. There was nothing that could be done to prevent it.

Determinsm: It was dtermined that Madleine was going to go missing and the choices of everyone involved i.e. the parents and kidnappers are what led to it hapening the way that it did.

Predestination: A higher power (God) planned for Madeliene to go missing. Human choices did not effect the matter.

What Is Being Human (30 mark essay)

The question of what it means to be human is one that has been and I'm sure will continue to be asked over and over again. Opinions stem from many different sources and belief systems.

One major aspect of being human is the fact that we are relational beings. From a Christian point of view we are made in he 'imago dei' (image of God) and God consists of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is the inter-relation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that all amount to one almighty God. This would therefore imply that to be made in God's image we must be inter-relational beings ourselves. The human relationship with God is demonstrated in the Nicene Creed which supports a strong relationship with each aspect of the Trinity and with what seems to be a very impersonal and transcendent God. As well as having the ability to posses strong relationships with God we are also able to create strong relationships with one another. This abides by the Golden Rule: 'Love they neighbor as yourself' - Mark 12:31.

It can be argues that our ability to reason is what makes us human as we seem to be the only animals on earth who are able to. Plato and Aristotle are two philosophers who explore this. Plato creates the image of the human soul being a chariot. The chariot is led by a driver with two horses. The driver represents reasonn one horse represents appetite and the other is emotion. According to Plato reason must keeps the two horses under control and stop the soul from being unbalanced. From a Christian point of view reason is also a vital part of humanity. Thomas Aquinas creates the cosmological argument for the existence of God based on reason, this suggests that reason allows us to be closer to God. C.S. Lewis also shows how humans experience the word through reason in his poem 'On Being Human'.

Many religious believers also believe that we were created entirely by God and this is a fundamental part of what makes us human. For Christians in Genesis 2:7 it says God 'formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life'. Humans were also created last in the Genesis creation story and given 'stewardship' over the rest of creation. This massively sets humanity apart from the other animals as they are in a position of power over creation. This power was given by God and shows how we are something more than the rest of creation. This shows how, for Christians, our existence completely relies on God and our significant place in creation is down to the fact that we were created by him.

Psalm 139 And The Nicene Creed

Psalm 139 and the Nicene Creed are similar in that they both explore  human relationships with God.

The Nicene Creed explores a relationship with a transcendent God. This is implied as throughout the Creed God is presented as a trinity i.e. he is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As this Creed is written before the Catholic/Protestant split (?) it is believed that the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and Son. The first Stanza focuses on the Father, the second on the Son and the third on the Holy Spirit. This idea of an impersonal/transcendent God is further enforced by the lack of 1st person, also God is referred to as "He", which seems to be the way you'd address someone you don't really know, throughout the text.

The Creed is very inclusive of those who acknowledge it. This is shown through the repetition of "We". The text however, excludes anyone who doesn't follow the religion in this way.

Psalm 139 explores a much more personal and immanent relationship with God. This is evident from the first line "O LORD you have searched me and known me". Here the speaker is directly addressing God rather than just talking about his character. The speaker also uses direct address throughout the Psalm. Walter Bruggemann suggests that the repetition of the 'You' and 'me' pronouns imply that the Psalm is written to a known named and unidentifiable other.

The Psalm also addressed the awesome power of God and emphasises how God possesses all of the Omnis. The first Stanza explores the omniscience of God and tells us how God is on another level of knowledge that is far too great for humans to understand. The second stanza talks of God's omnipresence and gives examples such as God being able to see you in Sheol (a place of no life).  In the third Stanza the speaker talks of how God makes us and suggests that he plans out our lives. "In your book were written/ all the days that were formed for me". Personally I think that this idea shows a great lack of faith in humanity as it suggests that everything that we do was previously planned out by God and that we are incapable of making a decision that hasn't already been made for us.

The last Stanza of the Psalm seems to take on a confessional and almost desperate tone. It is almost as though the speaker has sinned and he is begging God not to punish him as he is scared. I think that this suggests a menacing and unforgiving side to God that is covered up in the rest of the Paslm.