Post by chun on Jan 12, 2015 9:39:03 GMT
1.Why was Socrates sentenced to death?
In the book "How Socrates Died", the author shows us the life of Socrates. Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher, was born in 470BC and died in 399 BC. However, Socrates was persecuted for two charges and eventually he was sentenced to death in 399BC. First, he was claimed by not believing in the gods that the State recognized. Facing the accusation, instead of accepting or denying the charges, Socrates explained how he had conformed to the State’s religious customs. For the second charges, Socrates was accused of corrupting the Athenians youth by Meletus. Most of the Athenians did not agree with Socrates’ idea - questioning about the existence of god. People are then translated his thought as “Socrates is trying to be a new god”. Although Crito had helped him to escape from the jail, Socrates had never try to do, or even think about that. Socrates was then sentenced to death by drinking the poisonous hemlock. Since Socrates died, Plato, the friend of Socrates, flee away from Athens. Years later when he returned, Plato built Acudemus - the first school of philosophy.
2. Why is there a conflict (for some) between science and religion?
Even though we are living in the 21st century, conflict between science and religion is still a debatable topic in the world. From the Big Band theory to the theory of relativity, scientists are trying to “prove” the world with theory. Scientists would say everything is made up of atoms - an atom is then made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons......
On the other hand, people with religion choose to “believe”. They believe in the god, the one who create the universe, build the creatures, and control our fate. Because of the strong distinct in belief, there is always a conflict between these two terms.
As the short movie mentioned, what make us, human beings, aware our own existence, is feeling. If we simply just made up of atoms (which is true), then why do we set apart from different creatures? Scientists can definitely answer to the questions by saying “human’s brain, in terms of size and complexity, is different from other animals... “. But after all, we just come back to the questions - what is an atom? what is a matter?
When I was in high school, I recalled what my ethics teacher told us in our last class - science can only prove the things up to a certain stage. Whenever science cannot prove, we need to believe. I guess that is the reason which makes science and religion separates from each other.
Extra Credit: What is Matter? The Magic of Physics
In the film, the narrator start by telling the origin of the word “matter” - it is from “mother”. He then moves on by breaking down the book - from paper, tree, cell, molecule, atom, protons, and eventually, photons and quarks. They are found to be indivisible. But who knows? Physicians maybe find something smaller inside the photons a day and prove that they can be further broken down into tiny “sub-photons”?
At the end, “matter”, the word, is created by us. We give the meaning to this vocabulary. It all depends on how we define the word. Therefore we can neither find a correct answer nor an absolute, unique explanation of the meaning of “matter”.
In the book "How Socrates Died", the author shows us the life of Socrates. Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher, was born in 470BC and died in 399 BC. However, Socrates was persecuted for two charges and eventually he was sentenced to death in 399BC. First, he was claimed by not believing in the gods that the State recognized. Facing the accusation, instead of accepting or denying the charges, Socrates explained how he had conformed to the State’s religious customs. For the second charges, Socrates was accused of corrupting the Athenians youth by Meletus. Most of the Athenians did not agree with Socrates’ idea - questioning about the existence of god. People are then translated his thought as “Socrates is trying to be a new god”. Although Crito had helped him to escape from the jail, Socrates had never try to do, or even think about that. Socrates was then sentenced to death by drinking the poisonous hemlock. Since Socrates died, Plato, the friend of Socrates, flee away from Athens. Years later when he returned, Plato built Acudemus - the first school of philosophy.
2. Why is there a conflict (for some) between science and religion?
Even though we are living in the 21st century, conflict between science and religion is still a debatable topic in the world. From the Big Band theory to the theory of relativity, scientists are trying to “prove” the world with theory. Scientists would say everything is made up of atoms - an atom is then made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons......
On the other hand, people with religion choose to “believe”. They believe in the god, the one who create the universe, build the creatures, and control our fate. Because of the strong distinct in belief, there is always a conflict between these two terms.
As the short movie mentioned, what make us, human beings, aware our own existence, is feeling. If we simply just made up of atoms (which is true), then why do we set apart from different creatures? Scientists can definitely answer to the questions by saying “human’s brain, in terms of size and complexity, is different from other animals... “. But after all, we just come back to the questions - what is an atom? what is a matter?
When I was in high school, I recalled what my ethics teacher told us in our last class - science can only prove the things up to a certain stage. Whenever science cannot prove, we need to believe. I guess that is the reason which makes science and religion separates from each other.
Extra Credit: What is Matter? The Magic of Physics
In the film, the narrator start by telling the origin of the word “matter” - it is from “mother”. He then moves on by breaking down the book - from paper, tree, cell, molecule, atom, protons, and eventually, photons and quarks. They are found to be indivisible. But who knows? Physicians maybe find something smaller inside the photons a day and prove that they can be further broken down into tiny “sub-photons”?
At the end, “matter”, the word, is created by us. We give the meaning to this vocabulary. It all depends on how we define the word. Therefore we can neither find a correct answer nor an absolute, unique explanation of the meaning of “matter”.