Descartes and The Truman Show

Christof

Descartes believes that there is always an evil being trying to trick him. Showing him a fake reality. In the Truman Show Christof is  the deciever. He lies to Truman his entire life, making him believe a false reality just so he can have a good TV show. But one thing Descartes knows is who he is. This is similar to the Truman Show. Everything around him is fake but Truman knows who he is, and what he wants in life. To come to the truth that his whole world is fake Truman had to overcome some philosophical obstacles. Truman had to come to the conclusion that his friends, family, and all of his memories were fake.

My Depiction of Plato's Cave

Here is my depiction of Plato's Cave. I modernized it ever so slightly. The cave is a symbol of the darkness in which people live. They do not truly know what life is. The Sun is a symbol for the truth about the world. It makes you start questioning things once you see it. What is life? Who am I? There are also men that treat people like puppets. They tell you what the world is, but that is not true. You have to figure it out on your own.

Another depiction of Plato;s Cave

Friendship

Friendship for Utility - Aristotle said that some people have friendships based on utility which means that they do not actually love each other but love the good that they do for each other.

Kramer fitting a bro on Frank Costanza

In Seinfeld Cosmo Kramer and Frank Costanza begin to hang out a lot. The only reason they hung out so much though was because they came up with an ingenious idea. A form of support for a mans chest similar to a woman's bra. Their friendship was put to the test when they could not decide on a name. Kramer wanted to call it a bro and Frank wanted to call it a manzzere. This showed that they were in a friendship for utility because their friendship ended once they had this disagreement.

Friendship for Pleasantness - Aristotle said that some friendships are solely based on the love and enjoyment of one another.

Jerry and George pitching their sitcom

Another example from Seinfeld is George Costanza and Jerry. Their friendship seems to be just for their enjoyment. Neither party seems to really get anything out of it. Occasionally they will do things for each other but the friendship definitely is not based on that.

Perfect Friendship -  Aristotle said that the perfect friendship is one that is for pleasantness and utility.

Bruce Wayne and Alfred chatting it up

In the Batman series Bruce Wayne (Batman) and his Butler Alfred have the perfect frienship. Obviously it is for utility because Alfred is Bruce's butler but they have developed a strong bond and actually love and care for each other.

The Categorical Imperative in Rocky IV

    

The Categorical Imperative in Rocky IV

  In the movie Rocky IV an aging Apollo Creed has an exhibitiob fight with Phenom Russian boxer Ivan Drago. In the fight Rocky is in Creed's corner as his trainer. In the fight Apollo receives a thrashing from the super boxer Drago. Beaten so bad that blood is gushing from his face Apollo tells Rocky not to stop the fight. The next round Apollo is killed because Rocky doesn't stop the fight.

Lifeless Apollo Creed



       During the fight Rocky had a duty to Apollo to not stop the fight. Apollo wanted to go out with a bang. He had honor and wanted to prove he was still a good boxer at an older age. Rocky also had a duty to himself because he was getting older as well.
       The categorical imperative would to be to stop the fight so Apollo lives but Rocky did not do so. He must have felt that his duty to Apollo was stronger than his duty to keep Apollo safe.



Is the Ethical Stage of Life the Actual Stage of Freedom?

Many people in the ethical stage of life think that a person in the aesthetic stage of life are not really free but actually controlled by impulses and never actually chooses what they want to do. A great example of this idea is Ron Burgundy. Time and time again he allows his impulses get in the way of what he truly wants to do.

Ron Burgundy hitting on Veronica Corningstone



One of Ron's main goals for his future is to become a network Anchor but his rivalry with Veronica Corningstone got in the way of this. When Ron's dog is punted off a bridge he is a wreck and cant make it to work to read the news in time. Corningstone takes his place and soon becomes his co-anchor. A rivalry ensues and ends when Veronica  writes "Go f*ck yourself San Diego" knowing Ron will read anything on the teleprompter. Ron is fired from the station but if he just was ethical and did not start a huge rivalry he would have kept his job and would be a network news anchor in no time!

Aristotle Character Types

Virtuous - A virtuous person that i know is Leonardo Dicaprio. Everyone knows Leo but not everyone knows that he is one of the most charitable people on the planet Earth. For the ALS Ice Bucket challenge he donated one hundred thousand dollars to ALS research.

Leonardo Dicaprio

Continent - Raj Koothrappali from the big bang theory is continent. He almost always wants to do the wrong thing but never does it. Occasionally he will think about trying to steal Bernadette from Howard but never follows through.

Raj Koothrappali



Incontinent - Peter Griffin is a perfect example of incontinent. He always seems to know exactly what the right thing is to do but he tends to do whatever he wants, such as drinking with his friends, or fighting a giant chicken.

Peter Griffin

Vicious- The emperor from star wars is defineteley vicious.  All he seems to want is power and he kills and destroys as he pleases. He pits father against son and doesn't care. He also lies to everyone in the galaxy to gain their trust and kills almost all the Jedi.

The Emperor





My Summer 2014

    This summer I did a lot of fun things. I saw Billy Joel in Boston, saw Billy Joel in New York, and learned how to water ski and wake board! On June 26th my parents grandparents and I went into Boston to see Billy Joel at Fenway Park. Before the show we ate at Jerry Remy's. Billy Joel put on a great performance that night. A week later my parents and I visited New York City and saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden, I met the famous rapper Action Bronson after.

Me and Action Bronson

 Me and my Pop Pop

Oh wait switch those captions... 

There were many intriguing news stories this summer. One of those news stories was extremely sad, the actor and comedian  Robin Williams passed away. Williams committed suicide by hanging himself in his garage. There was a huge outpouring of grief and sadness.

Robin William





Another big news story this summer was a lot more local. The popular super market chain Market Basket almost went out of business when the CEO Arthur T. Demoulas was fired by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas and the board of directors. Employees picketed and went on strike. Customers also boycotted the store until Arthur T. Demoulas was reinstated. Eventually a deal was worked out and Arthur T. Demoulas bought the company.

Rally at Market Basket in Tewsbury