1. Upanishads, according to Ancient History Encyclopedia, are "are a collection of texts of religious and philosophical nature, written in India probably between c. 800 BCE and c. 500 BCE, during a time when Indian society started to question the traditional Vedic religious order."
Upanishad means "sitting down near" and represent experiences of many men and women.
upa = near
shad = to sit
It contains important topics on Indian philosophy which includes the following principles: karma, dharma, and moksha; forming metaphysical theme.
Their concepts include:
- Reincarnation: after we die, our soul is reborn into another body.
- Karma: "action"; there are consequences for good and bad actions
- Dharma: "the right duty"; everyone have a specific set of responsibility.
- Moksha: "liberation"; seeking permanent peace or freedom from suffering.
2. Marx Appeal, or Marxism is based on political and economical theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. According to AllAboutPhilosophy.org, "Marxism is the system of socialism of which the dominant feature is public ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange."
Religion is the response to pain and being alive. "Marxist philosophy holds that the matter we see in nature is all that exists. This materialistic interpretation of the world is an essential ingredient of Marxist thought." (AllAbout).
- Marxist deny the supernatural
- Nothing can count as knowledge unless they can be tested (scientifically related)
- All change is merely transitory
3. Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844—1900) was a German philosopher who "foresaw the dissolution of traditional religion and metaphysics."(IEP).
- Human craft their own identity through self-realization
- Death of God
- Eternal recurrence: all existence including the universe, as well as energy, have been recurring and will continue to recur.
- All actions can be interpreted as manifestations of will to power/ a world whose essence is will to power
4. Hume's criticism of Miracles
According to Hume, miracles are the same thing as unexpected events.
Miracle is...
1. an event that has religious significance
2. an event caused by God
3. an event that violates law of nature
http://documents.routledge-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/9781138793934/A2/Hume/HumeMiracles.pdf
Hume argues that it is not reasonable to believe that a miracle has occurred.
1. there is no miracle attested to by people of good sense, education, integrity, and reputation, where the miracle is witnessed by many such people (the attributes listed describe people we can trust not to be easily fooled and to tell the truth without exaggerating)
2. human nature enjoys surprise and wonder, which gives us a tendency to believe unusual things when the belief isn’t justified
3. tales of miracles are common among ignorant peoples, and diminish in civilization; and the tales of miracles are often given in explanation of everyday events, such as battles and famine, that don’t need a miraculous explanation.
-human testimony is unreliable.
-human beings love fantasy and bizarre tales.
-miracles are found among barbarous people.
https://www.probe.org/humes-critique-of-miracles/
5. Loretto Chapel Miracle
Loretto Chapel is a former Roman Catholic church and "has been the subject of legend, and the circumstances surrounding its construction and its builder were considered miraculous by the Sisters of Loretto."
Needing a way to get up to the choir loft the nuns prayed for St. Joseph's intercession for nine straight days. On the day after their novena ended a shabby-looking stranger appeared at their door. He told the nuns he would build them a staircase but that he needed total privacy and locked himself in the chapel for three months. He used a small number of primitive tools including a square, a saw and some warm water and constructed a spiral staircase entirely of non-native wood. The identity of the carpenter is not known for as soon as the staircase was finally finished he was gone. Many witnesses, upon seeing the staircase, feel it was constructed by St. Joseph himself, as a miraculous occurrence.
The resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet, making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or apparent center support. It has been surmised that the central spiral of the staircase is narrow enough to serve as a central beam. Nonetheless there was no attachment unto any wall or pole in the original stairway, although in 1887—10 years after it was built—a railing was added and the outer spiral was fastened to an adjacent pillar.[3] Instead of metal nails, the staircase was constructed using dowels or wooden pegs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_Chapel
1. Upanishads ideas are pretty much almost exactly the same thing as Buddhism’s belief. I personally don’t exactly believe in everything. There is a Thai saying (that my mum always reminds me) that one should “ฟังหูไว้หู” or to not believe everything you hear. I think reincarnation is possible because humans are composed of the physical body, while the soul is pretty much a form of energy. Since matter and energy doesn’t just disappear, it is possible that there is reincarnation. Karma also comes in the form of energy, so that is something that I think is leaning towards possibility (action = reaction). I think Dharma is just a concept so that humans would live peacefully; everyone would have something to do and be responsible for their roles. I don’t know if Moksha is real or not because one will never know unless one finds out or witness for oneself.
2. As for Marxism, the only idea that I agree with is “all change is merely transitory.” “Nothing can count as knowledge unless they can be tested” is also another interesting idea which relates to the concept of to “not believe in everything you hear.”
Supernatural things can scare humans, so perhaps Marxists are people who are anxious or afraid of supernatural..? I don’t think Marxism would work well in a society or a community because people have emotion, therefore they seek emotional comfort and that’s where the terms “supernatural,” “miracles,” and “religion” come in.
3. Nietzsche is new to me therefore I am still not quite sure of the main idea of Nietzsche. However, I agree that there is a possibility that self-realization influences human identity. I disagree with the eternal recurrence because everything has a beginning and an ending; nothing lasts forever.
4. & 5. I don’t think miracles should be defined as an “event caused by God” because not everyone believes in God, but there still call an unexpected event a miracle. With this topic, I think there are unexpected events that can’t still be explained, scientifically. It feels good to have the word “miracle” when something good and unexpected happens, so I’ll probably continue to use it and believe in it.
Anyway, the staircase is an interesting story that I’ve never heard of. If St. Joseph constructed the stairs himself, why wouldn’t he announce that he was the one who build it? Back then the technology wasn’t advanced enough, therefore for the carpenter who built it must have been a genius who wanted to remain anonymous. If one finds this story fascinating and believe it to be the work of miracle, what about the pyramids in Egypt? Did aliens build those?