JA1. Learning Journal 1

Statement

This week we covered only three schools of thought in Philosophy. These are not all of them, and the three may not be ranked at the top of many lists as the most important ones. We will talk about more later in the course. For this week’s LJ, please reflect on an area covered that surprised you most about Pragmatism, Positivism, or Realism.

Answer

This was the first week of this course it was an introduction to the schools of thought; the three schools of Pragmatism, Positivism, and Realism were covered. What surprised me was the level of detail and depth these schools differentiate from each other.

To me -the novice philosopher-, I thought that being pragmatic and driven by consequences is the same as being realistic or positive; as behaving within the limits of reality requires assessing the consequences of actions; and assessing consequences requires evidence and testing, things that can be found in the scientific method adapted by positivism.

I think that One can not belong to one school of thought only; as our modern and complex societies require a mix of these schools to make decisions. However, finding the right balance is a complex task. I was always more pragmatic, but there are situations where I need to be more positive or realistic. I hope that the coming units will give me more insights about these schools.

Another thing that surprised me, while doing my research, I found different resources that categorize the same philosopher under different schools of thought.

In my written assignment, I chose to write about Thomas Hobbes, which is an English philosopher who lived during the English Civil War; he is considered a realist; but also, the father of political philosophy. His theory about the social contract and the state of nature is interesting, he presented them in many of his books, but especially in his book “Leviathan”. I agree with his views that authorities should be obeyed, and people should not be given too much freedom; however, I disagree with the level of power he gives to the sovereign (ruler or government), I think rulers should have just enough power (less than what Hobbes suggests), and the public should be given enough freedom (more than what Hobbes suggests); however finding the right balance is a complex task, and depends on large number of factors.