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JA7. Learning Journal 7

Statement

Hopefully, this week has increased your worldview about Philosophy in your life.

For this week’s journal, please share:

  • What the most interesting part (lesson/discussion) this week was to you?
  • How did that reading, or experience of thinking about it, change your perception of knowledge and truth around you?
  • Consider the philosophers discussed in this unit and please explain how you thought before, and how the new viewpoint changed that old thinking into something new.

Answer

The most interesting lesson I learned about this week was Voltaire’s quote: “If God had not existed, it would have been necessary to invent him”. This quote is interesting as it aligns with my Islamic thoughts where the doctrine says that each human is born equipped with the true path to find God, but humans changed the course of new children.

The quote also reflects Voltaire’s beliefs in the limitations of science, thus any phoneme that science can not explain is being attributed to a stronger entity, that is God. This quote also reflects how important religion is in human life and its role in shaping our morals and ethics.

On the knowledge and truth, the quote signals that whatever we agree on becomes the truth as the concept of “inventing God” indicates. God is stronger than humans and we can not create a God, but if more people agreed on calling something a God, then it may become a God despite it is not; a good example is the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs who were considered Gods despite being humans like us. The accumulation of truths constructs knowledge, and the more people agree on truth, the more it becomes knowledge.

Voltaire’s perspective encourages us to challenge all pieces of knowledge to separate the true truth from false truths that are only agreed upon. Voltaire was an advocate for freedom of speech, religion, civil liberties, and free trade (Philosophy Basics, 2024). He was also a strong critic of the church but not the Christian faith itself (The School of Life, 2016). Voltaire also believed in reason, science, and justice; he insisted on religious tolerance and that no state or religion is immune to challenges (Lumen Learning, 2024).

Before learning about Voltaire, I did not know what deism existed, it is a belief system that believes in God but not in the church. I think this view aligns with my views on the evolution and origin of humans; as atheists say that humans and the universe are a result of a series of coincidences and there is no God; however, I personally believe that evolution happened but under the will of God and not some arbitrary coincidences. This view is similar to deism and it is close to Voltaire’s beliefs.

I would like to conclude with another quote from Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. This quote proves that Voltaire was a great man with great values; those values are taken for granted in the modern world, but they were revolutionary in his time.

References