Is Philosophy and Death Related?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/socrates-in-love-review-a-vigorous-brilliant-young-man-11558101044

       Who is this stone like creation? Is it a person? 

Of course...it is none other than the great philosopher, Socrates!

First let us discuss some background regarding Socrates' work and his role in "Phaedo". 

Socrates was a Greek Philosopher from Athens who has been given credit as one of the main founders of Western Philosophy. Now, Western Philosophy and Thought are vital to learning about the new world and seeking change. Socrates focused on challenging the common ideologies and suppressing them with ethical development. He performed lots of work regarding skepticism and individualism, as he believed it influenced the human conception of understanding the world. 

http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/35313/1/Unit-1.pdf

With this being said, Socrate's brilliant ideas were formulated in "Phaedo" where he gives his take on the way that Philosophy and Death are related. Throughout this dialogue, there are a few opposing viewpoints that linger throughout the story. The more appropriate one to focus on is Socrate's ability to match death up with the gift of life. Socrates believed that death...was not evil, in fact it revealed the most about someone. Socrates was all about questioning the authority and providing commentary that might seem unreal to others, but actually is sensible enough to support. Socrates saw that the purpose of philosophy was to free the soul by guiding to the truths that are not accessible in the living world. Thus, when death came,  it was a time of being released and saved fro, internal sin. In "Phaedo", we are told," For then, and not till then, the soul will be in herself alone and without the body. In this present life, I reckon that we make the nearest approach to knowledge when we have the least possible concern or interest in the body, and are not saturated with the bodily nature, but remain pure until the hour when God himself is pleased to release us" (Phaedo, unknown page #). This quotation was long, however packed with such useful information. Socrates views death as a goal, rather than an obstacle. In our own lives, we may be hiding sin, but when death reaches us, our body is free of any stress or wrong-doings. Socrates sees death as a time in one's life, not to be sad, but to rejoice since God is there to essentially 'cleanse the soul'. 

My opinion: 

Although I am not a Greek Philosopher, I agree almost entirely with the words of Socrates. Although the dialogue, "Phaedo" was lengthy, the key points summarize to the fact that death should not be avoided or feared, it is a time of liberation, according to Socrates. We have had this discussion earlier in the semester regarding the fear of death, and my opinion is still the same on the subject. As a kid, I feared death, probably like others did too. But, from a standpoint based off of religious values and philosophical morals, death is a time to be free. We live our lives with sin, regret and stress. So, when the body is laid to rest, the soul is eternally free of any of that. Humans are physically apparent, but in reality, the soul is the only thing that is carried on in the afterlife. Thus, death is a connection between being free and escaping and hard realities that life had offered. Death is a time when the soul is free to explore, it is not limited to being trapped inside an unwanted body. 

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/668674
                               

Should Reparations Not Be Dependent On the Causes of Racial Inequality?

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=reparations+for+racial+ineqwaulloity&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi-z4rV3OvsAhXgwCkDHbNaDrMQ2-

What Picture Comes to Your Mind?

I think most everyone can agree on the fact that there is a very distinguishable amount of racial inequality to this day. However, since this theme of racism has been around since the 17th century and not much has been done, African American history has gone unnoticed. Although there has been some reform, is it really enough to justify that the past is covered up? Although slavery does not exist anymore, the African American community is still seen, by some, as inferior to the rest of the population. They are sick of it; sick of being mistreated, sick of being crucified because of their color of their skin and culture. They know that the current reparations that have been directed towards their race is not enough to overcome the 400 + year inequality that they faced. In fact, people's grandparents that are still alive were probably slaves or mistreated horribly. 

What Does Darby Say?

Darby argues that focusing on other alternatives to addressing reparations rather than zooming in on a particular event that occurred throughout history such as slavery. He argues that all root causes of racial inequality constitute obstacles to self development. A truly liberal society which focuses on individual freedom would try to eradicate any obstacles such as racial inequality. What makes Darby's argument unique is that he does not focus on the normative ideal of providing explanation for root causes of racial inequality, but he differs from this argument, leaving space for disagreement over these particular inequalities. The reason for bringing up this point is because it puts both sides of the argument into one claim. People who wish to defend black reparations while also noticing the disagreement among social scientists with regards to the root, empirical (as Darby frequently uses) causes of racial inequalities that are reoccurring.

Do I Agree With Darby?

Short answer: Yes

Justification: I really enjoyed Darby's view of the persistent racial issues. Reparations need to be given to the African American community. Although some people may not agree, we did not live when this community faced complete discrimination, slavery and segregation. There is no room to talk, the bottom line is that there is still innate racism infused in some people's heads, further adding to the reason that African Americans need reparations. However, the twist is that instead of basing it off root causes of inequality since there is apparent disagreement, Darby mentions that there needs to be some room for disagreement since African American history is not well recorded, thus applying blame to people is unrealistic. Thus, offering a view that focuses on self-development and freedom rather than focusing on those roots problems such as slavery. Clearly, we are still in a time of racial injustice, so this issue matters even more. Since we  (U.S.) have not made any progress in providing compensation to the African American community, we need to think of things on a simpler scale, rather than try to associate blame to people, when events such as slavery happen centuries ago. This argument suggests a possible way forward and it deals with not focusing on the past events that are out of our reach. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/most-americans-say-the-legacy-of-slavery-still-affects-black-people-in-the-u-s-today/

I really enjoyed this graphic as I was searching on the internet. It shows that everyone is in a disagreement with regards to the issues of reparations. Clearly, African Americans will support their own claim, but everyone else is not in full support. This is the root problem. We need to change this and start assigning reparations despite any differences.