Hey my smart *** English teacher is always asking us to try and prove our existence to him....... When someone tries to say "Well you can see me can't you?" He'll reply "Have your eyes never deceived you before? Is that lake in the middle of the desert that always moves away from you when you get close to it real?" When you try to say "Well you can feel me...." He has another smart *** remark :P You go through all the senses and he manages to come up with an excuse for all of them.... So I was thinking, "Hmmmmm if I could prove my existence to this guy it would put me on his good side and most likely make the class easier for me...." So now I leave you with my question, is there any way to prove existence?
ronjanec
Aug31-08, 06:19 AM
The next time he does this ask him to define the word existence or ask what does it mean to exist in the first place?
Jackalope
Aug31-08, 03:02 PM
The next time he does this ask him to define the word existence or ask what does it mean to exist in the first place?
Ooo that's good dude! Thanks. I'll see how that one goes over on him :P Thanks for the quick reply :D
HallsofIvy
Aug31-08, 03:08 PM
I know I exist. Since you are the one I am not sure of, I see no point in trying to prove to you that I exist!
Jackalope
Aug31-08, 03:33 PM
No somebody has tried that remark but it just isn't witty enough.... You know what I mean?
out of whack
Aug31-08, 04:05 PM
Jackalope, let me convince you that I exist. But let me first confirm this: are you asking ME if I exist? If not then fine, I don't need to prove anything to you and we are done.
But if yes then since you are deliberately asking me something then you already know that I exist. If you didn't know this, then you wouldn't even consider speaking to me, and that should be proof enough for you.
But what's this retort you just made? "I may be an illusion?" Sure, but "what I am" is not what you were asking. Even if I am an illusion, the illusion exists since you are asking it a question. As long as you are addressing "something" then this "something" is relevant to you in some way and therefore this "something" exists (because what doesn't exist is not relevant).
octelcogopod
Aug31-08, 05:22 PM
Following out of whacks post, ask him this -> "if i didnt exist why would you be asking me this question?"
a2tha3
Aug31-08, 07:01 PM
you can't prove anything exists besides yourself. Search the archives, and you'll find some deep conversation on the concept of existence.
That wouldn't work octelgodopod, due to he could say something along the lines "If I don't exist then I'm not asking you this question, prove to me my existence" (two non-existent beings having a conversation)
I think that's what the original question was to prove all existence..maybe it was just to prove something exists.
Then your at a stalemate, and he wins.
Jackalope
Sep2-08, 10:37 PM
No it was to prove that I exist.....
Danielle.K
Sep10-08, 05:00 PM
Okay, I've had this question asked to me a billion times in my philosophy class :bugeye:
Actually, I have a project to do in that class. All we have to do is "Define and prove your existence" ...but we can't do it in an essay O.o Damn creative ways! If anyone has any ideas for what I can do, feel free to help me out, ha ha :smile:
But yeah, back to your problem... I can share with you a few points I jotted down for my project...
Fist off, we have "Why it can't be a dream," since that's what my teacher always likes to claim. "It's all an illusion! We are actually sleeping, Matrix style, in some crazy pods!" So, my arguments where...
- We'd all have to be having the same dream, since we interact with each other. Highly unlikely.
- We can't think logically in dreams, feel pain, OR question our actions. We can in life.
- You can't have an illusion within an illusion; it's too complicated. Too much room for errors that would make us question the fake 'reality' we are living in. So pretty much, dreams wouldn't work.
And if all else fails, go with the good old point "Why does it matter?"
- If it is all an illusion, we will never know otherwise.
- As long as we belive it's reality, it becomes our own little reality.
- If we find out it is an illusion, then we just need to stive for our actual reality.
Some thing you might want to talk about if arguing the "Why does it matter?" thing is "The Allegory of the Cave" which was posed by Plato.
Here's the picture: http://lssacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/cave.jpg
It's pretty much a story about these prisoners, chained to some chairs in a cave. They've been there all their lives and don't know anything else exists. Behind them is a fire, and their captors walk in front of it with weird shapes (cat, tree, etc.). The shadows show up on the wall the prisoners see, so to them, that is life. That IS reality. One day, one of the guys breaks the chains and goes free. He wanders out of the cave, and sees the world.
Now, he would have to go back and tell everyone what he saw, but the thing is, is that the right thing to do? If he tells them, some might love him, saying "Thank you! Now I know there is more to life!" Others might hate him, saying, "What the heck man! I was fine when THIS was my reality! Now I'll be depressed all my life knowing what's really going on!"
I'm not sure if that story will help you any, but who knows, it might :tongue:
But one thing you SHOULD know is this: "Cogito ergo sum" It's a Latin quote by René Descartes. It means "I think, therefore I am" It pretty much means if we can question our existence and reality, then that is proof enough that we DO exist and it IS real.
...I hope that helps you, ha ha! And if anyone has any ideas for my project, please, feel free to share :biggrin:
LightbulbSun
Sep10-08, 05:12 PM
I know I exist. Since you are the one I am not sure of, I see no point in trying to prove to you that I exist!
I say the same thing to you. Prove me wrong *****!
Jackalope
Oct3-08, 03:45 AM
Okay, I've had this question asked to me a billion times in my philosophy class :bugeye:
Actually, I have a project to do in that class. All we have to do is "Define and prove your existence" ...but we can't do it in an essay O.o Damn creative ways! If anyone has any ideas for what I can do, feel free to help me out, ha ha :smile:
But yeah, back to your problem... I can share with you a few points I jotted down for my project...
Fist off, we have "Why it can't be a dream," since that's what my teacher always likes to claim. "It's all an illusion! We are actually sleeping, Matrix style, in some crazy pods!" So, my arguments where...
- We'd all have to be having the same dream, since we interact with each other. Highly unlikely.
- We can't think logically in dreams, feel pain, OR question our actions. We can in life.
- You can't have an illusion within an illusion; it's too complicated. Too much room for errors that would make us question the fake 'reality' we are living in. So pretty much, dreams wouldn't work.
And if all else fails, go with the good old point "Why does it matter?"
- If it is all an illusion, we will never know otherwise.
- As long as we belive it's reality, it becomes our own little reality.
- If we find out it is an illusion, then we just need to stive for our actual reality.
Some thing you might want to talk about if arguing the "Why does it matter?" thing is "The Allegory of the Cave" which was posed by Plato.
Here's the picture: http://lssacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/cave.jpg
It's pretty much a story about these prisoners, chained to some chairs in a cave. They've been there all their lives and don't know anything else exists. Behind them is a fire, and their captors walk in front of it with weird shapes (cat, tree, etc.). The shadows show up on the wall the prisoners see, so to them, that is life. That IS reality. One day, one of the guys breaks the chains and goes free. He wanders out of the cave, and sees the world.
Now, he would have to go back and tell everyone what he saw, but the thing is, is that the right thing to do? If he tells them, some might love him, saying "Thank you! Now I know there is more to life!" Others might hate him, saying, "What the heck man! I was fine when THIS was my reality! Now I'll be depressed all my life knowing what's really going on!"
I'm not sure if that story will help you any, but who knows, it might :tongue:
But one thing you SHOULD know is this: "Cogito ergo sum" It's a Latin quote by René Descartes. It means "I think, therefore I am" It pretty much means if we can question our existence and reality, then that is proof enough that we DO exist and it IS real.
...I hope that helps you, ha ha! And if anyone has any ideas for my project, please, feel free to share :biggrin:
Thank you for taking the time to type all this. I think this might help me out :D