Response #1

Sophie’s World Response:

So far, I have found the experience of reading Sophie’s World to be fairly enjoyable. The story intertwined with chunks of philosophical knowledge has kept me intrigued throughout, rather than a boring textbook. An interesting thing that I noticed was that the main characters in this book are like symbols to early philosophy. The questions that show up in Sophie’s mailbox are like the earth itself. They appear seemingly out of nowhere, and are subject to interpretation. Who are you? Why is a Lego block the most ingenious toy in the world?

Sophie plays the role of the early philosopher; she tries to understand and interpret the questions that appear in front of her, and also tries hard to find the identity of the writer. It is similar to the early philosophers, wondering about what the earth was made of and why they are on it. Sophie has the right personality for answering philosophical questions. She is young, curious and willing to explore.

Her mother, on the other hand, is similar to many of the skeptics that challenged the new ideas the philosophers presented, like Socrates being sentenced to death. Sophie’s mother is of the age where the world is not a surprise to her anymore, and she completely misunderstands the interaction between Sophie and the philosophy writer. As I continue to read, I wonder how the relationships between Sophie, the writer, and her mother evolve.

Real World Application:

            A couple of weeks ago I went to go see Christopher Nolan’s fabulous movie Interstellar. As luck would have it, I saw it right as my class schedule transitioning from Science Fiction class to the Honors Philosophy class I am currently taking. Now that I have a bit of philosophy knowledge under my belt, I realized that Interstellar was the perfect movie for both subjects. The science fiction parallels were obvious, but there were also some philosophical questions too. In the movie, there was a lot of grappling between fate and free will. (WARNING: SPOILERS)

First, there was much debate back on earth, and the different factions used fate to try to explain their arguments. There was the group that thought it was humanity’s fate to leave earth behind (Professor Brand and his daughter), while others thought that it was fate that humanity would always survive on earth (Cooper’s son, who stubbornly wanted to stay at his farm).

Once the astronauts are in space, fate and free will influence the different theories of how to save humanity. Upon realizing that his project, Plan A, was impossible, Professor Brand realizes that the current generation cannot be saved, and he will leave the survival of future humans inside Plan B, by planting embryos on a different planet. Brand’s theory was based on fate, that Plan A and humanity were bound to fail. Cooper and Murph, on the other hand, believe that the survival of humanity is free will, and in their own hands. Murph believed that Plan A was still achievable, and humanity could be saved. She finishes Brand’s project and gets humanity away safely. Cooper continues to find his way through space, and he manages to get back and reunite with Murph.