what is the value of philosophy and why it ought to be studied. It is the more necessary to consider this question, in view of the fact that many men, under the influence of science or of practical affairs, are inclined to doubt whether philosophy is anything better than innocent but useless trifling, hair-splitting distinctions, and controversies on matters concerning which knowledge is impossible.
This view of philosophy appears to result, partly from a wrong conception of the ends of life, partly from a wrong conception of the kind of goods which philosophy strives to achieve. Physical science, through the medium of inventions, is useful to innumerable people who are wholly ignorant of it; thus the study of physical science is to be recommended, not only, or primarily, because of the effect on the student, but rather because of the effect on mankind in general. Thus utility does not belong to philosophy. If the study of philosophy has any value at all for others than students of philosophy, it must be only indirectly, through its effects upon the lives of those who study it. It is in these effects, therefore, if anywhere, that the value of philosophy must be primarily sought.
But further, if we are not to fail in our endeavour to determine the value of philosophy, we must first free our minds from the prejudices of what are wrongly called 'practical' men. The 'practical' man, as this word is often used, is one who recognizes only material needs, who realizes that men must have food for the body, but is oblivious of the necessity of providing food for the mind. If all men were well off, if poverty and disease had been reduced to their lowest possible point, there would still remain much to be done to produce a valuable society; and even in the existing world the goods of the mind are at least as important as the goods of the body. It is exclusively among the goods of the mind that the value of philosophy is to be found; and only those who are not indifferent to these goods can be persuaded that the study of philosophy is not a waste of time.
Philosophy, like all other studies, aims primarily at knowledge. The knowledge it aims at is the kind of knowledge which gives unity and system to the body of the sciences, and the kind which results from a critical examination of the grounds of our convictions, prejudices, and beliefs. But it cannot be maintained that philosophy has had any very great measure of success in its attempts to provide definite answers to its questions. If you ask a mathematician, a mineralogist, a historian, or any other man of learning, what definite body of truths has been ascertained by his science, his answer will last as long as you are willing to listen. But if you put the same question to a philosopher, he will, if he is candid, have to confess that his study has not achieved positive results such as have been achieved by other sciences. It is true that this is partly accounted for by the fact that, as soon as definite knowledge concerning any subject becomes possible, this subject ceases to be called philosophy, and becomes a separate science. The whole study of the heavens, which now belongs to astronomy, was once included in philosophy; Newton's great work was called 'the mathematical principles of natural philosophy'. Similarly, the study of the human mind, which was a part of philosophy, has now been separated from philosophy and has become the science of psychology. Thus, to a great extent, the uncertainty of philosophy is more apparent than real: those questions which are already capable of definite answers are placed in the sciences, while those only to which, at present, no definite answer can be given, remain to form the residue which is called philosophy.
This is, however, only a part of the truth concerning the uncertainty of philosophy. There are many questions -- and among them those that are of the profoundest interest to our spiritual life -- which, so far as we can see, must remain insoluble to the human intellect unless its powers become of quite a different order from what they are now. Has the universe any unity of plan or purpose, or is it a fortuitous concourse of atoms? Is consciousness a permanent part of the universe, giving hope of indefinite growth in wisdom, or is it a transitory accident on a small planet on which life must ultimately become impossible? Are good and evil of importance to the universe or only to man? Such questions are asked by philosophy, and variously answered by various philosophers. But it would seem that, whether answers be otherwise discoverable or not, the answers suggested by philosophy are none of them demonstrably true. Yet, however slight may be the hope of discovering an answer, it is part of the business of philosophy to continue the consideration of such questions, to make us aware of their importance, to examine all the approaches to them, and to keep alive that speculative interest in the universe which is apt to be killed by confining ourselves to definitely ascertainable knowledge.
Many philosophers, it is true, have held that philosophy could establish the truth of certain answers to such fundamental questions. They have supposed that what is of most importance in religious beliefs could be proved by strict demonstration to be true. In order to judge of such attempts, it is necessary to take a survey of human knowledge, and to form an opinion as to its methods and its limitations. On such a subject it would be unwise to pronounce dogmatically; but if the investigations of our previous chapters have not led us astray, we shall be compelled to renounce the hope of finding philosophical proofs of religious beliefs. We cannot, therefore, include as part of the value of philosophy any definite set of answers to such questions. Hence, once more, the value of philosophy must not depend upon any supposed body of definitely ascertainable knowledge to be acquired by those who study it.
The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find, as we saw in our opening chapters, that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given. Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never travelled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect.
2008/08/13
2008/07/26
My Spector
Spector is a company that makes bass guitars. Founded in 1974 by self-taught luthier Stuart Spector, Spector's first few instruments were essentially crude experiments in instrument design and craftsmanship. Over the next few years, the design and manufacturing process was refined and in 1977, with the help of furniture designer Ned Steinberger, the company developed its most popular design, the NS.With the success of the NS, the company grew rapidly and was eventually sold to Kramer Musical Instruments. Kramer produced bass guitars for five years under the Spector name until they were forced to file bankruptcy. After Kramer's failure, Stuart Spector was still building instruments under the name "Stewart Spector Design" and was actively fighting in court to regain the Spector trademark, which he finally won in 1998.Price ranges of Spector bass guitars can range from $549 to about $6,300 with a high gloss finish. Prices also vary depending on the series of the bass guitar, whether it is the US Neck-Through series, the USA Bolt On series, the Europe series, the Professional series, or the Performance series (from most expensive to the least expensive).Spector now unleashes their guitar series with their ARC6 guitars. The ARC6 guitars come in many different designs and colors including Black Cherry, Black and Blue, Green Stain, and many more designs. Price ranges are from about $699 to $2,899 with additional pickups to increase quality of the sound, which would include a price increase.Currently, Spector produces their finest instruments in their Woodstock, New York shop, with less-expensive versions of the classic Spector instruments produced in Korea, China, the United States, and the Czech Republic.The correct spelling of Stuart's company after the Kramer bankruptcy was Stuart Spector Designs(SSD).
2008/07/03
lesson
To begin our lessons we are going to use colors to represent notes on the guitar. Look below and notice the colors we will use to represent each note. A note is a tone of a certain pitch which can be created in a number of different ways. For example, if you were to push down a single key on the piano, you would be playing a note. To play a note on the guitar, you would fret or push down on a string to create a tone of a certain pitch. In this lesson, we will learn where each note is located on the guitar fretboard.
The image below illustrates a guitar fretboard and shows all the notes along the Low E string. The low E string is the largest string and will be in red. The color for the strings will be slightly different than the color for the notes. The high E string, is the thinnest string, look below.
C D E F G A B C
The notes and each color have been illustrated in the table above. We will use each of these colors to represent each of these notes in our lessons. There will be twelve different notes we need to learn on the guitar fretboard.
The 12 notes along the Low E string are: E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D#
We will illustrate these notes and their placement on the Low E string. Looking at the fretboard above and notice the 6 notes to the left of the guitar fretboard. These 6 notes represent the 6 strings used on the guitar. These six strings when tuned, will be the Low E string, A string, D string, G string, B string and the high E string.
Look at the image of the guitar fretboard above and notice the E note. This E note will represent the Low E string when played open. If you picked the Low E string with out fretting any note, you would be playing the E tone. Of course to create this E note, your guitar would have to have the proper tuning.
If you were to fret or push down on the Low E string on the first fret, you would be playing the F note. The next note on the Low E string 2nd fret is the F# note. This is the (sharp symbol #). To get a sharp note, we would move 1/2 step above the previous note. 1/2 step on the guitar would be 1 fret. The E note will never be sharp. Look above and notice there is no E# note.
As we move along the Low E string, we reach the G note. Look above and find the G note at the 3rd fret. As we move up 1/2 step or 1 fret on the low E string we will reach the G# note, 4th fret.
Moving along the Low E string we reach the A note at the 5th fret. Moving to the next fret we have the A# note.
At the 7th fret, we run into the B note. Find that B note and notice there is no B sharp note. You will never have a B# note. We will learn more about this when we construct the major scales in that chapter.
The next note at the 8th fret will be the C note. Then we would have the C#, D D# and finally back to the E note again. I say again because on the guitar, every note repeats after 12 frets. To prove this, look at the G note on the 3rd fret, you will find the G note repeated at the 15th fret, 12 frets away from the 1st G note.
You can figure out each note on each of the six strings using the same process as we did above. The image below will now show you how to find the notes on the A string. Look at the image below. The first note will be the open A string in yellow. The next note on the A string 1st fret will be the A# note. Each note is figured out the same way we did on the Low E string. Notice there is no B# or E#. There never will be a sharp for these two notes. Notice that the A note is repeated after 12 frets. All the notes would repeat after 12 frets, this goes for every string, scale and chord.
The image below shows all of the notes of the fretboard ascending. The first homework assignment will ask you to fill in all the notes of the guitar fretboard ascending. It has already been done for you, but it is a good idea to fill in the blank illustrations on lesson 1. This will be a great help in learning all the notes of the guitar and their placement. Use the illustration below to help out. Then try to fill in one of the illustrations from memory.
Look at the image below. This image has all the notes of the guitar, but the A notes are circled. Notice that some A notes have different colors. Playing each A note and its particular color will sound the same tone. The yellow and green colored A notes are at a lower octave than the yellow and blue A's. The yellow and blue A's are at a lower octave than the yellow and orange A's. Play each A on the fretboard and compare to each other. Remember your guitar needs to be in tune and you will find audio files to help you tune your guitar.
This illustration will eventually become second nature.
It may help to make a copy of this illustration to complete your first assignment.
Back to lesson 1
Good luck,
From the Jam Room
The image below illustrates a guitar fretboard and shows all the notes along the Low E string. The low E string is the largest string and will be in red. The color for the strings will be slightly different than the color for the notes. The high E string, is the thinnest string, look below.
C D E F G A B C
The notes and each color have been illustrated in the table above. We will use each of these colors to represent each of these notes in our lessons. There will be twelve different notes we need to learn on the guitar fretboard.
The 12 notes along the Low E string are: E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D#
We will illustrate these notes and their placement on the Low E string. Looking at the fretboard above and notice the 6 notes to the left of the guitar fretboard. These 6 notes represent the 6 strings used on the guitar. These six strings when tuned, will be the Low E string, A string, D string, G string, B string and the high E string.
Look at the image of the guitar fretboard above and notice the E note. This E note will represent the Low E string when played open. If you picked the Low E string with out fretting any note, you would be playing the E tone. Of course to create this E note, your guitar would have to have the proper tuning.
If you were to fret or push down on the Low E string on the first fret, you would be playing the F note. The next note on the Low E string 2nd fret is the F# note. This is the (sharp symbol #). To get a sharp note, we would move 1/2 step above the previous note. 1/2 step on the guitar would be 1 fret. The E note will never be sharp. Look above and notice there is no E# note.
As we move along the Low E string, we reach the G note. Look above and find the G note at the 3rd fret. As we move up 1/2 step or 1 fret on the low E string we will reach the G# note, 4th fret.
Moving along the Low E string we reach the A note at the 5th fret. Moving to the next fret we have the A# note.
At the 7th fret, we run into the B note. Find that B note and notice there is no B sharp note. You will never have a B# note. We will learn more about this when we construct the major scales in that chapter.
The next note at the 8th fret will be the C note. Then we would have the C#, D D# and finally back to the E note again. I say again because on the guitar, every note repeats after 12 frets. To prove this, look at the G note on the 3rd fret, you will find the G note repeated at the 15th fret, 12 frets away from the 1st G note.
You can figure out each note on each of the six strings using the same process as we did above. The image below will now show you how to find the notes on the A string. Look at the image below. The first note will be the open A string in yellow. The next note on the A string 1st fret will be the A# note. Each note is figured out the same way we did on the Low E string. Notice there is no B# or E#. There never will be a sharp for these two notes. Notice that the A note is repeated after 12 frets. All the notes would repeat after 12 frets, this goes for every string, scale and chord.
The image below shows all of the notes of the fretboard ascending. The first homework assignment will ask you to fill in all the notes of the guitar fretboard ascending. It has already been done for you, but it is a good idea to fill in the blank illustrations on lesson 1. This will be a great help in learning all the notes of the guitar and their placement. Use the illustration below to help out. Then try to fill in one of the illustrations from memory.
Look at the image below. This image has all the notes of the guitar, but the A notes are circled. Notice that some A notes have different colors. Playing each A note and its particular color will sound the same tone. The yellow and green colored A notes are at a lower octave than the yellow and blue A's. The yellow and blue A's are at a lower octave than the yellow and orange A's. Play each A on the fretboard and compare to each other. Remember your guitar needs to be in tune and you will find audio files to help you tune your guitar.
This illustration will eventually become second nature.
It may help to make a copy of this illustration to complete your first assignment.
Back to lesson 1
Good luck,
From the Jam Room
2008/07/02
My Hope
I am 21 now.I want to do many things when I am young.
1.I hope my friends and parents are healthy and happy everyday.
2.Improve my English study.At least,I can pass Tem-8 .It is unimaginable!Then I wanna learn philosophy.
3.Earn money.Buy one 4-string fender bass and one 5-string warwick or mm bass.Buy one fender electric guitar and one marshell.
4.Go to North America.
Oh,yeah!!!Come on!!!
1.I hope my friends and parents are healthy and happy everyday.
2.Improve my English study.At least,I can pass Tem-8 .It is unimaginable!Then I wanna learn philosophy.
3.Earn money.Buy one 4-string fender bass and one 5-string warwick or mm bass.Buy one fender electric guitar and one marshell.
4.Go to North America.
Oh,yeah!!!Come on!!!
2008/06/05
What Have I Learned From This Course
In this semester,we have the course of writing research papers.The teacher provides us with a comprehensive picture of how a research paper is created.She teaches us the basic elements of a research paper.Also,we dawn on what is academics and the relationship between academics and scholor. Sometimes,she tells us some real stories,which helps us expose ourselves to the society.
Firstly,I want to introduce my understanding of academics.Occasionally,academics is far beyond us,and sometimes we can contact with it.Academics is not a book which we can learn in one month,but it is a highly summary of knowledge.A scholar is not a person that tells us what it is,but he or she is a person who has the capability to do researches.So if we want to be a scholar,we should fill our head with various kinds of theory.But,in China,the quality of academcs study is not excellent.As Li Bo Chong who is a professor of Tsinghua University says,”During the past 25 years,the study of academics have been prosperous in China,but the qualities have not been good. The reasons are that we did not establish a academics standard and the academics atmosphere was not ideal.Only when we understand what is academics,can we have the highly level academics achievement.”
From the stories that the teacher tells us,we know that the society is not fair sometimes.We should accept this fact.Confronting with such big social pressure,what we can do is to become a strong man.We should make efforts to accomplish our dreams.Also,we learn that we should have the dignity.In order to obtain dignity,we should give honor to others first.All in all,the teacher provides us with many examples like this to teach us about world and ourselves.
Secondly,it comes to how to write a research paper, as the name of course indicates, of course, I have learnd the significance and ways of writing one.Generally speaking,a research paper has its own structure.We cannot add some sections or neglect some.A research can be grouped into five chapters.
In the beginning,we should write an abstract.It is a brief outline of the experiments.It includes:background of the experiments,descriptions of the experiments,results,and implications,etc.It must be brief and clear.
In chapter 1,we write the introduction.An introduction should present a clear reason why we conduct the experiments described.This section should include general research questions,in terms of what we wish to accomplish.This statement should specifically link the hypothesis to research that other people have published,and will establish a clean trail of logic leading to the hypothesis to be tested.It should be based on a list of published sourses.Generally speaking,it includes four parts:need for the study,purpose for the study,significance of the study and organzation of the thesis.I remember that on one class,the teacher take a paper as an example to show us the above four points.For examples,the significance may refer to merits of the study,and so on.
In chapter 2,we should write the literature review,which I think is of great significance.A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic.It is characterised by a logical flow of ideas,current and relevant references with consistent,appropriate reference style,proper use of terminology,and a fair and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic.It will establish the importance of your topic and your study as one link in a chain of research that is developing knowledge in your field .In order to finish this part,we must become thoroughly acquainted with the papers that have published.We have many ways.The first choice is library.Many libraries have programs of orientation and instruction to meet the needs of students,from beginning researchers to graduate students.Then,we can use central information system.A typical academic library will provide an online central information system to serve students and faculty members who engaged in research.CNKI is a good system which can provide us with the above points.After searching the information,we should consult relevant reference works.Usually we must read at least 40 papers in order to finish our paper.We must find the gaps between others ‘and ours.
Chapter 3 is the methods. The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study’s validity is judged.Therefore, it requires a clear and precise description of how an experiment was done, and the rationale for why specific experimental procedures were chosen.The common methods includes samples, instrument,treatment and data analysis,etc.
Chapter 4 is research findings.In this part we should restate the hypothesis,show the data again,and explicate the data in the light of hypothesis.
Chapter 5 is conclusion.In this part,we should briefly summarize what has been done,the logic of the study,the results and which areas will be fruitful in the future.
Lastly,we should write references.It must include all cited literature in a professional format.
To sum up,this course provides us with a macroscopic impression of how to write a research paper.It is conducive to our future study.
Firstly,I want to introduce my understanding of academics.Occasionally,academics is far beyond us,and sometimes we can contact with it.Academics is not a book which we can learn in one month,but it is a highly summary of knowledge.A scholar is not a person that tells us what it is,but he or she is a person who has the capability to do researches.So if we want to be a scholar,we should fill our head with various kinds of theory.But,in China,the quality of academcs study is not excellent.As Li Bo Chong who is a professor of Tsinghua University says,”During the past 25 years,the study of academics have been prosperous in China,but the qualities have not been good. The reasons are that we did not establish a academics standard and the academics atmosphere was not ideal.Only when we understand what is academics,can we have the highly level academics achievement.”
From the stories that the teacher tells us,we know that the society is not fair sometimes.We should accept this fact.Confronting with such big social pressure,what we can do is to become a strong man.We should make efforts to accomplish our dreams.Also,we learn that we should have the dignity.In order to obtain dignity,we should give honor to others first.All in all,the teacher provides us with many examples like this to teach us about world and ourselves.
Secondly,it comes to how to write a research paper, as the name of course indicates, of course, I have learnd the significance and ways of writing one.Generally speaking,a research paper has its own structure.We cannot add some sections or neglect some.A research can be grouped into five chapters.
In the beginning,we should write an abstract.It is a brief outline of the experiments.It includes:background of the experiments,descriptions of the experiments,results,and implications,etc.It must be brief and clear.
In chapter 1,we write the introduction.An introduction should present a clear reason why we conduct the experiments described.This section should include general research questions,in terms of what we wish to accomplish.This statement should specifically link the hypothesis to research that other people have published,and will establish a clean trail of logic leading to the hypothesis to be tested.It should be based on a list of published sourses.Generally speaking,it includes four parts:need for the study,purpose for the study,significance of the study and organzation of the thesis.I remember that on one class,the teacher take a paper as an example to show us the above four points.For examples,the significance may refer to merits of the study,and so on.
In chapter 2,we should write the literature review,which I think is of great significance.A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic.It is characterised by a logical flow of ideas,current and relevant references with consistent,appropriate reference style,proper use of terminology,and a fair and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic.It will establish the importance of your topic and your study as one link in a chain of research that is developing knowledge in your field .In order to finish this part,we must become thoroughly acquainted with the papers that have published.We have many ways.The first choice is library.Many libraries have programs of orientation and instruction to meet the needs of students,from beginning researchers to graduate students.Then,we can use central information system.A typical academic library will provide an online central information system to serve students and faculty members who engaged in research.CNKI is a good system which can provide us with the above points.After searching the information,we should consult relevant reference works.Usually we must read at least 40 papers in order to finish our paper.We must find the gaps between others ‘and ours.
Chapter 3 is the methods. The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study’s validity is judged.Therefore, it requires a clear and precise description of how an experiment was done, and the rationale for why specific experimental procedures were chosen.The common methods includes samples, instrument,treatment and data analysis,etc.
Chapter 4 is research findings.In this part we should restate the hypothesis,show the data again,and explicate the data in the light of hypothesis.
Chapter 5 is conclusion.In this part,we should briefly summarize what has been done,the logic of the study,the results and which areas will be fruitful in the future.
Lastly,we should write references.It must include all cited literature in a professional format.
To sum up,this course provides us with a macroscopic impression of how to write a research paper.It is conducive to our future study.
2008/04/26
Go on our RGA Ibanez
RGA:Our RGA Prestige feature everything our RG Prestige models do.The highest JAPANESE craftmanship.the right choice of premium pickups and Wizard Prestige necks.With two important expections:arched tops foe even more playing comfort and the Gibrather Plus fixed bridge which combines simplicity and the ability to handle massive metal tones and lowdown tuning that’s just plain sick.
The basics:Fast,flat and thin Wizard necks with Prestige fishing for supreme comfort.
Massive Ginralter Plus fixed bridge allows wide range of intonation adjustment needed for heavy strings.
Gotoh precision machines
Includes deluxe Prestige case.
RGA3217 SPB
RGA121H CDO
RGA121 CDR
Bridges:In the last decades,no other guitar maker has done so much to advance the art and science of the bridge.The Edge Pro,Edge III and Gibralter Plus repesent significant advances in the evoltion of the guitar bridge.
Edge Pro:The Edge Pro festures a unique Sound Metal Chip on each saddle which help increase sustain right at the most critical area,the intonation point.
To avoid the problem of string holder blocks getting lost during string changes,the Edge Pro’s sliding string holders are actually part of the bridge and won’t drop from the saddle unit.With the Edge Pro design,there is no need to cut off the ball of your strings when installing new strings.
The basics:Fast,flat and thin Wizard necks with Prestige fishing for supreme comfort.
Massive Ginralter Plus fixed bridge allows wide range of intonation adjustment needed for heavy strings.
Gotoh precision machines
Includes deluxe Prestige case.
RGA3217 SPB
RGA121H CDO
RGA121 CDR
Bridges:In the last decades,no other guitar maker has done so much to advance the art and science of the bridge.The Edge Pro,Edge III and Gibralter Plus repesent significant advances in the evoltion of the guitar bridge.
Edge Pro:The Edge Pro festures a unique Sound Metal Chip on each saddle which help increase sustain right at the most critical area,the intonation point.
To avoid the problem of string holder blocks getting lost during string changes,the Edge Pro’s sliding string holders are actually part of the bridge and won’t drop from the saddle unit.With the Edge Pro design,there is no need to cut off the ball of your strings when installing new strings.
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