The dangers
of holding on to those type of beliefs are that you could be easily overwhelmed
on how reality is. This quote about Candide is a great example of someone who is
staring the window of optimism and has strong optimistic beliefs, but those
beliefs and that window are absolutely shattered by the hammer of reality.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Discussion Question #2
Near
the end of the book, while Pangloss was “being hanged, and dissected, and
beaten, and made to row in a galley,” he still holds firm to his original
views that this is the best of all possible worlds. “I am a philosopher
after all. It would not do for me to recant” (p. 88). What are the dangers
in holding beliefs that are impermeable to reality, that do not alter
according to actual experience?
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I agree with you Martae Marshall. I also believe that when you hold these dangerous beliefs then your overall view of reality will be transformed. Your dangerous beliefs, like that one bad apple in the bunch, can spoil all of your views and leave you ignorant and oblivious to this ever changing reality. Though you may be a very optimistic person like Pangloss, there is always the risk of possibly dying because the world around you can see you as a threat.
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