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Philosophy Long Test 1

Philosophy Begins in Wonder. It Has Been a Great Tool in Understanding the Self, the Community, and the World in General. As an Individual Capable of Being Innately Inquisitive and Curious, how Can the Philosophies of the preSocratics and the Socratics Help You Know Yourself, Your Community, and the World Better? Cite the Different Philosophers and Their Beliefs in Explaining Your Propositions.

As humans we ask many questions such as what is the meaning of life? Is God real? And are we truly free? Occasionally we try to entertain them but how can we really answer them in a more organized and thought out way? Philosophy is the study that aims to answer these questions by using methods such as critical discussion and rational argument. Philosophy can help you identify the virtues that can help you understand yourself more. Philosophy can guide you in finding true friendship. Lastly, philosophy can assist you in questioning your own beliefs and knowledge about the world. Philosophy is what will lead you to know more about yourself, your community, and your world because philosophy will be the light that will guide you to find happiness, true friendship, and a solid understanding of the world around you.

In order for us to live a life full of happiness we must live a virtuous life. According to Aristotle, living a virtuous life will help us achieve the pinnacle of humanity or Eudaimonia. A life of eudaimonia is a life where you are happy because of the satisfaction you get from achieving something that is really difficult. We cannot live a eudaimonistic life if we are not virtuous because humans desire to be virtuous. Being virtuous is the essence of human life and essence is the fixed purpose of a particular thing. For us to be virtuous we must always choose the right decisions in every situation and to be able to choose the best decisions, one must have the best character traits. The best character traits are the ones on the golden mean or the middle of each character trait. It is never the excess or extremes of any trait. An example would be honesty that is not brutal and dishonest at the same time because it is the midpoint of these two extremes. For an individual to be able to get the right virtue for each character trait, they must practice through habit and experience. The journey does not end after trying to live a virtuous life, it continues until you die. Living a virtuous life to achieve eudaimonia is a lifestyle where you never stop trying to improve. 

Friendship has a huge effect on shaping the quality of a person’s life. This is because a person lives through the people they spend their time with. This leads us to the question on how we can make better friends. Aristotle identified three types of friendship: Friendship of utility, Friendship based on pleasure, and Friendship of the Good or True Friendship. Knowing which type of friendships to have in your life can help you form better and longer lasting friendships. The first one, Friendship of utility, is a type of friendship that depends on both parties to benefit each other. Once the situation changes, the connection between this friendship will be affected. A great example for this type would be a work or school related relationship. The next type would be a friendship based on pleasure. This type will depend on both parties gaining enjoyment from their mutual interests. It is the shortest lived friendship because once the preferences of one member changes, the relationship ends. An example would be a friendship that was only created because the members of the relationship liked playing videogames with each other. The last type of friendship, Friendship of the Good, is a type of friendship where a person is friends with another person because he or she appreciates that other person’s traits or qualities. This type lasts the longest and can possibly stay until the end. It also has a better quality compared to the other two discussed earlier because its depth is less limited than the two. However, this type of friendship takes the longest to develop because it depends both on the trust and mutual growth built. This type also has both the benefits of the two types discussed earlier. Like the friendship based on pleasure, this type is also pleasurable since you gain enjoyment just by being with the other member of that relationship and just like the friendship based on utility, it is beneficial because you help each other out in this type of friendship. Forming friendships like the Friendship of the Good can help you have a better quality of life  because friendship is one of the true joys of life and according to Aristotle, it is also what will help save you from error.

Knowing the flaws of your beliefs and principles is the key to understanding the world around you. To find the weaknesses and problems of our  beliefs, we must employ a method to test how much we really understand. The Socratic method of questioning, which was made by the Greek philosopher Socrates, is a technique which can test how solid our understanding of our beliefs are. You can apply the Socratic method to a claim by asking a series of questions that challenges that claim. For example, if a person claims that pirating online movies is wrong. You can ask them why is piracy wrong and what makes something not right? Applying this method on your own beliefs and principles can help you understand and rethink your own comprehension of everything.

Philosophy can be a great tool in understanding yourself and the world because it can guide you to your essence as a human, help you find the friendship that you need, and rethink what you actually know about the world. Learning how to live a virtuous life can help you find your essence as a human being. Being able to identify the different types of friendships can guide you to the friends that you are looking for. And lastly, challenging your beliefs and principles can lead you closer to the truth and help you comprehend the world around you more. Philosophy is the tool that we can use to find the answers to the questions we have as humans. Whether or not we like it, philosophy can change the way we think and live our lives forever.

As Introduced in the Previous Discussion, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Dictates an Analogy of the Prisoner Who Calls out Ignorance and the People Who Are Comfortable with Ignorance and Who Are, to a Certain Extent, Hostile to Those Who point out This Ignorance. This Allegory is Mimetic to the Political Situation around the World. Specifically, in Social Media, Facts Are Shared by Credible News Agencies and Scientists; However, These News Agencies Are Discredited by Those Who Are in Power and Are even Called Biased to Present “alternative facts”. Certain Examples Include Downplaying CoVid-19 Statistics in the Philippines, Wearing Masks in the United States as Unnecessary in This Pandemic and Violation of Rights, and Propagating Conspiracies for Effects of Vaccines by Anti-vaxxers. These Methods Are Being Done through Hiring Online Trolls, Constructing Fake Accounts, and Buying Facebook Pages with Millions of Followers. Why Do You Think This Constantly Happens, and how Can Philosophy Help in Resolving This Pressing Issue? Cite the Different Philosophers and Their Beliefs in Explaining Your Propositions.

A large number of people are uncomfortable with their ignorance being pointed out. It challenges their self trust and confidence and makes them doubt what they truly know. These people will also usually only seek information that agrees with their own beliefs and ideas. Other people can take advantage of this fact and use it for their own benefit. Philosophy can enable people to think better and accept the truth even if it does not line up with their own beliefs. Fake news and misinformation are the result of people using the ignorance of others for their own benefit and philosophy is the right tool for people to save themselves from their own knowledge being exploited by others.

Many people cannot accept truth that does not line with their ideas. If it challenges the understanding of a person’s knowledge it makes them uncomfortable. This is because one’s knowledge requires self-confidence and self-trust. When someone attacks an individual’s knowledge it affects the trust and confidence of that individual on what he or she knows. It is easier for people to choose facts that are more familiar to them even if they are not the most logical and true. The problem with this is that it can be taken advantage of by others. People can start spreading lies that are more familiar and line up to a lot of people’s beliefs. The truth cannot flourish if people only accept things that are familiar to them and their understanding. Lies and misinformation also spread faster because there is a bias to information.  

Philosophy is a tool that can help you understand your own thoughts and beliefs. It helps you build a strong foundation for believing something. A great way of improving your principles is to use a method of questioning created by Socrates called “Socratic method”. Socratic method forces you to defend and justify your ideas. It forces you to think about them more and whether or not they are worth believing. This can also be used against claims in fake news. If a person cannot explain why that claim is true, then they should reconsider their claims. Philosophy can also encourage you to be more curious and inquisitive. It also encourages you to be aware of your own ignorance so that you can deal with them. Overall, philosophy is an effective tool for dealing with ignorance and fake news.

Fake news is rampant because many are not willing to accept truth that goes against their ideas. We can deal with this problem by improving our understanding of philosophy and integrating different philosophical concepts to our way of thinking. We are only afraid of learning the truth because we lose trust and confidence in ourselves and our knowledge. If we take the time and study the ways to deal with our ignorance and fear of the truth using philosophy, then we can prevent the spread of misinformation. Educating people with philosophy will help them build a stronger foundation for their knowledge and prevent them from believing false information. With techniques like the socratic method, people can learn from their ignorance and flaws in their understanding of a specific concept. Truth may not be what everyone wants to hear but it is what everyone needs to hear.

References

  1. School of Life. (2014, October 9). What is Philosophy for? Youtube. Retrieved August 18, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIYdx6lDDhg
  2. The definition of philosophy is: “1. orig., love of, or the search for, wisdom or knowledge 2. theory or logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct, thought, knowledge, and the nature of the universe”. Webster’s New World Dictionary (Second College ed.).
  3. Guthrie, W. K. C. (1962–1981). A history of Greek philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-0-521-05160-6. OCLC 22488892. “This does not of course amount to saying that the simile goes back to Pythagoras himself, but only that the Greek ideal of philosophia and theoria (for which we may compare Herodotus’s attribution of these activities to Solon I, 30) was at a fairly early date annexed by the Pythagoreans for their master”
  4. School of Life. (2014, October 29). PHILOSOPHY - Aristotle. Youtube. Retrieved August 18, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csIW4W_DYX4
  5. Robot Banana. (2019, April 10). SA A Lesson From Socrates That Will Change The Way You Think. Youtube. Retrieved August 18, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH86jaBQ0F4
  6. CrashCourse. (2016, December 5). SA Aristotle & Virtue Theory: Crash Course Philosophy. Youtube. Retrieved August 18, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ
  7. The Art of Improvement. (2018, May 7). SA Aristotle’s Timeless Advice on What Real Friendship Is and Why It Matters. Youtube. Retrieved August 19, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F18kSA8OxqY
  8. Inan, I. (2017). The Philosophy of Curiosity. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Philosophy-of-Curiosity/Inan/p/book/9781138098664

#2021-2022 #Grade-12