As a philosophy major one of the main things we do is use general and abstract questions to find the root answers. Throughout the years I have taken different courses that have actually made me question myself in how I see the world and live life. I’ve taken many courses on ethics, metaphysics and the problem of evil. When I took my very first philosophy course, I knew that I liked it because it actually made me think. I hadn’t actually thought about how my views had changed by taking some of these courses before, but looking back, prior to being a philosophy major, I probably wouldn’t think or question myself the way I do now without them. Here are some of the questions I’verecently asked myself.
- The Belief in God
Prior to taking any philosophy course, I had some doubts about whether or not there was a God. I took a couple of courses that questioned the existence of God, and I even learned about Descartes’ fifth meditation which focuses on proving that God exists. Now, many of these courses had arguments that went both ways and so it got me really thinking about my beliefs and what I thought made more sense to me. In the end I came up with my own conclusion that there is a chance of there being a God and that God is all powerful and all knowing, but I do not believe God should be praised nor that he is benevolent.
- How do we know what we know?
This connects with the class that I am currently taking which is Theory of Knowledge. In this class, we focus on looking at different theories that try to explain how it is that we have knowledge. It makes me think about how it is that I know things. So for example how do I know that the sky is blue? Is it because of something someone told me? Does the color blue exist? Many of these questions are some of the most general that we ask. Many od the questions on how it is that we have knowledge include the Traditional Analysis of Knowledge or the Sensitivity theory. In reality so far, I haven’t found a theory that shows me that I have knowledge so the search for that continues.
- Am I living my life authentically?
This question is one I didn’t really think about until I took Existentialism which focuses on the existence of an individual person as a free agent by determining their own development through acts of will. Many of the arguments I read focus on people who are living a very different and unique life compared to everyone else. This then leads me to think about whether my life is unique and different in the same sort that theirs are. For example, one of the arguments focuses on someone doing good for the sole purpose of good. This then makes me think if i always do things to be good or if it’s to get something out of it. If it’s the first, it would be an authentic life; if the latter, then it would be inauthentic. Although I’m not too sure, I would believe that my life is authentic since I don’t necessarily do things for getting something out of it, but for the purpose of it.
These are some of the things that I have come to question throughout the years and in the end they did change my previous ideology in some type of way. I still have plenty more to learn within philosophy so I am excited to see in what other forms my way of thinking and the way I live life will change throughout the years!