My Own Philosophy

There is not a philosophy in Sophie’s World with which I completely agree, but my own beliefs could come from pieces of different philosophers’ ideas. I agree with Socrates that questions are an important part of learning, and it is important to note that even if someone devotes their entire life to learning and studying, it is impossible to know everything. This is a crucial point, because many secrets of the universe cannot be known on earth. Plato’s theory of a separate world of ideas does not seem right to me; as Alberto states, those ideas could have come from even earlier forms, and so on. However, I agree that there are certain “laws” that are always true, truths that can be figured out by logic no matter who is considering them. Even if these truths do not exist everywhere in the universe, even if they are exclusively human, humans are the only ones who have the power of reasoning here on Earth, so these truths are all we know, making them right for us. “Two plus two equals four” is true in every language and to everyone in every part of the world; logic cannot be avoided or disputed. Even though some of the philosophers stated that there is nothing we can just assume about the world, I believe some things can be found to be true by anyone on earth, so they are universal truths, a fact that cannot be ignored. In the matter of mixing faith with reason, I agree that the belief that there is a higher being is logical. Someone must have created us, and most people on earth look to a higher power for answers. However, who this being may be is purely a personal decision. I cannot reach the conclusion the Christian God created the world through logic; faith is the only way to fully believe in a religion. I agree with Kant that both rationalists and empiricists has something missing in their ideas, but I could not completely agree with Kant’s philosophy because he did not think that humans could come up with answers to large questions about the universe. I particularly liked Hume’s philosophy, which is why I will be discussing his beliefs in my essay. While reading this novel, I have been forced to decide how much of life has become habit to me. I honestly believe that I still have some sense of wonder of the world and all of God’s creations. I am still interested in learning and asking questions, so I must not be buried down too deep in the rabbit’s fur. I must strive to keep this thirst for knowledge throughout my life, and I hope to learn more about philosophy to help accomplish this.

A New Perspective

Sophie donned a pair of red-tinted glasses. Everything she saw was the same as it was before she put on the glasses, except it was red instead of its original color. The way Sophie saw the world through the red-tinted glasses can be compared to the way humans see the world every day. Everything may physically look the same to everyone, but every individual person has their own unique way of interpreting what they see. Humans are limited by their own frame of mind. Philosophy is meant to expand one’s view of the world. However, philosophy can only go so far. There are some limitations on the mind that are permanent; we cannot see the world from the perspective of another living being. We can think about how it would feel to be someone else, but we cannot actually exist as they do. Time and space are uniquely human ideas that limit our ability to perceive the world, but there is nothing we can do about that, for we cannot choose to disregard these elements of life. According to Kant, everything that we know about the world that is the same for everyone, such as the law of gravity, is true for humans, but not necessarily to every object or being. Our own view of life may be flawed, but we will never know that because our view is all we have on which to base our ideas. However, it is important to consider the perspective of others in some cases. Another perspective to be considered is the scale of one’s own problems compared to the enormity of the world population. Thinking about the amount of people in the world, and the span of the universe, my own small problems do not seem so daunting. Looking at the “big picture” instead of details is another way to see more through the metaphorical glasses that hinder everyone’s vision. I would say that listening and considering the thoughts and opinions of others more carefully could help me “see” better and gain more perspective on a smaller scale. One person’s perspective of life is not enough to formulate a good view. In some ways the glasses are permanent for everyone, but anyone who tries will be able to see more clearly by thinking of life on different levels and from different perspectives.

Christianity and Philosophy

In the Middle Ages, philosophers were trying to make philosophy fit with Christianity. To do this, they combined the teachings of Greek philosophers with Christian beliefs. Christianity was a strong influence in the Middle Ages, and philosophy might have contradicted this religion if two philosophers had not used ancient philosophical teachings and Christian beliefs to create new ideas. They brought reason and faith together. However, Christianity had to fit with Christian beliefs and ideals, so the extent of philosophy was very limited. It is possible that philosophical beliefs could have been more radical if they had not been applied to Christianity, but this new Christian philosophy appealed more to the general public as Christianity became more popular. St. Augustine did twist Plato’s beliefs to match Biblical teachings, but in doing this, he added a specific spiritual aspect to philosophy. St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas ensured that ancient Greek philosophy would not be forgotten; they were helping to keep it alive by combining it with Christianity. Greek scientific views were also remembered with philosophy. These ancient philosophical beliefs, some of which contradicted Christianity, may have been dismissed as against the church if it had not been for St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Augustine was also the first philosopher to include history in his philosophical beliefs. He used historical events to build his philosophy, drawing knowledge from different time periods. This allowed him to create a unique philosophical project based on the views of different people. St. Thomas Aquinas increased already rapidly increasing popularity of Christianity by asserting that by using reason, anyone can come to the conclusion that Christian beliefs are correct. Faith is necessary to become a Christian, but the belief that there is only one God is logical as well as spiritual. “How to live” can also be determined through human reason as well as through Biblical teachings. St. Thomas Aquinas, instead of twisting Aristotle’s beliefs to match Christianity, used the Bible’s philosophy of life to supplement what Aristotle had figured out based on reason. He found little contradiction, although he may have used Aristotle’s beliefs in ways that he did not mean them.

Women's Rights

Aristotle’s views on women include the beliefs that women are incomplete; a woman is an “unfinished man.” It is unfortunate that his views of women were so misguided, but most people shared these views, so Aristotle cannot be blamed. In the current era, it has been proven that women are just as capable as men; both sexes are equal. Many ideas from so far back have been proven wrong, and the views on women were among these. However, Plato had more positive views of women and their level of intelligence, and he lived in the same era as Aristotle. Plato believed that women had the sense of logic as men, so they would be able to reason just as well. Thomas Aquinas, who Christianized Aristotle’s philosophical views, shared his thought that women are the lesser sex. He bases this on the description of how woman was made from man in the Bible. John Locke gets a little closer to feminism, but he does not outright believe that women are equal to men; he just believes that women should have more rights than they currently had. Marquis de Condorcet, a philosopher during the French Enlightenment, was more in favor of women’s rights, based on his philosophy; he even published his writings on the subject. Olympe de Gouges may not be considered a well-known philosopher, but she voiced her strong opinions on equality of the sexes during the French Revolution. In my opinion, philosophy discusses the world around us and inside us, which affects everyone, no matter their sex or race, so everyone should be able to make their opinion known. It is certainly regrettable women have not contributed much to the history of philosophy. One can only assume that if they had been included, more brilliant ideas from earlier centuries could have been saved. However, philosophy is not the only academic discipline from which women have been excluded. The fact that female philosophers are not included in the novel is not unusual or surprising. Women were not educated as men were, even as recently as in the last century. John Locke was one of the first philosophers to be notably interested in women’s rights, and he was born in the seventeenth century. When Locke first introduced his ideas of women’s rights, it was a new, radical idea. He influenced John Stuart Mill, who studied philosophy in the nineteenth century. “Equal rights” for women is a fairly new concept, comparatively.

The Garden of Eden

I could answer the question “Who are you?” with a basic description of myself. I am sixteen, a student at North High School, sixty five inches tall with curly hair and blue eyes. I am a human being with a heart, a brain, and lungs. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, and, according to Sophie’s World, a philosopher. My personality is really determined by who I am with; I act differently around my family than around my friends, although I am sure that many people do this. “Who I am” changes based on who is asking the question. My own beliefs tell me that I am one of God’s creations. I believe that my purpose on Earth is to serve God in the best way I know how, while also trying to make a difference here on Earth. Of course, it is not that easy, because everyone has flaws and makes mistakes, which is another innate part of who I am. As a human, I am able to make choices and decide what direction I want to go with my life, but some things I am not able to control, such as the weather, or other people’s decisions. As for the world’s beginnings, I follow the Christian belief that God created the world and everything in it. He must have created the universe too, including every part of the solar system that we have yet to figure out here on Earth. God must have been the one being that could ever produce something out of nothing, because He is omnipotent. He has always existed. The world is so complicated and the balance of everything is so delicate, that it seems to me that there is no other possible explanation than an almighty being that created everything. How could all the necessary elements of the world just happen to combine to form Earth as we know it? Including plants, animals, water, oxygen, and everything we need to survive. Humans are so complicated; life is so complicated, that there must be some sort of plan out there for us, some divine reason why we even exist at all. The world and every person in it have a purpose. The world is one of God’s creations, presumably his most complex.