As the years go by of my academic career as a college student, it is courses like Philosophy that remind me of how lucky I am to have the chance to learn so many valuable things. Sometimes we get caught up with studying and memorizing information to earn good marks we sometimes forget to sit back and reflect on how lucky we are to be learning new things every day, even if it is statistics. Learning new things is important so that we can enrich our own lives and hopefully the lives of people around us.
I remember my mother's senior quote was "knowledge is a never-ending process." This quote speaks volumes because there is so much out there that we have not learned or experienced yet. I made this quote my senior quote as well because it inspires me every day to challenge myself to become a better version of myself every day. If you are someone like me who has only taken basic math, English, science and the occasional art class this article will especially appeal to you.
Learning new things can never a bad thing
Here is my mom at the age of 18 with her motto written out " Knowledge is a never-ending process." It is this motto that has allowed her to grow into the lawyer she is today who helps change the lives of some many people.
This last semester I took a shot in the dark and decided to enroll in a philosophy class online. For me, this had been the first time I really connected with a class on a whole other level. I did not dread doing a philosophy assignments because for me each reading and writing assignment in a sense brought clarity to my life and the world around me. For instance, in this course, we discussed religion, perception, the difference/relation between the mind and the body, the meaning of life, and so much more all in just, *drum roll please*, 8 weeks! Going from taking the basic core classes to a philosophy class made me think, "why didn't I take this sooner?"
My philosophy class made me rethink the things I once believed were true and put them in a different perspective. For example, the class discussed religion but did not make me like or dislike religion more, it instead made me understand them better. The class was in a sense therapeutic because it did not change my view on things but gave clarity and reason. For example, we learned about personal experiences and how those individual experiences make up a person. This is an important lesson because we are incapable of fully understanding and experiencing what life is like for another individual and it is important to acknowledge this. However, at the same time, there are things we as humans all have in common.
Philosophy in comparison to other college courses is, in fact, the same since all courses are in a sense a history class. Just like a mathematics class, philosophy explains theories that were proposed several thousand years ago from philosophers which have been perfected over time and still being built on. Philosophy, however, is the study of ourselves and the inner workings of our minds.
Although philosophy may bore people, I encourage you to really commit to reading the provided text and to listen to your professors. I had a great professor who used his communication tools to really connect to us as the learners even though it was through a computer! As soon as you let yourself enjoy philosophy I am sure you will achieve the same satisfaction I have gained. I believe if everyone studied and appreciated philosophy the world would be a better place. This is because philosophy teaches that we are no better than the person standing next to us, we are all equal because we can all relate one to one another. Philosophy teaches us how to be more understanding of each other and to think for ourselves and to not live closemindedly.
Emma Francullo
Some examples of things I read over the semester that may interest some of you!
- -"What it is like to be a Bat" By Thomas Nagel
- - "The Eightfold Path" The Buddha
- -" Dream Argument" By Descartes
