Philosophy

Philosophy is the process of thought that tries to rationalize the understanding of our complex world and ultimately our existence within this world. For every person, this rationalization can be completely different. Some may rationalize the truths in our world through religion. Others try to find truth in monetary success and worldly pleasures. The overall piety of these rationalizations, however, is a matter of opinion. Regardless of how this rationalization is specified, all means of searching for the truth are, at the core, similar. Everyone is searching for some means of justifying their existence.

People rationalize this understanding by dedicating their life to religion, educating themselves, attaining perfection in sports or activities, creatively expressing themselves through art, establishing strong relationships, and exploring science. While each item listed is completely different, they all contain elements that help one create a universal purpose. This is ultimately the aim of philosophy: creating a universal purpose for one's existence. These different facets of life that rationalize the truth all have room for one to grow and develop and try to understand their purpose. More simply put, philosophy can also be an orientation toward life. While everyone has a different philosophy, everyone is still trying to create a universal purpose for his or her existence. In this sense, philosophy is an investigative hobby. We define the philosophy we would like to accept, but new ideas constantly shape and reshape our understanding. When new ideas are present, we undertake the hobby of philosophizing. Philosophizing can occur at almost any moment in one’s life, but often specific events lead us to a mental revolution. For some it could be climbing up an enormous mountain, and for others it could be a near death car accident. A philosophizing moment could occur when we look up at the stars or when we are traveling on a long car ride. It could even occur when we are walking to class one day or when we are having a chat with a stranger. Whatever the event, questions about existence provoke our mental processes. We ask ourselves questions like "does this new idea make sense?", "is this new idea more logical than my previous view?", "what other ideas can this view lead me to?", "is my existence justified?". This complicated process of philosophizing is, again, connected to us creating a universal purpose and justifying our existence. There are no set boundaries to when philosophizing can and will occur, but when it happens it is a powerful force that can help shape us as individuals. This powerful force is the knowledge of wisdom.

While we gain something from the knowledge of scientists and engineers even though we don't have this advanced knowledge ourselves, philosophy is completely different. In philosophy, knowledge can't simply be accepted by one just because an expert says its true. Philosophy is a personal endeavor in which one is on a journey to understand the wisdom in the world. Part of philosophy is coming to the knowledge yourself and not simply accepting what an expert says is correct. There are no absolutely true answers in philosophy, thus we must teach ourselves the way in which to approach life and justify our existence. We need to create some sort of concept of our world in order to attempt to justify it. If we have a theory of how our world works, we can attempt to prove it through logic. The only advantage of accepting what an expert says is that it helps create a foundation in which everyone can understand a concept on the exact same level. For example, if everyone tries to understand John’s philosophy in the same manner, we can analyze and criticize his philosophy as a group or individuals. If everyone is on this same “level”, then it is also easier for us to understand one another. Unlike scientific endeavors, philosophy really doesn't have a specific methodology. We can choose to justify our existence in any way we choose. Some choose to accomplish ends in philosophy through mathematical logic, like Descartes. Philosophers like Emerson and Thoreau tried to escape our material world and justify our existence in nature. Sometimes a philosophy just comes to you through a life-changing event. The methodology of philosophy can also be as simple as learning the works of famous philosophers in a college-level philosophy class. The ends would be accomplished in this scenario simply by accepting the presented views and trying to convince yourself that your existence is justified. The underlying theme, however, is that there isn't one specific way in which we accomplish conclusions in philosophy. Conclusions are based more on what your mind can accept as true rather than a specific method.

Although it is hard to define progress in such an abstract field, philosophy does make progress, but it is in a more personal sense. As a topic alone, philosophy does not make progress, however, the personal experience that one goes through in order to rationalize the truths in life does make progress. By studying more about philosophy, we understand more about the possibilities in our world. We are able to perceive our world through new dimensions that can ultimately change our attitude toward life. The gradual process that one goes through when learning philosophy is uniquely valuable. We are exposed to many theories and ideas that have been constructed by the human mind, yet we really can't prove anything. The theories open our eyes to a new facet in life and then the presence of new knowledge further shapes our view of life and rationalization of the truth. While the topic of philosophy is simply people making new theories based on previous ones without any real knowledge of the truth, the personal journey one goes through when trying to rationalize the truth is priceless.
Many philosophers feel like they are stating objective truths about the world. Although this statement seems very contrary to my previous words, it is true and not contrary to my voice. These philosophers say that they are stating objective truths only because they have convinced themselves so well that their means of justifying their existence is correct. If the goal of philosophy is to create a universal purpose that justifies one’s existence, then they have done a damn good job of persuading themselves into believing their philosophy. When you have come to the point in your life where you are one hundred percent sure that your philosophy is the correct one, then you have little room to believe that any other philosophy is correct. If you know that your philosophy is right, then why even consider that your ideas aren’t objective truths about the world? The power of the mind is astounding: philosophy is a matter of the degree in which one believes his or her mind. Nothing else really matters if you know you are right.

Philosophy is extremely important to our daily life. We are presented with problems and issues all the time and our prevailing philosophy helps us make sense of how to approach them. A philosophy, as an orientation towards life, gives us a reason to overcome our problems. It gives us hope that better things will come in the future. For example, if I receive a bad grade in a class, I am usually extremely upset. My optimistic philosophy tells me not to completely break down because there will be better days in the future. It gives me hope that I will receive better grades in the future and maintain my average. When one gets into a fight with a friend, he or she usually feels abandoned and irritated. Although one has trouble making sense of this occurrence, philosophy justifies our optimism: We have a reason to continue existing and pushing through hardships. We know that things will eventually patch up and life will continue. Most of the daily life connections to philosophy are subtle; however, they are constantly occurring. Our daily routines encompass our attitude towards each day. The attitude that we most frequently present also characterizes one’s philosophy. If a person takes passion in everything they do, we can probably deduce that he or she loves life. They have created a universal purpose that is clearly evident in their daily life.

Justifying our existence isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, but understanding the interplay between art and philosophy can help us create a universal purpose. While philosophy tries to make sense of the outer world through an internal mental thought process, art tries to express our inner mental world in an outward manner. They are essentially opposite of one another. When someone has an appreciation for art, they tend to understand the process that the mind comes up with to outwardly express an idea. When someone has an appreciation for philosophy, they can justify our world through rational thought. Just like art, there are numerous ways to approach a single idea and no single approach is right or wrong. By analyzing the interplay between art and philosophy, we can better understand both our rational thoughts and the outward expressions of our rational thoughts. No matter which of these two endeavors one indulges into, they both ultimately are attempting to justify our purpose in this world.

Philosophy is valuable because it helps us make sense of the world. Thoughts that justify our existence give us peace at night. They create a reason for us to pursue our goals and attain personal satisfaction. Philosophy is a thought process and the sooner we can make amends with our inner self and justify our purpose, the sooner we can reach a stage of infinite enlightenment. It doesn’t matter how you choose to justify your existence. If your existence makes sense to you, then you have created a universal purpose. Fortunately the human mind is curious, and you will most likely keep searching for the truth.