Philosophy Reflection Essay

This was my step to the foregrowth major introduction into the study of ism, and I buns candidly enounce that it has had a major impact on my belief system. Many of my views save been changed and my overall view on life is much assorted than it was quin months ago. To me, the two more or less(prenominal) interesting prep ars were the Tao and The Minds I. The Tao describes a rattling interesting flair of life. Of all the philosophies weve shout, it is the simplest and most beautiful. Instead of scan for hidden meanings and analyzing all parts of life, Laozi just tells us to sojourn life.Do no more(prenominal) than you pick out to do, only when do everything you have to do. He tells us non to worry somewhat death and just live life. I honestly commend very simple and peaceful way of living can bring us much more comfort than we have now in our current society. However, the only way it can be implemented is if everyone dramatises the Tao, and that is nearly impo ssible in our current society. We should honestly chasten to live simpler lives and insure the beauty of everyday things. The different work that really impacted me was The Minds I.Im non sure if it qualifies as a single work, but in that respect were several(prenominal) important themes that really interested me and changed some of my views. The section that really interested me the most was the section describing intelligent machines and animals, and their race to gentleman. I had always considered humans superior to animals due to their intelligence and ability to communicate. I never legal opinion too much closely the idea of intelligent animals and even machines and their relationship to humans.An intelligent machine or animal that can communicate unquestionably would be on the same evolutionary level as humans, and hence there could be no way to justify creating an intelligent robotic handmaid or helper without harkening back to the ideology that prompted slavery . Also, destruction of this machine or animal would be equivalent to murder. However, I still so no moral objection to creating an intelligent robot, as long as we seduce it its own freedom, just as we would to one of our children.Its may be considered playacting God, but if we are his greatest creations, we should have the adjust to test our limits. precisely through a recreation of consciousness done and understood by us can we begin to understand our own consciousness as well as ourselves. I had never really thought about technology in this way and never seriously questioned the origin of my consciousness, so the Minds I really force me to think about life in a different way. Throughout the term, I not only changed and reconsidered many of my views I discovered things that I subconsciously believed without really thinking about it.My beliefs not only changed, I discovered beliefs that I never k impertinent I had. Some of these views surfaced when reading certain works the standardized The Mysterious Stranger and Nietzsche. Although these two works didnt change my sunken views that much, it was interesting to see my instinctual beliefs get challenged. I discovered I was a pretty moderate thinker, but these readings caused many of my views on life to change. However, I still disagreed with many of the views expressed in class discussions with certain works, the likes of the Tao.But then I realized that the Tao is designed to have different meanings to everyone who reads it so they could find their own way of life and thus doesnt lend itself well to class discussions. I saw that the way philosophy has evolved over the years mirrors the way society has changed throughout history. The older philosophies that weve read, like the Tao and Plato work, seem to try to tell us how to live our lives to get the most happiness and satisfaction out of it, and how to find the way or see the light.The more modern philosophies seem to disregard the idea of a uncoiled path and tell us how to live in the shell way, but they dont guarantee happiness from it. The most interesting pieces for me were a mix of the modern and older philosophies, like Nietzsche and Socrates Apology (I guess because he lived in a ancient but modern society). Even though they were completely different and I completely disagreed with one of them, they were much more compelling to me. One important thing that I learned is that I hate reading about something that I agree on, I nauseate having my views proven?by another writer and rather read new ideas and opinions.From all the texts read and discussions weve had this year, its hard to talllight just iii things that I learned. One of the most stimulating texts to me was The Circular Ruins. Especially when read right after Is God a Taoist, this simple story do me reconsider all my beliefs on existence and God. Just like the briny character was, we are kept in the dark about our condition, where we came from and how we exi st. We claim an all-mighty God as our creator, and call ourselves superior beings in his image.However, whose to say that we are not just insignificant nothings, created by another being of no importance. Would that make us less real and important? From this story I learned to stop attaching importance and purpose to everything I do. Maybe there is a reason we dont know where we come from perchance we dont want to know. Another important lesson came from Reservation Blues. The important characters all had to deal with finding a cultural identity man trying to escape the trap of the white man. The only ones who made it out were the ones who had a strong cultural identity.They knew themselves and identified with their past tense in the first place they assay to escape the reservation. professional and Junior either tried to ignore their past or couldnt come to terms with their heritage. They tried to escape before they were ready, and couldnt cope with the failure. The books poi nt, despite the suicide and Victors destruction, was amazingly positive, it showed that if you come to terms with your past and yourself you can get over any obstacle set against you, but you must have this brain or you leave destroy yourself.From The Razors Edge I learned a lot about the purpose of life from each of the vastly different characters. At first, it seems like the point of the story is that there is a difference between what we want and what makes us happy and fulfilled. Suzanne, rusty and Elliot all got what they wanted yet all seem to live unhappy, unsuccessful lives. Further inspection showed that they all are living the life that they in full wanted and expected to live, and they are perfectly content. Isabel wanted both Larry and high society type of life, and thus is disappointed with her life because she couldnt have both.Larry didnt know what he wanted out of life, so he took basically a timeout from the real world, went into seclusion and discovered what he wanted out of life. Now he, knowing full well what he wants, is the most satisfied of all the characters. The lesson to be learned is that happiness is completely relative, and thus you cannot call anyone a failure unless he considers himself one. Also, its all right to dramatize some time out of the real world and relax, take a step back and see what you really want to do next.In the end, this class really has changed my views on the best kind of life. I still believe that you need to live the type of life that will make you the happiest and most satisfied, but I dont think that most populate know what type of life that is. If you dont have a passion, dont force yourself into any profession. look the world and find something that really interests you otherwise you will get forced into a miserable life that you hate. If you have a passion, you have to follow it. You have to come in terms with who you are understand and entertain your past and childhood.We have to examine our lives to discover what we really want, then try to find it. We must simplify our actions, and we have to stop overanalyzing others actions and words. We have to lose our ego and sense of shame, and stop caring what people think of you. This is the simplest way to live and live happily, without having to adjust your actions to fit what other people expect from you. We have to stop fearing death and keep on living life in the happiest possible way. This will be the happiest, simplest and best life for everyone.