SulianaFauonuku

English1010
IEPProject

IwasoncewatchingthepopularCBStelevisionnetworkshow,
CriminalMinds.
Itisa
crimebasedshowsfollowingauniquegroupofFBIsBehavioralAnalysisUnit(BAU).agents
whoexploreanddeterminethemindsetofsuspectsanddementedcriminals.Theshowplays
withyourmind,oftenmakingyouthinkthatyouknowwhocommittedthecrime.Itputsyouin
thepositionoftheFBIagentswithoutbackgroundknowledge.Acommonpartoftheshowisto
giveaquotewithanunknownmeaningorpurposeatthebeginningandendofeveryepisode.
RobertOxtonBoltoncewrote,Abeliefisnotmerelyanideathemindpossessesitisanidea
thatpossesthemind.(Davis,&Alcal,2005).Iheardthequoteandponderedwhatitmeant,
myminddriftingtothecomplexrealityofthehumanmind.Humansareanimalsdominatingthe
landandseasimplybecauseofamindandconsciousnessevenwedonotcompletely
understand.Thestudyofthemindisacomplexstudyinitself.Philosophyiskeyto
understandingtheabstractofthemind.Whatcapturesourmindsomuchwebelieveitin
everything?Wecanbegintofindtheanswerwithanotherquestion,whatisthemechanism
behindorganizingaspecificphilosophyorsystemofbeliefs?Theremustbesomethingina
philosophythatpullspeopleintobelievingthem.Oncewegetanideaonthis,thenwecan
understandwhatitiswiththemindthatallowsittobepulled.
ThisquestioncametomindasIthoughtaboutmypsychologyclass.Intheclasswe
oftendiscusshowthemindworksbothbiologicallyandpsychologically.Themindjustamazes
meastohowitrelatestoreality,aperceptionweallseedifferently.Ivelearnedthatthe

principlesofpsychologyandphilosophyarecorrelated.Aftertakingapsychologyclass,Ichose
tofocusmoreonthephilosophyofthought.
Inordertobeginthisprocessofcomingupwithananswerorideatomyquestion,I
askedfivespecificquestions.Inwritingfivesummaries,witheachsummaryIaskedaquestion
andfoundanarticlethatwouldanswerit.Ioftencouldnotthinkofaquestion,whichleftmeto
findanyarticleonthebasicsofphilosophyandfindaquestionfromthere.Thiswasmyprocess
ofresearch,askingmoreandmorequestionstogetanideaofananswerformyoriginal
question.
Iaskedmyself,whatisphilosophyanyways?Ithoughtinordertounderstandhowit
worksandisorganized,Ihadtoknowmorethanthebasicdefinition.Philosophyisahard
concepttodefineinitselfsoIhadahardtimeorganizingwhatorhowIshouldstartmy
research.Itseasytolookupfactualandfinitequestions,butbythelimitsofGooglenoonehas
outlinedhowphilosophyisactuallyorganizedandhowinfluentialitisonthepublic.Iknewby
definitionphilosophywasthestudyorsystemofunderstandingthebasicsofnature,reality,and
existence.Ifoundtherearemorethanthreefactorstophilosophy,oftencalledbranchesof
philosophy.Thesebranchesincludesmetaphysics,epistemology,ethics,andlogic.
Metaphysicsisafieldthatdealswithabstractbeliefsandstateofbeing.Itoftenquestion
matterssuchasGod,truth,freewill,andrelationbetweenthemindandbody.Epistemologyis
thestudyofknowledgeandinvestigationincomparisontoopinion.Itquestionswhatweknow,
howweknowit,andtherelationofevidence.Ethicschallengesthegoodfromevil,rightfrom
wrong,andsetslimitstowhatpersonalfreedomsandrightsallowsasfaraspersonal
happiness.TheoverviewgivenbyFloridaStateUniversitysDepartmentofPhilosophystates
thisaboutthelogicofphilosophy,

Anotherimportantaspectofthestudyofphilosophyistheargumentsorreasonsgivenfor
peoplesanswerstothesequestions.Tothisendphilosophersemploylogictostudythenature
andstructureofarguments.(para.5).Thisexpressestheideathatthereisreasoningbehind
philosophy,thatisitnotjustasimplebeliefinitself.OnekeyfactorIvelearnedastowhat
drivespeopletobelieveacertainphilosophy,istheamountandqualityoftheevidencebehind
it.Ifmetaphysics,epistemology,ethics,andlogicdefinephilosophy,thentheonlyother
questioniswhy?Beforeevenaskingthisquestion,Iaskedmyselfwhatpopularphilosophers
andphilosophieshaveinfluencedpeoplethemost?
Iaskedthisquestionandlookedfortopratingsofphilosophersandphilosophies.Ifound
atoptenlistforbothareas.TheGreekswereknownfortheartsandintroductionofphilosophy.
IcomparedthebigthreephilosopherstothebigthreegodsoftheGreekOlympians.Socrates,
equivalenttothegodZeus,wasknownasthefatherofwesternphilosophyandtheoneto
introduceandorganizephilosophyingeneral.Plato,proportionatetothegodPoseidon,wasa
studentofSocrateswhofurtheredwesternidealsandisbestknownforintroducingtraditional
philosophy.Aristotle,thelastlikeHades,wasastudentofPlatowhospreadphilosophyamong
teachingandwritingmorethantheprecedingtwo.Iusedthiscomparisonnottocomparethe
powerofeachphilosopherwiththatofeachofthebigthree,buttheorder.Isawapatternthat
oftenthestudentbecametheteacher,likeayoungerbrothergrowinguptotheexpectationsof
theelders.Inrelationtohowthesecomparisonsrelatetophilosophy,aninfluentialsystemof
beliefsrequiresaprominentleader.Accordingtobothpsychologicalstudiesandpersonal
observation,peopletendtofollowmorethanlead.Ivefoundthatifthereisawellknownfigure
infront,thentheeasiestthingtodoissimplyfollow.Thisisthenatureofphilosophy,people
followitifthereissomeoneleadingit.Again,thequestionofwhyarisestoasurfaceofthe
unknown.


Thequestionofhowaphilosophyisorganizedcanbeansweredinwhatitisusedfor.
AccordingtoThePhilosophersMail.com,itbeginswithaquestion.Philosophersdontaskbig
questions,butfirststartbybreakingthemdownintosimplerquestionsthatcanbeanswered.It
isessentialtoworkthroughbothconfusionandemotioninordertoeffectivelyapplycommon
sense.Weask,wewonder,welook,wefind,andrepeattheprocesswitheverypieceof
knowledge.Iwouldsaythenaturalmethodoforganizingaphilosophyissimplytoquestionlife
inallitsparts.Anewquestioncomestomind,whichisthereasonforphilosophy.Isee
philosophyasajourneyofunderstandingliferatherthanathingitself.Itspurposeistogain
knowledge,butthequestionstillremainsofwhyweneedknowledge.
Whydoweneedphilosophy?isaquestionIhaveconstantlyaskedmyselfthroughout
thisproject.Ivecometofindthatitobviouslyhelpsforasuccessfulandhappylifeforsome,
andasaburdentootherstocarrysomuchknowledge.Ithinkthereasonbehindthe
mechanismofaphilosophyistoorganizeourthoughtsandbeliefsashumanbeings.However,
whatdowedowithitafter?Wecanpassitontoanother,butthenwhathappensafterits
passedthrougheverypersonpossible.Theremustbeareasontohaveknowledgeinthefirst
place,oftenIthinkinasensethatitlastsafterwedie.Whereknowledgegoesandhowitis
usedafterdeathisanotherexploratorysubjectIhaveyettodiscover.However,forallIknowis
thatphilosophystartswithwonderandquestioning,Itpondersthebasicsoflifeanddeepens
whatweseeonthesurface,creatingadepthofknowledgetocontinuethroughaprocessof
discovery.

References
Davis,J.,(Writer),&
Alcal,F.E.(Director).(2005).Derailed[Televisionseriesepisode].InM.
Gordon,
CriminalMinds
.NewYork:ColumbiaBroadcastingSystem.

"DoesPhilosophyMatter?"
OpinionatorDoesPhilosophyMatterComments.
N.p.,n.d.Web.06
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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/doesphilosophymatter/?_r=0

Quora."WhatAretheTop10PhilosophicalIdeasThatEveryoneShouldUnderstand?"
The
HuffingtonPost
.TheHuffingtonPost.com,n.d.Web.06July2016.Retrievedfrom
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/whatarethetop10philo_b_2828845.html

"Top10GreatestPhilosophersinHistoryListverse."
Listverse
.N.p.,19Feb.2011.Web.06
July2016.Retrievedfrom
http://listverse.com/2011/02/19/top10greatestphilosophersinhistory/

"WhatIsPhilosophyandWhat'sItFor?"
PhilosophersMail.
N.p.,n.d.Web.06July2016.
Retrievedfrom
http://thephilosophersmail.com/whatthisisallabout/whatisphilosophyandwhatsitfor/

"WhatIsPhilosophy?"
DepartmentofPhilosophy.
N.p.,n.d.Web.06July2016.Retrievedfrom
http://philosophy.fsu.edu/content/view/full/36588