Alyanna Angelina M. Cabral Prof.

Lumberto Mendoza

2012-65902 Philo 171

REFLECTION PAPER

My favorite class discussion was about Free Will and Determinism. I chose this as my
favorite because, of course, I learned new things from this discussion which were contrary to my
earlier beliefs. I have always believed that I have no choice on what I should do, that what will
be will be, and that everything are caused. That is the reason why even though I really want to
become a singer, I haven’t done much effort to achieve that dream of mine and instead, I just
focused on my studies. This is because I believed that since I am a student, I have no choice but
to just focus on my studies and not pursue my dream of becoming a singer. Also, I believe that if
singing is really for me, it will just come to me at the right place and at the right time.

The main question asked in this discussion was “Do we always have a choice?” And
later, another question was borne from the main question which was “Where is the ability to
make a choice based?” After the debates regarding these questions, the class was able to
conclude that we always have a choice and we just disregard the options that we don’t like.
Another conclusion is that our ability to make choices is based on our rationality. Regarding the
first conclusion, the thought that we always have a choice, changed my beliefs about my dreams.
If I would look at it again, I could actually choose to pursue singing while studying. I could take
voice lessons and study music while studying. It’s just that these require money, time, and effort,
which will only add to my burden in college. Therefore, because of all these, I disregarded
singing as an option and just focus on my studies.

If I were to evaluate my performance in class, honestly I would say that I am not active in
class since I rarely participate in discussions. Regarding my late and absences, I have no
absences, however I was late once. If I were to recall the time when I felt I contributed in the
discussion the most, it was this one time when I recited in class and that was our discussion
about idolatry. This is where we were differentiating worship, honor, and respect from one
another. I said what I think it is when you honor someone. I said that it is when you consider that
someone as part of yourself and because of this, you would not do anything immoral because
that will reflect on the ones you honor. If I were to suggest something that can be done to
improve our learning and class discussion, I think what can be done is that there should be a
lecture every after discussion (discussions when we form circles) so that we can consolidate what
we have discussed.