Philosophy can be described as a chance for a person to undertake an opportunity to understand

themselves, our world and society, and the relations between ourselves and one another. Those who
can study philosophy can find out what is to be human, what kind of person is it good to be, and
especially how we are to live a good life. I, myself, have had an opportunity to study philosophy during
my senior high school years and it helps me change my outlook on my life. Etymological definition
Philosophy originates from the two Greek words “Philo/philia” meaning love and “Sophia” meaning
wisdom. Hence, love of wisdom. Love is a desire toward something or someone. Wisdom on the other
hand is the proper application of knowledge. Hence, there is a difference between a knowledgeable
person and a person of wisdom.

A knowledgeable person can have a massive grasp of the “what” of this world. But a person of wisdom
always has a “why” in his or her existence that endures the “how” of this world. In other words,
philosophy is a desire to possess wisdom. But the irony here is that no matter how intense the desire to
grasp wisdom is, the more elusive it becomes. You may be clarified more about this idea considering the
technical definition of philosophy: The technical definition or in the logical sense the real definition of
philosophy stated in Latin is “the science of beings in their ultimate reasons, causes and principles
acquired by the aid of human reason alone (Bittle,1984).” Philosophy is a science but it being a science is
different from other sciences like mathematics, chemistry, and physics which have fixed answers. In
philosophy, answers are left loose or open-ended. Thus, in philosophy what is important is the question,
not the answer since answers can become questions themselves.

This essay is a reflection on my understanding of what I have learned during this class and the video I
watched about what philosophy is. Philosophy is a broad topic and can be hard to understand. What I
learned in the video and the class about philosophy makes me think and makes my brain turn all the
time, but so far, my understanding is that philosophy is the study of knowledge. According to Aristotle,
philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge; it starts with wonder. Philosophy
makes us ask specific questions like “Why” why did this happen and how did it come to be? Philosophy
was mainly influenced by great philosophers, Aristotle, Plato, Rousseau, Socrates, and Psychologist
Pavlov. These philosophers had many great ideas and made significant contributions to many subjects
and although I do not agree with every idea I still think that it is obnoxious to disregard philosophy
entirely.
After watching the video I have learned the importance of Philosophy and its major branches namely
metaphysics, logic, epistemology, and ethics.

First, Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that questions the fundamental nature of human beings'
reality. Does it cover questions such as what time is or is there a God? Therefore, metaphysics is the
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exploration of issues surrounding the existence of things. One interesting part of metaphysics was if the
world is the real world. In my view, the reality is anything that would directly or indirectly affect my daily
activities. The environment around me, the people I come across in lecture halls, and the cars I see on
the highways are all real. Some philosophers argue that what is true may not be real. This is because
human senses can deceive us depending on the human perspective. For example, you may look at a
person and be convinced that their character is bad based on their appearance, but in reality, the
individual may turn out to be good. This example demonstrates how human beings judge things based
on what they see, which can be wrong. Therefore, metaphysics has helped me avoid judging people or
objects based on what I see but rather dig deeper and understand what lies underneath the appearance.

Second, Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It is the philosophical study of its nature and scope.
Epistemology is an interesting element of philosophy since it leads to unique questions such as what is
knowledge and truth, as well as what is the source of knowledge? Epistemology helps us to better
understand the process and development of knowledge. Also, it demonstrates a clearer viewpoint
toward the sources of knowledge. The study of epistemology in philosophy is important because it helps
us evaluate what we see or perceive. It helps us determine the true from the false and helps us gain
productive knowledge i.e. knowledge that we can use to benefit ourselves and others. With improper
epistemological knowledge, we would just be perceiving a bunch of images flashing in our minds. We
would not be able to think of itself. Therefore epistemology is an important part of philosophy and thus
is related to many other areas of study in philosophy.

Third is Logic, it doesn’t teach you to think. You think naturally and intuitively as a human being who is
already capable of careful thinking. What logic can do is bring order, consistency, and carefulness to
your thinking. As for me, I am always eager to think carefully, but my thinking was often scattered,
disordered, and somewhat careless. The study of logic builds ordered minds that are capable of clear
and careful thinking. Logic also teaches people how to construct a reasonable argument—a claim
(conclusion) that is genuinely supported by facts, reasons, or evidence and how to recognize when the
reasoning process breaks down. Knowing how to reason properly and being aware of common mistakes
is invaluable in life and the pursuit of truth.

The last one is Ethics is the way of living your life with conscience, understanding, and having the
courage to take the right and just decision irrespective of the repercussions. In every stage of life
starting with childhood to old age, ethics do build a way to lead a better life. Ethics serve as a set of rules
that help us to decide with a full conscience. We all learn about ethics from our family, friends, religious
beliefs, and the society in which we grow. One’s culture is the foundation of his or her ethical beliefs and
highly influences the way of life. Culture determines how we interact with each other, appropriate or
inappropriate behavior, and how we communicate. Ethics are very essential in developing an ability to
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think critically and solve problems. It controls what we sense, and how we interpret the sense and
guides the decision and actions in exercising critical and creative thinking by providing solutions to
discipline-related problems. Ethics develops the critical thinking and problem-solving of man. It also
provides a strategy to resolve an issue that demands ethical or moral principles.

Ethics compromise good values and virtues which can help you in reasoning out and analyzing certain
things. As an aspiring educator, being a good communicator is a must, one must also apply the principles
of Ethics. It is always needed to practice a good attitude toward communicating with others. By Ethics,
you are being aware of certain issues that provoke you to develop a proper way of application of
reasoning before communicating. Being a good communicator doesn’t mean it is taken orally but is
written as well. Communicating with others must be properly equipped with principles to make better-
informed and properly considered statements or decisions and provide good advice. If we do not have
the philosophy as well as its branches in education as a discipline then our roles as teachers and
students would seem too random and our education level would always remain below that of other
countries. If we do not have the discipline of psychology then many people would give up learning as
teachers would fail the attempt to effectively make students acquire knowledge and skills.

On a final note, with philosophy, there is a sense of hope and opportunity for us and future generations.
Philosophy is challenging, which is part of the reason why it’s beneficial, but philosophy is also fun.
Philosophy is about working together to understand difficult and important problems, and then striving
to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the various solutions that are proposed. With Philosophy,
such learning can be developed; professional competence, critical thinking, problem-solving skills,
communications skills, lifelong learning, social and ethical responsibility, productivity, and interpersonal
skills. Philosophy shapes man as a rational being to uses his intellectual zest to make decisions and
conclusions according to his reason. Man uses his knowledge for understanding. Either analyzing his
dealings with reality to live properly. In a world of super-complexity, pluralism, and global awareness,
man must be nurtured enough with knowledge, values, and principles to cope with the changing
demands of it to reach his or her goals in life.