The Relevance And Value Of Philosophy In Everyday Life

As we move forward in this world full of innovation, philosophy has been forgotten as well as thought to be unnecessary which is allowing many universities to eliminate their philosophy departments. Many people don’t pay much attention, people believe that all of our answers must have empirical evidence as well as be able to be observed. Understanding what is happening around us is important in this world since there are many beliefs and philosophies that people follow, it is very important to be able to understand and question what we are being taught as well as what we have to say, and all of this can be accomplished with philosophy, therefore it would be extremely beneficial to have mandatory philosophy classes in University. It allows us to ponder in alternatives and it does not constrain us to a single answer, therefore allowing us to gain a greater knowledge than if you were to get a specific answer.

Plato believed that philosophy was therapy for the soul, in his story the allegory of the cave, he explains how we can gain knowledge through philosophical reasoning, the allegory of the cave explains how the prisoners believed to have knowledge from what they were perceiving and sensing, they believed that the truth was within empirical evidence ensuring the gain of their knowledge. The prisoner who escaped the cave then is explained to think in a way outside the box, looking for answers outside of the shadows, seeking knowledge outside of what he’s seeing.

As students are extremely beneficial for us to understand the philosophy and implement it into our thinking, it allows us to critically think as well as make decisions in a more broad way, taking into consideration different factors. Philosophy has formed part of history for all these years, giving us the ability to ask questions that do not have a specific answer, it helps us understand and create a better solution, therefore, having philosophy courses in university would not only benefit the students but it would also help them be better students by allowing them to have a greater questioning about their life and classes. The philosopher Plato asked,” why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?”

Philosophy should be required in school because it is important that as scholars we learn to critically understand and think about solutions in all types of fields that we are studying, we can use philosophy to explain many things about our life as well as problems that are presented in our everyday lives. Having courses in University not only would it help us question our beliefs and try to come to a conclusion based on them but it would also help us in our other classes since philosophy will make us develop better and deeper thoughts that would allow us to answer questions.

Philosophy in education has many benefits, it can help us construct and critically evaluate our thoughts and beliefs, it would make us better listeners and be able to question other people’s arguments. It not only allows to think but it helps us to become tolerant of other people’s opinions and helps us question our own beliefs. Philosophy will help not only students in their everyday life but to question everything around them and what people tell them as well as create questions that nobody is asking, this would allow them to gain a better knowledge of what there are studying and really grasp the material. It would allow them to contribute to the discussion in which otherwise they would have been afraid to, not only would they answer questions being presented to them but it would allow them to question whatever is being presented to them. Philosophy can be used to try to understand the world in the current state that it is, this would allow us, students, to question what is happening around us instead of conforming with life as it is. As a philosopher is easy to be open-minded and willing to listen to criticism.

Philosophy not only would it benefit in our academic career but it will prepare us for the world, to understand moral issues as well as ethics, it will allow us to understand why things are wrong and critically think about our actions and everyone else’s. Philosophy not only implements questions about life but it also allows us to have an ethical sense in which we can formulate our own values and emotions and understand others too. It will help us to create a better relationship with ourselves and allow introspection to happen. If there is no introspection, it would be hard to try to understand ourselves, get a clearer picture of our surroundings, be empathetic and make us grow as individuals.

Many believe that philosophy is useless knowledge, most everyone thinks of philosophy as hard texts made by ancient enlightened men that asked big life questions that have very complex answers, many believe that philosophy asks “dumb” questions that many times do not have concrete answers, but philosophy allows us to answer these questions in whatever way we can to answer them, there is no constraint or a set of rules that needs to be followed. Overall under all of that, it develops our way of thinking and our power to question and question ourselves why and how certain things occur. Philosophy helps you not only to know but to understand.

Neil deGrasse Tyson an astrophysicist believes that philosophy is obsolete, it doesn’t have any contribution, unlike physical sciences. As we become a more technological-driven society, is easy to fall into a more practical and empirical world where there is no space for philosophy. For many it might seem confusing, boring as well as useless, many believe that the questions being asked have no answers unlike science, but it leads us to a rich reflection, we wonder, discuss and critically explore everything around us without the worry of not having the right answer. Philosophy comes hand in hand with science and practical knowledge because this way it allows us to be able to not be afraid of asking questions that might have scientific answers and will lead to technological innovations.

Philosophy is useful enough for the citizens of the twenty-first century because allows us to change our point of view, helps us understand our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Philosophy courses will make improvements in the way students learn, not only in their philosophy classes but in any other field of study. It stimulates our mind to question everything, and really understand different ideas and be able to critically evaluate what we know.

Overall we use philosophy in our everyday lives without us really thinking about it, implementing more knowledge on this field would not cause any harm to our thinking but it would make us a more wise people that can help and contribute to society. Philosophy should not be dismissed or be forgotten, it opens our mind to infinite possibilities and help us become better, more knowledgeable and tolerant person, all of these qualities not only will it make us better student but a better member of society than those not conform to the answers that everyone is providing.