The important books on philosophy for understanding life - Essay Example

 The important books on philosophy for understanding life The Dialogue Reader on “Belief and Reason” is a very important book on philosophy which takes us on a journey of exploration of how we should live our lives. Considering that now the world has been placed on a global platform and is now made up of multicultural groups and organizations, it is all the more evident that we are faced with too many options where beliefs and reasoning are concerned. The beliefs of this multi-cultural organization is an amalgamation of sorts and it is for the individual to use his reasoning powers to observe, understand and analyze the theological, philosophical and the natural world around us by making use of our critical thinking processes. This book beckons us to use our reasoning skills before trying to form our opinions on subjects such as religion, spirituality, beliefs and they way we need to live life. What I learned from this book is invaluable. I have learned not to blindly form my beliefs but to use my reasoning power to analyze and understand the true meaning of what is being spoken of or portrayed. However, in our communities most of us tend to just blindly believe the historical, religious and cultural thoughts and ideas which have been handed down to us from generation to generation without even questioning its authenticity. But Philosophy has helped us immensely by making us understand that it is better to reason out and analyze things for ourselves instead of blindly believing everything. Reasoning helps us to be better individuals and gives us confidence to help other members of our society. While reflecting on my own life, I feel that I too had some blind beliefs earlier but after reading The Dialogue Reader my perceptions have changed and I rely on my own reasoning for incidents that take place in my life. Finally we can say that all our strong beliefs are based upon our reasoning, so if our reasoning is correct our beliefs automatically are right. But in case our reasoning went wrong, then our beliefs would be wrong too. Therefore, now I rely on my reasoning before I form strong beliefs about something. In the pursuit of happiness man has time and again been confronted with innumerable challenges. This quest can be the finding of oneself or the attainment of enlightenment. Achieving this state of happiness or enlightenment is an ongoing process and an individual can attain it only by traversing the course of life as it is presented every day. Our belief is that happiness is hard to find but it is also true that each of us spend our entire lifetime to search, grasp and hold it. In the book, Siddhartha, Herman Hesse tells us about the life of an imaginary character, Siddhartha, who left home to find enlightenment. The hero of this book, Siddhartha, finds enlightenment not only through his own life experiences but also through that of people around him. The story is set during the period of Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The hero comes across Buddha, the Enlightened One, but is unable to reach his goal of happiness under him. He feels that he cannot find what he is seeking from anyone but himself. His meeting with his son and the son’s subsequent departure helps him understand the transient nature of joy. It also helps him realize the beauty of unselfish devotion. The author makes us realize during the course of the novel that happiness could be obtained through experiences and self-discovery. Siddhartha goes through a cycle of spirituality, materialism and once again spirituality. The various avatars of Siddhartha are that of a son, a holy man, a businessman and a hedonist. In each phase of his life, Siddhartha undergoes many experiences which bring him closer to his goal of attaining fulfillment and happiness. Like Siddhartha each one of us must resolve that “I will learn from myself, be my own pupil” (Hesse, 39). The journey of our life is our journey towards happiness and fulfillment. Happiness therefore is not a goal to be achieved but a journey to be traversed and cherished for its lessons. Author Robert C. Solomon enlightens us on the subject of philosophy in his fascinating book titled “The Little Philosophy Book”. (Robert C. Solomon) Any person reading this book, including myself is automatically led through an introspective and reflective phase that leads us to explore the depths of our inner selves. Some of the salient points discussed by the author were morality, the nature of truth, and a deep exploration of oneself. In reading Robert C. Solomon’s book that discusses God and Spirituality, I found that my beliefs were very much in tandem with the author’s point of view. God is omnipotent and all powerful and if we follow His teachings we can walk in the right path. Though the author does not provide us with definitive answers, yet his thought provoking philosophical questions such as “Who we really are?”, “Why we are here?” and “How should we live”? (Robert C. Solomon,) has made me reflect on my own beliefs and understand how relevant they are in my own life. I too believe that every individual in the universe is here for a purpose and when we accomplish this purpose we get fulfillment. Our lives should be in accordance with nature because anything going against nature would bring in conflict and disharmony in our lives. References Dialogue Reader: Belief and Reason - Level I  Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. New York: Bantam, 1971 Solomon C. Robert , The Little Philosophy Book, Read More