What Is My Philosophy - Essay Example

"What is my philosophy? How do I live my life?" Introduction Life is a misery to all even if some people may not agree this argument.Nobody knows from where we come and where we go after death. It is a fact that we are driven by energy (Life) and as per the scientific laws energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. In that sense, our life will continue even after our death; but where and how? Socrates is believed to be the first philosopher who tried to find the meaning of life. He tried to explain the life in terms of a person’s commitment towards the state. Even though he had not written anything; he transferred all his knowledge and opinions about life to his disciples or students. Plato, one of the prominent students of Socrates, was responsible for spreading the thoughts of Socrates to the external world. Each and every person has a life philosophy. It will start from the birth and will end with death. Life philosophy of a person can change periodically based on his/ her life experiences and the knowledge he acquires from the world. In this paper I briefly explain my life philosophy until now with respect to the arguments of Socrates. My life philosophy I have started to think something about life when I was around eight years old. From that period onwards, I started to listen, the opinions of my parents, priests and other people about the meaning of life. I had lot of doubts at that period since all these people talked about good and evil. They taught me that only good people will get salvation whereas bad people will go to hell. I was very much afraid of my life at that period. My parents told me that the life in hell is a miserable one whereas the life in heaven is an eternal one and also enjoyable. I never liked the idea of going to hell because of the miseries waiting for me there and decided to make a conscious effort to go to heaven. But, it was difficult for me to strictly adhere with the norms for getting salvation. I found it extremely difficult to handle the pressure going in the routes to heaven. My worries about life continued till I became around 15 years of age. From that period onwards I started to enjoy my life and had given less importance to the norms of a moral life. I think both my physical and psychological needs started to change drastically during this period which prevented me from opting for a moral life. I started to neglect the moral views about life and looked only at the materialistic aspects of life. I thought life is for enjoyment and there is no pint in worrying about the future life. I thought the present life is the important one and the creator will manage our future life. I thought we came to this world unknowingly and the creator is responsible for sending us here and it is his responsibility to make necessary arrangements for our future as we have no control over our life. But, from 18 years onwards, my life philosophies again started to change mainly because of my learning about Socrates and his teachings through Plato. I was very much attracted by the way in which Socrates met his death. Even when his life was in jeopardy, he never tried anything to rescue it. He never gave up his views and philosophies about life. He has given less importance to his personal life and gave more importance to the wellbeing of the nation. He never considered what other people said about life and argued that what other people will say clearly doesnt matter and only the opinion that counts is not that of the majority of people generally, but rather that of the one individual who truly knows (Socrates: Philosophical Life). The above teaching of Socrates has influenced me a lot. I have realized that life is precious to all and it should be lived as per our own ideas and knowledge rather than the ideas of others. Moreover, I have realized that truth has a significant role in life and it is impossible for a society or nation to progress using false means. The argument of Socrates that the truth alone deserves to be the basis for decisions about human action has influenced me a lot. It forced me to think rationally about the meaning of life. Even though Socrates never believed in God, he believed in truth. Even after immense advancements in science and technology, nobody has so far succeeded in developing an artificial life in a laboratory setup. Science is still searching for answers about the secrets of our life. Nobody knows where our life rests; is it in our heart or is it in our brain. Nobody knows. Even though science was succeeded in treating the diseases, and extending the life up to certain extent, still it is unable to prevent the death. In short, science is still searching in the darkness to unveil the miseries of life. The inability of science to unveil the miseries of life forced me to think about an almighty, who was responsible for all the creations on earth. Even though science has said so many things about the origin of this universe, none of its argument has convinced me. Science has said that the universe has originated after a big explosion (Big bang theory) of hydrogen clouds. It explains everything logically once it starts from the hydrogen clouds. At the same time it keeps a blind eye towards, from where this hydrogen clouds come. It is impossible to evolve something out of nothing which forced me to think in terms of God as the creator of whole things in the world even though I don’t know anything about from where God was originated. I decided to start everything from a superpower which is indefinable by the human senses and I call it as God. Even though the arguments of Socrates about the importance of truth in human life were found logical to me, his arguments to obey the state were not acceptable to me. I have no doubt that we should work for the development of nation; but the supremacy of nation over a superpower (GOD) was not acceptable to me. In my opinion, human was responsible for making fixing the boundaries and creating different regions, nations etc. Moreover, human was responsible for creating different religions, communities, classes etc. In short all the above entities are human made and based on human wisdom; people have created different Gods, and moral principles. Even though, I believe in a superpower (God), the theory of different Gods is not acceptable to me as I definitely expect a power struggle if more than one God exists. Socrates was never afraid of death. Even though he was uncertain about the fate after death, he has never given up his belief in the power of reasons even when the jury threatens him of taking his life. He never believed in leading a mechanical life. He never revealed the truth and never answered the questions of his students. He encouraged them to think critically to arrive at conclusions or answers. I really appreciate the courage and commitment Socrates exhibited towards his philosophy of life. He was not like the politicians of the current world who changes their opinions and declarations for material benefits. Conclusions It is difficult to have two persons with the same philosophy of life. Life philosophy of a person depends on the wisdom and surroundings of the person. My life philosophy undergoes changes periodically and I am not sure about it in the future. Based on the experiences and the knowledge I acquire from my surroundings, my life philosophy is being formulated. At present, I strongly believe in morality and ethics because of my belief in the eternity or God and my philosophy of life revolves around it. Works Cited 1. “Socrates: Philosophical Life”. 16 February 2010. Read More