By Emanuel Eason What is philosophy? Mr. Arguelles put it as, “The fundamental questions that have plagued mankind since mankind has started thinking.” Philosophy is the study of the human experience. It focuses on how we perceive the world and our existence, as well as how we form opinions and reach conclusions.
Philosophy isn’t about the black or white. Instead, it focuses on the gray, the human search for subjective meaning in an objective world. During senior year, philosophy is offered as an English choice and is taught by either Ms. Elbin or Mr. Arguelles. The class focuses on the big ideas: the questions rather than the answers. It provides a stark contrast to many other classes. As opposed to other English classes, it has less of a strict focus on novels and literature. Instead, the class uses literature and novels to analyze philosophy and understand schools of thought, looking at novels such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Shakespeare's Hamlet, among others. One student said, “It’s a free thinking class in which we apply real life examples to how this thinker thought back in the day.” Due to the nature of philosophy, the course can be fairly discussion-based. Another student said, “It’s not like we’re writing a lot of papers or taking a lot of tests; it’s more participation based.” Students analyze thought experiments such as the famous trolley problem, which looks at the idea of the greater good, or existentialism, which examines the meaning of human existence and how we can be authentic to ourselves. While philosophy might not be for all students, it can be a very interactive, open-minded and intelligent course. Students say that there are less rules and things are more open to interpretation. Rather than a stricter English course, students are pressed to find new ways to look at the world around them through understanding how others have throughout history. Students are driven to questions, and the class focuses on theses questions. Through the study of philosophies, the students can better develop questions, answering how they choose, including through how they live their lives.
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