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Essays on critical thinking skills
General importance of philosophy
What is the importance of philosophy
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I think philosophy is important for two main reasons: (1) it can help improve critical thinking skills and (2) it’s a good way to know certain things. Even so, much more can be said—especially considering each specific thing philosophy can teach us. Many things it can teach us are important for various other reasons.
There are many people who question the importance of philosophy (such as Lawrence Krauss), and I suspect that the main reason that they are unconvinced is because they don’t think philosophy can make progress or provide us with knowledge. Consider that at one point Krauss said, “[Science progresses and philosophy doesn’t.”1
What is philosophy? It is the attempt to reason well about certain traditional domains of study: logic (the study of good reasoning), epistemology (the study of knowledge), metaphysics (the study of reality), and ethics (the study of morality). Just like science, some philosophy is better than others, and a lot of philosophy done by amateurs misses the mark so badly that it is often better described as something else entirely. When
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How many people think they reason properly and understand logic? Very few seem to realize that they need to improve their understanding of these things and one relevant study showed that people who were tested in their competence in logic “overestimated their logical reasoning ability relative to their peers. On average, participants placed themselves in the 66th percentile among students from their class, which was significantly higher than the actual [average score] …it was participants in the bottom quartile… who overestimated their logical reasoning ability and test performance to the greatest
Philosophy is a very important part of people’s lives. Philosophy is quite basically asking inquiries about existence, reality and nature of knowledge. To better understand philosophy we must look throughout history. Looking back through history helps better show what the philosophers thought during the time period in which they lived. The relativity of the theories, to the time period, is a very important factor in how efficient these theories they were. The first philosopher’s ideas to people today would be considered either very basic, or insane. Yet, in the time period they lived in, they were considered to be geniuses. Also, looking back through time and studying philosophers and what they believed can help create a better idea for our own philosophical creations. The first philosophers were also known as the Presocratics. They were called this because they were in a time period before Socrates was born. They mainly focused on answering what is the explanation of nature, also referred to as metaphysics. Even before the Presocratic philosophers, we need to look at the ancient Greek poets that created myths and examine how their stories came into being made and how it had an effect on their civilization. These myths are a part of Philosophy because they were the first ideas about creation. The transition between these mythic worldviews and pre-Socratic philosophers’ worldview was important because it lays down the structural work for great philosophers to learn from them and develop further theories based on their findings.
Philosophy according to the Encyclopedia Britannica is “the critical examination of the grounds for fundamental beliefs and an analysis of the basic concepts employed in the expression of such beliefs.” (Britannica) With the different values people may have, their beliefs, and their understanding of certain ideas, comes different perspective as well. Some people may not agree with the beliefs of another. Throughout the readings within this summer course I saw different aspects of philosophy present within each text and the arguments and conflicts that arise from such differences. The different forms of philosophical reasoning and beliefs presents within the tales read include theology, ethics, as well as scientific principles. One philosophical theme that I saw present within most of these stories was equality.
From the beginning of man’s existence, logic has been the only ingredient separating mankind from other species. While simpler animals roamed the earth searching for what was instinctually necessary, man developed into thinkers who analyzed life and made conjectures as to its real meaning. In a sense, when man began thinking life was born. However, there is no divinity in thought, rather its application and transition into forming logical ideas has made thought something worth pursuing.
Modern sciences have either directly emerged from philosophy or are very closely related to multiple philosophical questions. Understanding philosophy, as well as the way problems are addressed by philosophers, is the key to understanding science as we know it today and in the future. There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers – perhaps there are even more. Philosophy is said to be the mother of all disciplines. It is also the oldest of all disciplines and has given a rise to modern science, both social and natural conclusions. After three millennia of philosophical discourse and disagreement, it is extremely unlikely that we will reach an exact consensus. My thoughts are that a philosopher is basically a person who engages in the critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge, especially with the intention of improving or reconstituting them; this is otherwise known as the study of philosophy.
... wise person's and philosopher's opinions with truth. Both truth and opinions are important aspects to philosophy but the distinction between the two is even more important. Without the search for truth and the base of opinions to test for truthfulness philosophy as an institution would fail to exist.
Bertrand Russell explains in his article that the value of philosophy is not in the definite answers, but in the questions and possibilities that it raises. He states that “The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty.” This can relate to the Milesians, the answers they came up with weren’t important, but the process used to get them. He says that the more we practice philosophy the more we begin to question everyday things in our life, and we come to find that the answers are only bigger questions. These questions lead to limitless possibilities, broadened horizons, and freedom from what we “know”. Russell hints that philosophy can help you see things in a different light, in a sense taking off the rose colored glasses and seeing the world for what it is.
Bertrand Russell’s essay addresses many issues concerning philosophy. In the writing, he states philosophy’s nature, value, and criticisms. The essay explains these aspects of the study of philosophy in relatively different ways. The main idea for establishing value in his essay is by explaining how it is best obtained, and its effect on other people. The essay continues with his criticisms of those who opposed philosophy and live their lives based on concrete, solid facts. He addresses these figures as the ‘practical men’. Almost as an opposition to the practical man is the idea of the instinctive man, whose interests are natural and private. The foundation of philosophy is stated in his essay by differentiating philosophy from science (science has absolute answer, philosophy doesn’t), and he defines the nature of learning philosophy. Overall, Russell’s position in this essay is that philosophy is worth studying and is beneficial for people through philosophical contemplation and questions.
Sociology is important because of many reasons, especially in the context of race and ethnicity. Sociology is very important to me, because it shapes and explains the way everyone thinks. There are many studies in sociology and the topic I chose was race and ethnicity. This topic relates to the experiences I had during my life. Some of the experiences that I faced were because of the color of my skin, culture, religion, and also language.
The word “philosophy” is derived from two roots that are “philo” and “Sophia.” Philo means love whereas Sophia means wisdom. Therefore, philosophy means the love of wisdom. In actual practice, philosophy entails study of, pursuit, and enquiry into wisdom. A good number of great philosophers have referred to philosophy as the art of thinking. Others have only defined it as the systematic study of human feelings and thoughts.
“Self-awareness is a psychological state in which people are aware of their traits, feelings and behaviour. Alternatively, it can be defined as the realisation of oneself as an individual entity.” (Crisp & Turner, 2010). In other words, self awareness is recognising one’s personality which includes strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs and emotions.
Devlin believes that mathematics has four faces 1) Mathematics is a way to improve thinking as problem solving. 2) Mathematics is a way of knowing. 3) Mathematics is a way to improve creative medium. 4) Mathematics is applications. (Mann, 2005). Because mathematics has very important role in our life, teaching math in basic education is as important as any other subjects. Students should study math to help them how to solve problems and meet the practical needs such as collect, count, and process the data. Mathematics, moreover, is required students to be capable of following and understanding the future. It also helps students to be able to think creativity, logically, and critically (Happy & Listyani, 2011,
many different topics which can be covered under the umbrella of philosophy. Philosophers are supposed
History is a series of important past events that connect with something. History is what makes people make better decisions. There are many definitions of history and everyone has their own.
Study is necessary to succeed. Study is a good way to develop our mental. Study can increase our experience and knowledge. Study can also train our mind to understand the complexities of the subject chosen and then apply that understanding in practical terms. Through study, we can learn how to discipline ourselves to do something you don’t want to do, which will help us succeed in anything in our life.
Language is nothing but a media which expresses feelings, ideas, experiences and even pains properly to others. Cultural background is the origin of language. Language is one of the channels which promote human relations and human affections. Language always unites the people and sometimes language itself diverse the people. Without the language we cannot imagine the existence of human beings on the earth. Language is a system of words that people used to express thoughts, feelings each other. The word ‘language’ derived from Latin “lingua” which means ‘tongue, speech’. The word sometimes used to refer to codes, ciphers and other kind of communication systems. For example computer programming.