Philosophy club is an activity where we meet up every Monday after school, and we discuss many different ideologies and theories. There are about 6 of us!
Why choose PHILOSOPHY CLUB?
I’ve always loved philosophy, and it’s something I’m really passionate about. I love to study it and read about it in my own time because I feel that philosophy really encapsulates every aspect of our lives, and makes you realise that there is so much more to ourselves and everything around us. So finding out that there was a philosophy club really excited me because I don’t know anyone (that I’m friend with) who shares that passion – and as philosophy is truly an unattainable truth – being able to discuss it and argue it with different people would be so eye-opening. So I’ve signed up and I really look forward to going! 🙂
What we’ve discussed so far:
(when I’ve remembered to add it)
Week 1) The trolley problem.
Week 4) Hedonistic utilitarianism.
Week 5) The spaceship thought-experiment. We actually ran out the scenario, in which we all had different roles and tried to see if actively participating in the situation would change our thoughts compared to simply taking an outsider’s perspective. In fact it did, because despite everyone claiming to not be able to force an opinion and seeing all lives as equal – once put into a role, everyone came down to fighting for their own life – and going against their own words…
Week 7) Hinduism // the supernatural.
CAS REFLECTIONS!
11th November, 2018: REFLECTION:
Today we had a presentation from another student and we discussed beliefs in Hinduism, touching on topics such as Karma, Dharma, and the afterlife. It led me to a lot of deep thinking, as we talked a lot about reincarnation specifically and how in Hinduism – we are reborn into a life in which we deserve from the actions in our current life. There was also the convention that we are everyone, and we are reborn into everybody in such a way that God is not to be worshipped but we all have a small part of God within us, and that if we are God and God is in everyone – we are everyone. This gives the sense that when we hurt others, trick or deceit others – we are only truly hurting ourselves. I really loved these ideas and the meanings behind them were so pure to me, and I can see how it would shape someone’s life.
However, I still do not believe that there is an afterlife, nor that there is a God. And if there is a greater being, I feel that the form of this God is completely and utterly incomprehensible to us humans and that it takes on forms undescribable as a form. However, I love the argument of Hinduism on how we are everyone because it cancels out many common arguments with the existence of God – such as how God can be all powerful and all good, as if God were all good the world would have no evil – and if he’s all-powerful it means he allows evil. Therefore, he is either not all good or not all evil. (There’s a lot more to this but I won’t go into it). Anyways, the argument that we are all and God is within us means we still have free will, and we are harming only ourselves in our actions – which in the end means we are simply learning and experiencing everything, that every bad action has its consequence of karma until we learn everything and reach Moshka – everything that can only be achieved from living every possible life and experiencing every possible situation and emotion and feeling.
We also talked about MOSHKA- which is the end goal of all individuals. It is to be not happy nor sad, to not really be anyone – but to be enlightened and reach a state in which one is nothing and everything – to put my takeaway into my own words. I feel that this, like in all religions, is an end goal idealized and created to give individuals something to work for, strive for and overall motivation in their life. I believe in the state itself, however, I feel there are no steps to it as given in Hinduism. It exists but in many ways is unachievable, especially if you aim to achieve it.
Regardless of the opinions, I have, such as the disbelief in a God, I remained very open-minded throughout the entire session and I found it very interesting to listen to everyone else’s opinions. Furthermore, discussion about such large topics such as this really grows my self-awareness, as I’m able to reflect on my own opinions and really develop my own perspectives on the world – something we often don’t stop and take a moment to ever really think about. Finally, my communication skills have been developed a lot because, in such sensitive topics such as about God and religion, you must be very conscious and perceptive of what you’re saying, as to not offend anyone or make bold claims. It means sharing your opinion without disregarding other opinions, and sharing your opinion, not in the form of an argument and disagreement, but simply another point of view – that you are still open to listen and learn…
Skills shown and developed:
LEARNING OUTCOMES FINAL REFLECTION
20th November, 2018:
