Assignments for 6/27

READ:

Philosophical Method and the Introduction to Our Themes

Personal Identity from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

THINK:

What is the point of the article from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy?
Does it raise questions you have thought about before?
Does it raise questions that had never occurred to you?
Why do these questions matter?
What did you not understand clearly?
 

WRITE:

Journal Entry (1): ‘I: How can a single letter mean so much?’

2 Responses to Assignments for 6/27

  1. qwd5014 says:

    Quentin D’Adderio
    Philosophy

    The word I. In technical terms this mean me as in myself, but in a different light, the single letter word means much more. I is everything that you encompass. I is everything that you are. No matter what happens to you, what you look like, what kind of car you drive, if you are rich or poor, I is you. No one can change what you are and you can not change what someone else is. Some may try and persuade you to change who you are, but no matter what opinions or beliefs you have, they belong to I. I is for eternity, or at least until you die and are forgotten about. I is what you want to be and I is what you are now. You may not know what “I” will be in the future, but it is certain that I is you. Everything that you do in the past, creates what you are today, and the decisions you make now affect what “I” will be in the future. If I want to slack off and drink every night, then maybe I will come out as a different “I” in my future, maybe just a less successful I. If I work hard, study, and keep other activities in check, then maybe I will be a more successful “I”. In the end, it really does not matter what you do at all because you will always be I. Others may think of you differently, but all that matters is that you are happy with the I that you have become. This means that no matter what happens to you in life, you will always be who you are, nothing more and nothing less. You are who you are and I am who I am and that is that. It may be overwhelming to think that you are such a small little particle with no real meaning in the vast universe, but know that as long as you are on this universe, you are who you are and no one changes that.

  2. pbm5069 says:

    Patrick McGee
    Phil 003

    The word “I”, to me, is exactly that. I am me. It describes my entire essence as a being on this earth. What I want to be. What I like to do. Where I want to go. It’s a way to be; a way to exist. Being you is the one concrete thing on this planet everyone has. You are you, and that will never change, no matter how much plastic surgery you get, or how much weight you gain or lose, you will always be you, as I will always be me. From the start of our lives we’ve grown, be it physically, emotionally, intellectually, and so on. Your values, morals, and life experiences keep you you. Your thoughts may evolve, but that comes with learning. Your ideas may evolve; that comes with experience; new experiences are endured and enjoyed, and in turn you gain wisdom. I have found all of these things to be true but I am so much more, so much so that nobody will ever truly know how I became me. The miracles I’ve witnessed and the tragedies I’ve been through, have shaped me into this person everyone calls Patrick (or Pat, or Paddy, or any number of other various names and nicknames.) I am a human of Earth, and although there are those similar to me, there are none that are I. I am proud of that, and I can say I’m excited for what’s next, because whatever the next thing is, it’s a part of me too.

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