Philosophy is the highest music.--Plato
No one can define philosophy. It is an abstract idea something that depends on the individual. Sure philosophy could be defined as the pursuit of knowledge, but is that all it adds up to? I believe philosophy depends on the individual. What do you pursue? What motivates your thoughts and actions? Even more importantly is the why of those questions. Why do you pursue those things, why are your actions motivated by these values. When you answer those questions I believe that is when you discover your philosophy.
I believe having an individual philosophy is a key part in understanding one's life. It is a guideline that you live by, it is a way to explore who you are and who you want to be. Being able to create your own way of thinking is the greatest freedom. No one can take that from you. Not society, not institutions, no one unless you let them. Trust me when I say that people WILL try to take this freedom away. It may be your parents, your boss, or even your closest friends. Never sacrifice your freedom for the acceptance of another.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, its is time to pause and reflect-Mark Twain
So what happens when an institution that you believe in tries to take that freedom away? Say a school or a church. Something like that happened to a boy named Lennon in Minnesota. He attended a Catholic Church his whole life and it was time for him to go through Confirmation, a sacrament in which Catholics reaffirm their faith. At the same time he was getting ready to go through Confirmation there was political battle going on in his town on the subject of gay rights. Now Lennon's beliefs were to vote for gay rights, and that upset his church to the point where they took action against him, not allowing him to participate in Confirmation. This is a perfect example of an individual having a unique philosophy, and because it didn't match up with the majority's he was "punished."
Read the article here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-confirmation-fight-20121204,0,6040864.story
Why would the church do this? Why was Lennon's philosophy considered wrong in the view of this Catholic Church? In my opinion its because this church didn't believe in individual philosophy but in religion. The gods gave us philosophy to think for ourselves, man created religion to control that thinking. When a member of a collective group confesses that they don't agree with everything the group stands for, the institution in charge feels it has to take action in order to keep this idea of free thinking from changing the very foundation of the institution. Is it right? That's up to you to decide. I applaud Lennon for standing up for his philosophy. For taking action to express how he felt about something even though the majority disagreed.
Whatever your philosophy involves whether it be a love of nature, art, equal rights. Whatever values define your philosophy, I hope you stay true to them and stand up for them when they're attacked. Also I hope you never attack someone else for their views, and keep an open mind. We all have right to hold true to our values, but we have a duty to protect that right for ourselves and others.
Consider the rights of other before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights-John Wooden
Maggie V
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