Sinking grades, mounting academic pressures, and uncertainty about my future...when I was in middle school, my first taste of life's ups and downs filled me with doubts about the world around me.What is success? What is happiness? What is virtue? Gradually I learned that predecessors who had faced the same questions, and that there are written records of their life-long research left to me to explore. I thus turned to voracious reading of philosophical books, the secret retreat in which I was free to let my mind flow with the wise counsel of the greatest thinkers. As time and circumstance allowed, I began to take a more tangible hold of philosophy.
I prided myself as an apprentice of philosophers like Confucius and Laots, studying and even memorizing their texts. I noticed that there are different schools of explanations for a same philosophical phenomena. I was caught up in the dilemma of not knowing whether to go with one school or another. Who is right? Which is nearer to the truth? I spent hours and hours rereading and comparing the philosophical works, searching for the ultimate answer. Slowly I learned that there isn't any absolute right or wrong, and that every plausible theory has to be seen within its specific context. Casting aside my previous narrow-mindedness, I thus started to approach everything with an open attitude, welcoming diversity of opinions and opportunties of learning something new.
I took the class Ancient Philosophy at UC Berkeley this summer, which enabled me to approach philosophy in a more systematic way than my private readings would allow. I was the youngest participant in a class composed of mostly Berkeley and Stanford undergraduates.We spent two hours each day engaged in intense discussion and analysis of classics like "Apology" and "Crito". Previously, I was involved mostly with the reading of Chinese classical philosophical pieces, which prized brevity so much that they are generally full of conclusions but void of processes by which these conclusions are achieved; I caught shadow and form but not the essence of the philosopher's ideas. Socrate's dialectic form of investigating a philosophical problems presents to me his full intellectual processes and allows me to follow his threads of thinking. I also found humility and caution in Socrate's efforts in finding the truth, which often ends in aporia, a state of unsolved mystery, after he uses the elenchus,a method of eliciting truth by asking questions, to find the flaws of every plausible argument or answer. I often imagine the scene in which Socrates and Confucius are having a conversation and I would play the role of Socrates applying elenchus to test Confucius' claims about proper order and manners in society .
Occasionally, I would encounter an idea in my philosophy reading that seemed familiar to my own. To know there are records of predecessors' thoughts on the same question that align with mine gives me hope and encouragement. Once I even had a faint concern as to whether reading the works of others would taint my own original thoughts or restrict my imagination, though afterwards I laughed at my hubris, remembering my shallow experience and provincial outlook. Socrates said that "All I know is that I know nothing"; such intellectual humility would guide me through my philosophical exploration. With openness and humility, I am now ready to embark on the adventure of seeking the truth.
I am most concerned with my grammar errors and awkward expressions because the deadline is coming. But of course, any suggestions to the overall structure of the essay is welcomed.
Thank you guys, and good luck to all!!
Sorry about that post by some slob who has infiltrated the forum, he is suspended now. Sheesh!
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...my first taste of life's ups and downs filled me with doubts about the world around me.What is success? ---Don't forget to leave a space between all punctuation marks!
Gradually I learned of predecessors who had faced the same questions, and that there are written records of their life-long research left for me to explore.
Casting aside my previous narrow-mindedness, I thus started to approach everything with an open attitude, welcoming diversity of opinions and opportunities of learning something new.
Socrates' dialectic form of investigating a philosophical problems presents to me his full intellectual processes and allows me to follow his threads of thinking.
I also found humility and caution in Socrates' efforts in finding the truth, which often ends in
:)
