Metaphysics
I think the significance of metaphysic in philosophy is to explain the meaning of things that do not change (real). Given the role the soul has played throughout the history, I am affirmative that there exists a soul. The concept of the soul may be questionable in the modern world, but if people attended more closely to their mental life, then they could understand soul as the clearest idea of all. According to metaphysics, people are identified with the soul or the immaterial part in contrast to the body (material part). Descartes believes that human mind, compared to animal minds, exists outside of nature, thus, making human to enjoy free will (Nadler, 2006). However, I think free will is the only possibility for a substance, and since God is the only substance (Nadler, 2006), people do not have free will.
Epistemology
We claim we know many things such as the first president of U. S is George Washington, water is liquid, and ice is cold. People have different knowledge, and sometimes we claim to know some things that we really do not know. Philosophers have insisted that there are two kinds of knowledge (Baker, 2000). First, Knowledge can be experienced through feeling of seeing something. This after experience knowledge is referred to as posteriori knowledge. The second kind of knowledge does not come from experience, but instead, it is intuitively supplied from reason like mathematical models and logical truth. This kind of knowledge is referred to as priori knowledge (Baker, 2000). Another experimental knowledge involves memory and testimony. However, since faith is a belief without experience, I would not consider it as knowledge.
Ethics
As much as I want to act appropriately, it is not always easy to do the right thing. Most of the time I strive to be good, or at least work towards becoming a better version of myself, but am unsure of how to translate this abstract goal into my daily actions and decisions. I have adopted rules and principles to abide by and set goals to work towards, yet still I get caught in moral dilemmas about how to act in a certain situation or context. Intuitively, I understand that these rules and principles are the good beginning point but eventually, I fall short when it comes to certain actions that a situation demands.
In this situation, I appeal to the Aristotelian conception of Virtue Ethics (Bourgeois, 2003). Virtue ethics posits that the good life extends beyond feeling happy and experiencing pleasure (Feldman, 2004). Flourishing consists a state of being where people’s character is aligned with and their ability to live well with reason and moderation. Therefore, living well is a process in which human beings develop their characters through cultivating the virtues to become the best one can be according to one’s individual human nature.
Aesthetics
The concept of beauty is slowly changing from being an objective element of art to a subjective character of perception. Philosophers such as Hutcheson remained rooted in objective formal properties in the eighteenth century (Kauffman, 2008). However, the nineteenth -century philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer believed that beauty no longer resides in the object but “in the eye of the beholder.” Anything can be beautiful (Kauffman, 2008). It just depends on directing aesthetic attention. In contemporary aesthetics, I believe objective-subjective dichotomy of insight is closely related. When judging a visual complexity of art, I tend to assess the subjective aesthetic judgement of preference (how much an image is liked) and quality (how good a work of art is).
Political philosophy
Provided with events of corruption and existence of tyrants in some of the countries in the world, I believe democracy is the best kind of government system. In an oligarchy form of government, the military often works with dictators and corrupt governments to suppress and terrorize citizens. The concerning trend of police lashing out at citizens has been witnessed in many countries (Winters & Page, 2009). There is sadness that comes along with the realization that we as people have always known what our duty is as democratic citizens, but most are unwilling to expand the energy to do so. From this context, it is hard to see how democracy will ever succeed longer than the collective memory of the populous.
Social philosophy
Society is an interesting concept. A society can be perceived as anything but a particular individual. For instance, when a region is referred to as a religious society, it is perceived that people go to church. Thus, people in that society are religious. In such context, the society is observed as an individual. However, society appears to be more than just collection of people. When we say a society is a democracy, it can be concluded that it is divided into economic class. The individual in a democratic society may not be violent. In this context, the society as a whole has properties that the individuals do not have.
References
Baker, L., R. (2000). Persons and Bodies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bourgeois, W. (2003). Persons: What philosophers say about you? Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Feldman, F. (2004). Pleasure and the good life: Concerning the nature, varieties, and plausibility of hedonism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kauffman, S.A. (2008). Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason and Religion. New York: Basic Books.
Nadler, S. (2006). Spinoza’s ethics: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Winters, J & Page, B. (2009). Oligarchy in the United States? Perspectives on Politics, 7, 731-751.