Although defining philosophy lacks a standard approach, at least all the attempts to find an agreeable definition have one thing in common. It engages intellectual matters such as reasoning and decision making. Philosophers are known to be critical thinkers who seek to understand the patterns and realities of this life. They are known to unveil the reasons why things happen the way they do. It is critical to find a path or a way for one to live their own lives. The whole world is currently taking a paradigm shift towards trying to find the reason and meaning of life.
Living a philosophical life means living a life following careful procedures and reasoning. A philosopher, like Socrates, must always seek after the truth and the reason behind the occurrence of certain behaviors. Life, according to philosophers, does not just happen. There is more to life in every situation, whether bad or good, and there is always a reason why things happen as they do. Philosophical life requires one to have a reason to wake up, a reason to behave in a certain way, and so forth. Nonetheless, the debate is on the subject of “right or wrong.” This is to understand what really justifies someone’s actions and what makes one action wrong and another action right. This is a question of intellectual rationale based on moral matters.
A perfect philosophical way of life is the philosophy of the three Ls which stand for; Live, Love, and Learn. The first L, which stands for “live” stands for respect and placing value on one’s self regardless of the situation. The current generation holds this aspect of life very high, emphasizing it. Young people all over are advised to step out without fear and overcome low self-esteem and find self-worth. However, this is different from going rowdy and doing things that would affect or hurt other people around you. Love, on the other hand, is part and parcel of human life. It is the essence of humanity.
Love, however, does not bend only towards others but also towards one’s self. The assumption is that one can not know how to love others if they do not love themselves first. The idea is that one can not offer what they don’t have; hence, if I do not have compassion for myself, then I can not have compassion towards others. Loving and showing respect to humanity is a display of love. Love can be defined in simple terms as putting into consideration the consequences as a result of one’s actions. The last L is about learning and having a learning attitude towards life. Every day should be a learning experience in order to create a better person.
The modernized world today is quite hostile to philosophical ideologies with the increasing number of liberal young people who believe in the ultimate fulfillment in life. This uncaring generation of young adults who are driven by self-satisfaction hinders the philosophy of love. The days when the communities used to live as one family are gone. Today the world has changed into a different society that all humans are fighting for their space. The loss of the family setup and the uncountable divorce cases hinders the forthcoming generations from learning important skills of life hence breaking the cycle.