Introduction
It is imperative for an individual to recognize that his or her existence has a meaning, which must achieve fulfillment before he or she dies. This philosophical piece begins by highlighting the value achieved when individuals thinks rationally as they engage in a reflection of the meaning of their life. Secondly, the piece offers an explication of conceptual foundations of human actions and believes.
It further explores the nature of human responsibility towards the realization of one’s full potential. In addition, in this piece, I present my philosophical understanding of the “problem of evil, the existence of God, free will, the mind and body relation, human knowledge and the question of being” (Descartes, Roger &Donald 2). Finally, I will evaluate philosophical themes, which I depict from writings of major historical and contemporary philosophers.
Value of thinking philosophically by reflecting on the meaning of one’s own life
There is a distinct difference between critical thinkers and non-critical thinkers. I believe in the above statement because critical thinkers pose many questions to have sufficient and clear understanding of issues around them. When people think philosophically, they can replicate their livelihood and make superior decisions with constructive influence.
That is, they have ample duration to consider effectively different consequences that could arise from their decisions (Descartes, Roger &Donald 41). I suggest that individuals should adopt philosophical way of thinking to advance their life setting.
Conceptual foundations of human actions and beliefs
When human beings undertake any actions or choose to believe in certain systems, they usually follow traditions already practiced by previous generations. The foundation of their actions is through experiences and continuous civilizations. Consequently, different societies have crafted procedures through which members of those societies are required to behave. These procedures are set regulations aimed at fostering sanity and development of mutual relationship among various individuals.
Affiliates of this societies result to following the recommended practices, which is critically how foundations of their actions originate. Further, the following also provide different foundations of human actions and beliefs; senior members of societies, religious leaders and close associations with great forces.
Nature of the self and of human responsibility
I believe in the existence of clear set of natural laws, which demand that human beings ought to be selfless and practice quality environmental conservation duties. These laws provide requisite guidelines to human beings towards developing a cohesive society with noble life ideals which various individuals subscribe to with immense joy.
I agree that individuals should take responsibility of any mistakes that they commit so that they are discouraged from practicing evil deeds. Ideally, human beings are prone to mistakes which may negatively influence their performance in various facets of life hence the imperativeness of set regulations to minimize evil occurrences effectively.
The problem of evil
I stand for the idea that evil is bad and has many associations with various problems that befall humanity. The following are examples that explain negative outcomes of evil. When there is committal of evil such as deceit, betrayal, murder, theft, envy and pride many problems arise. For example, when an individual deceives the other about anything they are latter bound to find out the truth after some time.
When the truth is known the person, who was deceived feels hurt and in some cases, loses his or her self-esteem. In addition, there is also a resentment feeling since the person senses that an act considered unfair was done to them. Consequently, there is also a feeling of embarrassment on the person who told the lie since his or her malice has been discovered. From the above examples of one evil, it is evident that, one evil committed results in to severe problems in human lifestyle.
Major setback of evil is its reoccurrence nature that causes more trouble to people who are considered good. Evil makes human beings loose a very important thing in their life; their moral worth. It encourages human beings to be morally irresponsible towards their fellow human beings.
This encourages a society in which people suspect each other because they are used to evil deeds and keep anticipating for it to come their way. There is a lack of harmonious existence, constructive ideas fail to be implemented and people do not embrace various innovations that come their way.
The existence of God
All human beings have a common origin because of the presence of similar characteristics for example body structures and ability to communicate irrespective of the diversity in their color or backgrounds. Most individuals believe a superior force pegs their existence. They equate that force that is superior to a spiritual phenomenon they call God.
I believe that this phenomenon called God exists because I understand from stories of creation, which are present in the bible. This is a piece I deem sanctified, that certainly I am a conception of God. The belief that God exists also emanates from what I have experienced in life so far.
For example, I do not find any other suitable justification for where people originated from apart from the explanation, which states that God created human beings. Many societies’ lives with limited belief that God exists, however, they believe in a superior that supersedes their ability. In most cases, they revere and adore that force because they depend on it for their daily guidance. In the past, some very traditional societies used to present sacrifices to the force, which they deemed great.
I am of the opinion that these traditional societies engaged in the practices as offering sacrifices in order to seek peace with the great force. After the creation of a peaceful environment, then the society would communicate with the force through various channels, which were known to them.
The mind/body association
There is an important co-existence between the train of thought in one’s mind and reactions in their bodies. For instance, when one is experiencing stress, their bodies react to the stress even though the stress is at the mind level. It is imperative to note that, different emotions, which people display in their life, begin in their minds.
I offer that the relationship is responsible for various activities, which human beings believe sometimes to be impossible. For example, one could be tired after working for extended hours, but if they fathom that, they can still achieve more they communicate to the body in achieving anything one sets to do because of the connection that already exists between the two.
Whatever an individual thinks about in their minds has an immediate effect on the actions of their body. An individual could think about food then the feeling of hungriness attacks them because they have thought about food. In response to the hunger that the mind first thought of, the body demands for food, which will ensure the individual is comfortable, (not feeling hungry).
In addition, one could imagine in their minds of a scenario in which they have different kinds of stresses affecting them. It will then follow that their bodies experience the imagined stress and they feel depressed because of that. Many people use this mind and body relationship to shun negative processes. For example, when they have thoughts that could trigger bad occurrences, they simply shun the bad thoughts and all will be well.
Human knowledge
Complex issues that affect human beings can be solved effectively comprehensive understanding of individual’s perception on various issues. Such issues revolve around opinionated, social and fiscal aspects of life because such issues affect human beings most of the time.
I believe human knowledge originates from experiences that people go through and additional edification they earn from various sources. Human knowledge is important because of the following reasons; first, it enables human beings to reason with each other like knowledgeable people. It is my view that conversations between two persons who have good knowledge of the subject, which they are discussing, are more pleasant to listen to due to their immense value.
I present this argument because I feel that individuals ought to have basic knowledge of whatever goes around them. Further, human knowledge enables accomplishment of solutions to problems, which could present complications to humanity. I would encourage human beings to ensure that they understand things around them and seek requisite assistance on various issues to advance their knowledge base.
This knowledge also enables human beings to make superior decisions when exercising their free will. Human beings have permission to make decisions, which affect them. They can do this when they have adequate knowledge on whatever it is that they want to decide on. I do not believe that human beings should misuse their free will.
For example, if one is in a position to compromise on issues, which affect him or her, they should choose on the right thing. Even if they are certain that, no one is watching them at that time. Whatever they do freely must not cause inconveniences to people who are close to them.
Crucial philosophical themes and matters explored in the writings of the major philosophers
Major historical and contemporary philosophers agree that human life is complex because it involves many challenges. They present many arguments, which relate to daily activities of human beings and circumstances that could lead to the occurrences of the activities.
Philosophers contribute on suitable ways of life, which people can adopt effectively to ensure holistic reflection on their life .Philosophers encourage human beings to lead good lives before they die. The availability of these encouragements is through their philosophical writings.
According to Plato & Grube, human beings experience different things, which they consider pleasurable. However, he cautions human beings on the dangers of over indulging in pleasurable activities Plato & Grube (203). I agree that people need to normalize their moments of pleasure for them to get time for additional activities in their lives. It is important for human beings to please themselves but they should always be cautious not to overdo anything.
Descartes (98) depicts a phenomenon called God who is responsible for the existence of all humanity. He disagrees with some philosophers who suggest that God never exists since he believes that God created human beings.
I believe that theology is not fiction just as Socrates due to their strong perception on Gods inexistence. Further, he suggests that there is more knowledge about the human mind than the human body. I do not agree with this argument because according to me, there is a distinct affiliation amid the body and mind of the human being.
Searle (89) offers his philosophical views on the link, which exists between the brain, language and different societies of the world. Consequently, he suggests that language is not very important because people can still communicate without language. I partially agree with this statement because there are incidences where people communicate without language.
However, I propose that it should be known that for societies to exist in a harmonious way, its members must learn to converse effectively. The presence of a good communication system is normally facilitated with the presence of human language.
Conclusion
I offer the following conclusions; first, it is important to think about one’s own life in a philosophical manner in order to understand one’s role on earth. As a human being, one needs to have a reason before believing or acting on anything. This is because when one does that, he or she has a focus in life and can formulate processes that lack unenthusiastic effects on other people. Further, human beings ought to take responsibilities of the mistakes they make in life and understand the nature of other people they interact with.
When they do this, they avoid unnecessary confrontations, which could arise from prejudices of actions of other people who are close to them. Evil actions make people fail to exhibit harmonious coexistence due to severe atrocities committed to them based on evil nature of human beings. I deem God exists due to substantive proof contained in the bible, which is the holy book. The fact that I exist proves to me that God, who is the creator of everything on earth, created me and He exists because of that.
Work Cited
Descartes, René. Roger Ariew. & Donald, Cress. Meditations, Objections, and Replies. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub, 2006. Print.
Plato & Grube, G M. A. Five Dialogues. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub. Co, 2002. Print.
Searle, John. Mind, Language and Society: Philosophy in the Real World. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1999. Print.