What is Philosophy?

The word philosophy is translated from the Greek phrase "love of wisdom." Philosophy is about wanting to understand the world, and finding ways to figure out what to do with that knowledge.

It is the core of all academic learning; even the term academic stems from the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato who established the first learning Academy. Many of the subjects we are taught in schools today owe themselves to philosophy. Science, for example, requires scientists to ask innovative and daring hypothetical questions (based on an idea) that can then be broken down and tested empirically (based on physical evidence). It is in this way science and all other subjects can advance and evolve.

So in the same way, adopting a philosophic frame of mind can open you up to new perspectives and ease the sometimes daunting idea of change. But what exactly is a philosophic frame of mind?

To me, philosophy is about being curious and allowing yourself to develop as a person. It can be about creating a sense of purpose through your thirst for knowledge; some say our ability to reason (our thinking, logical mind) is what makes us human. It involves thinking deeply about what you do and why things are the way they are. Philosophy is central to being open-minded, and being open-minded is the core to philosophy. My journey to this awareness began as I started to discover my sense of self again after a mentally challenging few years moving from a child to an independent-thinking teen. I found myself asking questions no one around me seemed to have answers to, so I tried to contemplate them myself. Here is a page from my journal:

I think the fact that no one will ever hear the voice in your head acts as proof that the world will never be truly connected and was never meant to be. The fact that no one knows the voice in your head gives us reason enough to believe that reality is just a figure of one's imagination. What proof is there that the world isn't beyond our own individuality? Each of us sees only what we each see, and no matter how many of us there are, it's always different. And what this means is that the world doesn't exist as one set thing that is beyond our means of control, rather it is billions and billions of worlds formed from the perspective of each conscious being. And does that prove reality? I believe it demolishes any notion of actuality. It promotes the concept of imagination overriding physical existence. Many believe we exist to simply reproduce, evolve, and die. Though I question existence, I believe we exist to add to the experimentation of the world. Each of us has our own world to create.

What I didn't know at the time was that this is an actual body of thought called idealism (the world is just our mind), and is most famously attributed to the philosopher George Berkeley. While I wouldn't call myself an idealist now after studying it in depth, I find my whole thought process quite fascinating. I was thinking for myself, discussing a topic I had no real idea about but having the boldness to stray from my usual way of thinking anyway. And I think this is one of the most important qualities to develop in ourselves.

Be bold enough to think in a different light and understand every colour that this light might disperse into.