Reflection and Application 2

In Sophie's World I noticed that it's been more focused on the religious aspects of philosophy for a while now. It’s not that religion is a bad aspect to cover, it’s more so that it’s so much related to philosophy that I can’t help but point out and applaud that it focused a whole chapter to cover different religions. Religion came into being with philosophy as its core: to find out where we came from, who created us, and what the purpose of life is. However, Sophie herself, once again, does not seem to take part in anything she learns. I find it annoying that she continuously avoids applying philosophy in her own life. Instead she becomes obsessed with who Hilde is and how ‘strange things are happening to her’. I want to instead learn her own views on religion, on fate, on what god could be. I want her to not only learn philosophy but tell us her views, her ideas. In the book she thinks about the ideas that Alberto gives her, but tells us nothing of her own. I want that to end. I want her to either tell us of her own thoughts, or form her own.

Not only in Philosophy class, but in my Honors Literary Humanities class we’re learning about religion. Although in HLH we’re learning about the Hindu religion specifically, I can’t help but connect it to my philosophy class. When learning about the different deities and when reading the Bhagavad Gita I think about its purpose and why it/ they were created. I think about how the religion of Hinduism changed the world and the life of those who practiced it. Hinduism is a polytheistic/ henotheistic religion, centered not around one specific god, but on many who make up the spirit of Brahman. Those who are Hindu often center their ‘worship’ only on one deity. I think the concept of many deities instead of one all powerful god was created as to explain the many aspects of the universe that, at the time, may have been hard to explain. Where does wisdom come from, or how can one get wisdom? I feel as though Hinduism helps people find these answers easier. I’m not saying that their religion is the ‘easy way out’, I’m merely saying that Hinduism is an amazing religion, made of many aspects of life. I think the reason I prefer eastern religion to western is because of this vastness.