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Miss Representation Essay

Decent Essays

In the film Miss Representation, Jennifer Siebel Newsom states that “we’re here for an instant in an eternity, and all that really matters is what we do with that time” (Miss Representation). This is a profound thought. The Earth has existed for billions of years, yet most people consider themselves lucky to live for 100 years. That’s a relatively insignificant amount of time. Our names won’t be remembered forever, but we have the capability of creating change that will last far beyond us. In order to spark this change, we need to ask questions and determine what needs to be adapted; this is where philosophy comes into play. This semester, I have examined a variety of texts and films that have helped me determine what philosophy is and how …show more content…

Each student attempted to create a concrete idea, but all we really knew was that it included deep thinking and challenging past thoughts. In the end, we were not wrong, but we missed some details as well. After our brainstorming, we then began at the beginning of philosophical thought with Socrates and Plato. Socrates spent his time asking questions and trying to educate citizens. When talking with Euthyphro, Socrates questions the younger man’s definition of piety. Every time Euthyphro tries to answer, Socrates points out the flaws in his response. Philosophy includes exploring topics and challenging what we know in order to find truth. Questions are at the heart of what philosophers do. Furthermore, our discussion of Socrates led us to the idea of epistemic humility — realizing what we don’t know. Socrates’ wisdom comes from his realization that he lacks more knowledge than he possesses. To illustrate this, we imagined a balloon; as more air is blown inside, the surface area grows and touches even more air. However, Socrates also argues that we do not really learn anything, we just remember it. This has the implication that everyone can learn, for everyone already possesses the knowledge inside themselves. Then philosophy is simply asking questions to unearth the knowledge that is inside

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