Wrote this in 2012
There is no short answer. I have been philosophising since I was about 12, always questioning the way things are, why things are the way they are, and wondering how we can change the bad things. I rambled around reading books and trying to find answers, always expecting that there would be someone who knew the answers to my very perplexing questions. It's taken me a long time to discover that there seems to be no single truth when it comes to some questions, only debates and arguments.
Now, I like a good argument, as anyone who has seen my brother and I debating politics would agree. I feel very passionate about certain things: in a way I believe I have never really grown up, never matured to the extent that I can accept things just the way they are. I still, naively some would say, believe that human beings are inherently good. The humanist in me believes that we must have evolved a social conscience and that we sometimes lose it occasionally in the moment of living. I still have what some would call a childish belief in the good of human nature, yet I am confused by the irrational actions of many in power to subjugate some people and of others who exploit people for their own selfish ends.
So that, in a nutshell, is why I chose philosophy. I am looking for a more rational way to consider the many questions I have, as yet, to find answers for, indeed that there may be no answers to. My worry is that in doing so I may uncover further questions that whet my appetite for knowledge about this world we have created. I also worry that this will change me, I think I actually like seeing myself as a simple soul who believes in the good nature of human beings - many things have happened in my life to challenge my assumptions but I have as yet fought off any pessimism that may arise from time to time.
I have created another blog that I will use to focus on my philosophical ramblings throughout the three year course that will deal with the course topics as they arise. I intend to use it to brainstorm my thoughts on the topics before I actually consider what philosophers have argued. I hope to end my naive meanderings and come to find my own sense of truth regarding people, justice and politics.
