Select a topic from EITHER (i) social justice, OR (ii) God's Essay

Select a topic from EITHER (i) social justice, OR (ii) God's existence, OR (iii) death and meaning in life. Which thinker or p - Essay Example The 15-year old fictional character has viewed the relationship between the two as necessary for the point of appreciation. In her thoughts, one cannot appreciate life if death does not exist to be the human race’s inevitable end. On the other hand, Sophie thought that one could not think of death alone without having realised how great it is to live (Gaarder, 1994). These contentions offer a thought-provoking exploration in taking both death and the meaning of life into perspective. This paper then explores the presence of thoughts regarding death and the meaning of life. In so doing, thinkers in the field of philosophy are examined and later reduced to a list of whom this paper think offers the best arguments and conclusions as per the matter concerned. The selection of such philosophers is consequently justified. Life and the Minds that Explored its Meaning Beginning to explore the meaning of life is in itself broad and complicated. If three persons are inquired upon with t hat question, it is highly likely that the person asking would get three unique interpretations. It then comes as less surprising when philosophers in the day have to offer different perspectives of their own. If one would even think of it, philosophers--no matter which timeline he/she belongs to--attempts to unravel the meaning of life in his/her own angle. As an illustration, the schools of thought of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle could be accounted for as one unique quest from the other. First, many would attribute Socrates to be among the thinkers responsible for the founding what is now known as the philosophy of the Western culture (Long, 1988). This form of recognition stems from the philosopher’s notoriety in being provocative of many ideas, questioning the society’s status quo, and stirring the thoughts of the youth during his time. These ideologies were Socrates’ form of investigating on the meaning of life. Although not an outright move, it was his w ay of challenging society’s thoughts on what is the meaning of life for them. Consequently, his move on continuous inquiry of things was his way of giving a picture of the meaning of life. Without doing so may be equal to life without meaning. On the other hand, Plato--though a student of Socrates--was his own man in terms of philosophical contribution. Particularly, his role in the early foundations of science and Western philosophy is considered to be another one that is essential to the prosperity of the knowledge up to this day. Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, meanwhile had a broad range of focus and dealt largely with the physical sciences. The student-teacher thought may have differed in content but just like Socrates, the central ideologies of the two philosophers have each had their own version of revealing the meaning of life. An example would be Aristotle tackling the concept of end purpose. This school of thought can be taken as the philosopher’s own version of finding an answer for what life’s meaning is--given that finding out ‘why are we here’ and what the purpose of an individual is in the world has been among the pressing questions long been asked since humankind has been intrigued with (Gaarder, 1994). Nevertheless, although Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle could be credited as the pillars of the quest in life’s meaning, this paper considers other philosophers like Immanuel Kant to be the ones