Reason, ideas, questioning, and curiosity are all words that describe Sophie’s World so far. Sophie Amundsen begins to receive strange, anonymous letters. Each letter contains philosophical questions such as, “Who are you?”. The anonymous writer of these letters introduces famous philosophers to Sophie, as well as the philosophical lessons they teach. With each new letter she receives, Sophie begins to question everything she knows and everything she has been taught. Sophie begins to get more clues as to who this “anonymous philosopher” is, but she still is curious as to what the reasoning is behind them. Why is this person writing to her? Not only is she questioning the reasoning behind the universe, but the mysteries in her own life as
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The first question is “Do you believe in fate?”. The novel states, “Did she believe in Fate? She was not at all sure. But she knew a lot of people who did” (Gaardner 50). I think that this statement from the novel describes Sophie’s main response to the first question. I’m sure the first question was a bit overwhelming to Sophie, seeing as she did not know if she believed in Fate. However, it does describe how many people do believe in Fate, one way or another. This passage from the novel may also foreshadow the thoughts of others later in the book. The second question is “Is sickness the punishment of the gods?”. At first, Sophie thought that nobody believed this nowadays. But the novel then states, “But it occurred to her that many people thought it helped to pray for recovery, so at any rate they must believe that God had some power over people’s health.” After considering the possibility, Sophie realizes that maybe some people do think that God has power over people’s health. She was quick to assume nobody thought this, but after pondering the question, Sophie realized that some people may. The last question is “What forces govern the course of history?”. Another topic that goes along with this question is free will. Sophie knew that if the course of history “was God or Fate, people had no free will.” I think that free will is a topic that will be carried out in the rest of the …show more content…
The main idea of Hegel is the “world spirit”, or the process by which human comprehension gets closer to understanding truth. Sophie displayed this as she had the realization that she was just a character in a book. Her “world spirit” was beginning to form, in a sense. Hegel continued this idea by stating that the world we live in is a “simulation”. This idea was a possibility in Sophie’s mind as well: was she indeed in a simulation? Sophie’s World states, “Hegel said that ‘truth is subjective,’ thus rejecting the existence of any ‘truth’ above or beyond human reason. All knowledge is human knowledge” (Gaardner 358). Subjectivity is the occurrence of ideas existing in someone’s mind rather than the external world. Sophie was subjective, as she attempted to discover truth and clarity in her mind, rather than looking around her. Although I am as flustered as Sophie is in illuminating the truth, many of Hegel’s ideas can be used to explain Sophie’s reality. Throughout the novel, Sophie makes new realizations and discoveries through philosophy in her own life, culture, society, and what she had known to be
The first question is “Do you believe in fate?”. The novel states, “Did she believe in Fate? She was not at all sure. But she knew a lot of people who did” (Gaardner 50). I think that this statement from the novel describes Sophie’s main response to the first question. I’m sure the first question was a bit overwhelming to Sophie, seeing as she did not know if she believed in Fate. However, it does describe how many people do believe in Fate, one way or another. This passage from the novel may also foreshadow the thoughts of others later in the book. The second question is “Is sickness the punishment of the gods?”. At first, Sophie thought that nobody believed this nowadays. But the novel then states, “But it occurred to her that many people thought it helped to pray for recovery, so at any rate they must believe that God had some power over people’s health.” After considering the possibility, Sophie realizes that maybe some people do think that God has power over people’s health. She was quick to assume nobody thought this, but after pondering the question, Sophie realized that some people may. The last question is “What forces govern the course of history?”. Another topic that goes along with this question is free will. Sophie knew that if the course of history “was God or Fate, people had no free will.” I think that free will is a topic that will be carried out in the rest of the …show more content…
The main idea of Hegel is the “world spirit”, or the process by which human comprehension gets closer to understanding truth. Sophie displayed this as she had the realization that she was just a character in a book. Her “world spirit” was beginning to form, in a sense. Hegel continued this idea by stating that the world we live in is a “simulation”. This idea was a possibility in Sophie’s mind as well: was she indeed in a simulation? Sophie’s World states, “Hegel said that ‘truth is subjective,’ thus rejecting the existence of any ‘truth’ above or beyond human reason. All knowledge is human knowledge” (Gaardner 358). Subjectivity is the occurrence of ideas existing in someone’s mind rather than the external world. Sophie was subjective, as she attempted to discover truth and clarity in her mind, rather than looking around her. Although I am as flustered as Sophie is in illuminating the truth, many of Hegel’s ideas can be used to explain Sophie’s reality. Throughout the novel, Sophie makes new realizations and discoveries through philosophy in her own life, culture, society, and what she had known to be