Philosophical Investigations

A dictionary defines ‘Identity’ as “the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another.” William Shakespeare once wrote, “We know what we are, but not what we may be.” Gandhi preached, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Everyone who is born into this world spends everyday of their lives discovering themselves; discovering their identity. When we depart this world, we all leave behind our own sense of identity and any commentary we see fit to…

Identity is a complex fluid and static concept that takes many distinct shapes and forms over the years. Each and every person in society has their own idea of identity and what it means. To me, identity equates to the labels and beliefs I affiliate myself with at the time. Personally, my identity has changed tremendously in the last few years of my life or rather I just started to accept and acknowledge my various identities to a more encompassing and inclusive extent. Through this piece, I…

The definition of Identity is the qualities of a person that distinguishes them from others. Some haven’t had the opportunity to let go of the expectations placed on them by others. They choose to conform. I chose to conform, and it something that I regret doing. I should have let people judge, misunderstand,and gossip about me, but I shouldn’t have conformed. I should have been an individual with my own aspirations in life. As a kid, I was taught that since I’m a girl, I have to clean the house…

It is known that human beings are not, and will never be, perfect. It is unrealistic to expect a person to be composed and act ideally one hundred percent of the time- people will inevitably make mistakes. However, making mistakes does not make a person bad, or evil, or beyond redemption. What really determines if a person is fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, is how they respond, what effect these mistakes have on them, and how they proceed. Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows the horrific sin…

Mr. Erik Erikson started off observing the definition of the word identity and explaining the definition of identity. In the book, Mr. Erik Erikson gave his outlook on examples of how people interpret the words identity and identity crisis. He addressed how the communal experts use identity crisis, self-identity, and sexual identity to characterize aspects in which they are researching at the moment. They try to analyze these words for occurrence of civil personification, secluded quality, and…

We all have those voices in our heads that help to make decisions, like the devil and angel that sit on our shoulders, disputing desperately to persuade us to hear their case. They can both make valid points, but whom should we trust? Both traits of good and evil exist in us all, but our instincts must tell us which one to use. In William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth, the protagonist is portrayed as a noble and loyal person, but once he is given the prophecies, he is driven by a strong…

Perfection is unrealistic. In society, people face hardships, internal struggles, and temptations. However, those who overcome these obstacles are society’s heroes. Heroes suffer from guilt and sin, but their courage and strength outweigh their flaws. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck reveals the characteristics of a flawed hero as his characters face the treacherous journey to California. Throughout the novel, characters’ strengths are tested to portray the realistic qualities of a modern…

If God is all powerful, how does one argue against him? First, God’s authority needs to be taken into question. If all is not as God says it is, then reality is whatever one makes of it. Milton tackles this question in Paradise Lost. In Christian tradition Satan is the first to go against God. Milton’s Satan needs to make an appealing argument to convince others to follow his lead. He does this by championing a world view opposite of God’s. In some ways, Satan is the first idealist to counter…

“Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror” by John Ashbery is a work of convoluted reflections engaging Renaissance painter Parmigiano, his painting “Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror”, Ashbery himself, and the soul. The poem’s source of inspiration is a physical piece of art, suggesting the poem belongs in the ekphrasis tradition. Immediate tension arises as the painting and the poem belong to vastly different traditions. The technique of ekphrasis in a postmodern tradition has challenged scholars as it…

In life there are people you love and get along with and there are people you just don’t get alone with and you choose to not be around. Most people are more likely to keep the positive people and learn positive messages from them. But you learn to stay away from the negative people and you learn to be positive from things they did wrong. Asking people about who is positive and negative in there lives was very interesting because everyone could point out the positive people but finding the…