Philosophy is not merely a studied discipline. It is also a complex of views, opinions, and attitudes to various values and the community one belongs to. The system of values and beliefs consists of thoughts, which are connected with each other and make a kind of cooperation. When one starts communicating with the outside world actively, he or she forms a philosophical system in his or her mind. As years go by, the system changes and evolves gradually under the pressure of circumstances.
As I am now a grown-up person, having plenty of opportunities to take a sober look at my life, it would be fascinating to follow the stages of my philosophical evolution from childhood to adultness. Such a self-analysis will enable me to be critical of myself, evaluate my current world outlook, understand my place in the community, and improve my relationships with the people around. According to Shusterman, philosophy can be applied “not only for theoretical study but for actual practice” (11). One should admit that a clear, deliberate personal philosophical conception can become a useful instrument in evaluating one’s character traits and actions in everyday life.
I remember myself as a personality since the age of three or four. At that time and until my teenage years, my prevalent philosophy concept had prominent traits of egoism. This philosophical conception implies that a person’s moral basis can be correctly understood only through the prism of his or her interests and needs and how they are realized (Taurek 294). Although it is quite obvious that a child does not have any intellectual instruments to evaluate his own needs correctly, he or she tries to satisfy them, guided by pure instincts.
If one accepts the idea that every living being’s behavior is, one way or another, determined by the selfish gene, one should agree that, in childhood, every human is concentrated on satisfying his or her basic needs. Those are the need for food, warmth, communication, and cognition. On the other hand, a child is not bothered by interests and needs of surrounding people (Habermas 4). If a four-year-old baby fails to get what he or she wants, he or she flies into a rage, starts crying, and sometimes even grows unbearable. He or she calms down quickly as soon as parents let the child have the favorite toy or eat up a candy.
As far as I remember myself, I used to be quite the same as most small children are. I used to long for new knowledge of the big world around me, and I did not care about the others’ feelings and needs. I used to do what I wanted to, that is why my parents had to restrict me sometimes. Such selfish behavior is unacceptable for a grown-up while it is natural for a child.
When I reached the age of thirteen, my philosophical concept of life started to move towards utilitarianism. This conception means that one’s behavior is guided by the principle that his or her acts should be beneficial to everyone. According to Louden, “one ought always to promote the greatest good for the greatest number” (191). Of course, it does not mean that I followed this rule in all of my actions. Firstly, a teenager hatches from the childhood’s eggshell gradually, year by year, that is why I was slowly transforming from an egoist to a utilitarian. Secondly, a person at the age of thirteen starts to need a kind of communication which is different from the one he or she gets when being a child. A teenager wants to make friends and wishes to be significant, that is why he or she makes attempts to establish close relations with many people at once.
As for me, when a teenager, I used to have a peculiarity, which consisted in having the opinion that freedom is above education, career building, future family relations, etc. It correlates with the conception represented by Rawls, who claims that, nowadays, political and other freedoms are much more important than effectiveness (144). Although I usually considered how my acts and words would be taken by others, my own beliefs were still prior to everything else. Now I understand that such a way of thinking is a little one-sided.
It should not be denied that, due to genetics, one’s own interests and needs are always prior. However, my conviction is that it is more beneficial to cooperate than to just operate. That is why most individuals maintain relationships with their parents after having come of age, mothers and fathers support their grown-up children, and we all make friends. To be secure and to reach success, one needs to rely on close people, who can give help, useful advice, or moral support. According to Baier, “the custody of these things that matter to me must often be transferred to others, presumably to others I trust” (343). It means that one has no opportunities to do everything by oneself. I realized this fact for the first time when I was choosing what qualification to study for. If it had not been for my close people’s support and advice, I could have chosen another direction, which I, possibly, would not be satisfied with. That is how I evolved from a teenager to a young adult.
For now, I can say that the basis of my philosophical concept is relativism. I accept the fact that my knowledge of the surrounding world constantly changes, that is why it is relative. Moreover, I often make myself remember that to be successful, one should be open to changes. According to Habermas, “the modern world is distinguished from the old by the fact that it opens itself to the future” (15). Nowadays, technologies develop dashingly; there are more and more opportunities to travel and to get access to any knowledge via the Internet. To make progress and be self-satisfied in a world like this, one needs to open his or her mind to new ideas. Further on, I pay much attention to my manner of communication and interaction with others. According to Taurek, one needs to consider if his or her next step will be right or wrong from the point of view of morality (296). I try to follow this rule and look at my actions through the moral prism.
To conclude, I should say that, throughout my life, my philosophical concepts have undergone evolution. In my childhood, the philosophy, which I adhered to, was egoism. Later, when I became a teenager and started to take myself as a unit of the community, utilitarianism became prevalent in my personal beliefs. At my present age, I look at the world and the society as always changing phenomena, that is why my current philosophy is relativism.
Works Cited
Baier, Annette. “Trust and Antitrust.” Doing and Being: Introductory Readings in Moral Philosophy, edited by Joram Graf Haber, Macmillan, 1993, pp. 334-356.
Habermas, Jürgen. The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity: Twelve Lectures. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Louden, Robert B. “On Some Vices of Virtue Ethics.” Doing and Being: Introductory Readings in Moral Philosophy, edited by Joram Graf Haber, Macmillan, 1993, pp. 191-204.
Rawls, John. “Distributive Justice.” Doing and Being: Introductory Readings in Moral Philosophy, edited by Joram Graf Haber, Macmillan, 1993, pp. 124-151.
Shusterman, Richard. Practicing Philosophy: Pragmatism and Philosophical Life. Routledge, 2016.
Taurek, John. “Should the Numbers Count?” Doing and Being: Introductory Readings in Moral Philosophy, edited by Joram Graf Haber, Macmillan, 1993, pp. 293-310.