Entry Letter Into an MA Program in Philosophy Other

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Philosophy?

When one attends a post-secondary institution, one of the most challenging things is to find your place, both scholarly and intellectually. That is, who am I supposed to be? What do I want to be? What is my passion in academia? Moreover, ultimately, what contribution do I wish to make within the scholarly community? With that said, then, this brings me to how I found philosophy as an interest and passion. I remember being in second year of college with a still undecided major. I knew I wanted to go to law school, but I had no idea what I wanted to focus as a major. I was taking classes at McGill University at the time, and I took my very first Philosophy class, an Introduction to Philosophy.

From the very start of the class, I became fascinated with the premise or philosophy. I knew that I had finally found my academic passion and decided I wanted to major in Philosophy and learn even more about this complex, but exciting, subject.

From almost the first lecture and readings, I became fascinated with the subject and knew intuitively that Philosophy was what I was meant to declare as a major. I am now a 4th year student, graduating soon, but can easily say I remain even more fascinated by the subject of philosophy as ever. One might ask, though, "why philosophy?" What it is about the subject that engenders so much passion for me?

Upon reflection, I believe it is not only the multidisciplinary nature of the subject, but that in almost every subject, one can relate back to philosophical paradigms: gender, behavior, psychology, history -- simply every area of study has some relationship to philosophy. The idea of philosophical discourse and the way the discipline looks at all sides of the argument allows one to use a philosophical toolbox in almost every aspect of life. I realized that, in truth, philosophy was in everything. The nature of the subject allows me to critically evaluate and question, which is sometimes difficult, but it is a way to look beyond the surface of a subject and question the very nature of any question or subject.

A classmate of mine once asked, "why are you studying philosophy, it is detached from reality, you should be in real life and not fairy tale world." My defensive answer to her was clear but to the point. I told them, "But you see, philosophy is actually very attached to reality, There are no right or wrong answers, only arguments, different ones constructed by different premises, thinkers, cultures, and chronology." This makes perfect sense to me since every part of one's surrounding has somehow philosophical principles that, when examined differently, could become some sort of debate or philosophical argument. Common sense, for instance, is not so common -- it simply makes one realize that the nature of objectivity is part of the nature of a more unlimited view of the universe than simply something that is black or white, true or false. This is the essence of why I chose philosophy as a major. It allows me to both acknowledge the world we live in and question the presumptions made in the past, present, and what the future might hold

Why an MA in philosophy?

I had always planned to go to law school. After I took my LSAT and received a 169, I was in the process of applying to various law programs. However, during this application process I realized that my studies in philosophy influenced my thinking process even more that I originally realized. There were many indications of this. I realized by LSAT score had more to do with my change in thinking than anything else. I began to reflect upon this, and found that because of the paradigms I use when dealing with philosophical arguments, I have more positive interactions with people, within my other course work, a better sense of intellectual argumentation, and an entirely different view of the world. I find that I question presumptions more, look behind the facts and ask "why" far more, and try to understand divergent points-of-view to a greater extent. I now see other courses, world events, and conversations more as an exercise of the mind. Then, I use the tools of philosophy to apply more cogent thought to my own life. My philosophical toolbox allows me to look at situations from different angles; ranging from simple conversations to complex ideas in multidisciplinary situations.

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This toolbox allows me to absorb details in a different way, and to integrate the different branches of philosophy in a more appropriate manner -- really questioning everything.

My exposure to so many different ideas has quite literally changed my life -- from the metaphysical questions of existence to the philosophy of science. Approaching subjects from a philosophical standpoint has become both a critical and comprehensive process of thought that involves attempting to resolve confusion, unmasking many presuppositions and assumptions, testing positions, analyzing a hierarchy of importance, correcting a number of common distortions, looking for reasons behind ideas and cultural behaviors, examining divergent world-views, and questioning conceptual frameworks. My studies in philosophy have helped me to broaden my experience in other disciplines, expand my curiosity and expand my own horizons, learn to control emotion over logic, explore my own (and other) values, using rational inquiry to get a better picture of belief systems, and most of all, synthesizing the world of paradigms and examining the reasons behind those models. Most of all, I have learned that philosophy is a thought process that is both critical and comprehensive to the actionable pursuit of wisdom. Most of all, I wish to continue this question and passion. The idea of philosophical inquiry has become something that I believe I can actually use to grow as a person and global citizen, to continue to expand my mind, and allow me to become a more complete human being.

Philosophical interests?

Having been exposed to a number of ideas, I would like to delve deeper into a number of philosophical principles. I am interested in the philosophy of law (Dworkin), political philosophy (particularly Hobbes' materialism), Ethics (normative -- Kant's categorical imperative, utilitarianism and deontology, and the ideas behind Aristotle's virtue ethics. I am also interested in epistemology and metaphysics, analytical philosophy (especially logical positivism and the philosophical contributions from Quine and Strawson. I enjoy learning about the philosophy of mind (e.g. mental representation), Nietzsche's ideas on literature and human nature and his contributions to modern philosophical thought. I have broadened my interest in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of gender (particularly the issues of bias and discrimination). This has also led to a newfound interest in both the inherent philosophies of religion and language

Area of focus / whom I anticipate working on and what?

I enjoy both analytic and continental philosophy. In particular, I am interested in the broad field of ethics, and how that opens so many questions into social and political philosophy, meta-ethics, and normative and existential thoughts. I am interested in focusing my professional research on the concepts of human happiness, well-being, welfare, and how subjectivism and moral realism in meta-ethics contribute to these sub-disciplines. I believe that I would like to focus more on meta-ethics and study the questions of objectivity and its relationship to culture, chronology, and geographical location. This, of course, brings up issues of cultural morality, how subjective questioning, ("murder is wrong") may be debated, as well as the interrelationship between individuals. This then requires that I delve into more epistemology, and the semantics and psychological presumptions engendered by this line of inquiry. I continue to question, and want to study more, how we as humans arrive at initial moral values and how the psychology of mind both exemplifies human agents, and how this contributes to realism and cultural relativity. By looking more at the works of Kierkegaard, Hegel, Sartre, Nietzsche, and others, I hope to expand my understanding of the notions behind existentialism -- who and what we are as humans. This brings me into the nature of contemporary analytical philosophy, relating these, and other authors to the ideas of mind, language and science. The three primary areas I hope to focus on, then, are the overlapping nature and distinction of cognition and moral realism within the contemporary context.

Why good candidate?

I believe I would make a good candidate for advanced studies in philosophy because of a number of my personality traits -- particularly my tenacity and dedication. I do not give up, and in fact lost 50 pounds, one of the most challenging physical and mental things I ever did. I am devoted and passionate about my grades and have proven to myself that if I want something, I can make it happen -- regardless of outside temptations. My personal philosophy is that life is about working hard for what you want, even when unplanned obstacles occur. During my trials of weight.....

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