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Reflective Essay (Toby Whitley)

I am currently studying a Bachelor of Marketing and Bachelor of Behavioural Science double major at the university of Notre Dame, I am presently participating in a part-time schedule to cater for my work life and personal life. I found all throughout high school I seemed to take a great interest in the art of advertising and at school I found that this was not only one of the only topics I took extensive interest in but also it just made sense to me. I indulged in 2 exciting units this semester, business communications and Philosophy. Whilst I enjoyed business communications, philosophy is what peaked my interests.

My preconceptions of philosophy were that it was just a class in which you or I would pointlessly debate some of life’s most meaningless and futile questions. I was convinced that Philosophy was completely unnecessary for my degree, in hindsight I am glad that I did philosophy as it equipped me with the critical thinking that Notre Dame encourages in order to excel. philosophy ended up being so much more than that though. It provided me with a completely different aspect and perspective of looking at not only life but also the problems that life poses. The subject really made me think (for the first time) about the majority of life’s biggest questions. I finally understood why some of the greatest philosophers (Aristotle, Descartes, Plato, Aquinas) dedicated their lives to finding meanings and understandings to the unanswerable enquiries. Whilst it seems they did not find definitive answers, it appears the perspectives they gained were invaluable and essential to even modern learning. I particularly enjoyed module 02: Does god exist? I have always considered myself a religious person, growing in and around the church pretty much from birth, never before has the question been posed to me: does god exist? Whilst I remain firmly Christian the idea that there is an argument just as strong for the non-existence of a supernatural being allowed me to gain further perspective over the world and the way the world works/thinks. I believe its important to be well equipped and understanding of everyone’s values, beliefs and perspectives in order to fully appreciate the complexity and beauty of the world outside our ‘personal bubble’. Being around a very one sided perspective of the validity of the bible meant that my entire childhood I’ve been drilled in the existence of a ‘god’ and whilst this remain true to the day I’ve been enlightened towards the viewpoints of those living in atheistic environments, and this was very important in cementing my belief.

Overall philosophy has given me a completely different standpoint on the way that I look at different scenarios in life. Instead of completely initially disregarding anything that I didn’t agree with or anything that didn’t make sense to me, I now take a step back and acknowledge different perspectives of the topic/issue that previously would not have gotten a second thought let alone any acknowledgement....