Firstly, I should talk about my credentials, for though I resent the overuse of titles in the modern world (e.g. I have a Ph.D, so you clearly know nothing!), I do not deny that they are incredibly beneficial in allowing one to trust knowledge, which is one of the chief aims of philosophy and perhaps more specifically, epistemology.
I lazily graduated high school in 2008, but with a minor lack of credits and low marks, I decided to travel around Canada first and volunteer, living with 10 other teenagers in three different provinces. It is through Katimavik that I realized the benefits of experiential, or informal, learning. I would consider myself a well-traveled Canadian, but not a well-traveled earthling, having yet to escape Canadian boundaries on any of my journeys.
I took a night school philosophy course after Katimavik was over, and it is there that I first met my true educational love. All the other high school subjects I had taken thus far, though interesting some may have been, seemed to lack... depth and purpose. Why did I care that the endoplasmic reticulum was near the mitochondria? Why did it matter that Macdonald was the first prime minister of Canada?
This philosophy course was different from all other courses, because it actually answered questions that had plagued me since my childhood. And if it didn't completely answer all of my questions, it at least made the attempt to address them.
Suddenly, I actually cared about school. I cared that I was making myself smarter. I thought "Hey, if I could earn a living doing this, I'd be pretty damned happy!".
Of course, the common joke since probably the early 20th century (or perhaps since Socrates' time) is that philosophers don't find jobs. One cannot be hired as a "philosopher" in this modern day and age, because there is not a need for them. Really?
I would argue that the world needs more philosophers right now, people who can think and who encourage others to think instead of working a regular 9-5, for "das man", as Heidegger might put it. If people used more philosophy in their daily life, they'd be happier. Happier people benefit society more than sadder people (although economically speaking, depressed people bring a lot of money to the table, especially for rich healthcare companies that profit off others' misfortune).
So here I am. An undergrad student with a passion for philosophy, but with no Ph.D to show for it. Still, I think I have a lot to offer if you care to continue studying at Academia Illustrae. Philosophers, even philosophers-in-training such as I, can teach just about anything. They can even teach it well, especially in the modern day with the help of the internet, as long as they transmute information into knowledge and do not merely dish out facts.
And that is, quite literally, what philosophy is. Love of knowledge. Love of wisdom, to be more specific. Philo means love, and sophy means wisdom.
So really, I am a philosophy student, and a master of my own knowledge, which may or may not be wisdom.
That's the lesson for today. Philosophy!
