Journal #1

2/12/2013

“For this feeling of wonder shows that you are a philosopher, since wonder is the only beginning of philosophy.” ― Plato, Theaetetus

Hi everyone! Please send your comments/entries on the quote above. You have until Sat., Feb 16. Late contributions will not be receive a grade. Please remember to post the same text on MANAGEbac (go to your ToK profile and click on JOURNAL, which should be on the right-hand side of the screen) and to SIGN the entry. Enjoy!

11 Comments

Yan Chen (Lucy)

2/15/2013 10:39:16 am

From my perspective, I agree with this quotation. By having a doubt about something, we will have the eager to solve this question in order to make it clear. And after we keep think deeper and deeper, we get the answer and the knowledge become clear in our mind. Finally, we get our answer and regard it as the knowledge we gain, which is also a kind of philosophy. Wonder is the beginning of philosophy, because if there is no wonder, then there is nothing that we are going to discover. Take Newton for example. Finding the gravity is not an accident, but a process of discovering. Newton came up with a wonder, and he kept trying to solve this wonder. Let's make an assumption. If Newton just let it go and had nothing to do with the falling apple, he might not find out the gravity. No wonder, no philosophy.

Lâm Quốc Nguyên link

2/15/2013 01:13:42 pm

i think i agree with this Quote how is this related to wondering? as people say "god creates them, they come together". The knowledge we obtain after the wonder makes other knowledge to join it by creating more and more wonder . I think the implied meaning of Plato s quote is that, like he said the feeling of wonder or in other words to agitate about something, is the beginning of philosophy and that everyone who is going through this process is a philosopher because that’s what Philosophy is all about and nothing more. These thoughts lead me to the conclusion that the intended audience for this quote are most probably ordinary people

Linh tran (Lili)

2/16/2013 02:45:15 am

The original meaning of the word “philosophy” comes from the combination of two Geek roots philo-- means “love” and --sophy means “wisdom”. In other words, if one studies philosophy, that person is in love with and will always be seeking for knowledge. It brings us back to the question where the journey of seeking starts. Questions. One accepts everything as truths and one accepts everything as lies are no different from each other, unless they ask a question like: Why everything is true/ nor true? That question leads them to wondering and wondering leads to seeking for an explanation. Along the road, knowledge is found. Therefore, wondering or questioning is the way of finding knowledge and a wonder becomes a philosopher.

Clover Nguyen ( Nguyen Hoang Yen Tam)

2/16/2013 02:52:25 am

After read this quote, I strongly agree with. For me, whenever we give out a question or we wonder something then we will try to find out the answer. For example, Isaac Newton found out the Universal Gravity theory because he saw the apple felt down in front his sights and he wondered why the apple was dropping down instead of lifting up. It is the example from natural science but it still apart of the philosophy because questioning is beginning of philosophy. I believe in Buddhism and I have discovered why Buddhism is a high level of philosophy. Buddha name's Siddhattha Gotama, he used to be a prince and one day, the King who was his father allowed Siddhattha hang out. While he hung out with his soldier, he saw many people who were sick, poor, die and suffer. He started to wonder why people had to become like that and he tried to fine out the way that make human being escape out of the samsara. Therefore he could answer any questions that people are wondering and preach for everyone.

David Ordóñez

2/16/2013 06:00:09 am

After I have read this quote and make sure of its meaning, I can say I agree with it. When we want to know the answer of something, when we want to discover something, we start wondering how to. If you begging to wounder about things, we start to search the answer of that things. It's always like that, the life and the world where we live nowadays works like this. A clear example could be Einstein, he, when he was alive, started to wonder about many things and then he began to investigate for the answers. He discover the universal formula of the energy (E = mc^2) and, later, because of the continuation of his investigations, he could even discover more things as the light speed or the atomic bomb. With this example I mean that the philosophy of anything is everywhere. Anyone who cares about the world starts wondering about things, and later searching for the answers. That's how we are able to progress as human being.

julio cesar simon filho

2/16/2013 07:24:05 am

I strongly agree with the quote. because ever when we wonder something we want an answer, we want to know more about it. And with this curiosity about knowledge comes and we begin to study to know more. And philosophy begins like that with the wish of knowledge, of know why happens, how happens, and why it keeps happen.

A Na Kim

2/16/2013 09:44:56 am

Feeling of wonder is the starting of thinking deeply whatever you are thinking about. And philosopher is the person who thinks really deeply and considers about their thinking and belief. So, this sentence suggests that even if we are just starting to wonder about the things around us, it will make you think deeper. “Wonder” is the beginning, and starting of philosophy. To wonder something is good. Be curious and have some question on it, we are going to think about it more. As we think deeply about the things or facts around you, we are going to get to know something new. Getting to know about something new means- getting to be a person who thinks, means philosopher.

Ta Duc Khoa

2/16/2013 10:49:14 am

I absolutely agree with this quote since if you wonder about something such as how to solve your math problem, it means that you ask a question for yourself. As what I know, the reason why every scientist can be successful is because they have to wonder why everything happens like this. Let's take Pasteur as an example. How he could create vaccinations for anthrax and rabies if he didn't wonder how to help people cure the disease? From here, I can conclude that philosophy is everywhere. When people are confused, they will start to wonder, and then, they will start to think and start to seek for the explanation or for the answer. Wonder can be listed as the first step that people must have in order to finding the answer. If there is no wonder, there will be no philosophy.

Carina Uchida

2/16/2013 10:59:59 am

Wonder through my perspective is the act of questioning every perception of life, questioning what we know and what others tell us. By wondering we bend the concept of truth, where everything is relative and little do we know about the world. Philosophy is an on going area, where day by day, through our capability of inquiry we receive knowledge from all aspects, reason, sense perception, emotion and language. Consequently, wondering allows us to embrace philosophy to something innovative. From questioning, we allow the world to evolve where minds are constantly changing, including values and our sense of morality. Anyone can be a philosopher, one who thinks and doubts about every little aspect of life is a philosopher, to be keen in finding new truths. Somewhere wrong and right is combined together and black and white are as close as it can get. In my opinion, I agree with the quotation as I believe that questioning is the form for individuals to evolve as they learn about the flexibility of an ever changing world, considering the betterment of values. From doubting, we stop considering that every concept of life is true, right or meant to be.

Yi Cai

2/16/2013 12:23:12 pm

I agree with this quote, but only a part of it.
It's sensible that the wonder is the only beginning of philosophy.But not only philosophy begins with wonder, but also everything. Every new discover begins with a doubt or question. Even the original of human beings, begins with the Adam and Eve's curiosity. In science, the discover of gravity came from Newton's wonder of why an apple fell down and hit his head. In whatever areas, when something inspires people's curiosity, then people will create interests about it and try to explore new things.During this process, they observing, thinking, learning, testing. Maybe after a long time working, someone finds the truth. Otherwise, someone failed, but they still receive the new knowledges during the process of exploration.

Doubt is a beginning, however, this beginning needs courage. The road of pursuing truth is never smooth: misunderstanding and ridicule are hard to avoid, loneness and failures are always around you. Maybe these difficulties are the best evidence to show how valuable the truth is.

Tan Mei Ling (Amanda)

2/18/2013 08:42:40 am

All of us have once wondered where we come from. A philosopher is one who seeks wisdom and enlightenment. Since we were born, wonder and curiosity has brought us up. From wonder we gain experience and from experience we gain wisdom and enlightenment. Like when we were young, we wonder what is outside the boundaries of our crib. Those wonder has taught us how to crawl.
All of us have once wondered where we come from. A philosopher is one who seeks wisdom and enlightenment. Since we were born, wonder and curiosity has brought us up. From wonder we gain experience and from experience we gain wisdom and enlightenment. Like when we were young, we wonder what is outside the boundaries of our crib. Those wonder has taught us how to crawl.
And then, we wonder what lies above the counter we can’t reach. That wonder has taught us to stand and reach. This feeling of wonder has aroused something within us that wants to try something and when it doesn’t work out, we question it. That’s what makes us philosophers. Without wonder, we won’t grow into the being we are and without being whom we are, we won’t be philosophers. That is why wonder is the beginning of philosophy.
This is like TOK, we all have learned from textbooks and teachers. We were told to just follow and write down what has been said. However, we have tried not to question the facts just because it is facts. If we had wondered where these facts come from, we would realize that they come from humans too. All humans are philosophers as we always wonder. It’s just that we don’t show it anymore because of how the society is shaped and crafted. Wonder has created the human evolution that we questioned in class. Humans were curious and wanted to live, thus they wonder what they would do to survive. The same goes with the map. Humans had wondered how the world looked like so somebody had to give an answer and to give an answer, one must first question. ☺

Journal #1

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