If I could deconstruct a quotation from Aristotle about truth and use it to begin the narration of the story of my life to this point, it would be along these lines—finding the truth is hard, and the pursuit of truth can set you free - even if you never catch up with it. When I moved to the United States at the age of fifteen, I could not say that I did so voluntarily and seeking greater purpose or better life. However, I guess that I could speak for good many, if not all, who experienced drastic change in their lives. To begin with, it was not easy. I had to leave a familiar zone that served as my home for most of my life and move to place I barely knew. I was given the unconscious task of adjusting to everything new in the hope that later on, if not soon, I can ease myself with shift in culture and life in general. The events had their own course, however, they did open new doors for me such as discovery of my passion for Philosophy.
Again, in Aristotle’s words, the reason that people find it difficult to achieve genuine truth lies in the fact that while no one can really do it, but at the same time, no one fails to try to do it. The paradoxical aspect of my life about the trial and error of the things I wanted was getting the light when I thought that finally discovered what I wanted. It felt like that I partially knew what I wanted, but at the same wanted more. I began immersing myself in reading everything. My reading included both that were assigned during high school and things I could access and read with the free time I could afford. I read books such as the Plato’s The Republic, which I read rigorously to the point that I made mental debates with some elements of the book. The question, ‘what do you mean to justly?’ intrigued me to the point that I assessed different scenarios in the society we live in today. Do the stronger people really have the privilege to scare the weaker into following orders, all in the name of law? Similar to how Aristotle puts Truth, justice works in the same context that it does not have a concrete form and depends on the person looking for it. I was attracted to and inspired by Plato’s manner of engaging into dialogue because he is able to use logical counterarguments, and most people can relate to them. I am amazed by his identification of political justice as the harmony of every component in a political body.
The last part of Aristotle’s quotation talks about how everyone contributes to the definition of truth because in reality, everyone is part of shaping the reality we are moving in. Due to the educational background not completely related to Philosophy, I faced a difficult challenge to choose the path I cherished to take. It was between the choice of learning about the demands of the market or follow what I really love and be myself. Of course, I chose the latter option and refused to be a person to cave into market temptations. I did not want to live the rest of my life in a profession that I can only enjoy half-heartedly. I realized it when I made the decision that life is about pursuing what I love the most and that is the reason why I opted to seek and gain formal higher knowledge and education in Philosophy. In the future, I wish to learn more about the truth and wisdom.
I want to continue my current studies and select Philosophy as the major subject for graduation because I have intense interest in philosophy since high school. During my high school and college years, I found myself keenly interested in philosophy, particularly metaphysics, ontology, realism, and logics. I have studied about Aristotelian division of soul and Plato’s perceptions of justice. While I already had the opportunity to study different theories and approaches by great philosophers like Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, etc., and they changed my perceptions towards life, I am also interested in pursuing study of other great philosophers such as Descartes, Confucius, and Aquinas. Studying philosophy helps me explore the realities of world and understand nature, the laws of nature, realism and the purpose of our existence. The most amazing thing I found about philosophy is that every single thing is intertwined with another. Once you begin to explore one theme, it opens a new world of connected multiple concepts and perceptions.
While studying metaphysics, I found different and very impactful concepts, such as ontology, etimology, parmenides, and monism. It made me realize reason for my own existence as a human and the existence of every other creature. My goal of studying Philosophy in graduation is to learn deeply about the concepts of philosophy, particularly analytic philosophy such as ontology. It is a concept used in analytic philosophy focusing on the nature of being, categories of being, becoming, existence and reality. I intend to learn about the existence of entities, how they can be grouped, and categorized, based on differences and similarities. In my graduation program, I am seeking to understand the approaches entailed in the sub branch of philosophy that is Meta physics. It helps in clarifying the major ideologies attempted by people to understand the world, such as existence, objects, time, cause and effect, properties and possibilities. There are several sub branches of metaphysics such as ontology, cosmology and epistemology. The branches are linked with the religious concepts and help in understanding the reasons for the existence of universe and beings. There are various other concepts of meta physics, which I am looking forward to study deeply as well, like realism and logics. Realism is the concept dealing with the presence of things as nature no matter how the world perceives them, either accept their existence or ignore them. It is a very typical and in depth approach and I am keen to explore deep in to this subject. Similarly, I am keen and willing to understand the use of logics in philosophy in order to build the arguments and compare different ideologies because philosophy involves arguments, conflicts and controversial approaches, which need critical evaluation.
I want to explore the concepts and theories in Philosophy and adopt it as a career in future. I intend to focus on meta physics and logics for my advanced knowledge and academic studies. Both meta physics and logics are dear to my heart and I am looking forward to seek and obtain a better perspective of them during my Masters Degree and then a PhD Degree courses of study. Following my graduation, my current intention is to adopt Philosophy profession as a career choice, both as a teacher and researcher. Therefore, I have a strong interest and motivation in pursuing my career in this multidimensional field.
In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude for allowing me express my true feelings and giving me an opportunity to present my candidacy. Studying philosophy is not merely a decision of gaining higher education, but rather it is my chance to explore myself, my potential and build my career in this field. In future, I will be interested and intend to continue higher studies in analytic philosophy focusing on research and new opportunities.
