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final paper sample (fall 2021)
Annie B. Wolf
Phi 2064, #4940, Fall 2021
Final Paper
What is the right choice?
Once again, I have had a chaotic summer. It was very challenging to balance a social life, schoolwork, and work. However, as it is coming to an end, I feel that I have done something wrong. I had high expectations for this summer, sadly I let myself down. I did not take as many trips to the beach, I did not see my friends as much, I did not go to any museums, I did not travel, etc. I substituted these with doing homework, laundry, or going to work. As the fall semester is approaching, I wonder If I made the right choices.
However, there are good news. Taking this philosophy class was special. Why? It brought my attention to moral theory as it relates to my life. Yes, I'm living through a situation right now, where I could profit from some of the norms and advice of the many philosophers studied in class. It has to do with my own marriage. And I don't need to go into the details.
I'm talking about when something is right and what a person needs to be good. Sometimes after the morning class I'd ask myself (like Kant did), "what is the right thing to do?" Last semester I chose to work over and above my obligations here at MDC. I've kept a full load and have a 3.8 average (one goal of mine is to bring that GPA up so I can get into the school of my choice). As a result, I felt exhausted all the time and got a "C as final grade in my Calculus class. I noticed the consequences after I already made the choice.
Why did I not think about all that first?
It seems weird, but I felt that there was no other choice. I needed the money. See? According to egoism, I maximized my interest alright, but was it my best interest? It benefitted my parents (they needed money) but I was negatively affected. What would Kant have said? My action happened out of a sense of duty. Therefore I did something right.
But what if because of my "C" I start having doubts about myself? What if these doubts prevent me from seeking higher goals? Professor Triff have made an interesting point in class about the nature of reality: "You are your worst enemy," he said.
This kind of reasoning I didn't have before this class. I mean, yes, one can pretty much debate inside oneself, but before, I didn't have "the arsenal of critical tools" (as again, Triff has stated in class). So Philosophy helps me look at the bigger picture. In twenty years of life, I have seen this too much and I have even been told to do other things, but what was missing was the reasoning of the arguments.
There is this common idiom in the English language: “always look out for number one”. This is similar to ethical egoism, where right actions are the ones that you make to better your life. I feel that this type of thinking is now more attractive to me. Not that I don't find Kantian ethics more attractive, but it is like the discussion between the altruist and the egoist. The altruist always finds fault with the egoist's actions, and yet, the psychological egoist is thinking: "you're just like me, only you don't want to see that you do what you do because it makes you happy."
You may think I think too much, but I am still wondering if I made the right choice last summer. Maybe I won't get a final answer. Talking about what is morally right has made me realize that we are responsible for our own choices, and more importantly, our happiness. We can think about all the good and bad consequences, and never be certain about what will happen.
From now on I am not going to extensively wonder if I am doing something wrong. I would do what is in my best interest and go on living. It is not worth it to dwell on the past and it is important to live in the present.
The present. Reality is perfect! Specially for us, young people with all the future ahead of us.
This is a lesson that I would take with me thanks to this class.