Informal Writing Assignment #1

In the documentary "Examined Life", one of America's well-known intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West, stood out to me the most. Dr. West compares his theory of philosophy to music, reminds us how courage can be so vigorous and powerful to a life of the mind can be, and makes us think about truth. I find his topics to be the most intriguing out of the other philosophers because of his creativity and genuineness.

Dr. West starts off by giving us a little bit of optimism by saying that you don't have to go to school to be a philosopher. This doesn't mean I'm going to not go to school and become a philosopher. He states that "a philosopher's a lover of wisdom". He believes it takes a great amount of discipline and courage to think and examine oneself. Courage is the enabling virtue for any philosopher or for any human being. In the end, he is a heavy believer in courage because it gives the people the right to love, think, and hope. I believe courage means the state of mind or spirit that enables us to face any adversities, such as danger, pain, etc, without retreating. I think courage is born from love and compassion. Courage comes from the heart and it seeks the truth because our courage is what guides our heart on its true course and makes who we are.

Another heavy topic Dr. West discusses is about truth. He ponders on a simple question - What is truth? How do we understand truth and what are they ways we deal with truth? Dr. West believes "that the condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak". This condition of truth gives it an existentialism emphasis, so he believes that truth is a way of life as opposed to a set of theories and ideas that correspond to a set of things and objects in the world. Truth is one of the largest and central theme in philosophy. Philosophy is also about speaking truth to the power and the powerless. The difference between them is that the powerful have no monopoly on greed, hatred, or ignorance, while the powerless have nothing. I think, if we ever hope to determine if there is such a thing as truth apart from cultural and personal preferences, we must accept the fact that we must strive to find and achieve something greater than ourselves and something that goes beyond our cultures and individual desires and wishes. To do this, I believe, the only way to understand truth is that we must look beyond ourselves.

Besides being a philosopher, Dr. West is also an artist because he points out to us about different kinds of knowledge by being poetic. He states that "different kinds of knowledge and the degree to which the poetic is shot through the philosophic and the philosophic is shot through the poetic". Dr. West is an artist because of his interest in music are central and fundamental to him. He separates himself from other philosophers by stating that he is "a bluesman in the life of the mind and a jazzman in the world of ideas. When talking about poetry, he acknowledges Plato for talking primarily about his choice of words, by which he compares to himself talking about his own tone, timbre, and rhythms. He believes music is fundamental; "philosophy must go to school not only with the poets, philosophy needs to go to school with the musicians". I found his topics and ways of thinking very interesting because Dr. West is very authentic and the way he describes different kinds of knowledge  by using two different subjects - music and philosophy is very fascinating and absorbing. He also seems like a very down-to-earth person. Also, by citing Plato, one of the greatest thinkers to have ever lived, Dr. West reveals philosophy's power to transform the way we see the world around us. Like Dr. West, I believe that philosophy is about your experiences in life, whether it be at home, in the streets, or in a variety of different circumstances. Ultimately, it is about how you come to terms with living your life and trying to live it to the fullest with compassion, courage, and truth.