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I had the feeling and realization that Philosophy is so engrained into our lives that many aspects, even things that seem inconsequential, can be analyzed from a philosophical perspective. Philosophy can even be a bit meta, as people can get into a loop of philosophizing about philosophy itself.

I specifically observed this in the line "In following this out he might be led to ask
whether questioning itself might be seen as the
basic human demand for value in the world", as here it became clear to me that the value of philosophy is its power to question even things we take for granted. The quote might illustrate one of those random thoughts that we sometimes feel are weird or even silly, but diving deeper into it, there is potential for a profound understanding. Considering this can be the result from such a mundane beginning, it is wonderful to really think about what philosophy can do.

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The Philosophical Enterprise was such an interesting read. It has given me a much deeper understanding of what philosophy truly is.

“Philosophy is the discipline of man’s restlessness, of his drive to question in its most fundamental sense.”

I think this quote perfectly displays what Philosophy is. Questioning is the most fundamental basis of philosophy. It “liberates us from blind adherence” and therefore opens up our minds to new perspectives and learnings. It is in our nature to constantly question, to have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and to love wisdom. In doing so, we are able to discover more about the depths of our identity, the purpose we serve, and more about the universe of which we currently exist.

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Philosophy, for me, is an essential aspect of our lives. To be able to discern and question ourselves and the world around us is one of the cores of living a human experience.

"In philosophical questioning, then, I am liberated from blind adherence to what is present or what is promised as reward."

This quote encapsulates what I think is one of the most important aspects in which philosophy can help us. Questioning and exploring beyond what we already know allows for us to expand our perspectives and become open to new possibilities. Much of the changes and transitions we see in terms of ideology were born out of philosophizing and deciding that the status quo left something to be desired.

Additionally, I was struck by the discussions of "truth" that the piece went into. Indeed, philosophy is a pursuit of the "truth" is what drives the discipline, however because the human experience is so diverse, we all have different ideas on what it may be. This is also why the act of philosophizing is not only an external act of enacting change but also an internal affair of discovering oneself.

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Personally, philosophy seemed like a rather archaic and distant study to me. I always assumed it was about pondering over readings and studying the philosophies of great minds throughout history. What I failed to realize until now is that even without knowing it, I apply philosophy all the time in my life. The Philosophical Enterprise made me realize that the study of philosophy or philosophizing is ultimately about asking questions. Every day, I find me asking myself countless questions from the mundane, like about what food to eat, to the difficult, like how I can best apply myself in the future, why I exist, or what my purpose is on this earth.

I think the most profound lesson I obtained from this reading is that asking questions and being skeptical of what is presented to us is an act of rebellion. The quote that stuck to me the most in the entire reading was "the reflective man can be said to be effecting a personal revolt at its most radical level." This quote was the most striking for me because it led me to realize that enlightenment and change can only be brought about by carefully examining our social structures and institutions and questioning what these structures have ingrained in us. Besides helping us enact change for the common good of society, I learned that philosophy can help us personally. The art of asking questions can help us better determine who we are, what we want, and what we are called to do. One important takeaway of mine from The Philosophical Enterprise is that we only grow by carefully and earnestly looking at and reflecting on ourselves and asking ourselves the difficult questions. This art of asking questions is also known as philosophy. Once we stop philosophizing and asking questions, we also stop growing; we stagnate. This is why it is important to always have a thirst to uncover the truth, even if it is something inherently uncomfortable.

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To me, philosophy has always seemed so far out of reach. The teachings are far too complex and deep beyond my understanding. I do not understand where it comes from nor can I imagine what drove man to think that way. It is in the same manner that I see philosophers. Even with seemingly good quotes, teachings, or sayings, it does not drive me to ask these questions myself. Therefore, I always find it difficult to think of "philosophical" questions, questions or quotes that I find complete sense with. Reading the Philosophical Enterprise helped me realize that it is simply because it does not in any shape or form connect with me on a deep and personal level. As stated here that, "If I am to be a philosopher, then it is I who must philosophize. Even if there were an absolutely perfect philosophical system worked out once and for all, it would be useless to me as a reflective being unless I myself shall have done it, thought it, made it my own." With that said, the material helped me realize that the teachings of an “explicit” philosopher does not dictate/direct the manner on how man should think. He must be the one to ask the questions and to reflect on it himself. Philosophy at its core, does not attempt to understand the truth about humans, it is only for understanding the truth about oneself.

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"...it remains true that philosophy would never have come into existence had it not been the most personal of human endeavors. In this sense, if philosophy is to die, humanity will wither away not long after. Cessation [Stopping] of questioning can only bring stagnation and the arresting of growth. That is why philosophy as we understand it here is so radically important."

This statement made me realize how important philosophy is, especially in regards to the uniqueness of each individual and ultimately, the state of humankind.

The read made me think about philosophy as a field of study and its entirety. It clarified all aspects of the study, and it gave ultimatums based on philosophy's very foundation. While reading the Philosophical Enterprise, it made me realize that if man were to stop questioning their existence, thoughts, actions, and being, our identities and uniqueness as individual persons would slowly fade and cease to exist. We wouldn't be able to find our passions and discern big decisions if it weren't for the ability of questioning one's self. Therefore, the idea of questioning my actions and everything, is the whole point of Philosophy! It's innate in all humans because we are the only animals who carry the power of conscious reason.

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While reading The Philosophical Enterprise, I was very interested in what it was telling me. It made me question my every action and my very existence. According to the material, "philosophy is
the discipline of man’s restlessness, of his drive
to question in its most fundamental sense", and I think it is the core of philosophy. It is the action of asking oneself the deepest (or not even) yet simplest questions that many don't ask themselves because it may be absurd to them or a waste of time. However, questioning oneself with questions like "Who am I?" or "What am I to do?" are never a waste of time. These are the very questions that help us understand who are we, and help us obtain a deeper understanding of our true purpose in life, which is something we all long for.

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Initially, I felt mindblown and amazed with how the author wrote the Philosophical Enterprise. It truly was an interesting piece to read and I felt like I learned more about the nature of philosophy. From the introduction, the author stated that philosophy must be a proper discipline that has its own subjects and credentials. Personally, I agree with what the author stated here. Philosophy develops the ability to question and ponder on various matters. For this reason, I believe normalizing philosophy in today's education can prepare a generation with critical thinking.

I was also intrigued with the line "Philosophy is the discipline of man's restlessness." I found this statement very much true and even evident in today's world. I am happy to see that a lot of the youth are "restless" and question injustices in society.

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During the quarantine, I found my sleeping time becoming later and later. It went from around 10pm in March to 1am in June. Needless to say, it was quite taxing for my health.

But on those 1am nights, I found myself thinking about things that I don’t normally think about. I pondered things that normally never occur to me. I asked myself questions such as, “Why do I act in ‘this’ way? Is it because of something from my childhood?” “Why do I get mad when _____?” “Why did I act like a jerk when _____? And how must have others been affected by it?”

Some may call this “overthinking,” and I think they are, to an extent, correct. When you overthink, you call to mind some mistakes you’ve made and think about all the ways you could’ve avoided it, often feeling really bad in the end. But I think what sets my “thinking” apart is that through it, I am able to find ways of improving myself and the way I act. By being aware of my actions and identifying what could possibly be driving me toward those actions, I am able to learn from my mistakes and improve my character.

I learned after reading “The Philosophical Enterprise” that philosophy isn’t always about extremely profound thoughts and questions that nobody understands. It is, much like my 1am nights, a way to discover and be aware of the self and one’s identity.

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Being someone who applies a philosophical approach to learning (ate least in my opinion I am), reading the Philosophical Enterprise was a joyful and fulfilling experience for me. It has given me new insights as to what the scope of philosophy is, when can we apply philosophy in our daily lives, and what philosophy really is. Even if I'm still trying to digest the reading, it was an eye-opening experience and I hope to apply what I've learned from it in my future endeavors.

The line that struck me the most was, "All of this is merely, to say that philosophy begins
with the questioning self — not in the sense that
we are looking for an absolutely indubitable
[unquestionable] starting point, but in the sense
that any starting point must be experientially
authenticated." This is because we have philosophized the moment we have started questioning things. Philosophy doesn't start the moment we decide to philosophize but rather when we first ask questions, then that in itself is philosophy. Philosophy is not about finding specific answers to a question but rather how you ask certain questions to arrive with that answer. It puts more emphasis on the process rather than the actual answer itself.

I can relate to this in two ways because I have been questioning my life a lot more recently while growing up and I have applied this kind of approach in my learning. In my learning approach, I used to study through memorizing every fact so that I can recall them perfectly during tests. Growing up, I realized that this is inefficient for me because it takes a lot of time and effort to do, and I don't really feel like that is my learning style. Instead, I switched my style to asking "Why/How is it so?" through this approach, I understand the mindset of the presented information and solution so that I may apply the same mindset in my future endeavors whenever needed. In my recent years, I have also questioned myself a lot recently. I have asked questions about my involvement with my community, my studies, my identity as a human being, and the course I want to take in college. Through a philosophical approach, I am able to answer all these questions based on the past experiences I've had. Even though it's a slow way of finding the answers and I sometimes need the help of others in answering these questions, I am sure that one day, I will know who I am and understand my philosophy in life.

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As someone who was called "pilosopo" a lot by their parents, reading the philosophical enterprise made me realize I wasn't even close to that. I guess Filipinos just use that term for someone who likes to ask questions or to take things not literally, but reading the philosophical enterprise that philosophy is so much more than that. Is it about existential questions? That is a part of it but we also have to understand that it is also tied to the experience of a person.

Reading it however was a whole diffferent story. If you ask my close friends, they'll tell you how much I dislike reading so it was very hard for me to the read the whole thing without zoning off and not understanding. But that could be a philosophical question in itself right? Why is that I dislike reading? Perhaps it might've had to do something with an experience I had before. Okay in all seriousness, it was an interesting read.

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When first reading the Philosophical Enterprise, it was really intimidating because of how it was written. But when you really started getting into it, you start to realize philosophy isn't only about existential questions, but rather its just the form of asking questions about the world you experience, as well as the ideas found in it. This is why philosophy, no matter how good you are at the subject, is something we all apply throughout our lives. It lets us question what is commonly accepted in society, in the pursuit of what we perceive as right or a way to open our minds to wildly different ideologies. When we ask these questions, we start understanding who we are, what made us, and what can we do for this world. Philosophy isn't about doing what makes you feel good, but rather its another one of mankind's ways of obtaining knowledge. These ideas really struck me when I read this specific line:

"Finally, in the act of questioning,
I know where to begin existentially. I am a
questioner, one who wants to know, one who
wants to act upon knowing."

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The Philosophical Enterprise opened my mind to insights and thoughts I've never had before. The first page of the document really made me think of how I perceive philosophy. Do I really understand it in a deeper level? Or do I just know the basics--etymology of the word, famous philosophical quotes, etc.? I realized that although I understand philosophy at a deep level, it is not enough for me to say that I truly understand the meaning of it. I realized I didn't really see the significance of philosophy in our lives.

As I kept on reading the piece, I gained a lot of insights. The author kept mentioning that questioning is the initiation of philosophy. A line that struck me was, "It is not just a question of feeling good about life, nor is it a question of pursuing relevance; rather the philosophical enterprise is one of pursuing truth." This made me realize the depth of philosophy and how this is really about finding the TRUTH that sets us free.

Another line that struck me was "To the reflective mind, the society in which
he lives is no longer an imprisoning womb offering
the cessation of growth with its gifts of security
and status." I think this was just worded beautifully, how it would feel like when we find out the truth. At the end of the piece the author says, "the man who
has a love of wisdom, who pursues the answers to the questions of identity and action, will not reach the point of no return when, once his more
immediate dreams and desires are fulfilled, he can find nothing else worth living for." I was just in awe when the document ended with this sentence. It truly gave me a clearer perspective on what philosophy really is. Though I admit it was quite confusing with all the ideas thrown, I genuinely learned from it. Perhaps later tonight I shall read once again as my bedtime story yet a very insightful one.

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After reading The Philosophical Enterprise, I realized that I didn’t really understand some parts of it. However, I do think that I enjoyed reading it to some degree because I wanted to understand what the author was talking about. Based on my understanding, philosophy is an activity where you ask questions. It begins with questioning oneself, and it is the foundation of man's search for his own identity and being. It entails asking questions outside of one's own realm of knowledge, thus, creating a relationship with something outside of your knowledge. Before this is done, however, you need a starting point, something authentic and experienced, and from there the person can question their identity. Then, once a person figures out who they are to some degree, it will form a worldview unique to that person.

Aside from this, I really enjoyed this part:

“...the man who

has a love of wisdom, who pursues the answers

to the questions of identity and action, will not

reach the point of no return when, once his more

immediate dreams and desires are fulfilled, he

can find nothing else worth living for.”

This particular part struck me as it made me realize that philosophy has so many possibilities. It communicated a feeling of constant curiosity and emphasized how philosophy could really drive a person’s being.

All of these aside, however, I had some questions regarding the following:

Must we already know ourselves before executing an action or does doing an action add to what we are? Must we do both?

Does truth have to be something you have to believe in so you can apply it to your own life?

What happens if you apply a truth in your life that you believe in and what happens in your life when you deny a truth?

If a truth is subjective, how would you know if it is true? How can you say if a subjective interpretation is a truth? What is a subjective truth or what does he mean by a non-objective truth?

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Upon reading The Philosophical Enterprise, a lot of thoughts were flowing through my mind and made me stop at some points and think. It was overwhelming with a lot of deep words and the depth of the context shows a lot of different perspectives that I haven't really tackled on. It entails a lot of thought and as I read it, it shows the essential thing looking back at the philosophers is what drove to what they are saying rather than just memorizing what they said. This gave me realizations because it is the inclination and a lot of questions that drove to these philosophers to create ideas and concepts. In addition I realized that questioning is part of the essence of a human . With a lot of different questions and drives people to start to conceptualize different things they seen in the environment and try to be more open minded with the questions that we think of. I realized as well that through questioning I can help build and establish the truth of my identity and potentials which will lead to finding a goal later on and action to do a purpose.

"It is not in the spirit of morbid [gloomy] introspection [self-examination] or egocentricity [narcissism] that the philosopher begins with the self; it is rather in the spirit of the Socratic imperative [necessity] to know oneself that he begins there. "

The line I put above is what struck me since these are some approaches is what I do when I go through some stuff and create motivation. Like I forget the necessities and focus to much egocentric approach since I am competitive I like to use that as basis to work so that I could beat my competitor which should not be the only basis and what I learnt from the reading is that understanding oneself is more important and should be first since it important the truth of my capabilities and my identity and the that's where I can work on my purpose. The drive to know myself with a lot of questions is the essential part as it helps continually grow.

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When I read The Philosophical Enterprise for the first time, I felt really overwhelmed but at the same time, I was able to grasp and learn a few things regarding the nature of Philosophy.  I felt overwhelmed due to the many topics and the heavy amount of information the writer discussed in the handout. I also had some difficulty during the latter stages of the handout because I felt a bit lost in his teachings. Although despite the many cons during the first reading, there were significant parts in the reading in which caught my eye and made me view things in a different perspective.

Looking back at the handout, the line in which struck me the most was probably "philosophy is
the discipline of man’s restlessness, of his drive
to question in its most fundamental sense". This line was the most eye-catching for me because I always thought that Philosophy was trying to find the answer to unsolved mysteries or problems that no one can solve. But Philosophy focuses on the mere being of questioning, how far man can go to question certain things in life, which no one views in the way that the person does. This really changed my view of Philosophy as a whole and it gave me a wider perspective on this concept, the lengths in which we can go in order to explore the possibilities in life.

Even if the handout was a bit text heavy for me, and I did not understand most of the concepts and information being shown, I was still able to some how take away something from it, and hopefully this can benefit me and serve a purpose as I progress in life and I may be more open-minded about the things that occur around me.

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When I read The Philosophical Enterprise, I gained a lot of insight, but I still felt like I did not absorb the material completely. I guess it was because of the depth of the topic plus the amount of information included in the text. I also had a hard time reading it, and I had to reread a lot of parts to get a grasp of what it was talking about.

Despite that, I believe I still learned a lot from reading The Philosophical Enterprise. One line that struck me was “Our emphasis, then, is on the process, the questioning, rather than the certified answer...” This made me realize that philosophy might be something that I’ll sincerely love in the near future. In a world wherein many values the result more than the process, it was refreshing to learn about a field that emphasizes the importance of the process and how it greatly influences how we develop as a person.

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While reading the Philosophical Enterprise, I realized how questioning is the starting point and the continuing force of all philosophy. Questioning leads me to find answers, and finding the answers me myself must see the truth of those answers. But in finding answers to the depth-questions primarily about myself – my identity and my action, I might not reach a point of no return, and instead leads me to new questions, new answers, so on and so forth. In so doing, I am liberated from those which enslave, I become open to my own possibilities, and takes responsibility of myself as a creative self-project.

The line that struck me the most is: "For a man to ask of himself, 'What am I to do?' he must first know who he is and what he can be; and for a man to act morally, he must act in accordance with his understanding of what his true identity and potentialities are." This line has so many questions that I also ask myself. I just hope that I may be able to find the answers of who I really am and what my purpose in life is.

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The first time reading The Philosophical Enterprise was  quite a pain i would say. I became very confused at certain parts, I had to reread them once, twice, or three times just to get what a paragraph was saying. However, after reading it for quite a bit I was able to come up with some realizations with regards to Philosophy. First and foremost, false thoughts or images of a philosopher. A philosopher is not someone who is out of touch with reality, obscured to mere  footnotes or isolated from society. Instead, a philosopher is someone who essentially questions themselves. And questioning, is the main base of philosophy and the reason for its continued development.

I can really see why the notion of Philosophy is so enticing. It is as if it is tailor made for everyone. It caters to everyone on a personal level because the question-asking that philosophy does for us are to understand ourselves more.

In philosophical questioning, then, I am liberated from blind adherence to what is present or what is promised as reward. A horizon of possibilities rather than necessity is before me

Philosophy as the Discipline of Liberation, in other words, we are liberated through question-asking. We are opened to a world of possibilities and new horizons. What we thought at first was necessary, we don't look at it the same way. We are able to identify society's influence on us have a new point of view.

This line in particular struck me the most because I think it's really important that we all do this. I think that we should question our thoughts and actions everyday. Are we doing certain actions because we want to or because we've been conditioned to do it? Are we chasing our dreams or the dreams the our milieu expects of us to have? And once we question and find our answer to it, we then question our answers. This cycle of questioning and answering is necessary if we want to understand and develop ourselves better.

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Reading The Philosophical Enterprise gave a me a lot of thoughts which I agree on, or which I first encountered. Overall, the material gave me more of an insight on what is philosophy, especially from where to start. As it is said, Philosophy is not all about having all the answers, nor is it about making questions that are impossible to answer. It is more on the process of self-discovery, and what you do with your own discovery. I feel that this reading material will help me in finding my own vocation, or at least guide me through it. As I read and understood, man should have a purpose in order to live his life properly, and what better way to have purpose through learning and discovery.

Perhaps one of the lines that struck me the most, perhaps because I agree with it the most, is that "Cessation [Stopping] of questioning can only bring
stagnation and the arresting of growth." For me, I always believe in the power of progress, to always improve upon yourself everyday in order to become a better person for yourself and for others. With this, I believe that the best way moving forward is to always ask yourself, "What is my purpose? Why am I here? What can I do to improve? Am I doing thing right?" and so on. From this, man could be reflective on his own views in order to validate them.

Another line that struck me is regarding unity and conformity. "In our realization of this fact, we will see that diversity rather than conformity or unity will be a primary characteristic of philosophy — not that truth
itself is necessarily diverse, but that philosophy as a discipline of free questioners is." From this, I understand that though the truth is impartial and objective, we have different ways of achieving or discovering it. We all have paths to take and we all make choices that are different from one another. We all experience different situations.

Overall, it was a good and complicated read, and I wish to understand more. I hope that this material would make more sense as the weeks come by studying other lessons and modules. One thing that I gained from this is finding our purpose and vocation may be a life long process, which can lead us to improve everyday and not become stagnant. We should care more about the process, in which finding or having a vocation or purpose is our motivation for it.

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Reading the Philosophical Enterprise, I was able to think of Philosophy as a means of escape from being exploited by authorities who try to take advantage of people by subliminally manipulating their thoughts. I realized that Philosophy is a way to free ourselves from the negative social structural constraints. It is vital in our liberation as individuals because we get to think for ourselves and not prevalent the system itself.

I was also very fascinated with philosophy's inherent connection to growth and development. We develop and grow because we question things. It is this questioning and curiosity that drives us to learn more and hence, to do more.

With regards to Philosophy, I have always been enthralled by its raw versatility. It is flexible in a way that suits the variety of every individual's cognition process. It is a complex study with limits we can never truly grasp.

"One might even be led to say that the intensity
of human endeavor and creativity is based upon the intensity of the quest for one’s identity and purpose. "

The meaning of this is something I see in myself a lot recently. I have been joining a lot of organizations in hope that I will be able to find myself and my purpose in life. Even if the workload gets too much and gets in the way of my school work , I continue to work intensely.

"The man who has a love of wisdom, who pursues the answers to the questions of identity and action, will not
reach the point of no return when, once his more immediate dreams and desires are fulfilled, he can find nothing else worth living for."

This is another line that struck me the most. When an individual has a love for learning, they will never reach an absolute truth in life because the truth will always shift, change and adjust to the context of society. An individual who has a love for learning and wisdom will always have a purpose because the quest and the journey for learning is infinite and never-ending.

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While I was reading The Philosophical Enterprise, I realized how the act of questioning affects every single aspect of our lives. It affects the way we act, our decisions, our dreams, our routines, and even the food we’re going to eat because before anything else, we always ask ourselves first before doing these things. What do I want to do? What do I want to eat? Who am I? Furthermore, I realized that these questions help us find our true identity as a person since it gives us the drive to answer these questions we ask ourselves. However, we must be aware that some of these questions have no definite answer because we are constantly evolving, therefore, we must realize that we are always a work in progress, and defining who we are and what we can do may take time because, for every answer, there is another question that pops up and it just continuously branches out to more questions every single time.

“For a man to ask of himself, “What am I to do?” he must first know who he is and what he can be; and for a man to act morally, he must act in accordance with his understanding of what his true identity and potentialities are.”

This is one of the most striking lines for me because it just shows the importance of knowing ourselves first before doing anything. As humans, we always tend to ask ourselves, “What do I want to do?” or “What profession do I want to take in the future?” However, because of these questions that are often asked by other people to us, we tend to be pressured that we forget that we must first ask ourselves who we are, what we can do, and what we are capable of. This is because for us to do great at something, we must understand what we have to be able to know the things we really love to do and be great at it.

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Even after allotting my time into reading the Philosophical Enterprise, I still have not absorbed the whole idea of philosophy. It might be because the topic does not really interest me, but I know one of the reasons is that it is hard to grasp the idea of philosophy in just one sitting. It takes time to actually learn and understand it. However, as I read the rest of the enterprise, I have learned the minimal things I can learn in just one read, and that is philosophy is in one's self. Philosophy does not only help us in figuring things out, but it also helps us in knowing and understanding ourselves and our identity. From then can we only understand the world.

Like the others, the most striking lines in the enterprise for me is "For a man to ask himself 'What am I to do?' he must first know who he is and what he can be." Before we get to do something, we first have to know our oneself.

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Reading the Philosophical Enterprise, I realized that it's not to my liking.  I got so confused that I didn't understand as much after the 3rd page or so.

However, I at least got to learn the basics of how Philosophy stems from questioning things around you, even those that are seemingly obvious. By asking, everything appears to have a reason for existing. The article also mentions that Philosophy is personal, since it requires understanding of the self in order to also make sense of other topics.

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After reading the Philosophical Enterprise, it made wonder why philosophy is the product of humanity's curiosity. It made me wonder what the world would be right now if humanity was not as curious as we are. Would we have progressed this far? The line that struck me the most was the 2nd sentence in the 2nd paragraph. It was about how a person is essentially wasting his life on a piece of paper. It struck me because I feel like I am that person. I put too much importance in school and the validation that comes with it.

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Honestly, the material felt intimidating. I had to reread parts of the text repeatedly to properly absorb what it was trying to communicate. While I still think that I couldn't understand it to the fullest extent, I feel that I was able to, at the very least, understand what it was trying to tell us.

Philosophy is a highly personal discipline--one that starts with the self. It is not about what this certain philosopher said or did a long time ago, but instead, a lifelong pursuit to gather knowledge and understand knowledge, reality, and existence. It never ends.

Understanding the world and knowing your purpose cannot be done without first understanding the self.

"For a man to ask of himself, 'What am I
to do?” he must first know who he is and what
he can be; and for a man to act morally, he
must act in accordance with his understanding
of what his true identity and potentialities
are.' "

This line struck me the most and is the one I resonated with.

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While I was reading the material, I remembered a conversation I had with a friend about philosophy, particularly about The Hero's Journey written by Joseph Campbell. It talks about, well a hero's journey. From the call to adventure, to the trials the hero will face, all the way up to the hero's eventual triumph. All this will only happen if the hero accepts the call in the first place. Now, this is something I've dealt with in the past. When an opportunity is presented right in front of me and I don't take it due to fear of failure or rejection. Thankfully, I got over this fear and I accept everything that is offered to me (assuming it is beneficial). I've found that this has benefited me greatly. I do not know what stage I am at in the hero's journey, but I know that I am past the call to adventure. Of course, that call will come multiple times in our life, sometimes that adventure will be short, sometimes it will span a lifetime, and that's where the challenge lies, staying consistent. Not giving up, despite failure. The line saying that philosophers regularly build on the successes and failures of their predecessors is highly relevant for this. I'm not exactly one to give up, but to learn from my mistakes? That's a different story altogether. I feel that I often charge in and tackle my problems without any planning whatsoever. Usually that ends up failing, but I learn a bit. Slowly, but surely I learn. I improve.

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After taking my time to read The Philosophical Enterprise, it made me think what philosophy was for me, and what it really is. At first, I thought philosophy as those spoken ideas and thoughts that great minds would speak of. But it really it isn't simply just that. Its something everyone does at some point in their life, thinking about something deeply and reflecting on it, asking the why's. Reading the text felt confusing at first, requiring me to re-read some paragraphs again.

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I was enlightened on the importance of love for wisdom and having the openness to discover things. Usually when somebody mentions philosophy, it comes off as such a broad term that is so open to interpretation and although that is sometimes the case, the article was able to clarify what philosophy really is and the disciplines that it covers. It helped me understand how philosophy is used not only by PhD graduates, but by all people and is actually integrated in so many fields of study. I realized how philosophy drives us to continue to seek answers and analyze the situation of society now in relation to ourselves, and vice versa. It concluded that a person who loves wisdom will never stop trying to discover. And the last paragraph that explained this struck me the most. Human beings, being reflective, will never be definitely finished because we continue to grow through the experiences we go through and what these teach us. Through questioning and learning about who we are and what we should do, we continue to find meaning in our endeavors and we will never reach the "point of no return", meaning the point where we accomplish everything we want to and nothing else is worth living for. This meant a lot to me because we're all so focused on achieving our goals and being successful in the end, but in reality, it's just a continuous process of developing and improving ourselves, and as long as we're alive, that passion for growth shouldn't stop. 

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"For a man to ask of himself, 'What am I
to do?' he must first know who he is and what
he can be; and for a man to act morally, he
must act in accordance with his understanding
of what his true identity and potentialities
are." This particular line struck me the most after reading the Philosophical Enterprise. It led me to realize the importance of finding oneself. We are constantly undergoing changes within ourselves. We may pick up new hobbies and meet new friends. All of this can confuse us as we try to decide on what we want to do with our lives or what our vocation truly is. With this in mind, it is imperative that we first discover who we truly are. We must determine what activities make us truly happy and give us a sense of fulfillment. These are all necessary steps to be taken as we continue to find our calling in life.

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The reading has made me realize the holistic process of being able to discern properly and find one's vocation. It is truly a lifetime process and cannot easily be achieved in a matter of days, weeks or months. It is important to always keep an open mind to things that are happening around us, in order to fully embrace its meaning and why this opportunity is presented right in front of us. The reading has made me feel very normal, with my insecurities that pop up during this very tedious but fulfilling process.

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When I read the philosophical enterprise, I was reminded of the two very different systems of a person's mind that affects how we think and react. The system 1 - also known as the 'fast' and intuitive thinking process - is the system which helps us make immediate decisions based on associations and experiences, however, this does not mean that the decision made or the conclusion drawn is rational or appropriate. The system 2 - also known as the 'slow' and the deliberate and rational thinking process' - is the system which we turn to whenever a question requires deep analysis, however, it's often slow in the uptake, and a person must make a deliberate attempt to dredge information - which is rarely what the person's mind wants. By philosophizing, we stop to think whether the immediate reflexes and responses of a person may be counter-intuitive to their intents and their wants. By philosophizing, we reflect on whether or not what we've done and what we continue to do is somehow the response of our emotions rather than of intentional and unbiased deliberation. Through philosophy, we gauge whether we're proacting to things rather than reacting.

The line which struck me was "In philosophical questioning, then, I am liberated from blind adherence to what is present or what is promised as a reward. A horizon of possibilities rather than necessity is before me." This line reminded me of another theory in psychology known as the Theoretical Bias/Theoretical Blindness, which basically explains how one is often ignorant to a flaw of a 'universally' acclaimed dogma or to a belief constructed by oneself. Through philosophy, we're able to bravely admit faults and flaws within ourselves and how we think. Often, we make excuses whenever something occurs that is incoherent with our line of thinking. Through philosophy, we are able to dispel this misconception and think more openly and intuitively, without the constraints of bias and adherence.

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"we spend our time
trying to remember what a philosopher said,
rather than trying to understand what drove the
philosopher to want to say anything in the first
place." This line struck me heavily because I somehow related to it. Ever since I was a child, I would have a ton of questions I would give to my teachers, my friends, my parents, etc. And usually, I would be seen as someone who's "pabida" or "papansin." I always knew that people had the tendency to misunderstand me when it comes to this so it feels reassuring that there is a deeper an explanation to how I behave because I also started to question why I act like that. As I read more, I understood my behavior to simply be a sign that I was thinking. I never just accepting facts without batting an eye. I always found asking for the why, how, where, when, and what of something as a very crucial step in fully understanding something. Now, It strengthens me that I can tell myself that I am simply thinking, nothing else.

- Jonel Caniones 07

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A lot of the realizations that I experienced while reading the Philosophical Enterprise was mainly focused on myself and how I truly understand the world around me. At first, when I read it, I was confused as to what it was trying to say. I couldn’t find what it was trying to make us see. But as I read on, I looked more into what it was trying to say and I started to question my own way of thinking about things. The importance of philosophy when it comes to our society and the way we perceive things is something that went into mind. How it not only affects the people around us but also who we are. Philosophy also comes from within the person. A lot of these realizations came with confusion too. It was quite a difficult read but it was an interesting one nonetheless. One line that struck me and interested me the most was the line of “For in each of these worlds man is similarly driven to ask the primary questions: “Who am I?” and “What am I to do?”. This line struck me because a lot of the moments in my life, I didn’t question as to what I was doing and I was rather just focusing on the present. I wasn’t looking into the future and as to how it will affect. A lot of the moments, I didn’t look much into who I was and what I’m supposed to do. Yet these questions are things that one should ask when coming to terms with the identity of oneself. With these questions in mind, I plan to constantly remind myself that I am who am. 