Prompt Two

Battle of the Sexes

            As the saying goes, “Behind every strong man is an even stronger woman.” Everyone knows that women achieved the right to vote in America in the 1920s, finally earning their freedom. Before this period in time, however, women were viewed as their husband’s property if they were married. If not, they were under the direct supervision of their fathers until a marriage was arranged. Sadly, this practice has not been around for just a few hundred years, but for thousands of them. Even the brilliant Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle thought of women as inferior!

            In Gaarder’s Sophie’s World, he describes Aristotle’s unimpressive and narrow-minded view of females. According to the philosopher, women were nothing more than “unfinished man” and therefore “incomplete.” Adding insult in injury, he also states that women have no role in the reproductive process except to act as a facilitator. This was because he believed it was the male, and the male alone, that determined the genetics the child would display because they were the “sowers” of these qualities. Talk about a soul-crusher to the feminism movement, Aristotle.

            Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed and frustrated to read about Aristotle’s opinion of women. How could someone so ingenious be so incapable of recognizing the boundless potential in women? Even more shocking was Plato, Aristotle’s mentor, did believe that women were equals of men because they also had the capacity of thought and reason. He stated that women, like men, could rule and be great leaders as long as they were properly educated and trained. Hello, thank you, Plato! Out of the three major Greek philosophers, he was the only one that provided the most admirable views on women and defended their capabilities.

           Lastly, once again it is annoying that the majority of the philosophers in this novel are men. Twenty-first century women, myself included, expect to be regarded as men's equals, along with our entitlement to hold our own beliefs and opinions, that we forget we did not always have these privileges. This makes it especially infuriating that women were expected to be “good little house wives” and “raise bountiful hoards of children” back then. Furthermore, it is disappointing that all of the countless women throughout the millennia were never given a chance to express their ideas about the world around them because the men of that time deemed it pointless or inaccurate. Those men who once belittled females would be outraged to see how actively women partake in society these days!

Prompt One

The Curious Enigma of Identities and Origins

             Philosophers having been trying to answer questions like “Who am I?” and “Where did the world come from?” for millennia. Without people like these to ponder over the world we reside in, how would human civilization develop and advance? However, that does not make these questions any simpler to answer or provide any definite solutions to these enigmas. Depending on a wide range of cultural, political, religious, and scientific views, the responses to each query will vary from individual to individual. It is this beauty of uniqueness that contributes to the great minds behind philosophy and inquiry.

            To begin, my name is Jessica Fehd, and I am a sixteen-year-old native of Evansville, Indiana. This upcoming school year I will be a junior at North High School, where I will take a combination of AP and college-credit classes. The majority of my time is spent reading, writing, spending time with my family, and dreaming about the future. Personality-wise, I would describe myself as driven, independent, reliable, trustworthy, compassionate, and loyal to my friends and family. Yet, even though I could name off certain aspects about myself, I, like Sophie Amundsen, do not know how to answer the question of who Jessica Fehd is. In fact, if it was not for my father’s insistence, my name would be Alyssa. After reading Gaarder’s Sophie’s World, I often muse about who Alyssa Fehd would have been if she had been allowed to exist, and whether she would be anything like me, Jessica Fehd.  

            On the other hand, personal identity delves so much deeper than a name, a face, or a personality. For example, in some cultures the doctrines and traditions are the core of how the group expresses themselves. If “civilized” people saw the way aboriginal tribes lived in South Africa, we could call them barbarians, but for them their way of life is who they are. Even common groups like the Amish and Mormons are frowned upon because the predominant culture does not know how to comprehend or accept their strange practices. In addition, religious creeds sometimes define how people characterize their beliefs and opinions, and in some cases, determine their positions in certain political debacles that arise. One of the classic examples resides in the controversial topic of abortion, which walks a fine line between the moral jurisdiction of religion and the state’s responsibility to its people. Christians believe that conception begins at birth, but those who are educated in science argue that the baby is not a “baby” until a certain stage of the pregnancy. With this said, it is difficult to accept both the beliefs of religion and science because the two have been age-old rivals that constantly contradict each other.

            The debate between science and religion leads to the next question of “Where did the world come from?” Again, this is another controversial and heavily disputed topic that is as old as time. Since the publication of the Bible, Christianity has accepted that it was God who created the world in six days and declared the seventh as a day of rest. The complexity of the world around us, in everything we observe, attests to this idea that a supreme higher being had a master plan grander than any of us could ever imagine. Likewise, a popular scientific notion, known as the Big Bang Theory, contributes the world’s creation as the result oft a massive extraterrestrial explosion that formed the universe and our planet. However, it is difficult to place faith in a theory that depends on the premises of sheer luck that our planet was formed with just the right conditions for mankind to survive. Even if this explosion did occur, a being of the utmost highest understanding would have had to have caused this event in order to ensure the sustainability of life and the intricate processes that occur on this planet.

             Moreover, I believe that religion and science complement one another. In my view, religion provides the whys of how science exists, and science verifies the brilliance of a God who resides in the heavenly bodies. Admittedly, I, like Sophie, was baffled and confused by her revelation behind the existence of God himself. What she was saying about something coming from nothing makes sense, because if this did occur, it would defy the logic of reason and creation itself. Nevertheless, it seems equally impossible that something could have always existed. Perhaps this is both the beauty and madness behind the limited comprehension of human knowledge. Either way, it is a fascinating concept that will continue to baffle and amaze man.

           On behalf of Jostein Gaarder, I must give him credit for his bountiful ingenuity in the construction of this book. Without texts like this and the many great men before him, how would humans ever discover anything about themselves or the world around them? In a nutshell, philosophy is a combination of history, science, politics, and religion that forces man to confront the unknown and dare to dream bigger than men of lesser caliber. Therefore, such questions dealing with human identity and the origins of life will continue to be passed down, inspiring and enlightening one generation at a time.