Rachel's Road to Truth

Discipline, greatness. When an athlete truly follows discipline, they breed greatness, for it is the foundation from which the student-athlete will build their many successes. The athlete who is disciplined on the course, in the weight room, and in the classroom succeeds more than they themselves thought possible. Discipline will make a great student greater; discipline will make a great athlete greater; if they fully allow the passion for excellence to lead them. Discipline followed by strict action yields the fruits of hard work, accomplished only by those athletes willing to push the very boundaries of themselves.    Sometimes it’s the people you least expect to hurt you, that cause the most pain. Be careful giving away your heart, for it is giving someone your soul and trusting them not to destroy it.  Heart. Push yourself, be better, stay focused, and strive for greatness. Everyone wants to push you, everyone wants to make you work, but does it matter? What does...

Descartes’ Discourse on the Method allows readers to learn of the natural light of the mind through a series of steps and a well-constructed argument. Descartes’ writings warn of the dangers of following a poor instructor of philosophy and how one can avoid such dangers, essentially laying the groundwork for what good philosophy should be judged or measured against. This method strongly contrasts the philosophy of  Pangloss depicted in Voltaire’s Candide, which is poorly constructed, never backed by evidence, and does not allow for the expansion of the mind. Pangloss is not a true philosopher because he does not build his views on any evidence or reasoning. While Pangloss is the embodiment of deficient instruction of philosophy, which reflects itself in the behavior of his students, Descartes wrote the Method to show the importance of having a good teacher, so as to avoid a Panglossian society of blind followers.  Pangloss is the unfailingly optimistic tutor of philosophy ...

“You are the most beautiful woman on earth.” Likely, not a completely truthful statement. In fact, since beauty is objective and judged by set standards, that statement is most likely wrong. However, it is not meant to hurt or degrade anyone. It simply illustrates how the emotional attachments people create can obstruct the most obvious of facts and statements. Edmund Burke wrote, A philosophical enquiry into the sublime and beautiful, to demonstrate the difference between subjective and objective beauty. It endeavors to teach readers how easily society ignores the truth to avoid hurting feelings. Burke’s argument is logically sound, well-constructed, and parallels what the Bible says about beauty. Burke’s argument analyses a beauty that is more than skin deep, is a beauty that comes from God, that all men subconsciously seek. Burke’s argument for objective beauty starts with the idea of taste. According to Burke, Taste refers to the faculties of the mind which are affected...

Descartes’ Discourse on the Method allows readers to learn of the natural light of the mind through a series of steps and a well-constructed argument. Descartes’ writings warn of the dangers of following a bad teacher of philosophy and how one can avoid such dangers, essentially laying  the groundwork for what good philosophy should be judged or measured against. This method strongly contrasts the philosophy by Pangloss in Voltaire’s Candide, which is poorly constructed, never backed by evidence, and does not allow for the expansion of the mind. Voltaire wrote the character Pangloss to symbolize weak philosophy, while Descartes wrote the Method to teach people how to judge how flawed philosophy can be.  Descartes’ approach follows a very systematic process that places emphasis on having evidence before one believes a philosophy to be correct. Descartes wrote the Discourse on the Method so that all people, possessing good sense (5), would be able to reason properly and liv...

According to Pascal, life is a wager and each person is forced to gamble. This wager of life is supported by science, and gives each person two options. Pascal says one option is to live life believing God exists and to act justly. The second option is to live life as if God does not exist and, consequently, no person has to answer to a higher power. Pascal surmises it is worth betting on black, assume God exists, and live life accordingly. However, Pascal’s wager is not a win-win situation as he presents it to be. In actuality this leads to indifference, which he preaches to avoid. Although the scientific approach to faith is not enough to lead to a sincere relationship, it is a solid step on the path to the cliff where true faith is developed. Believing in a higher power simply because the odds are in favor of its existence is not faith, it is a salvation safety net for the soul and could potentially lead away from Heaven.   Pascal states that reason is not hurt by choo...

Thomas More’s book Utopia illustrates the customs and practices of a faraway island through the voice of a character named Raphael Nonsenso. The book advocates state ownership of land and provides a detailed analysis of how the island’s society is run efficiently. Raphael covers the different aspects of the island’s society and discusses how they have formed their ideals and their customs and why they live the way they do. According to More’s writing the natives of Utopia lead fairly decent and positive lives in a healthy communal or communist society. Utopia society seems like an almost perfectly run nation, but the Utopians are actually extremely morally corrupt and Godless because they support a communist government. Utopia is a society that has succeeded with a communist system of government because they have divorced themselves from the morals of God. Raphael Nonsenso, is a man More describes as “quite the scholar” and a man who wanted to see the world and during his travels he ...

In Dante’s Inferno, readers follow the journey of Dante and his guide Virgil through the other world, Hell. The story begins when Dante is trapped by a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf and then starts to cry out for help ( Dante 1 line 32, 45, 49). Virgil appears to Dante and tells him “to climb that hill that brings delight, it is another journey you must take” ( Dante 1 line 77 and 91). After further explanation, Dante agrees to follow Virgil as his guide through Inferno and the two set out on an epic sightseeing trip. Virgil first leads Dante through the gates of Hell, Virgil then begins to show Dante the souls trapped in Hell in each different ring ( Dante 3 intro to canto) . Virgil uses his time with Dante to show the nature of sins and how we must change our lifestyles if we wish to avoid eternal suffering. When Virgil leads Dante into the first ring of Hell, which is called Limbo ( Dante 4 intro to canto ). Limbo is the place where the souls of those who were unbaptized and ...

“Hey Coach!” I yelled across the driving range, to my coach sitting in his golf cart. Coach was still oblivious to the crisis I endured on the course during our practice round the day before. “What?” he responded, disregarding the panic in my voice. “I lost all my golf balls yesterday!”  “Just grab a box from the bus.” he said. Gesturing towards the bus in the parking lot. I walked towards the bus with my head held down in shame and utter despair. After my well deserved walk of shame, I finally reached the bus. “Where are they?” I asked. “Over here!” yelled a muffled male voice. “Huh? What was that?” I replied in astonishment. “I’m over here!” The annoyed voice answered. I realized the voice was coming from a box that had fallen under one of the rows of seats. I reached down and picked up the box, when I opened the box I noticed that one of the balls on top was unbranded. When I picked up the ball, a face appeared on it and the voice said “took you long enough”. “AHH! Swee...