Intellectual Heritage Essay

Intellectual Heritage is one aspect in my life that I really value most. For one, this helped me in understanding things I wasn’t aware before. It also helped me in dealing with things I haven’t been conscious of like how diverse the philosophy of different people known world-wide are. I can say that this particular program, Intellectual Heritage, somehow made me think of something that I haven’t thought of before. The texts that we have dealt with are more of the Western texts which honestly have made me think of things that I wasn’t able to think before. In the book The Republic, Plato said, â€Å"They will never intentionally receive into their minds false-hood, which is their detestation, and they will love the truth†. This main particular text of Plato have made me think in a different way, in a sense that I had realization when that particular was discussed. Being truthful in different things is quite important because it is a fact universally acknowledged that no one wants deception. Before, I haven’t dealt with much importance on telling the whole truth, and that speaks for most of us, I guess. But after discussing the text in the book The Republic, I have become more sensitive of what lying or dishonesty will bring me. And I can proudly say that it will not and will never bring a positive impact or effect in us. Lying just made us capable of hurting other people. It just makes things complicated and help us not to build a healthy community, rather a decaying one. I began to realize that a lie wouldn’t help anyone in one way or the other. It breaks the bond that people have made without us being conscious of that fact. Moreover, even some of us are aware of the consequences it may bring but opted not to give any attention to that matter. Selfish people lie for their own benefits but what they don’t know is that it causes them to be destructed little by little. As Plato have said, it is a detestation to tell a lie not only for a certain person, but to the whole mankind for that matter. Truth undeniably is what people need. As for my learning, I have learned a lot but the topic about falsehood and truth has a biggest influence to me and definitely changed various perspectives in my life. And in that case, Intellectual heritage as a whole apparently gave me a big opportunity in thinking in a different way, in a way of realizing important matter that life brings yet usually disregarded. In line with the course Intellectual Heritage, I can say that I have experienced a variety of connections between Intellectual Heritage and another course, which is the Philosophy course. Although, Intellectual Heritage is a one of a kind course, I can say that it somehow has a connection in Philosophy because it also deal with different thoughts of different known persons in the world. In Philosophy, we are all aware that it tackles mainly on the philosophical thoughts certain people have. In fact, there are many known philosophical figures even at this point in time. Among others were Socrates and Plato. Socrates, as we all know is the teacher of Plato. Plato, on the other hand is the one who had great influence on Augustine, who was a major shaper of Christian theology. â€Å"A philosophy is a comprehensive system of ideas about human nature and the nature of the reality we live in. It is a guide for living, because the issues it addresses are basic and pervasive, determining the course we take in life and how we treat other people, (William Thomas)†. Basically, Intellectual Heritage and Philosophy deals with similar issues. In Philosophy, it primarily talks about the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man’s relationship to existence as a whole. In Intellectual Heritage on the other hand, it is somehow the same. Only, it deals with the main texts of the people who have dealt with the issues in the nature of existence, of man, and of man’s relationship to existence. Although the two courses differ in some way, I can say that it is both helpful in just the same way. It enhances and help me improve my line of thinking, in a sense that I am being critical with the things in my life. I can relate being critical in Philosophy in a way that whenever a certain philosopher has an idea, I first think deeply and asses his beliefs. In that way, I have the opportunity whether to agree with his ore her ideas or not. Intellectual Heritage on the other hand, somehow helped me in focusing intently with the texts presented to me. So as to speak, both of the courses, Intellectual Heritage and Philosophy have a connection in someway that it both benefited me in various ways, especially in the aspect of my critical thinking skills. In this semester, it is evident that we have dealt with many different texts in a rhetorical manner. As for me, I must admit that at first, I had a hard time dealing with this course because I’m not used to deal with rhetoric aspects of things, especially in the texts we have used in this course. But later on, I learned how to cope with the topics being discussed and came to know numerous lessons about the texts we have dealt with. As a whole, the things I learned from the experience of dealing with the rhetorical aspect of the texts discussed were all exceptional. I said that it is exceptional because honestly, the course made me think in ways I have never thought I would be able to. My line of thinking now differs in someway from the line of thinking I have now. I am more critical with the things being laid to me and felt happy about it. In this particular course, I have learned to read with more attention focused in the text I’m reading because deep focus is an evident requirement for this particular course. My reading skills were trained and was improved because of the approach of this course. Another is that I also came to know the essentials in demonstrating verbal argumentation. I realized that in order to survive an argument verbally, one must have a strong conviction in what you stand for. Being able to stand for what you believe in is a powerful evidence that you have a really strong will to win the argument. Also, demonstrating listening skills is one of the main learning I have acquired in this actual course. I learned to listen intently, carefully, keenly, and attentively. Listening skills is very important especially when dealing with the rhetorical aspect of the text because it will help you to understand better what the text is all about. The most essential thing that I have learned in this course is the demonstrating the skills in written communication. We are taught of the necessary things to consider to be able to expound our ideas in the written form and helped us build up our ability to communicate in written form. In general, the lessons I have learned in the experience of dealing in rhetorical aspects of the texts are that one must be able to the essential things in life such us being truthful, courageous, being fair, and the likes. I also learned to be keen in every detail of the texts I am reading so that I will not grasp the wrong idea from the text.