So far in Sophie's World, there has been a lot of interesting topics brought up that I have never really though about. Out of everything I've read, the early pages are some of the most interesting to me. In the very beginning, the protagonist is given questions including "Who are you?' and "Why are you here?'. These questions phased me quite a bit, since they are such simple questions, they should be able to have simple answers. But they don't. It is nearly impossible to to answer the question of who you are with all the ways people define themselves (gender, sexuality, political stance, activities they partake in, family or religious titles, etc.) and nobody really knows why we are here. These seemingly simple questions, along with many others, make myself wonder how much of our existence and our world's existence do we truly understand. Only a few pages later, Sophie scrutinizes herself in the mirror, trying to understand who she is. I'm not going to lie of done this before; trying to examine the identical me and trying to out move the other Hank. However, I never really saw this in a philosophical way, just some random interest. Now, while doing this same act, ideas of alternate universes, ideas of other me's, and just the question of "Who am I?" all run through my head. Of what we have read so far, I have had to sit back and reexamine everything on multiple occasions, and that is why  Philosophy (and this novel) is so cool to me.

Hank Peters-Wood

Philosophy is found everywhere in the world around us. Whether we realize it or not, philosophy is both the most simple things (or what seem to be the most simple things in life) and some of the most complex. Who we are, the way we came to be on this earth, our purpose in life, etc. are all very simple, yet nearly impossible answers, that are related to philosophy. Some other philosophical ideas, that are just as impossible to comprehend but are a little more mind blowing include, whether our reality is really real, if we are truly alive or if we are apart of something incomprehensible, if there is a higher power or an afterlife, are all very reasonable thoughts that there really aren't an answer to. Despite just overwhelming ideas on life, there are many other philosophical aspects of life. Issues like religion, government, education, and just how we live our life directly correlate to philosophy. For example, are humans capable enough to govern themselves? Should we worship a god? Do we have to worry about good vs evil? What is really valuable in life? All of these questions, and more, relate to how we live our lives and how our societies run. All of this together shows us how philosophy is everywhere around us. How we live, how we act, how we think, how we speak, and how we progress are all connected to what philosophy is. Obviously, there are countless amounts of philosophical questions that are not answered and that may never be, but that is one of the awesome parts of philosophy... with answers, there would be no reason to wonder.

Hank Peters-Wood