KKG-elever til NM i filosofi

Maria Gahrsen og Kristina Røstad Rosenvold har med hver sin tekst kvalifisert seg til filosofi-NM i Oslo.

Brukergenerert innhold

I høst har det vært avholdt kvalifisering til NM i filosofi, og over 20 av våre elever deltok. De tre beste tekstene ble sendt videre til ekstern vurdering, der Kristina Røstad Rosenvold (3STJ) og Maria Gahrsen (3STG) kvalifiserte seg til NM. Jentene tar programfaget historie og filosofi, og fikk virkelig prøvd ut sine filosofiske evner i denne kvalifiseringen.

Essayet de skrev skulle skrives på engelsk, uten hjelpemidler og tidsrammen var på 120 minutter. Begge elevene valgte følgende sitat som de skrev et filosofisk essay om:

“The experience that we have of our lives from within, the story we tell ourselves about ourselves in order to account for what we are doing, is fundamentally a lie – the truth lies outside, in what we do”, Slavoj Žižek

Vi gratulerer begge med kvalifiseringen og ønsker dem lykke til når de skal delta i NM i filosofi i Oslo i 18. – 19. mars.

Her kan du lese teksten til Kristina Røstad Rosenvold, som også fikk Honorable Mention.

We humans seem to live in two different worlds: the one inside our head and the “real” world. We would think and hope that these two worlds show the same reality, but is there a difference between how we see ourselves and how others perceive us? In our head, we create a version of ourselves that might not be how we act around other people. This version sees the logic and reasoning behind every decision you make. It is only natural to believe that those around you see the same version that you see yourself, but that is not always the case.

The world inside our head creates a unique version of everyone we know and everything we experience. After a traumatic incident, the witnesses and even the people involved cannot tell the exact details of the incident, because the brain cannot process what happened. It creates a wrong “reality”. We trust our own senses and memories to tell us the truth, and we start to believe in that reality. Even after being told what really happened, it is difficult to remove our own memory and believe the other person who is telling the truth. 

The world outside or head is the “real” world. Here, our actions matter. A person might call themselves empathetic because that is what they strive to become. However, the people around them might think differently about them if they do not act empathetic. If a person sees someone in pain and the person thinks to himself or herself that they feel for that person and would want to help, they would know that they are emphatic. If the person ends up not approaching the person in pain and just walks past, that person would not appear empathetic to the people around. 

You can go around thinking that you are the best person that have ever lived, but if you do not act upon that claim, it is not true. This goes the other way around too. If you are a kind to others but view yourself in a negative way, the truth is that you are kind. Your own thoughts do not determine who you are, but your actions do. 

If you go against the law and do something criminal, you might create your own story that excuses your behaviour. If you kill a person, you might tell yourself it was for the best. Whether that is to protect yourself, or maybe even protect that person from something in the future, it is only excuses and not the truth.

It might be difficult to grasp this concept in our own self-absorbed minds. We are the only ones who put so much thought and effort into the person we are. Sometimes the action stops in the thought, and is never acted upon. Here is where our truth and the real truth splits. We believe in what our brain tells us, even if it might not even be logical. 

I support Žižek in his claim. The version inside your head is not the real you. Even if you think you have good reasons for your actions, it is ultimately up to the people around you to determine if you are right or wrong. Your actions have consequences, and you cannot determine the truth yourself.