Doing Philosophy: Two Ways to See Problems
When you're "doing philosophy," you're finding ways to solve practical problems or understand abstract ideas. There are two main approaches to tackling any situation.
Holistic Point of View is like being a detective who gathers all the evidence. You look at ALL aspects of a problem before drawing conclusions. Everything is connected and important for understanding the full picture. Examples include using multiple sources for research, listening to both teachers AND parents about college choices, or getting to know someone beyond their social media posts.
Partial Point of View is like looking through a keyhole - you only see a small part of the whole situation. You make conclusions based on limited information. This happens when you use only one source for research, listen to just your friends about college, or judge people purely by their Facebook posts.
Friedrich Waismann, an Austrian philosopher, said "Philosophy is Vision." This means learning to look at things from different angles before making assumptions - just like Thales did thousands of years ago.
The goal? Always aim for the holistic approach when facing important decisions or trying to understand complex situations.
Reality check: Most mistakes happen when we use partial thinking instead of considering all sides of a situation!