Philosophies

This past summer, I attended the Governor’s Honors Program (GHP), an intensive academic program that brings together some of the brightest minds in the state of Georgia for six weeks. The program is divided in to a major, which involves an extensive interview and application process, and a minor, which is chosen after a student is accepted into GHP. My major was in the field of mathematics and my minor was in that of communicative arts. The whole experience was intellectually stimulating in and of itself as I spent six weeks of the summer sharing ideas with some of the most intelligent students I had ever met, but there was one class in particular that really got the juices flowing, a class called "Perception vs. Reality." The class was formatted in such a way that it was a long discussion in which topics, such as the "I think therefore I am" solipsistic philosophies of Descartes, which also appear in the "I create the universe blink be blink" philosophy of John Gardener in the novel Grendel, and the nihilist philosophy of Turgenev, were conversed upon. Although the class was very interesting and intellectually stimulating as everyday I entered looking forward to a great debate on whether the world exists as a reality or not between me and several students of equally high intelligence, there is something about philosophers, such as Descartes and Turgenev, that throws the mind and body on a loop that never ends up back where it starts. Just hearing the argument that the world does not exist outside of ourselves can have a great impact on a person. In my case, the engaging experience opened my eyes to the many realities or illusions presented in life and caused my mind to adopt a more open mindset, one where the endless possibilities of life can be realized.

The class itself actually prepared me well for the different philosophies presented in both Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Grendel by John Gardner. Both novels are highly philosophical in nature as Grendel undergoes a major transformation in the novel. At first, Grendel associates everything with his mother and "smouldering eyes" that he sees in the dark. Then, Grendel continues on to his solipsism philosophy that he is the only being that exists in the world and that he is center of the universe. When he comes into contact with the Shaper and hears all of his poems and songs, Grendel then converts to a nihilist philosophy, especially after his encounter with the dragon. He feels that everything in meaningless and it is apparent that he does not believe in fate. Even when he is about to die, he claims that Beowulf coming was an accident and that his death also was not meant to be. In Frankenstein, some philosophy was also presented, especially that of nihilism in the form of the monster's view on life without a companion or someone to harass. Because the monster is all alone in the world, he sees no meaning in life so asks for a companion and when Victor denies him this, the monster goes on to harass Victor. This is his meaning in life, but when he has successfully destroyed Victor, there is nothing left for him to do so he goes to the ice cap to die. The story is rather sad, but still seems to echo nihilism, a philosophy I learned in GHP.