Philosophy subject.

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Hi,
I just started my philosophy AS level (advanced level) and the class is going sooooo slow. I mean I've already prepared over the summer holidays for it as I thought it would be a challenge. I thought we would do work on lots of different philosophers but instead we're doing this really boring introduction and we're going to start epistemology(how you perceive the world basically). Anyway I've been completely bored whitless so far. I mean in one of the lessons we start reading text from a book and I found out I already have the book and I've been studying it. Plus all we read of it was the introduction!
Talk out sleep-inducing. I can't drop it so I want to give it a chance but it's...well as I've said boring.
Excuse the rant I was wondering if anyone else has studied philosophy at school and what you thought of it?

Philosophy is a rather strange class.

In short, it's a way to force people who live in a practical reality to stretch their minds to grasp what is possible in a more theoretical model, but once you get past the "one hand clapping" and "tree in a forest" nonsense, you can spend more time learning about the philosophical thinkers who actually improved society by getting the common person to think "outside the box."

As the motion of the tree's fall would still create vibrational waves in the atmosphere with the potential of resonating against some sort of diaphragm, then in some sense it would be making sound, whether or not there were an ear to hear it - a mechanical recording device could still pick it up. The real question is: If there is no human brain attached to the diaphragm that receives the sound vibration, then what do the vibrations signify?

or:

Does perception without thought have meaning?

I love philosophy. It's my major in my current BA degree. I understand it can come across as boring, or sometimes seem to be a pointless waste of time. I suppose it depends on how it's looked at & taught. Epistemology is the basis of science, so no less important. I've not done a unit directly on epistemology only, but I've covered it in several other philosophy units, as well as briefly in a sociology unit on research methods.

Considering the basis of all we "know" in study of epistemology is for me fascinating, and essential for rational thinking. I think it's one of those areas all human beings should have at least a basic education in if possibe.

It's also a good foundation for future learning about ideas of different philosophers, which I hope you have a chance to do also. Philosophy courses can vary greatly, so it's a good idea to research beforehand, such as looking at set textbooks.

Thinking at its self is as pointless a tree falling lonely in a forrest.

Phillosophy was and will ever fit the society wich created it, the greeks workshiped true as scholastiks god as modern phillosophers are workshiping individuallity. So phillosophy can entertain you and console you, but biology will feed you and physics will build your home.

So i think the (es)sence of phillosophy is being a human, in interprtation of greek anthropos, someone ascending. Phillosophy is the synopsis of human endevour the will to understand and over come its self, trying to be more than a monkey with out fur.

Well wich actually leaded to biology and physiscs.......

So like the tree not falling vacum it makes only a sound if it hits something, so as phillosophy is only of matter if it changes people.

It does if you're the small furry thing on the ground under the tree that's falling.

Not much thought, there, just run away!

There's a good reason your class is starting with epistemology, and good reason to not be bored by it.

There are two basic concepts to work with here, epistemology and ontology. Epistemology is how you know about the world, and ontology is what you know exists in the world. It's hard to have an ontology without an epistemology, and therefore hard to talk about ontology without necessarily talking about your epistemology. Perhaps it might be interesting to you to think about this from a philosophy of science perspective. For example, what do we make of the problem of induction? I can't yet post URLs, so go look that up on Wikipedia.

I sincerely hope that this boring time in your class is not just a pedagogical mistake. Philosophy is an extremely interesting subject, but difficult to critically motivate and evaluate without discussion of epistemology. You sound as though you're frustrated that the class is moving too slowly for you. I recommend reading some of Peter Godrey-Smith's Theory and Reality. It'll motivate your epistemological discussions that much more.

I'm taking Philosophy next semester online (my friend now is too!) and I think it will be a challenge for me - but I'll let you know when I take it

I've been to a couple more lessons although for a different topic(we have two different teachers a week for the same subject) and it's been a bit more interesting so I'll still pursue it.

Yes. Reality exists outside of human perception.