Does this sentence make you think? What does it make you think about? Shakespeare was a dreamer, and some say he was a philosopher too. In this sentence he tells us that our lives are short but we can think up big and important ideas in that short time.

The two Greek words - "philo", which means love and "sophia", which means wisdom are the beginnings of the word we use today; Philosophy, the love of wisdom.

Most people have a philosophy on life. Everybody has an idea of what is right and what is wrong, and why things are the way they are, and who they are and who to trust. A lot of people believe somebody else's philosophy. That person may be a religious or political leader, or anybody you look up to. Some people have their own philosophy on life which might be a mixture of theories. Others are philosophers; people who want to know the truth about life for themselves and spend their time studying, thinking and asking questions.

One of the earliest Eastern philosophies was Taoism, which came from China. We are all aware of the yin and yang halves of the universe - nothing can exist without its opposite. Another great eastern philosophy is Buddhism, which is a religion and also a system of beliefs which help us to understand ourselves and others better. One branch of western philosophy, Existentialism, is very similar to Buddhist ideas. Both ask questions about what really exists in life, and help us to decide what is important.

The first western philosophers lived in Greece. They encouraged people to find their own answers to questions about life instead of believing the Gods did everything. Socrates was the most famous of these. He is one of the most famous philosophers in the world, yet he said ‘one thing I know and that is that I know nothing.' This is why he never wrote or lectured. He only discussed. He did not believe he could tell anybody anything, that it was better to encourage individual thinking.

Today philosophers are still encouraging people to think. Schools in some countries teach philosophy to children. Reading books written by old philosophers can be difficult because the language is from the past. So stories are used to help schoolchildren make their own decisions about what is right and wrong and think about the best way to solve problems.

Why do we need philosophy? There are plenty of people who think that killing animals is cruel, but eating animals is fine. If you are one of these people, you should ask yourself why. Why is killing animals cruel? Why is it okay to eat animals? You might find that the answer to each question is very different and you could have an argument by yourself using your own ideas! Go on and argue - you will understand more about what you believe. You will begin to understand the subject more deeply. And this helps you to feel comfortable with it. And you might change something or you might not. When we ask ourselves questions, we start to understand ourselves and our lives, and it's up to us to make changes or not. If the ideas in your head agree, this means you have integrity. What you say and what you do are the same. Everyone respects someone who has integrity!

By thinking and questioning, we can understand more and maybe prevent problems caused by misunderstanding. But philosophy can also cause problems and conflict when people don't agree. When one group of people choose one philosophy to believe and another group of people choose a different philosophy, when they need to think or make a decision together, they start trying to change each other instead of working together on bigger ideas about life.

So when you have some spare time, ask yourself the following philosophical questions:

Does the world own us or do we own the world?
Which is more important, humans or stars?
If a tree falls where nobody can hear it, does it make a sound?
And the Zen Buddhist riddle: What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Vocabulary

5 words/phrases from the text:

1. wisdom: the state of knowing what is true or right
2. decision: the process of deciding by making a judgement
3. argument: a discussion involving different points of view
4. integrity: state of maintaining moral principles
5. conflict: a fight or struggle

Exercise one.

Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the 5 words/phrases to fill the gaps in the sentences below:

Sarah had a difficult ........... to make; to stay at home and study at the local college or to move to London and start a new life. Her father was not happy about her moving and they had had a terrible ...........about it that morning.

King Solomon was famous for the ............ he possessed when asked for advice and counselling. He once helped to find a solution to a ........... between two women who claimed to be the mother of the same baby. He suggested cutting the baby in half. Of course, the true mother's ................ became apparent when she cried "No! Let the other woman keep the baby!"

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Exercise two.

Comprehension: true or false. Decide whether these sentences are TRUE or FALSE according to the text.

1. Everybody believes in somebody else's philosophy
2. Buddhism is a religion as well as a philosophy
3. The first Western philosophers tried to encourage a belief in the power of the Gods
4. Stories about the old philosophers teach children what is right and what is wrong
5. Philosophy can cause problems as well as solve problems

Grammar.

Reported speech (1)

When we report someone's words we can do it in two ways. We can use direct speech with quotation marks ("I work in a bank"), or we can use reported speech (He said he worked in a bank.)

In reported speech the tenses, word-order and pronouns may be different from those in the original sentence.

Present simple and present continuous tenses

Direct speech: "I travel a lot in my job" Reported speech: He said that he travelled a lot in his job.
The present simple tense (I travel) usually changes to the past simple (he travelled) in reported speech.

Direct speech: "Be quiet. The baby's sleeping." Reported speech: She told me to be quiet because the baby was sleeping.
The present continuous usually changes to the past continuous.

NB:
"I work in Italy" Reported speech: He told me that he works in Italy.
It isn't always necessary to change the tense. If something is still true now - he still works in Italy - we can use the present simple in the reported sentence.

Past simple and past continuous tenses

Direct speech: "We lived in China for 5 years." Reported speech: She told me they had lived in China for 5 years.
The past simple tense (we lived) usually changes to the past perfect (they had lived) in reported speech.

Direct speech: "I was walking down the road when I saw the accident." Reported speech: He told me he'd been walking down the road when he'd seen the accident.
The past continuous usually changes to the past perfect continuous.

Perfect tenses

Direct speech: "They've always been very kind to me". Reported speech: She said they'd always been very kind to her.
The present perfect tense (have always been) usually changes to the past perfect tense (had always been).

Direct speech: "They had already eaten when I arrived" Reported speech: He said they'd already eaten when he'd arrived.
The past perfect tense does not change in reported speech.

You can find more information about reported speech in another section.

Exercise

Change these direct speech statements to reported speech.

1. "My dad was a teacher."
2. "We've been waiting for hours."
3. "I didn't go to the party because I was too tired."
4. "I work for a bank."
5. "We're meeting Tony at 8 o'clock."

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Quiz Question 25

Coldpay's lead singer - firs t name.

Philosophy - Key

Vocabulary

1. decision
2. argument
3. wisdom
4. conflict
5. integrity
   

Comprehension

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True
   

Grammar

1. He/she said/told me (that) his/her dad had been a teacher.
2. He/she said/told me (that) they had been waiting for hours.
3. He/she said/told me (that) he/she hadn't gone to the party because he/she'd been too tired.
4. He/she said/told me (that) he/she worked/works for a bank.
5. He/she said/told me (that) they were meeting Tony at 8 o'clock.