Oscar Rivera ’12

Name: Oscar Rivera

Year: 4th

Hometown: Chicago, IL
 
Why philosophy?
Because I wanted to be able to contemplate the metaphysical implications of whenever I say, “Would you like fries with that?” But seriously, I’ve always been a very curious person and wanted to tackle ‘hard questions’, and since I’ve never been good at math, physics, or just any science in general, I settled for philosophy. It’s also pretty interesting.
 
Favorite philosopher and why?
While I don’t necessarily agree with everything these philosophers put forth, I would have to say my two favorites are Hume and Descartes; Hume for the very banal reason of him being sort of the foundation of Empiricism, and Descartes for his thoughts on mind-body dualism and its impact on future philosophical theories like Idealism.
 
Classic annoying question: What are you going to do with a Philosophy degree?
If I do pursue any kind of profession in the realm of philosophy, I think I would very much like to write or even become some sort of public figure; you know, just because I like to hear myself talk as much as possible.
 
If you were a philosopher, what would you wear as an outfit?
 I’m a big fan of top hats and monocles, so I’ll go with that. Or, I would desperately try to look like Ryan Gosling in a suit…
 
 Let’s say you compiled one of your philosophical theories into a book. What would the title be?
I suppose this a more serious question. I guess since one of my main interests is morality, I would like to write a book on morality; something with a scintillating title like A Philosophical Treatise on Morality.
 
What philosophical pick-up line would you use?
I only know a couple philosophically-oriented pick-up lines that only work if you know the theories behind them, but I think my favorite is (playing on ontological arguments): “You’re the greatest conceivable being, baby. I’m glad you exist.” And then I’d seductively wink.
 
 Finally, why do we exist?
This really isn’t fair since this is such a complex question, but I’d have to say that we exist to live.