A Philosophical Halloween

Jeepers Creepers what a spooky time it currently is! I hope as you're reading this you're having a good Halloween celebration. I'm here to hopefully bring a bit of philosophy into your celebration. So while you're dressing up in your costume and going out to parties we should take some time to analyze why we dress up and why we change ourselves to dress up either as a character we like or as something we enjoy and like.

This spooky season we will be focusing on the concept of self and whether you believe in a self or not it's evident that we are at the very least conscious of ourselves. I postulate that whatever we dress up as for Halloween is linked directly to the thought of how we think about ourselves. Meaning that whatever we dress up as we either find some part of ourselves in the character we were dressing up as or we wish to have some attributes of the character. Since it's culturally acceptable to dress up as someone for Halloween you can learn a decent bit about someone from who they dress up as especially if they put a lot of thought into it. To give you an example last year I dressed up as Rick from Rick and Morty I did so for a few reasons being that I like the show, I enjoy his philosophical nihilism, I idolize scientists and really smart figures even if they aren't real people because I hope to someday be a respected philosopher and scientist. So, as you can see, these are some things you can learn about someone's view of themself from this holiday about someone whether by guessing and using some assumptions about the costume or just asking someone why they dressed up as who they dressed up as.

Postulating that Halloween costumes are an outer representation of inward perceptions of our perceived character and self. This time of the year then could be a very good opportunity to make friends because you can easily see what someone is dressed up as and if you like the character, they are dressed up as then you may like some aspect of their self and their inner character. And not only is Halloween a great opportunity to meet new friends and an aesthetically pleasing holiday for many people, but it also is an opportunity to express your inner conscious self to the outside physical world. Halloween than being one of the most artistic holidays we have because many people who aren't artists and create pieces of art don’t get to interact with this aspect of existence often but on this holiday dressing up and acting in a character other than your own is an aesthetically beautiful thing. Participating in art is a must for experiencing the whole aspect of human existence so I then urge anyone who doesn't like Halloween or isn't in the spooky spirit to at least try to participate in the canvas that is Halloween.

If you're someone who doesn’t know who you are and are still figuring out who you want to be and the things you value in life then Halloween could be the perfect opportunity to help you. This is because if you dress up as someone who has traits that you value and you act like that character for the night then you get a taste of what that character values without having to embrace all of yourself. And I would argue that subconsciously there is some part of that character you find in yourself and acting in character for a night with traits you value could help you figure out more about that inner character and inner self we all have and could help you grow as a person. So, get out there be curious and enjoy this spooky season because it’s a beautiful representation of inner self art expressed in our shared physical existence.