I think this idea is pretty important to what the author is trying to convey with how important philosophy is. It empowers us and incentivizes us to do something - to push back against the system that treats us unfairly, rather than view it as something that just exists.

Interesting! Whenever I think of these types of made up scenarios, I always view them as designed to have people think only about how which approach is the most ethical. But it seems it is much more nuanced. They are great for evaluating and developing proposals - what is the best way to go about this situation, and why? It helps provide solutions to problems, it seems, and ethics can also be discussed. Not only that, but I think that the bit about critiquing political and social institutions is also notable. I feel like generally when I am presented with these sort of problems, I never even consider why or how these scenarios even come to exist. This also reminds me about an idea earlier in the reading, in which the author talks about accepting the world as it is. I feel like if i were introduced this fish problem outside of this philosophy class, I wouldn't even question why families were fighting for this scarce supply of fish.

I think this is a really interesting perspective on philosophy! I do think that generally a world that remains stagnant is quite problematic, though it's easy to accept things even when they are flawed, just because "that's how things are". There are probably tens of thousands or even millions of things that are wrong with our world currently, and without a more nuanced perspective on these issues, they might just be stand to continue existing as problems. Conversation and philosophy, I'm guessing, helps lead toward meaningful changes that address them.

I think this is a very interesting start to this article! It puts us into the shoes of someone in a difficult position, in which they must tirelessly work away to simply have a shot at a decent, livable lifestyle. I feel that this scenario they painted for us so vividly is really powerful when leading into this question, because I think people in the current climate of the world tend to underestimate the importance of philosophy, or don't really think about it at all. While maybe a lot of us don't completely relate to the situation of the young mother, a lot of us DO have our own struggles and might find ourselves lost in the grueling work that may come with everyday life. And when simply going through with our daily lives is hard enough, why should we bother with philosophy? Personally, I don't really think about the idea of philosophy at all, and I never really thought it would be relevant to me based on what I want to do in life. And when people don't think something is relevant, why bother with it, right? Life is busy enough as it is. But really, it probably has a lot more relevancy in my life than I think, and I believe that this idea is somewhat being conveyed in this part. That's just how I saw this paragraph, but I thought it was a strong opening!