Research Philosophy

When it comes to research, Swartz has a very firm philosophy in regards to what he attempts to accomplish, and what he expects to take away from his experience researching. He believes "If you research a topic that you care about, and may already know some information about, research is a great opportunity to learn what you didn't know before, and gain new insights and knowledge."

Swartz believes in his philosophy with this recent research. He has been around veterans plenty of times, and has worked with veterans closely numerous times. He had known for a while that it is statistically true that 22 veterans commit suicide per day. What he didn't know was how much that equated to in a single year. As seen in The New York Times article he cited in his essay, Swartz learned that almost 43,000 Americans committed suicide in 2014. Knowing that the 22 veterans a day statistic was released in 2014, as well, he decided the math had to be done in order to emphasize his claim on how important it is for all to know about this issue.

What he got out of his calculations was that 22 veterans a day equates to 8,030 veterans committing suicide a year. Which means in 2014, veterans occupied 5% of the national suicide rate. In the paragraph where he did this mathematical calculation, Swartz mentions that some may not believe 5% is a big deal, but knowing how much he cares about these heroes, he was still baffled to see that amount, even if it is "small" to some. He believes even the smallest percentages make the biggest differences.

Philosophy Dictionary Definition [Photograph found in Scientia Salon]. (2014, May 26). Retrieved May 1, 2017, from https://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/does-philosophy-have-a-future/ (Originally photographed 2014, May 26)