PHILOSOPHICAL DEFINITION:inclined to the reflective study of beliefs, attitudes, values, and concepts connected with our existence; deep-thinking CATEGORIES:identity, interactive SIMILAR ATTRIBUTES:deep POSSIBLE CAUSES: Being highly intelligent Having a love of wisdom A desire for enlightenment and truth Growing up in a family of scholars ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS: Being widely read and educated Seeking out higher education Educating oneself on history and other cultures Researching the evolution of mythology or religious beliefs Sitting in deep thought Having an inward focus; losing track of conversations or peripheral events Asking deep questions Watching documentaries Seeking answers to the big questions about God, morality, life and death, etc. Learning a second language that aids in one’s studies (Latin, etc.) Having a large collection of books pertaining to subjects of philosophical interest Seeking out experts in an effort to learn more Being inwardly reflective and interested in knowing why we exist Being preoccupied with one’s thoughts rather than what’s happening externally Overanalyzing Being highly logical Isolation Questioning everything Taking a long time to express an opinion; being unable to give a quick answer Feeling like life is passing too quickly or things are happening too fast Ascribing to highbrow humor Difficulty making superficial small talk Being impatient with illogical people Continually making comparisons and evaluating Thinking obsessively Writing and journaling Reading books in a foreign language Socializing with other intellectuals Categorizing Having a diverse and complex vocabulary Showing frustration at interruptions when one is lost in thought Having a difficult time relating to less cerebral people ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS: What is real? What is truth? What is my purpose? How can I evolve? Is free will an illusion? What happens after death, and is there a God? ASSOCIATED EMOTIONS:amazement, conflicted, curiosity, depression, desire, frustration. hopefulness, loneliness, overwhelmed, uncertainty POSITIVE ASPECTS:Philosophical characters read deeply into situations and aren’t afraid of intellectual heavy lifting in order to find answers. Well-educated and thoughtful, when they share what is on their minds, they can provoke curiosity in others and encourage them to probe harder to resolve their own unanswered questions. These characters have a lot of wisdom, and while they won’t dole it out quickly, they are excellent sounding boards for friends or family who need to work through problems. NEGATIVE ASPECTS:These characters can sometimes find themselves alienated from life itself, for as they quest for answers, they can forget to experience the world firsthand. Friends and family may view them as silent, brooding types, or feel that they overthink everything. Philosophical characters can have hobbies that most people don’t get or aren’t interested in, and they tend to have fewer relationships because of the importance solitude plays in puzzling out life’s big mysteries. They can also be long-winded when imparting ideas, causing impatience or boredom. EXAMPLE FROM TV:Wilson, the wise yet odd neighbor to Tim Taylor inHome Improvement, is a storehouse of interesting facts and deep insight. Whenever Tim is wrestling with relationships or difficult decisions, Wilson peeks over the fence to provide his own philosophical views on the subject. Often he asks a thought-provoking question or two to steer Tim toward an epiphany.Other Examples from Literature and TV:Hamlet (The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark), Spock (Star Trekseries) TRAITS IN SUPPORTING CHARACTERS THAT MAY CAUSE CONFLICT:decisive, frivolous, inflexible, irrational, melodramatic, obedient, paranoid, playful, scatterbrained, worrywart CHALLENGING SCENARIOS FOR THE PHILOSOPHICAL CHARACTER: PLOTLINE: Experiencing a debilitating mental disability that makes logic and linear thinking difficult PLOTLINE: Losing one’s life work of journals, study materials, or computer files to a disaster PLOTLINE: Educating oneself on a belief only for new information to surface and prove it inaccurate PLOTLINE: Discovering something about oneself that leads to feelings of shame or disappointment