Saturday, January 15, 2011

"Stumble"ing Upon Philosophy

"We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one."
-'The Cab Ride', Thylacine's Lair

I've been Stumbling from one internet sight to another for the past two hours in an effort to entertain myself on this cold January night. I had honestly forgotten about this writing assignment until I Stumbled upon this quote by an unknown author. The author is a former cab driver who twenty-two years ago was asked by an elderly woman to drive through out the city to places of her youth; she wanted to remember all the good times she had in her childhood and relive the most important experiences of her life- her time in this world was soon coming to an end. In this tale the narrator tells of the good-temperament of this woman and how she had excellent character for, despite her situation, she still managed to keep a smile on her face and enjoy her life at that moment.

The conversation which took place between the narrator and the elderly woman reminded me of the conversation Socrates had with Cephalus in book one of The Republic. Here Cephalus tells Socrates that old age has brought him, "[...] great peace and freedom [...]" and that old age is not what brings woe to individuals but rather woe is brought upon by their character. I agree with the words of Cephalus because I have seen many examples of this in life. Many people considered mean, grumpy, cantankerous, difficult, and so on and so forth act this way because of the fashion in which they interpret the events that take place in their lives. According to Martha Beck ,in her article for O Magainze, entitled Why Are People Mean?, people act the way they do in any situation because of the way they think that the world is viewing them. For example people become angry, because they believe that the world is 'out to get them' or that they simply have 'bad luck'. Martha also states that people's reactions should not be anchored to the words, actions, or looks they receive from others but to their own beliefs about the event. I agree with Martha when she says that "authorship is key to surviving these [ or any] experiences [...]" and that "[...] every living person has the power of authorship when it comes to composing our lives[...]." I use these terms grumpy, mean, etc because they are characteristics usually associated with the elderly but it is not just the elderly that misinterpret actions or words, the youth do it as well.

Alcibiades in the Alcibiades I foolishly believed that he knew how to run, or advice, a government even though he has not done so before or that was ever taught how to do so. This is because he misinterpreted his situation. Alcibiades is acting like an intelligent student coming straight out of medical, law, or graduate school that thinks that they know everything about their practice because they have read numerous books on the subject; what they don't know is that all the reading and book work they've done amounts to nothing in the real world- school work doesn't give you the practice that comes from experiences. It was Socrates who informed him of his faults and told him that there is no reason that he should believe he knows how to govern a state in the same way that he doesn't know building or sailing . Alcibiades, like the elderly woman, showed good character and in the end he was able to give up his ignorance to follow Socrates on the pursuit of excellence.

1 comment:

  1. As you stated, Alcibiades lacked something that, for his position, I think you would agree to be vital- worldly experience. By worldly experience, I don't just mean the actual EXPERIENCE, but I am talking about the knowledge or truths that Socrates believed were able to aid a person in finding just how one should live a life that is good. Without the knowledge of higher principles or even a better understanding of himself, Alcibiades, in my opinion, would not have been able to properly lead a nation. That is not to mention, he was certainly not qualified to decipher what was just or unjust, as he claimed he was able to do so.

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