NICOLE A.

LANA

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

ACTIVITY I: REFLECTION

1. DISCUSS ON SOCRATES’ STATEMENT “THE EXAMINED LIFE IN NOT

WORTH LIVING”.

SOCRATES SAID THAT AN UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING,

WHICH MEANS THAT LIVING WITHOUT KNOWING WHY YOU ARE HERE
WILL NEVER BE WORTHWHILE. THIS IS BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR
PURPOSE, YOU HAVEN'T TRIED TO FIGURE IT OUT, AND YOU'VE NEVER
LOOKED INTO OR EXPLORED WHAT IT IS. THEREFORE, AN UNEXAMINED
LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING.

2. HAVE YOU EVER SPENT TIME EXAMINING YOUR LIFE? IS IT

REALLY WORTH OF TIME? WHY OR WHY NOT?

AS I LIVE IN THIS WORLD AND CONTINUE TO WALK ON MY PATH, I

COULD SAY THAT I AM STILL SPENDING MY TIME EXAMINING MY LIFE. I
WILL CONTINUE TO FIGURE OUT MY REAL PURPOSE IN THIS WORLD. I
COULD SAY THAT EXAMINING MY LIFE IS WORTH MY TIME BECAUSE AS I
EXAMINE MY LIFE, I GET LESSONS AND LEARN FROM IT. IT HELPS ME TO
FIND MY REAL PURPOSE AND WHAT I REALLY WANT IN THE FUTURE FOR
MYSELF. EXAMINING MY LIFE WILL ALWAYS BE WORTH MY TIME SINCE IT
GAVE ME A LOT OF LESSONS THAT I CAN USE IN MY LIFE.

REFLECTION:

AS I LEARNED FROM PLUTO, MY IMPERISHABLE SOUL HAS PRIMACY

OVER MY PERISHABLE BODY. HAVE I NOURISHED MY SOUL OR
HAVE I NEGLECTED IT? HAVE I CARED TO GROW IN THE WORLD OF
IDEAS OR HAVE I CONFINED MY WORLD OF THE MATERIAL?

THE SOUL IS INVISIBLE AND IT IS PURE FROM ITS ORIGIN. ACCORDING TO

PLUTO, THE SOUL IS SIMPLE AND CANNOT BE COMPOSED OF ANY
ELEMENTS, AND PLATO BELIEVED THAT WE ARE IMMORTAL SOULS WHO
ARE BORN AND REBORN INTO PHYSICAL HUMAN BODIES. THE
PHILOSOPHER PLATO DESERVES PRAISE FOR BRINGING ALL THE
QUALITIES WE MAY CONNECT WITH "SOUL," SUCH AS MORAL
EXCELLENCE, CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY, BRAVERY, CREATIVITY, AND
INTELLIGENCE, TO BEAR. REGARDLESS OF OUR OPINIONS AND IDEAS,
ALL OF US EXHIBIT ALL THESE CHARACTERISTICS AND FACETS OF WHAT
IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN. HOWEVER, NOTHING SUGGESTS THAT THIS
ETHEREAL PART OF LIFE, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE "SOUL," IS
ETERNAL. THEREFORE, OUR SOUL IS RESIDING IN OUR BODY AND OUR
BODY IS TEMPORARILY SINCE OUR BODY DECOMPOSED AND DIED
COMPARED TO THE SOUL, WHICH IS IMMORTAL.

REFLECTION:

1. A LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH REASON IS GOOD AND HAPPY ONE,

IN CONTRAST A LIFE DOMINATED BY THE SENSE OF THE LOWER
NATURE OF HUMAN PERSON IS UNHAPPY, DISORDERED LIFE.

IF YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR OWN NATURE, YOU
WILL HAVE A HAPPY EXISTENCE. HAPPINESS IS A DECISION. SINCE WE
ARE THE ONES WHO DECIDE WHAT WE WANT TO PURSUE WITH OUR
LIVES, HAPPINESS WILL DEPEND ON US. ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE,
OBTAINING TRUE HAPPINESS IS A PERSON'S PRIME PURPOSE AND IS A
GOAL IN AND OF ITSELF.

2. WHAT DID ARISTOTLE MEAN BY THE THEORY OF THE GOLDEN

MEAN? EXPLAIN BRIEFLY.

THE GOLDEN MEAN FOCUSES ON THE REGION THAT LIES HALFWAY

BETWEEN TWO EXTREMES. AS ARISTOTLE EXPLAINS US, VIRTUE IS OFTEN
CLOSER TO ONE EXTREME THAN THE OTHER ON A SLIDING SCALE THAT
IS USED TO DEFINE WHAT IT IS.