Happiness
In today's society, how do we obtain the true form of "happiness"?
Chapter 6 educated me about Aristotle, The Naturalist. The teachings in this chapter introduced me to Naturalism, the belief that nature follows orderly, discoverable laws. (6-4) It is also said that "things do not just happen; they develop according to natural design, IF nothing interferes." (6-8) Aristotle referred to this concept as entelechy and believed that it was the key to realizing ones destined purpose, which would lead to happiness. Aristotle used the word eudaimonia to describe his idea of happiness. His teaching describes happiness as leading a full life as opposed to a restricted life. (6-10d) His belief was that for us to be really alive we must experience life, which includes the joy and good that we thrive for but also pain and struggles.
I believe that it is possible to obtain Aristotle's form of happiness in our modern world. Doing so does require a person to have some self reflection and survey their purpose. It also entails being able to engage in life fully to gain balance, which would bring us to a state of happiness.
For most of my life I lived my life in my comfort zone. I did things I was good at but never tried new things, didn't put myself in new scenarios or engage with new people, money and success was very important to me despite the things I had to give up for it, and regardless of anything I did I was always missing something and felt miserable. I realized this way of living was taking away from the most important thing in my life: My Son. That realization caused me to look at my life and see the errors of my ways and what my life was missing. That comfort zone was anything but comforting. It in fact was allowing me to exist but not feel fulfilled, which took me further away from a state of happiness. That realization led me to start living life differently.
My point illustrates that a life of extremes is no life at all. By allowing myself the knowledge to recognize areas I lack certain qualities and to strive to improve these areas, while also recognizing my character defects and striving to avoid these areas, I'm consciously creating a more well rounded person. (6-11) Since making these changes in my personal life I can not say I remember a time where I felt happier and accomplished. Some of the changes came with struggle and pain, but it accompanies the great joy and happiness I now feel. The continued process of living a full life is what brings happiness. "The good life must be lived fully; it is a process, an activity, a becoming, not a static condition. "
Word Count: 506
Dibs
ReplyDeletePeer Comments by: IsaacClarke
ReplyDeleteTotal Word Count: 478 by my count
Spelling Errors: None
Grammatical Errors: “Blog Post 1 (The Philosopher King to The Rationalist, and Your Life)” The word “the” should not be capitalized. “(6-8) Aristotle…”, “(6-10d) His…”, and “(6-11) Since…” does not need 2 spaces in between the parenthesis and the following word. Also you adding section in the citation would help for example (Section 6-8). In the phrase “. Aristotle used the word eudaimonia...” the word eudaimonia should be capitalized. In the phrases “Doing so does require a person to have some self reflection…” and “… I'm consciously creating a more well rounded person.” Self-reflection and well-rounded need a hyphen. Lastly in the phrase “Since making these changes in my personal life I can not say” can not should be cannot.
Lack of Clarity: I understood all of it.
Organization of ideas: It is organized well, it starts off with background information and quotes and then they give an example.
Did the author answer their question? Yes they did answer the question.
Did the author provide a concrete example that clearly illustrates their main point? Yes the author provided a concrete example that illustrated their point.
Do you agree or disagree with the author’s answer and why? I agree with it because to be truly happy we need to live life to the fullest and be there for our family.
What is a concrete example that clearly illustrates why you agree or disagree with the author? “I did things I was good at but never tried new things, didn't put myself in new scenarios or engage with new people, money and success was very important to me despite the things I had to give up for it, and regardless of anything I did I was always missing something and felt miserable. I realized this way of living was taking away from the most important thing in my life: My Son.” This sentence is why I agree with the author
What is your explanation of how your concrete example clearly illustrates your reason for why you agree or disagree with the author? I agree with this because nothing makes someone happier than having a good time with family and that would construe as living life to the fullest and unrestricted.
Nice peer-review IsaacClarke.
DeleteAcknowledgment Post
ReplyDeleteI agree with the grammatical errors listed in my peer review. I also agree with my peer responder's assessment of my answer to my question. The responder's review pulled the following quote: "I did things I was good at but never tried new things, didn't put myself in new scenarios or engage with new people, money and success was very important to me despite the things I had to give up for it, and regardless of anything I did I was always missing something and felt miserable. I realized this way of living was taking away from the most important thing in my life: My Son.” The acknowledgement of this information showed that my explanation and reasoning was understood by the reader. That placing importance on the wrong things doesn't lead to happiness. Though a more balanced life would lead to a fuller and happier existence.
Happiness
ReplyDeleteIn today's society, how do we obtain the true form of "happiness"?
Chapter 6 educated me about Aristotle, [t]he Naturalist. [One space. Make similar correction throughout.] The teachings in this chapter introduced me to Naturalism, the belief that nature follows orderly, discoverable laws (6-4)[.]←(The period goes at the end, after the citation information.) [It is also said that "things do not just happen; they develop according to natural design, IF nothing interferes" (6-8). Aristotle referred to this concept as entelechy and believed that it was the key to realizing ones destined purpose, which would lead to happiness. Aristotle used the word eudaimonia to describe his idea of happiness. His teaching describes happiness as leading a full life as opposed to a restricted life[delete period] (6-10d)[.] His belief was that for us to be really alive we must experience life, which includes the joy and good that we thrive for but also pain and struggles.]←(You mention in these sentences several important aspects of Aristotle’s theory of happiness: entelechy, eudaimonia/happiness, and living a full life/thriving. One might also refer to living a full life as flourishing. However, you do not connect these elements of Aristotle’s theory of happiness in order to give us the big picture in terms of what exactly Aristotle might be speaking of when he is speaking of eudaimonia/happiness. The bits and pieces are there, but you still need to make the connections.)
I believe that it is possible to obtain Aristotle's form of happiness in our modern world. [Doing so does require a person to have some self[-]reflection and [to] survey their purpose.]←(Why do you think self-reflection and understanding one’s purpose would be important to achieving the kind of happiness that Aristotle is speaking of? Can you explain how your answer to this question is related to the notion of entelechy? Also, can you provide a more concrete example, perhaps an example about a particular person, their particular self-reflections, their particular understanding of their purpose, and what they would need to do in order to be happy in light of these considerations, and in accordance with Aristotle’s notion of happiness?) [It also entails being able to engage in life fully to gain balance, which would bring us to a state of happiness.]←(What would a picture of fully engaging life to gain balance look like in our world, and why would this be necessary in order for us to achieve the kind of happiness that Aristotle had in mind?)
For most of my life I lived my life in my comfort zone. I did things I was good at but never tried new things, didn't put myself in new scenarios or engage with new people[.] [M]oney and success was very important to me despite the things I had to give up for it, and regardless of anything [what] I did[,] I was always missing something and felt miserable. [I realized this way of living was taking away from the most important thing in my life: My Son.]←(What was it that led you to the conclusion that your some was the most important thing in your life? Does whatever helped you realize this connect in some way with Aristotle’s notion of entelechy?) That realization caused me to look at my life and see the errors of my ways[,] and what my life was missing. [That]←(What does ‘that’ refer to? Stay away from using pronouns in your writings. The use of pronouns more often detracts from the clarity of students’ writings rather than adds to the clarity. Also, can you tell us what ‘that’ refers to without simply repeating what you already said at the beginning of this paragraph. In other words, if you can summarize this type of comfort zone you speak of with just a few words, what would you say it is?) comfort zone was anything but comforting. It in fact was allowing me to exist but not feel fulfilled, which took me further away from a state of happiness. That realization led me to start living life differently.
ReplyDeleteMy point illustrates that [a life of extremes is no life at all.]←(This is interesting, and I think you mean to connect this with Aristotle’s notion of happiness; but this is the first time you have mentioned anything about living life at one extreme or another. You have also yet to mentioned how talk of ‘extremes’ might related to Aristotle’s theory of happiness.) {By allowing myself the knowledge to recognize areas I lack certain qualities and to strive to improve these areas, while also recognizing my character defects and striving to avoid these areas, I'm consciously creating a more well[-]rounded person [delete period] (6-11)[.]}←(Ok, but how is this related to Aristotle’s theory of happiness.) Since making these changes in my personal life I [cannot] say I remember a time where I felt happier and [more] accomplished. Some of the changes came with struggle and pain, but it accompanies the great joy and happiness I now feel. The continued process of living a full life is what brings happiness[:] "The good life must be lived fully; it is a process, an activity, a becoming, not a static condition [delete period]" [citation information].