My first Critical Relfection for Bill Halpin's Ethics class, by Willow B. Henry-Elwell age 20 and 11
Willow Henry-Elwell
18 September 2007
Halpin
PHIA 250: Ethics
1st Critical Reflection
1. Give the facts:
This critical reflection refers t o the selection from Plato’s Phaedo, as translated by David Gallop. This particular scene pertains to the death of Socrates. Socrates was convicted and sentenced to death by poisoning. The prison guard gives Socrates the poison for him to administer to himself. Socrates’ friends are distressed by his impending death and attempt to persuade him to put off drinking the poison for as long as possible. To this Socrates responds:
It is reasonable for others... for myself; it is reasonable not to do them because I think I’ll gain nothing by taking the draught a little later.
2. Feeling response:
The feeling that arises when I read this line is best described as Love-a sense genuine compassion with an appreciation for life. I admire Socrates’ ability to be completely present. His statement expressing his acceptance of the circumstance (his life in the present moment) reassures me. I feel contentment when I read that Socrates understands his place in the present and is aware of his decision to accept it. Socrates chooses to continue living; he holds Life and not even in the face of his own death does he let it go.
3. Reason, idea, thought, analysis:
Plato presents the idea of putting Life before one’s individual life. Life is the conscious awareness of being a manifestation of the whole living in the present moment. Making decisions through this conscious awareness is living Life, it is choosing to hold Life. Individual life is what one thinks their life is-the singular, separate entity in relation to all other perceived separate entities. Living the individual life entails decision-making based upon one’s perspective of the “other parts” and one’s involvement with these “other parts”. Honestly, I don’t know if this is what Plato was conveying through Socrates statement, but I agree with the idea of living one’s life in service to Life. Upon recognizing one’s self as a manifestation of the whole one can practice living as that manifestation. Understanding one’s place in Life is enables one to lead a more fulfilling individual life.
4. Personal life and continuing experience:
This concept meshes well with my own spiritual beliefs and the worldview I try my best to live with/in. One fundament aspect is the reciprocity between the individual and the Universe. Another belief is that the individual is the sum total of everything-all of their life experiences and everything that lead up to their life or existence. That summation includes the present moment and the individual’s place within the present moment; one is always where one needs to be and is given exactly what one needs in the moment. This, to me, is a reiteration of the individual as a manifestation and what I received from Socrates’ statement. How can I live holding Life?
I need to accept, learn, live, and work with “identity.” As much as I wish to be a wandering-helper-person without a name or personal life to upkeep, that isn’t gonna happen over night. Not until I can accept and forgive the identity issue. (Even if I were a wandering-helper-person people would still find a way to identify me: “hey, look, it’s that wandering-helper-person.”) I am a manifestation of the whole and I believe in the reciprocity therein. This gives me way to dissolve my issue with identity-I don’t like the notion of separate parts or the need to establish differences between anything and everything. This annoys me because separation occurs after comparative judgment yields a noticeable difference. From there more judgments, including expectations, form. So, my “issue” stems from the judgments and expectations that are based on and reinforce the individual’s “identity.” It is something I experience and it doesn’t work for me. If life & Life are reciprocal and I am a perpetual manifestation thereof: when I, as and individual, pass fewer judgments and set fewer expectations, the whole will also pass fewer judgments and set fewer expectations. And if this is what is occurring within/happening to the whole, it will become manifest in my individual life. One specific practice of this is letting go of my expectations and judgments of the present moment. This is learning to accept life as it is, which is holding Life. This is what Socrates’ understood.
Not to neglect the death factor - Socrates was going to die, yes; but death was more or less small beans and Socrates knew this, too. When you live holding life and maintain an awareness of your life in Life, then death is just another thing that happens. So what if I die Thursday; the milk is going to be past expiration on Friday, the radio program is on Saturday night, the library is closed Sunday, and the mailman will come again Monday morning (unless it’s a holiday or it snowed and the walkway wasn’t shoveled).
----
I wrote a paper. I could pet myself. But I'm gonna get over myself and on with my life instead... Writtenly, I'm still quite the pompous ass. I have come to believe this corrodes whatever real impression I may have first made, or leaves much to be desired in comparison.
18 September 2007
Halpin
PHIA 250: Ethics
1st Critical Reflection
1. Give the facts:
This critical reflection refers t o the selection from Plato’s Phaedo, as translated by David Gallop. This particular scene pertains to the death of Socrates. Socrates was convicted and sentenced to death by poisoning. The prison guard gives Socrates the poison for him to administer to himself. Socrates’ friends are distressed by his impending death and attempt to persuade him to put off drinking the poison for as long as possible. To this Socrates responds:
It is reasonable for others... for myself; it is reasonable not to do them because I think I’ll gain nothing by taking the draught a little later.
2. Feeling response:
The feeling that arises when I read this line is best described as Love-a sense genuine compassion with an appreciation for life. I admire Socrates’ ability to be completely present. His statement expressing his acceptance of the circumstance (his life in the present moment) reassures me. I feel contentment when I read that Socrates understands his place in the present and is aware of his decision to accept it. Socrates chooses to continue living; he holds Life and not even in the face of his own death does he let it go.
3. Reason, idea, thought, analysis:
Plato presents the idea of putting Life before one’s individual life. Life is the conscious awareness of being a manifestation of the whole living in the present moment. Making decisions through this conscious awareness is living Life, it is choosing to hold Life. Individual life is what one thinks their life is-the singular, separate entity in relation to all other perceived separate entities. Living the individual life entails decision-making based upon one’s perspective of the “other parts” and one’s involvement with these “other parts”. Honestly, I don’t know if this is what Plato was conveying through Socrates statement, but I agree with the idea of living one’s life in service to Life. Upon recognizing one’s self as a manifestation of the whole one can practice living as that manifestation. Understanding one’s place in Life is enables one to lead a more fulfilling individual life.
4. Personal life and continuing experience:
This concept meshes well with my own spiritual beliefs and the worldview I try my best to live with/in. One fundament aspect is the reciprocity between the individual and the Universe. Another belief is that the individual is the sum total of everything-all of their life experiences and everything that lead up to their life or existence. That summation includes the present moment and the individual’s place within the present moment; one is always where one needs to be and is given exactly what one needs in the moment. This, to me, is a reiteration of the individual as a manifestation and what I received from Socrates’ statement. How can I live holding Life?
I need to accept, learn, live, and work with “identity.” As much as I wish to be a wandering-helper-person without a name or personal life to upkeep, that isn’t gonna happen over night. Not until I can accept and forgive the identity issue. (Even if I were a wandering-helper-person people would still find a way to identify me: “hey, look, it’s that wandering-helper-person.”) I am a manifestation of the whole and I believe in the reciprocity therein. This gives me way to dissolve my issue with identity-I don’t like the notion of separate parts or the need to establish differences between anything and everything. This annoys me because separation occurs after comparative judgment yields a noticeable difference. From there more judgments, including expectations, form. So, my “issue” stems from the judgments and expectations that are based on and reinforce the individual’s “identity.” It is something I experience and it doesn’t work for me. If life & Life are reciprocal and I am a perpetual manifestation thereof: when I, as and individual, pass fewer judgments and set fewer expectations, the whole will also pass fewer judgments and set fewer expectations. And if this is what is occurring within/happening to the whole, it will become manifest in my individual life. One specific practice of this is letting go of my expectations and judgments of the present moment. This is learning to accept life as it is, which is holding Life. This is what Socrates’ understood.
Not to neglect the death factor - Socrates was going to die, yes; but death was more or less small beans and Socrates knew this, too. When you live holding life and maintain an awareness of your life in Life, then death is just another thing that happens. So what if I die Thursday; the milk is going to be past expiration on Friday, the radio program is on Saturday night, the library is closed Sunday, and the mailman will come again Monday morning (unless it’s a holiday or it snowed and the walkway wasn’t shoveled).
----
I wrote a paper. I could pet myself. But I'm gonna get over myself and on with my life instead... Writtenly, I'm still quite the pompous ass. I have come to believe this corrodes whatever real impression I may have first made, or leaves much to be desired in comparison.