ARÊTE AS A GUIDE FOR LIFE

  Is being the best human you can be a selfish, self-centered pursuit or something that goes beyond yourself? In other words, is pursuing "Arete" same as pursing happiness?- Well, it depends on the quality of your motives and goals. Arete is the quality of your actions, which has to involve struggles (Agon). 

  Arete can be represent selfishness and too self involve if you try to define success in terms of winning out over others, having power over others, or the ability to dominate others. The lust for power is common and widespread in humans—the power to order others around, the power to make decisions that will impact others, and the power to own when others cannot. This type of happiness and influence is short-lived. It will always fade. 

   However, those who pursue arete with love and give generously find a type of fulfillment that extends beyond position, title, or structure. They find an authority that reaches into our heart and soul. Their example is studied. Their counsel is sought. Their stories are told in positive ways. And their happiness is truly lasting.

    I think pursuing Arete as a guiding philosophy of life is a board concept. Pursing Arete can be same as pursing pleasure depending on how you use Arete and the knowlege you insert on it.  

 

 

Response to blog post #2

One cannot fully appreciate a victory or success without enduring significant challenges and struggles.  You could almost go as far as to say that true success is not experienced until the person vying for it suffers, either physically or emotionally.  This is the concept between the Greek concepts of agon and arete.  Agon is the struggle that must take place for arete, or virtuosity and quality, to be attained.  In other words, arete cannot be had without going through agon first.

It could be argued, on one hand, that arete must be a self-centered pursuit.  This is because if one is to truly achieve arete, they must focus solely on improving their own quality.  If they focus on other people, they siphon energy and effort away from themselves, and this is lost onto others who may in fact not be striving for their own arete.  Additionally, others may not reciprocate the actions of an individual, resulting in a net loss.  True arete may not be able to be achieved if someone doesn't put their own pursuits and drives above all else.

However, there is a flip side to this.  The concept of being the best you can be could include the practice of being good to and caring about people other than yourself.  If you are to be seen as someone full of quality and virtuosity, you need to take actions to make others see you in this way.  If you only take actions to better yourself, you may be seen as selfish, no matter how much arete you possess.  If you want others to recognize your pursuits and ultimately your arete, you must engage in selfless, virtuous actions to help and lead others so that they recognize you for who you are.

In my personal opinion, the pursuit and cultivation of arete is definitely something that goes beyond the "self".  You can be an extremely virtuous and high quality person in the eyes of yourself, but it means nothing if you don't commit public, selfless acts to make these qualities known.  Selfish, self-loving people often view themselves as great people, and they definitely lack arete.  On another note, I believe that rewards for achieving arete can be enjoyed by more than the individual.  Since arete goes beyond the self, if someone has truly achieved it, they will spread their influence and do things to enrich the lives of the people they surround themselves with.  Lastly, I believe that pursuing pleasure and happiness in life contributes to the quality of our lives, but is not the same thing as pursuing quality in all that one does.  There are many other aspects, often not comfortable or desirable, that are required for someone to achieve all-around quality in life, or arete, something we should all strive for, not only in ourselves but in the communities we involve ourselves in.

Blog post 2

Arete is what the ancient Greeks called the pursuit of perfection. Somebody in pursuit of arete has to try their very best in whatever they decide to do, and can never strive for anything less than excellence. In almost all cases, an individual will have to give up their happiness and pleasure to some degree in order to successfully pursue arete.

Some advantages that the pursuit of arete can have is a strong sense of accomplishment and belonging, one that cannot be bought with money and can only be attained through hard work and dedication. While sacrificing personal happiness, there's still redeeming qualities to arete. Arete revolves around recognition of your achievements by others, and being considered the best in one's chosen field.

In a life where personal pleasure and happiness are a priority, there is typically much less stress involved, and a diminished focus on others opinions. The only opinions that matter are your own. While this pursuit rarely leads to mastery in a particular field, it can lead to a more fulfilling life and one that has a stronger sense of identity.

Pursuing arete in life is significantly different than simply pursuing pleasure. Either way, somebody will experience pleasure and happiness if they are doing what they want to be doing.

Blog Post #2

If you achieve arete, it is likely that you would not have many regrets about your life.  Many people look back on their life regretting either not trying something or spending too much time on a specific thing. With arete, people can have a sense of accomplishment as they have mastered many different things in their life.  Many people avoid this because of the agon, or struggle, associated with it. Getting past the agon is one of the most important things in life.  This is not a selfish act because there are can be many components of arete that involve helping others.  Arete is a concept that can only be measured by the person pursuing it.  Once arete is achieved then the sense of accomplishment can be enjoyed by the one pursuing it as well as their friends and family.

Eve's Choice

The question being asked is it Eve's fault for bringing evil into this world? The battle between right and wrong.

I believe reading this text, that it was eve's fault, because she disobeyed God's request, and order that she shouldn't eat the apple from the serpent. This was a clear order, that even without knowing right and wrong you can understand to listen to an order.

God had specifically said that she shouldn't eat the apple. And yet she ate the apple anyway, because like the passage said, it would make her see the world in a way God can see it. This was a form of hubris, and she was defying an order, and she knew that this wasn't good. Because even if Eve didn't know if that was a good or bad choice, she knew that God said not to do it.

The serpent played a big role in this passage, because the serpent deceived eve, and took advantage of her ideas and her vulnerability that every human has. the idea of wanting something you cannot have. In the passage in the Bible, the King James Version, it spoke about how the serpent convinced Eve that the fruit was good, and that she should eat it to become more like God. However Eve spoke to the serpent and told him that she cannot eat this fruit because God toiled her not to eat it. She has the understanding that eating the fruit is a wrong thing, but the serpent convinced her, due to the fact that she was young and weak in her ideas. So, I do believe that the serpent is at fault, however Eve did disobey the order God told her, and she went against what God said, so I believe that Eve is to blame. Because even if you don't know right from wrong, you can still listen to an order and understand not to eat something. And the evidence suggests that she did understand that God told her no, don't east the fruit, but she ate it anyway. Going against God's orders.

Blog Post Two: Arete as a Guide for Life

BLOG POST #2: ARÊTE AS A GUIDE FOR LIFE

I believe that pursuing quality in life if the same thing as pursuing happiness. A real life, physical example of this would be you want to find quality friends, and those friend provide you with happiness because they are quality friends. 

I dont disagree with the fact that if you focus on being your best self can be a selfish idea, I believe that the action sigh take determine whether you are going to be a selfish human. Your definition of what being the best self means. If that means that you donate to charity, and also focus on an enjoyment of yours, than I believe that that is a well rounded person who has found arete. But it all depends in what someone defines as their best self. 

The definition of arete, isn't what determines if someone is selfish, it is the way you determine what arete's means, and how you implement it in your life. Another component is the fact that you need to determine if you are doing this for the pleasure of bragging rights, because in real like there won't be anyone there to tell you that you are doing well. To achieve arete, you need to be completely focused on yourself, bout not for the reward, because if that would be the case, arete would never work. 

In conclusion, I believe that arete can be achieved in a non-selfish way, however it needs to be in the right context, and that you cannot be looking for a reward because then arete would never work. 

Blog Post #2

The agṓn experienced by a person is supposed to mean that said person knows what “quality” is and is on their way to achieve arête- a lifestyle that focuses on “quality” in one’s life. The Greeks thought that the way to live was through the concept of arête, meaning people were constantly working hard to better themselves and in turn, better other people’s lives. If they were constantly going through agṓn,- suffering or struggling- then they were on their way to achieving the greatness of arête.

The whole idea of becoming the best human is good in theory. You become the best, helping your society and the those around you achieve their best. But I don’t believe that’s how it always plays out. A lot of the time, I think it’s very easy for people to become obsessed with the idea of being the best- achieving perfection in a way. They might have a good-hearted goal in their mind, but I think it’s easy to lose track of that goal amidst the agṓn they face. It’ll even reach a point where they don’t care about helping others anymore, and they just want the bragging rights and the pride of being the best. At this point, arête is no longer the goal; perfection is.

Once perfection is a person’s goal, they’ve lost track of what they were originally chasing. It starts becoming more harmful than helpful to become better. They’re so focused on themselves, they lose sight of what’s around them. They no longer care about making their or people’s lives better.

In the end, true arête is achieved with a balance of oneself and others. It can’t become an obsession, because then it stops being arête. If they’re struggling and doing “quality” things simply to say they did, that’s not arête. If you pursue it to make yourself and others happy, then you’ve reached true “quality”. Your life has reached a point where you’re making other people’s and your own life better, by becoming a better rounded person and achieving your full potential.

If someone is pursuing arete with another person, then the enjoyment of the reward is shared between them. However, the agon is shared between them as well, but sharing the agon with someone else will diminish it, when two people have to deal with the problems that come with pursuing arete, they help one another deal with it, and it becomes easier. As to who will enjoy the outcome, all work comes with a sense of accomplishment, regardless of who benefits. The quality of the work done brings a greater sense of accomplishment when it is better. Pursuing arete for the benefit of someone else brings joy to both parties. I pursue arete in an attempt to feel the accomplishment that comes from it. I believe that the reward that comes from pursuing arete outweighs the agon, whether it is to benefit me or someone else.

Being the best human can be is not selfish, self-centered pursuit because for me I play sports and me working hard and pursuing quality can make me be a role model for a young individual. It's hard to imagine that a person without a good quality of life becoming a role model for a younger generation.

Achieving your goal can have an effect on other people giving yourself pleasure and the individuals you have an effect on. Example would be if you build this big organization and it helped for a good cause you can have pleasure by helping people with your organization and the certain individual can can gain happiness from being helped. 

Meeting your goal should be something you should celebrate and feel good about because you work hard to get a good quality of life and helping people in the process you should be really proud of that if that makes you the happiest person in the world. 

Is pursuing quality of life the same thing as happiness? If you ask me I will say yes as a athlete it gives me happiness that someone is recognizing my hard work and determination to get out and do better each time I compete. People that sees that and can be inspired giving them pleasure to go out and work hard everyday.    

life

Arete as a way of life?

      

The Greeks have defined a person’s achievements by its virtuosity. They welcomed anyone who face many struggles in their path of excellence even greater, which is also known as agon. These two components is what allows the people to label and give recognition for the person's achievement with pride, and it can lead to the issue of creating a selfish world or it being more than that.

In life, we must find balance. Whenever we try to achieve anything in life, we do it to it’s fullest excellence and as a result we become obsessed in our work and our own work only. To be only given recognition of our ability in life upon "good light"(worth of giving pride when pride is acceptable) takes away our full focus of anything else life has going on. With the standards put up so high on anything we do, our willingness to take off focus on anything other than that would appear be ineffective and unproductive . While a person can grow in becoming someone with well rounded traits from having to go through the struggle of making that achievement possible, the agon having them furthermore creating a higher value of pride to their work for doing so. Such as helping them understand the feeling of rejected over and over, having to put a new perspective on how life works so they don’t give up and learn to self motivate. Help see what works and doesn't work in certain situations of getting motivated and getting things done. Adjusting to more than one view of how to do things, which is a relevant skill to obtain even after the work is achieved and carries to a more selfless view of others.

There is so many things to do and such little time to do it all. To have a society of hardworking people who all can agree that they share a common interest in life of its self. It is not possible for one person to do it all, so having a system of praising people in doing something different to its fullest helps added to the pool of knowledge of what the human kind can do and build on that. To think that there is more to it than just a selfish act of collecting pleasure that pride gives is possible. While at the moment of one’s process of obtaining a specific achievement is selfish, when the achievement is recognized what is gain is beneficial for the common good of the people which is a new skill that has arisen. Almost like a tool, others can use that skill knowing it's been perfected and at its finest and doesn't need to 20 more people trying to make it better. Society gains knowledge of what is possible and how and create a productive society

To think about the purpose of praising someone for doing an excellent achievement is good and in a sense can be productive for the community. However a person can only learn so little when keeping focus on one goal at a time to its fullest. Other problems can arise from lack of balance in their life. And not ever sense of achievement will people consider worth praising so a lot of other opportunities will be lost in interests to pursue it. Arete as a way of life is a great concept to make more people inclined to do things to its fullest, however the structure of what is worth pursuing cuts off on other things to be done because it's not appealing.

Arete is being excellent in everything you do, being the best. To get to the point of arete you must first go though struggles, arete isn't achieved easily and to get to that point you must fail and learn from your mistakes. Being the best at something may sound self-centered or conceded but people who are the best didn't become the best over night, they had to fail and go through something called "Agon" which means a struggle. People who are excellent at something have to go through agon to learn from there struggles and mistakes and learn how to make them better or fix them.
      Getting to the point of arete can become a time consuming and extraneous process. No matter what you are trying to accomplish, it will take time, hard work and dedication. Arete can consume you and your life, people who focus to much on being excellent can come off as being self centered and not even realize it. I have had many friends who are entirely focused on constantly being the best and at times they don't realize how wrapped up in there own world their in. The idea of arete can be dangerous, people can start to lose a sense or reality and become complete focused on one thing.
    Even though arete can become in a way an obsession, it is good to have a little of it in your life. It is important to have drive and motivation, with out arete it would be hard to want to be better. Wanting to be good, even great at what you do is a good thing, it keeps you motivated to keep growing and progressing in that area, arete can help you grow to your fullest potential over time.
    Arete and Agon are two very important things to have in your life, but I think that for each you have to have a balance, too much of one thing is never good. People who are highly motivated to be the best all the time have to learn to fail so they can grow and do better. It is good to have a balance because both arete and anon complement each other, you have to learn from your struggles (agon) to grown and eventually become the best (arete).
 

Arête and the pursuit of Agôn

November 15th,2016



Arête is the pursuit of excellence. Agôn is the struggle in the experience of that pursuit, whether it be countless hours in the gym crafting your physique in preparation for the summer months or studying all night for that unit test, each experience with agôn is a journey of implied effort and the possiblity of achieivng  arête, or the goal. The applications of arête vary from person to person and it can be distracting to daily life if you pursue excellence in all aspects of life.


Arête can be viewed as selfish because the focus on the goal becomes all-consuming. I know this because I've had many encounters with trying to achieve arête and it makes you oblivious to the outside world and hyper focused on whatever you're trying to achieve. It can be damaging to your psyche, in which it makes you doubt your abilities. It is difficult to be present when agôn is whispering into your subconscious that you aren't doing enough. The levels of agôn can differ from goal to goal but personally I find myself being more selfish when the agôn is so physically exhausting and trying that I can not find the energy to be consciously aware of my actions, and this in place can have effects on my day to day relationships. This struggle to keep pushing forward and try and grasp the goal can distract you from the things that truly matter in life and it's difficult to relax until you are satisfied. 


Although some can view arète as selfish,  being so absorbed in the goal helps one keep on track to achieve agôn. Achieving excellence can help people become more driven and successful but this is at a cost, in order to achieve arête you must really prioritize your task and your peers may not truly understand your circumstances. Life is about sacrifices and I believe it is important for your family to accept that you may distracted from time to time if you're really motivated and absorbed with accomplishing goals specific in your life. If anything, it is selfish for your family, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends to expect you to devote your unwavering attention towards them.


I think arête is a huge component in being driven and successful in life and in order to successfully apply this philosophy, you must experience moments of weakness and difficulty (agon) to truly thrive. I think it is necessary to be "selfish" from time to time and put your aspirations before your relationships, but it is important to not become too selfish. Your family will be there to support you no matter what but if you become so consumed in arete, there may not be anyone to celebrate your successes  with later on.

Arete is a principle for life where you focus on the quality of everything you do and experience. In everything you do, you should strive to do it at the highest quality possible. Top achieve arete, you have to prevail from an agon, which is a struggle or contest. Greatness can't be achieved without going through hardship, and that is the message arete and agon portray. While arete obviously involves the self, is being the best human you can be selfish or does it go beyond yourself? Is the reward for achieving arete only enjoyed by the individual, and is pursuing quality the same as pursuing pleasure?

To achieve arete one must focus on their own life. Sometimes you can't think about others interests, only your own, to truly achieve greatness. In that sense, being the best human you can possibly be is selfish, although not completely negatively so. Sometimes, the only way to achieve success is to do things yourself and for yourself. When you only think of yourself it's selfish but it's what you have to do to achieve arete. To get through an agon alone is a large feat, but it will ultimately lead you to arete.

Being the best human you can be, or arete, goes beyond ones self. To become a great quality person or create quality things, you will benefit others. For example, you may build a way to filter unsanitary water, and while that is a remarkable invention, it still can help millions of people. The quality work you make goes beyond yourself, and achieving arete benefits others. The reward of arete can be enjoyed by anyone. Pursuing quality is synonymous with pursuing  pleasure because everyone wants to be pleased with their work or they wouldn't have a reason to do it.

Arete can be achieved by one's self but the rewards can be benefited by many. Greatness can't be achieved without going through agon and I think the most noble way to go through agon is alone. This will ensure that you get to arete. Even though achieving arete and being the best human possible is in some ways selfish, it does go beyond oneself if they let it.

blog post 2 arete

When considering philosophy of life, some may seek personal happiness while others might explore the happiness of others.  The Greeks, however, sought arête, or excellence. This idea focused on the quality of every action and experience of one’s life.

Arete does not only benefit the individual. By achieving complete excellence, this brings pride to the individual as well as benefit to others. Excellence can be shared. When working toward arete for the benefit of oneself as well as others, arete would help contribute to a healthy environment.

However if arete is not shared, it will negatively shape society. If everyone works towards achieving arete, everyone will constantly try to one-up each other. And on an even larger scale, if the idea is applied to today’s society, arete appears to be very similar to our concept of perfection. If we strive for perfection, there exists a heavy pressure to constantly do better, to be better, and to think and act a certain way.

Arete is a self-centered inquiry that eradicates the idea of respect. By focusing solely on obtaining the “best” lifestyle ultimately means whoever does not work towards achieving arete is beneath those who do. This promotes a hierarchy thus encouraging us to compete against one another.

Response to blog post #2

Arete is basically focusing everything on quality in everything you do. In everything you do, you should strive to be the best at it. To achieve Arete, you need to go through some time of contest or struggle. Without going thru some type of struggle, you cannot achieve Arete at all.
     Arete could be selfish in one way possible. To achieve Arete, you have to focus on yourself and better yourself only in everything you do. Everything is about yourself until you achieve your goal. Your not focused on anyone else or anything else. You also won't let any negativity get in your head because your so focused to becoming the best human you can be, to the point were nothing can change your mind set until you achieve your goal.
    Arete is not necessarily selfish. For example, everyone in life is trying to be the best they can be. If that person is focused on another person, that same person will never achieve what they have to achieve because they are focused on someone else. Arete is basically that. Someone wants to be the best human they can be. Why would they focus on another person if they are trying to better themselves in any way possible? In my eyes Arete isn't selfish. Its just that every person should be focused on what they want to be. Especially if you want to achieve Arete.
   I believe that Arete isn't selfish at all. Everyone in life wants to become the best they could be. If you want to achieve Arete, you should be focused on you and only you. Pursing quality in all that you do is pursing pleasure. If your mind is set on something then you have to strive and be at the top until you get where you want to be. Once you get to where you want to be you will pursue pleasure. You will be happy with yourself because you reached your goal. Achieving Arete will come with great pleasure.

Blog 2

Excellence, virtue and good quality  are the characteristics that made the Ancient Greeks one of the most powerful and unique civilizations of all times. This set of qualities also form up their philosophy, way of life, known as arete. Arete is the pursue of excellence through a series of struggles (agons), that can be physical or mental. However, is arete anything more than just the pursue of perfection ? Can it also change the way we view the world? Ourselves?


There are those who view upon this idea as a simple and superficial way of self improvement. Nothing more than just getting better at what one does, that is work, studies, sports, etc. Furthermore, people argue that those who pursue arete may just do it for the ability to brag about their achievements. That the main reward of working hard is the ability to tell others what they did.


On the other hand, arete can be seen as more than just a way of self improvement. Lets look back at the ancient Greeks. In their culture, someone who won a wrestling match, debate or even javelin toss were given the positions of  generals, diplomat and even leaders. This is because the Greeks believed that someone who had the capacity to beat, persuade and outsmart someone else in a competitive manner can do it in a political/ militaristic one as well. When someone spends hours, weeks and years training with hard work cannot simply look for bragging rights or to become the best at a certain thing. Arete is an ideology, that when followed correctly can make dreams come true. How many times has someone told themselves they can't achieve something  because they think is impossible? like becoming a professional athlete for example. Becoming someone with the mindset of "always forward" and "always pushing", completely changes the way we behave and think. This is how the Greeks were able to become so dominant in their times, because they believe that the pursue of excellence brings about joy and pleasure. It is not all about the bragging rights, if at all, but the search of pleasure by achieving what we thought impossible


 This ideology does have mixed opinions and it has surely made me think over what I should follow as a model when moving forward with life. I certainly agree that arete is far more than just the search and practice of self improvement and that it allows us to gain pleasure and happiness by achieving difficult and time consuming objectives, but I have yet to find out what will I chose as my philosophy, or simply

Blog Post 2: Arete and Agon. Selfish? Personal Enjoyment?

     The art of pursuing excellence in a certain thing, not for yourself or others, but for the purpose of being the best that you can be at it, brings to thought, is it a selfish act of pursuing pleasure through perfection, or is it just the act of pursuing dedication that brings forth quality? Is the simple act of mastering the art of teapot building, an act that takes a long time to achieve, worthy of only your enjoyment? Similar to craftsmanship and professionalism, arete is the development of a technique or quality to the best possible degree and way in every single thing that you do. Agon, the Greek term for struggle or contest, has to be achieved, though, to be able to accomplish arete. This showed that your arete came with a struggle, that you were victorious against it, and that you are now a master, able to do it in any situation or conflict.

     If one was to master a certain art or quality, is it a selfish act? If you accomplished the skill of building teapots just for the goal of perfecting a teapot’s look or to act a certain way, only to have happiness and pleasure if and only if it's perfected, could you say that it is selfish? This act can be considered selfish because striving with years of agon, tears, and excretion, you only want to see the final outcome. The perfect final outcome. Without its perfection, and the struggle that gives it its warrior name, you wouldn't be happy or the same. Selfishly, you strive to only make yourself happy, and not others.

     On the other hand, arete can be called an act that is not selfish pleasure, that is useful to everyone, and is good for the community due to it being able to give a perfected material or quality to the public or client. It makes a teapot builder strive through hardship and agon to produce a perfected final piece that against its competitors will be the best, giving the receiver the best product for the cost, and the producer a piece worth being happy for. In the end, everyone will be able to enjoy from the end product, and the final piece will be accepted by all as a piece worth living with that can't be considered “trash”.

     All things considered, arete doesn't seem to be a selfish act that's only there for your enjoyment. With it, one can learn the good qualities needed in life, as well as techniques revered by all to its best potential. This way, you can get the recognition that may be desired in life, while at the same time, be there as a reliable source for any who need you with the perfected qualities that you posses. You will be presented with a piece or final product that will make you happy without a doubt, while at the same time earn the bragging rights to having gone through agon. In the end, both you and the community will have benefited from your arete and the community will enjoy the product while you will enjoy the outcome, making it both a selfless act that is not only for your own personal pleasure.

Response to blog post #2

I think that the pursuit to become a better human has attributes that go to both being selfless and selfish at the same time. It really just depends on a persons purpose behind pursuing it. For example there are those that chase after making themselves better for themselves and themselves only, these kind of people, while having their own unique reasons come off as self-centered to me as they are only working hard for themselves.

While those that better themselves for those around them, to be stronger for them are noble causes that can be thought of as selfless. But at the same time the idea of achieving arete in my eyes is always so me focused. Maybe that's just who I am but when i look at someone increasing ones quality of life, it seems very hard to say that they are doing it for someone else. I think this has to do with the way that arete has been used, one trains themselves so that they could win an agon, that doesn't scream "hey i'm doing this for someone else" right off the start. Now if they could truthfully tell me that what they do, what they strive and live for is for someone else then and only then I'll say that they were selfless and working for others. But humans have and always will be selfish outside of some cases. If it's my life vs someone else's i'll save mine 10/10 times. I have no problems admitting that. So to say that someone else can enjoy my own arete feels wrong. It's my personal accomplishment which means that really only I can truly enjoy it. There can be some that are happy for me, some that are jealous but no one will feel that true accomplishment like the one that accomplished it.And for that reason alone the idea of bettering oneself will and always has been for yourself.

Response to Blog Post #2

In Ancient Greek times, the word arête was used almost interchangeably with ¨excellence¨ or ¨quality.¨ Achieving arête  was a significant accomplishment to the Greeks- it brought with it an immense sense of pride and accomplishment. Arête was also associated with agṓn, or struggle to achieve something. However, was that the extent of the deal? Did arête result in nothing more than internal pride? And if so, is this pride synonymous with the achievement of personal pleasure?

At face value, this seems like a clear-cut idea. You do something great, show off your skills and well-rounded ability, and the award you earn is little more than bragging rights. There doesn't seem to be a good reason this would amount to anything more. The deed is done, you won, and you move on with your life. 

However, arête is not always seen as just the idea of personal excellence; it´s often perceived as a lifestyle. Living with arête is infectious, and it causes others to follow a similar path. The virtues of agṓn build an individual up, but they also influence society in a positive way. Those who follow arête are often effective as warriors or diplomats, or could fill other roles that are useful to their communities.

Arête doesn't serve simply as a selfish pursuit mainly because of its influence on those around one who pursues it. If an individual is surrounded by others who boldly face agṓn, then that individual will be more capable of finding the strength within themselves to do the same. As a result, he or she will reach personal accomplishments, but they will also be more able and willing to serve their community and make a supportive impact on their civilization.

Arete: Quality vs.pleasure/happiness

         The Ancient Greek culture is noted for being one of the most unique, yet influential cultures throughout human history. One of the main reasons that the Ancient Greeks were one of the most influential people were because of their beliefs and values. Arete was a very prevalent idea that the Ancient Greeks built their culture upon. Arete basically means the pursuit of excellence or virtuosity in everything that they do in their lives. In other words, Arete refers to trying to have very high quality in every aspect of one's life. However, in current American culture some parts of the still valued Arete philosophy are somewhat controversial. Specifically, one might ponder upon whether or not pursuing quality in your everyday life, is the same as pursuing happiness in your everyday life? Also, one might wonder whether or not doing things with the goal of high quality, was the same as doing things with the goal of feeling satisfied and happy with the end result. Most importantly, were the Greeks hinting at a bigger message than simply the pursuit of good quality with the term Arete?

  One side of this argument would claim that the Arete philosophy is really not hinting at anything more than good quality in everything you do, and is not the same philosophy as one which pursues happiness. They would argue that Arete is just the goal of completing a task well, not the goal of feeling happy with your accomplishment. After all, in current society, Arete can be distinguished from happiness in many ways: many students work very hard in high school, but only with the end goal of getting into college, not to make them feel a sense of pleasure; many people do certain jobs to the best of their ability so that they can get paid well, even though it might not be their dream job. In these examples, those people are pursuing excellent quality, but they are not pursuing happiness. They are just doing their best, so that they will get a valuable reward, or sense of accomplishment.  This side would claim that there is no "higher-level" virtues in Arete than just exhibiting quality in everything you do. However, there are always two sides to a controversial idea!
 
      The other side to this issue would argue that the Arete philosophy is hinting at more than excellent quality in every task you complete, and this philosophy is the same as one which pursues happiness. This side would argue that you simply cannot be happy without putting good quality into your work. Some examples of where this is the case include, if you try your best at a sporting event and do very well, then you will be happy; or if you study for hours for a test and earn an A, then you will be happy with the end result. In these two examples, this side would state that one has not completely followed the Arete principle if they do their best, but do not end up exhibiting a high quality performance. The controversy and irony to this statement is that quality is relative to whoever is assessing it, (e.g, your definition of quality might differ from other people's definitions of quality). In that case, one could assume that whenever someone tried their best at anything, their performance would be of very high quality, regardless of whether or not they completed the objective, at least in the performer's opinion.  

     If I had to take a side on this issue of whether or not the Arete philosophy is hinting at more than a high quality performance in every task you complete, I would have to side with the proponents of this subject matter. The main reason that I would side with the proponents of this subject matter is because of their point that good quality is not actually defined in the dictionary, and is truly a "relative" idea. After all, there are many situations in life in which the idea that quality is relative is observed. These include, but are not limited to, judges scoring contestants with different numeric values based off of how well they each believe that the contestant performed, people's diverse views of good quality clothes, and what people believe constitutes a well-made meal. Therefore, the pursuit of good quality (the Arete principle), and the pursuit of happiness are, in a sense, a unified idea. You just cannot have one without the other, at least in my opinion! This is probably one of the greater messages that the Greeks were trying to convey with the Arete principle: the definition of good quality depends on one's opinion, as there is no widely agreed upon explanation for what really makes something good quality. This is why I would have to side with the proponents on the matter over the opponents on the matter.  






 
     

BLOG POST #2: ARÊTE AS A GUIDE FOR LIFE

When considering a guiding philosophy of life, some people seek personal happiness while others might concern themselves with the happiness of others.  The Greeks, however, pursued arête. 

As we've discussed, using arête as a principle for living life means you are focused on the quality of everything you do and experience.  

Pursing arête in life is relatively straightforward.  Avoid actions that lack arête--like building a house in a way that results in a leaky, drafty house or by settling a small dispute in a way that results in someone getting shot.  Instead, take actions that focus on arête--like building a hurricane-proof house out of recycled materials or resolving a small dispute so all parties feel satisfied.  

Winning an agṓn or community contest involving a struggle was a public way of proving to your fellow Greeks that you sought and achieved arête. The idea of agṓn (which forms the root of the English word "agony"), suggests that if there isn't some kind of struggle involved, you are probably not pursuing arête.

When you choose to let your life be guided by the pursuit of arête, you have faith in the idea that you instinctively know what quality is and struggle to achieve it in everything:  in your gym workouts, your diet, your relationships, your speech, your homework, etc.  While pursuing arête may involve pain and strife, this lack of physical pleasure or ease is counterbalanced by some deeper reward.  This is what Pindar was getting at.  The pride you feel by winning the agṓn is because you've got proof that you've achieved arête, but is that it?  What do you get from the pursuit of arête in everyday life with no one there to bestow a prize?  Should you be hoping to get anything?

For this blog post, ponder the Greek pursuit of arête. While it involves the "self," is being the best human you can be a selfish, self-centered pursuit or something that goes beyond yourself?  While the agṓn experienced while pursuing it might not feel good physically, is the reward for achieving arête only enjoyed by the individual?  Another way of looking at it:  is pursuing quality in all that you do the same as pursuing pleasure?  Happiness?

It is important for us to have an accurate moral compass and conscience in our lives.  We need to be able to make distinctions between things that benefit ourselves and society versus actions that are detrimental.  Knowing right from wrong is an intricate sense that is developed and influenced throughout our lives.  We are faced with choices quite often in life, and we are able to learn from our mistakes after the fact, but the choices we make determine the path of our lives, regardless of if they are viewed as mistakes or not.  The way we act after realizing a mistake actually determines what kind of people we are.

In the story of Adam and Eve, Eve could possibly be judged for making a bad decision by eating the apple.    This is because God explicitly told her not to eat from that tree, and she did it anyways.  Specifically, God said, "Do not eat of it or so much as touch it, lest you die!".  After the act was committed, God punished Eve for her actions.  He said things such as "In pain shall you bear children".  For these reasons, direct defiance of orders and reception of subsequent, deserved punishment directly from God, one could judge Eve for making a bad choice.

However, there are also reasons not to pass judgement on Eve.  One could say that her choice wasn't a bad one because she didn't know that she had one, much less know what a choice was.  She was naive at the beginning of the passage, as evidenced by both of them being naked and exposed and not realizing it.  After they ate of the tree of knowledge, their eyes were opened to this fact and they were aware instead of remaining naive.  Since they were naive, this would've had to happen eventually for Adam and Eve to lose their naivety and gain awareness of the realities and circumstances of the world and life.  For these reasons, one could make a case not to pass judgement on Eve for her choice.

My position on this matter is that she didn't make a bad choice because she would've eventually made a mistake anyways for learning to occur.  The world wasn't going to be perfect and serene forever, and this original misdeed was the essence of what makes us human, imperfect beings.

Blog 1.5 Eve's choice written response

 The Question being considered is whether Eve made a bad choice in the book of Genesis when she decided to eat from the tree of knowledge. It's important to understand what is wrong because you can avoid doing what is wrong and helps avoid bad consequences.

In the reading God said, "Do not eat of it or so much as touch it,lest you die!'' She twisted Gods words around about eating from the tree making Adam believe that it was okay to eat from the tree. Her choice was also bad because she got punished and was cursed by disobeying Gods word. God said to Eve that, "I will make intense, Your pangs in childbearing. In pain shall you bear children." Her choice caused pain to her self and women after her. 


You can argue that Eve did not made a bad choice because she was innocent before she ate from the Tree of Knowledge. The serpent tricked her and said that it was okay to eat from the tree making her believe that nothing bad was going to happen. In the reading the serpent said to the woman, "You are not going to die." Eating from the tree sounds tempting to Eve because "the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eye." Eve was curious about what would happen if she ate from the tree the serpent said "you will be the same as God."



I Believe that Eve made a wrong choice for not obeying God. She had the ability to think and make decisions she also was aware of the fact that God did not want her to eat from the tree. She also was able to tell that the serpent that convinced her to eat the fruit was defying God's will. All bad choices have a punishment  this choice is bad as it came with her and Adam being banned from the garden of Eden.

Eve's Choice

Wrong is decieving someone when you trust, wrong is not following the righteous path. So the question is did Eve made a wrong choice? Is it fair to blame her? The answer matters because she couldn't resist the temptation of the serpent as a result, God punishing her and rest of her childerns.

Eve stepped into the evil world the moment she ate the apple, and believed the pesuading Serpent. "When the woman saw that tree was good...he ate". This was the evidence that she made a bad choice. She knew the consequences what will happen to her after eating the apple, yet she decided to eat it. To add more of her mistake, she handed Adam the apple too. She didn't have any flaw, until she believed the ability to make an independent decision. Unfortunately, the decision she took was wrong and brought the sin into this world.

Eve was in state of confusion and ignorance. "Two of them were naked...felt no shame." -If this was true, then they shouldn't have any kind of sense of what is wrong and right. Every individual based on his teachings and understanding has the capability to know what is right or wrong. It depends on what a person aspires in life. Therefore, she wasn't enforce to learn what wrong is. If God really made Adam and Eve according with his image, he might as well could have given them his knowledge and wisdom into their brains.

In my opinion, Eve made a wrong choice for not obeying God because He gave the freedom to make decisions Even though she was not God, she had the ability to think and make decisions. She had emotions and a will. She wasn't a puppet. Your parents gave you freedom to make certain decisions. Did you ever disappoint them? Did you ever make a bad decision and did you suffer in some way for your bad decision? Does the fact that you made a bad decision and suffered for it reflect on your parents? If so, should they have denied you freedoms or assumed more control over your life? Then how would you feel about your parents? Most likely you would complain about that. Most of us would. Life doesn't come with instructions atleast she somehow got some.

Response to post 1.5

Did Eve make a wrong choice? Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge while influenced by the serpent after God had simply told her not to, but can we jump to conclusions and assume it was a wrong choice? The significance of this event is important because it proposes an ideological question on Eves actions.
              God's words to Eve were direct. He told her under no circumstance to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge. She understood what he meant and she knew she was not supposed to eat the fruit when she did it. Eve was also manipulated by the serpent, however she should have not taken advice against the highest power, God.
              On the other side of things, Eve was in complete paradise, having no decision making skills and no knowledge of what death or punishment was. If she had never been punished before, why would she fear breaking the rules if she didn't know what happened when she did? Eve had no intellectual brainpower and thinking skills, and was easy to influence.
           I believe that Eve was not in the wrong. Like I said, God gave her no knowledge and assumed she would live in the same basic paradise for eternity, I have to credit Eves humanistic approach to the situation and seek for something different, rather than live in the same old boring environment forever, with no knowledge to use. Even though she broke God's rule, I believe that it was only a matter of time before it did happen, and I am confused why God would have these barriers in place in the first place.

Response to Blog Post #1.5

        The paradox of Eve's 'bad choice' is defined by the morality behind 'good' and 'bad,' and knowing the difference between the two. As it is made evident in the passage, Adam and Eve lacked the ability to tell good from bad before eating from the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge. This means that if Eve had truly had a choice to eat or not to eat the Forbidden Fruit, she was still in a state of ignorance to this moral divide. However, God had instructed her not to eat from the Forbidden Tree or else she would die. The discussion question raises the topic of being 'in the wrong,' or 'bad.' It is important to know what 'wrong' is in the context of the question. 'Wrong' could justly be considered as unwise and morally incorrect; a decision, possibly with malicious intent, that could bring harm to oneself or others. Was Eve in the wrong if she knew the rules, but did not know what 'wrong' was? Was God's warning to her enough to constitute a bad choice on her part?

        Some might say that it is- that Eve knew what the rules were, and she knew that she was not to break them. In fact, she herself restated her prohibition to the serpent: "'God did say, 'Do not eat of it or so much as touch it, lest you die!'" It can be concluded from this that Eve knew well the rules that God had laid out for her, and that she was not allowed to disregard them. When she ate from the Forbidden Tree, she was consciously breaking these rules. This can be regarded as a bad decision in that alone- breaking life-or-death rules is rarely ever a 'good' thing to do, even when one does not know the reasoning or morals behind them.

        However, it can also be argued that Eve could not have known that the choice she was about to make was a 'bad' choice. After all, they needed to eat the fruit to be able to discern good from bad. This is made clear when God notes Adam and Eve's new ability to determine the difference between the two, implying their incapability to do so before eating the fruit. If Eve did not know what bad was, it can be argued that she could not have known if breaking the rules was good or bad. A 'bad' choice is generally defined not by oblivion, but by ignorance to known morals and limitations.

        I believe that Eve's choice was indeed a bad one, despite her inability to tell good from bad at the time she made her decision to eat the Forbidden Fruit. She knew that God was all-powerful in Eden, and she also was aware of the fact that he did not want her to eat from the tree. She also was able to tell that the serpent that convinced her to eat the fruit was defying God's will, as indicated by her initial argument with the character. She knowingly did something that she was not supposed to do, and by that reasoning Eve did indeed make a bad choice by eating the Forbidden Fruit.

Eve's Choice

In the " Genesis " passage, Eve made a choice to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree that god told her not to eat. Both Adam and Eve didn't know right from wrong. If we assume that Eve had a choice, was her choice a good choice or bad choice? Well the answer is that she made a bad choice. God Specifically told her not to eat from the tree and she did. God punishes Eve and just because of that, the whole Human race changes.

In paragraph 2, there Is evidence in the text that god specifically told her NOT to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree. That was the only rule that god gave Adam and Eve, still she proceeds to touch and eat the fruit. In my opinion, that should most definitely be a sin. It is appropriate that god punishes her for eating the forbidden fruit that he told her not to eat.

Reasons for not blaming Eve for the choice she made is pretty easy to make, but also blaming Eve for the choice she made is easy as well. For example, we could all say that she didn't know right from wrong because in the passage it says " The two of them were naked, yet they felt no shame." We could also say that she did not know that dying was a bad thing so she didn't realize what her choice of eating the forbidden fruit was bad or good. Still god told her not to eat the fruit and she did it anyway. God gave them both paradise with no rules what so ever except for that one rule and she broke it.

I think that it is fine to blame Eve. God told her not to eat the fruit and she did. It doesn't matter if she didn't know right from wrong. She shouldn't have ate the fruit. All bad choices have a punishment so its fine for god to punish Eve for her " sin ". She clearly made a bad choice.

Blog post 1.5

In the “Genesis” passage, the morals of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden are discussed.  For the reader, it’s easy to say that Eve’s choice was ill advised, but what must be considered is her knowledge of right and wrong.  For one’s actions to be definitively labeled right or wrong, their perspective must be taken into account.

At many points in the passage, it is revealed that both Adam and Eve had been previously warned by God to not eat any of the fruit on the single tree in the middle of the garden. When the serpent initially suggests that Eve should eat the fruit anyway, she says “But we may eat of the trees in the garden!” “It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God did say.” So it is clear that Eve was familiar with the rules set forth by God.  Eve knew that God had warned of death if the fruit were eaten.

Although Eve knew about God’s warnings, she supposedly is among the first humans to walk the earth.  Therefore it’s fair to say that the idea of actions having consequences would’ve been easily misunderstood by her.  It wasn’t until the serpent tempted her that she felt the desire to eat the fruit.  The serpent said “You are not going to die.” “No, God well knows that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be the same as God in telling good from bad.” By listening to the serpent, Eve made the choice that she now believed to be right.  She believed that eating the fruit would lead her to a state of increased perception and awareness.

It's easy to look at Eve’s actions and say that they were wrong, or at least misguided. Who could possibly think it's a good idea to defy God?  At the time, Eve had never learned the difference between good and bad. She only seemed to know how to follow instructions. She listened to God first and didn't eat the fruit. She also listened to the serpent who told her to eat the fruit anyway. The decision she made was not wrong because she was not aware that it was wrong.

My Opinion on Eve's choice

If Eve had a choice in The Garden of Eden, did she make a bad one? Religion allows us to dictate good verses evil, wrong verses right, what happens if we did wrong or right, and what the consequence and product of either is. It's essential to have this aspect in our lives, though, because we can learn from the mistakes that we know are mistakes, and know what is good and then use it to our advantage. In "The Book of Genesis" our opinion as to why the choice she made was good or not, is fundamental to our learning and interpreting experience. Our answers matter, because without it we will never be able to be a diverse society filled with differences. Without these differences, our society may never grow and improve.

In the excerpt "The Fall of Man" from "The Genesis", God has put out a task for the first humans, Adam and Eve.  Their goal is to not eat anything from a certain tree, but this is ruined by the help of a serpent. This serpent makes them go back against their word with God, by making Eve choose the wrong choice. This choice is defined as bad by some.The serpent was said to be "the sliest of all wild creatures" (2). This serpent was known as "sly" and "wild", sly signifies untrustworthy, and tricky, whereas wild derives a untamed, uncivilized, and unmannered. Given these points, it is apparent that the serpent is not displaying sportsmanship and that he is unreliable. This all goes to show when Eve corrects the serpent when he says that God said not to eat from any tree. She proclaims instead that "'But we may eat of the trees in the garden! [we only need to avoid] the fruit of the tree in the middle of garden'" (2). At this point, Eve should have had a warning, and should have known not to go and follow his words to go eat from the tree. Due to this her decisions can be seen as bad, therefore, allowing some to claim this decision as bad.

Although it can be said that Eve made a bad choice, it can also be said that it's not her fault. To woo her into her exile herself and her husband from The Garden of Eden, the serpent goes down to many levels. He "honeys" his speech and makes the dangerous, attractive. When Eve worries after being proposed to eat from the forbidden tree that God has said that she would die if she were to eat from there. The serpent, being sly and devious, seeks her favor again, by lying, saying "you are not going to die...God well knows that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be the same as God in telling good from bad" (2). Eve is attracted to these things, just as any other normal person would, and therefore saw "the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eye, and that the tree was attractive as a mean to wisdom" (3). This act of normalcy is not a problem, and brings to question whether or not her decision could be call "bad". Due to this evidence, you can, in fact, say that Eve is safe, and did not make a bad decision, due to it being overly one-sided and not entirely her fault.

             Earning the name Eve, along with childbearings pain, Eve is banished from Eden, and brings to question was it her fault or not. I would say not, because she fully knew what she had to do. She knew that the serpent was untrustworthy, and that he was lying. Her actions leads to hardship for her and Adam, with them both now fully knowing the truth about themselves.

Eve

In the "Genesis" passage, Eve made the choice of eating the forbidden fruit from the tree that God specifically told her not to. Adam and Eve were both in a state where they did not seem to know right from wrong. If we assume Eve had a choice, is it fair for a reader to claim she made a bad choice? The answer matters because God punishes Eve and Adam for what they have done, even though it seems that maybe they didn't know what they were doing. This changed the course of the human race.

There is clear textual evidence that Eve made a bad choice and should be judged. Eve specifically said to the serpent, "But we may eat out of the tress in the garden! It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God did say, Do not eat of it or so much as touch it, lest you die!" This clearly shows that Eve is aware of the situation she is in. She knows that eating the forbidden fruit is wrong and she should not do it, even though she still does. This is a blatant sin against God's word and she should be judged for her actions. Also, Eve should not have trusted the serpents word over God's. She knows that God is superior to all, so going against his word is a sin.

There is also sufficient evidence claiming that Eve should not be judged for her choice. In the first sentence, it states, "The two of them were naked, yet they felt no shame." This means that Adam and Eve both don't know right from wrong, and are innocent. They can't possibly have the knowledge to know whether eating the fruit is wrong, so they can't be judged for their decision. After they ate from the tree, "the eyes of both were open and they discovered that they were naked." This shows that before they ate the fruit, they were completely ignorant to the world so they couldn't possibly have made an educated decision prior.

There are obviously multiple sides to whether Eve made a bad choice by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. Eve could have listened to God when he told her it was forbidden, but she was also ignorant and apparently innocent so she can't be judged on her decisions. Whether she made a bad choice or not, her decision changed the human race.

Eve's Choice

 A great businessman by the name of Roy Disney once said "It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." Although this is true,  what happens when someone doesn't know what their values are? Or even what the word "value" means? Here lies the dilemma of Eve, and whether her "decision" of eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden deserves to be called a ¨bad choice¨ or not. 


There are certainly a few reasons as to why Eve´s decision can be seen as incorrect.  Towards the beginning of the passage, Eve has a conversation with a snake regarding the her ability to eat from the trees in the paradise. At one point, she clarifies to the snake that God told them to " 'not eat of it or so much as touch it, lest you die. ' "However, the snake is able to peruse Eve into eating from the forbidden tree. Because God specifically said to Adam and Eve to not eat from the forbidden fruit and they still did, the reader can interpret their decisions as wrong and them as disobedient. 


Nonetheless, there is still the argument that her "choice" of eating the forbidden fruit is not wrong. To start off, the word "choice" has some weakness in this scenario. In order to have a choice, someone must be able to wager the possibilities in the outcomes when choosing a path . In this case, Eve does not have any judgement on either outcome from  eating the forbidden fruit as she has no knowledge of what "death" means. This lack of knowledge and ability to judge right from wrong can be proven at the beginning of the passage, where she does not realize that being naked is something she should be concerned about. However, after eating the fruit, Adam and Eve are ashamed of being naked and "sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." This drastic change is mindset shows that the fruit of wisdom has given them the ability to judge good from bad, a capacity that was not available before eating the fruit. Her lack of judgement and knowledge raises the argument that her decision was not bad or wrong because she didn't know what the meant.


In my opinion,Eve should not be judge for her action and it should not be qualified as bad or wrong. This is because her lack of knowledge and ability to judge right or wrong prevented her from making a thoughtful choice when persuaded by the snake.