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.