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?