What is life Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What is life - Assignment Example It is the relationships that we maintain that makes us social beings. But it is the quality of the relationships that we build up in our life time that makes us worthy, be it family, friends or colleagues. In order to feel ourselves worthy of our lives, we need to achieve happiness. Happiness cannot be perceived by all those who are wealthy and honorable and are indulging in the pleasures of life. Instead, happiness can be achieved by only those who are equipped with all these 'external goods of life' and are highly virtuous in their deeds as well as their thoughts. I agree with Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, who describes that life will be meaningful only when we are able to distinguish the Good, by the pursuit of knowledge. As per Platonic epistemology, the idea of Goodness is innate and it is buried deep in our souls. This goodness, which exists in us even before our birth, is recalled in to our memory through learning. Learning helps to reflect this goodness in our actions and behavior. I also agree with Plato and his apprentice Aristotle in that the goodness of some people may outweigh others. It is this uncovered knowledge of goodness that inspire us to question the conventional wisdom if it seems contradictory to morals and human existence as life is made meaningful by revealing the ultimate truth of life, which can be revealed only by observing, interpreting and questioning the existing facts. For Epicurus, a worthy life denotes that one is essentially 'good' in nature, self-sufficient and enjoys a happy and tranquil life. He will be free of pain and fear, which are the indications of evil. As in the view of Augustine, the goodness in men is an indication that they are of the substance of God. It hence also means that everything that exists is ‘good’ and to lose goodness or to sin indicates that a man becomes unworthy of life. I also agree to the view of Tolstoy who exclaimed that life is impossible without the knowledge of oneself a nd one's purpose. The ideal purpose of life, according to Tolstoy, is to love and to serve humanity as we are the particles of the 'eternal source' and our life becomes meaningful when we become successful in making tiny changes to happen for the sake of humanity. I however object to the pessimistic view of Sartre who proclaimed that life is meaningless and that it ceases to be of worth once the illusion of being eternal is lost. Human life is and should be a representation of moral and intellectual righteousness and the feeling of being worthy to live is the end result of achieving the virtuous desires of life. 2] Our sensory perceptions are too limited that we cannot perceive the knowledge related to those things or concepts that go beyond our sensory capacities. Our knowledge as well as the concepts of the world will be limited if we are to rely on the knowledge gathered by mere sensory perceptions. Human beings are valued and considered superior to other life forms by their shee r ability to construct, receive and evaluate new perceptions, concepts and representations in the brain which are above the limits of senses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gathering of knowledge refers to its learning from experience, which was defined by Aristotle as the unorganized product of sense perceptions and memory. Experiences derived by the use of senses provide us with knowledge. Sensory perceptions that consist of sensations, feelings etc. are also experiences and they provide us with some knowledge. Here, we can indeed say that sensory perceptions do provide us with awareness and knowledge. But, based on the above refinements, it will be inappropriate to state that knowledge derives solely by sensory perceptions. In the view of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, knowledge derived from sensory perceptio