Tuesday 24 February 2009

Reflections on Existence and Fortune [Article]

There are particular questions within this life that are often raised but there are few answers which are offered in return. For example, man often questions his purpose and directs it towards those whom are expected to have answers. Religious leaders postulate that man's purpose is to 'steward and dominate the Earth for it is his'. Philosophers argue that the meaning of life is 'personal' to one's achievements and desires. What does this mean? For the common man, what relevance does it have? Little - if any.

What can a man do with such an elusive response as 'personal to one's desires'. How can a man know what he desires if he does not know his purpose? Is it expected that once a jigsaw piece falls into place, the others will follow suit. Life is not quite so simple. Life is a dictation of continuous paths, choices and motifs. It beckons us to question all that is within it. It beckons us to 'live it'. What is a life that is not lived?

Socrates, for example, argued that the unexamined life was not worth living. He postulated that one must understand the inner depths of the soul. It is nothing more than a continuous quest upon which man must find himself in the darkness, in the forests that surround him. Socrates was a man whom believed in 'personal reflection'. To understand one's soul is to understand the world. There is no greater pleasure than the pleasure of understanding.

This is the purpose of life - understanding. It is not a question of meaning. It is a question of knowledge. You must know the boundaries. You must know yourself. You must know your society. The boundaries do not require meaning. You do not require meaning. Society does not require meaning. It requires understanding. Like all things, understanding is the pinnacle of man's creation.
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1.02.05

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