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[edit] Integrative Essays: Fall Quarter

Brandon Barney


The Nature of Progress


As humanity evolves and social climates change, our perception of work ultimately remains static. That isn’t to suggest the work we do is unchanged, but rather the concept of why we do it. Taking a page from Carr let me ask the question. What is work? Is work only what I do to earn a living? No, certainly not, and I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who does think so shallow. We can agree that work transcends our mere need for daily bread, but how? The “how”, depends on the definition of work. In order to understand the definition of work, we have to first understand why we work and why work is important.

We work because we are an evolutionary species. We seek to adapt to any complications that might befall us. We strive for change. Even in the most tranquil of times, we are restless. We seek to better ourselves and our society often through endeavors unimaginable. We set goals, and achieve them to gain a sense of pride. Emerson said, “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.” We push to move beyond the confines of our own imagination and to set no limit to human achievement. Work is the act of realizing these aspirations. But why is it important? It’s important to prove to ourselves that we can have a place in permanence. Arendt says “The Task and political greatness of mortals lie in their ability to produce things—works and deeds and words—which would deserve to be, and, at least to a degree, are at home in everlastingness, so that through them mortals could find their place in a cosmos where everything is immortal except themselves” (Arendt 19). What is work? Work is simply progress put to action. Work is the sweat necessary to build something beyond yourself.

Why then are our ambitions important? Why is the struggle to be remembered so key in our daily lives? Because, quite frankly, it’s all we have. We work for our lives to be long, meaningful, and for them to serve as a guide for those who come after us. Odysseus is our example here. He wants to get back to Ithaca not only so that he can be alive and well with his family, but so that others know of his saga. If he’d not come home his memory would have slowly faded and with it would have left anything he had to teach. The Odyssey offers us a wonderfully unique peek into the world of history, philosophy and the idea of work. Historically we understand The Odyssey existed to provide a moral code of ethics for Greek citizens. It was an oral story that was told over a number of nights. It was passionate and moving, terrifying and uplifting. Carr would tell us that it’s biased from having only a single perspective about ancient Greek life. Arendt would beg us to examine the details of that single perspective.

Let’s again examine our definition of work. Aristotle says

“If ... we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence ... human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete. (Aristotle)”

Aristotle suggests here that the function of humanity lies within the soul. Combining that with our earlier definition of work as progress put to action, we can suggest that progression of the soul is also work. Taking it further, all the work we do is ultimately work to progress the soul. Our nine to fives may not be our bread and butter, but they provide us with the paycheck needed to pursue our higher endeavors which will feed our soul.

Arendt says “Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity” (Arendt 121). Though I see her point I disagree with the idea that humankind is in a continual struggle to liberate itself from necessity. If anything humanity is soothed by necessity and relies on it to understand routine. The first part of her statement is, however, spot on. As soon as we realize that we are subject to our own need to be actively engaged, we can stop running from the idea, and instead embrace the pride that comes with overcoming challenges. From the Tao Te Ching:

One who desires to take the world and act upon it, I see that it cannot be done. The world is a spirit vessel Which cannot be acted upon. One who acts on it fails, One who holds on to it loses. (Tao Te Ching pg 126)

Applying this to our idea of what it means to work and how it relates to our daily condition, we get that it’s better to act without action. The concept of Wu Wei suggests that there is a balance to everything both in nature and within our lives. We cannot force what doesn’t come naturally. Aurelius tells us “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it” (Aurelius 26). Combining this thought with the concept of Wu Wei suggests that it’s nature’s way to be in constant change and it’s best to live progressively. Aurelius also says “’Everything which happens is right.’ Examine this saying carefully and you will find it so” (Aurelius 27). Work becomes the natural progression of society to further our souls.

Our readings have covered over two thousand years of thought, and through them we’ve only just touched the surface of understanding the nature of progress. We’ve learned about Job’s fall and the rise of Aurelius. We’ve examined the history of history and gained insight into the human condition. Each perspective has shone an entirely new light on the topic, which in a unique way brings me back to my point. We will never stop moving forward. We will never stop changing our minds. We will never stop learning. Call it work, labor, or action, it is all ultimately progress.

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Cerise Palmanteer


The Power of Remembrance


In my last integrative essay I wrote: “ It is through the Vita Activa that human beings create a legacy that then becomes history because of its quality of being remarkable. Through our actions we create the condition for remembrance and through both our work and labor we provide and preserve the earth for generations to come.” Since writing this essay I have had the opportunity to delve deeper into our reading and my understanding of the subject has expanded a great deal. I now know that there is a big difference between “good” and “great” work and that difference determines how your labor, work and actions will be remembered in history; because of the selective nature of history your deeds must be assigned importance as either “good” or “great.”

“Good” work is virtuous work that will make you happy and sometimes a historical figure. “Great” work is a product of remarkable or unique labor, work and action that will make you into a historical figure. Both “good” and “great” work is intimately connected with Arendt’s concept of the Vita Activa through the two most basic conditions of human existence. Though these connections are just as different as the two, polar opposite, conditions of human existence. These conditions are natality and mortality. Through the “good” or “great” quality of our labor, work and action humans strive to both provide and preserve this earth for future generations to come and to escape our own mortality by becoming historical figures, whose memory will live on forever; the latter being much less virtuous than the former.

In one of my seminar response papers on Arendt I wrote about my confusion with her idea of “goodness.” On the subject of “goodness” Arendt writes: “…goodness that comes out of hiding and assumes a public role is no longer good, but corrupt in its own terms and will carry its own corruption wherever it goes”(77). It was frustrating to me that she thought that “good” work could only be accomplished in secrecy. However, in Susan’s comments on my paper I found clarity, she wrote: “I think she means that “good” is necessarily hidden from a Judeo-Christian point of view so that the minute it moves into the public realm it is recognized and thus corrupted.” I took this to mean that from this religious viewpoint “good” work should not be done in pursuit of recognition or reward. Instead “good” work should be done because it makes you happy in the sense of the word that I learned from Stephen’s lecture on virtue; that is that happiness is an activity of the soul in accord with virtue. While explaining this idea to the class he said that human good is happiness so it made sense to me that the human function could only be performed well when it is performed in accord with virtue. The Judeo-Christian idea that “good” work can only be, and remain “good” by being left unrecognized is making more and more sense to me.

In The Book of Job and Robinson Crusoe I found two prime examples of men who attempted to do “good” work each with a different outcome. Both men were asking for recognition of their “good” work for the sake of their own lives. Though each situation was entirely unique, giving the story a remarkable quality worthy of a historical figure.

In one of my seminar response papers on The Book of Job I wrote about Elihu who comes to speak out on God’s behalf. He says, “ Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to play false! For he requites everyone according to his actions and sees that each gets the reward his conduct deserves”(541). In this paper I was perplexed by Elihu’s speech. He was saying that God makes sure that men get what they deserve but it was not clear to me that Job deserved any of the trials and tribulations he went through. However I am learning that he was being tested to see just how well his Vita Activa would hold the quality of being “good” under stress, without recognition or reward for doing “good” work. Could he continue to be a virtuous God-fearing man? In his turmoil and suffering, at the hands of the Adversary, Job asks why his “good” work is being overlooked, why should he suffer after being the most virtuous servant of the lord? In asking for recognition and reward for his “good” work it lost its quality of being “good” and in the end he yields to God’s superior knowledge.

Robinson Crusoe was an entirely different story. His work only held the quality of being “great” or remarkable. His actions were not undertaken because it was something that would make him happy, on the contrary he acted only to his own advantage. He sought constant recognition and reward for his initially “good” work. For example every time he decides to save a man’s life he goes on and on about how they are now in his debt. When he is thinking about saving the Spaniards on the neighboring island he describes a conversation he had with the one he saved from the cannibals: “I told him with freedom, I feared mostly their treachery and ill usage of me if I put my life in their hands; for that gratitude was no inherent virtue in the nature of man, nor did men always square on their dealings by the obligations they had received, so much as they did by the advantages they expected”(188). He often speaks of how indebted and grateful his subjects must be towards him for saving their lives and expects them to show it by becoming his indentured servants. The uniqueness of his deeds still made his story “great” enough to make him into a historical figure whose memory will live on.

Through these two examples of both “good” and “great” work I have learned that although our actions are what give us the condition for remembrance, the “good” or “great” quality of our work and labor is what determines exactly how we are remembered. Though it can only become history because of the importance we assign any one’s actions, each had the power to determine how their earthly immortality would live on. We remember Job for the “good” quality of his unique actions and Crusoe because of the “great” quality of his actions. Each had the power to guide their lives in such a way that they should be remembered for their Vita Activa.

Bibliography: • Arendt, Hannah, The Human Condition, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1958. • Aristotle, translated by Irwin, Terence, Nicomachean Ethics, Hacket Publishing Company, 1999. • Carr, Edward, What is History?, Random House, 1961. • Defoe, Daniel, Robinson Crusoe, Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1995. • Suggs, M. Jack, Doob Sakenfeld, Katharine, Mueller, James, The Oxford Study Bible, New York, Oxford University Press, 1992. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Diana Carlson


Virtue and Work


Many of us are able to agree on some fundamental shared values. From studying Aristotle’s virtues, the Tao Te Ching, The Book of Job and The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, patterns emerge which indicate a set of core values we share as societies. The structure of the work force does not always reflect these values. We would benefit from finding ways individually and globally to incorporate those values into our working lives, with the goal in mind of achieving a more just society. Happiness to Aristotle lies not only in having personal values, but acting consistently upon those values in the world, creating a community perhaps where each of us is able to share in the rewards of a well-functioning, well-intentioned work force.

Integrity, honesty, goodness and fairness are part of a set of shared core values reflected in philosophy and literature. Yet many in our society struggle to get their basic needs met. Minimum wage in the United States does not serve as a living wage. Our health care system is inadequate to serve the needs of all workers; many Americans exist below the poverty line and retirement and education are out of reach for many. Is it possible to create a system where all those who are able to work are able to share the benefits to the extent that needs can be fairly sustained? Bringing our values consistently into the workplace on an individual and community basis is one way to begin making sure that those of us who are able to work are able to enjoy a basic standard of living. An often claimed desire is for individuals to work for “the common good”, although selfish interests are clearly a part of why we work the way we do and the way goods and powers are distributed among the population. Personal freedom, another value we hold dear in this culture necessarily comes into conflict with the desire to prop up all of the members of our society. The larger view would demand that we balance our individual desires with the needs of the community.

Aristotle states in Nicomachean Ethics that happiness is derived from attaining complete virtue. Human fulfillment then is derived from the embodiment of the essential virtues and acting upon them in the world. Some of the virtues dealt with are temperance, generosity, justice and decency, all of which can be applied to our work. He stated that it was not sufficient to merely explore virtue through philosophy but one must work to extend virtue to the larger community. Therefore it was not enough to be personally virtuous, but to live a life of happiness one must help to bring happiness to all. The human tendency was in Aristotle’s view to pursue pleasure or avoid pain rather to maintain a state of goodness. Goodness was to be found in the mean state, moderating between excess and deficiency. Application of this philosophy to the world of work is possible. The mean state would involve working to fulfill personal needs as well as the needs of the community. The excessive state can be viewed as the hoarding of wealth or resources, the deficient state involving self-sacrifice at the expense of personal security.

Because humans tend to be self-serving, we must work to live in a just society. “…A human being awards himself too many goods and becomes a tyrant; a ruler however, is a guardian of the just, and hence of the equal (and so must not award himself too many goods.)” (77) This easily applies to the ways in which we pursue work and the nature of power in the structure of the workplace. In order to achieve justice and fairness for all those who contribute to producing the goods and services we need to function, we must balance power and give freely of our goods rather than conserving most of the rewards for an elite group. Personal virtue can be extended into the work world in such as way as that each individual works to ensure that all contributing members earn a living wage.

The Tao Te Ching contains some similar ideas about moderation and some ideas about power and working for the good of the community, rather than purely for personal gain. “A person with superior goodness is like water, water is good in benefiting all beings, without contending with any.” (74) A work structure where individuals or small groups hoard resources is not the way to benefit all of humanity, and would be in conflict with the values expressed in the Taoist philosophy. A common fear of personal peril may lead us to power hunger or hoarding of wealth. This leads to many disparate groups in isolation rather than a large system working in harmony, the philosophy exemplified here. Moderation in all things can be applied to tempering one’s riches with the ideal of a well-supported society. “Be resolute yet do not boast, be resolute yet do not show off, be resolute yet do not be haughty, be resolute because you have no choice, be resolute yet do not overpower.” (128)

The Tao Te Ching and the Nicomachean Ethics both emphasize virtue as a state to be achieved through moderation. Individual avoidance of excess or deficiency is believed to be a contributing factor in a well-functioning society. While the Taoist focus is on harmony with nature and Aristotle is speaking to an audience of potential rulers, the virtuous states described are very similar. The human tendency is toward self-indulgence which needs to be tempered to create a better community.

Courage, moderation and justice are all values expounded by Aurelius in The Meditations. Loyalty, self-respect, truthfulness, law and a spirit of goodness are all virtues that apply easily to our ideas of a just way of working. The Stoic concept of the Whole was such that individual virtue was automatically extended into the greater community and that personal values meant for a better acting individual in society. “Whatever happens to an individual is beneficial to the Whole.” (58), fits well into an ideal system of work where every individual’s contribution would lead to a fair distribution of power and resource distribution among all members. “The Reason which governs all will in any case make good use of you and admit you to a place among its fellow workers and co-operators…”(57). Aurelius’ discussion of values can be viewed as an extension of the philosophy presented by Aristotle. Aristotle’s focus was on the individual, and Aurelius relates that virtuous person to a Whole in which each individual serves as a functioning part of a larger body.

The Book of Job exemplifies human fears and desires for self-preservation. A fundamental human belief is that good behavior will lead to plentiful reward and happiness. We feel threatened when apparently good people encounter misfortune. This is a fear many of us share in regard to our personal wealth, that it is not permanent and that no good deeds or amount of devoted work will save us from suffering. Perhaps our tendency to preserve personal resources in excess is the fear that it may be lost and we must care for ourselves and our immediate loved ones above all others. This would be what Aristotle would view as avoidance of pain or pursuit of pleasure rather than the virtuous state of generosity.

Another important theme contained in The Book of Job is the role of the comforters in Job’s reflection of his unexplained suffering. It is common for humans to judge others, perhaps as a justification for poor treatment of those of us who are less fortunate. It is possible that our tendency toward self-preservation rather than community mindedness can be explained by our deep-seated fear of personal loss and suffering.

Part of our human experience is the struggle between competing desires for individual fulfillment versus working for the common good. Harmony, temperance and a spirit of goodness are all values which we can incorporate into our lives individually, and bring to our working lives. It may be our tendency to view the world narrowly, with the interests of ourselves and immediate families in mind, which ultimately can be detrimental to society as a whole. We tend to seek individual fulfillment before sharing our personal worth with society rather than acknowledging the relationship between the individual and the greater community. Increasing this awareness as well as a solid commitment to incorporate our values into the workplace on a continual basis will create positive changes in the ways we consume, work and distribute the material and personal wealth we generate.


Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans.Terence Irwin. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1999. The Bible. Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha. The Oxford Study Bible. New York: Library of Congress, 1992. Marcus Aurelius. The Meditations. Trans. G.M.A.Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983. Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching. Trans.Ellen M.Chen. St. Paul: Paragon House, 1989.


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Greg Oman


Work: The Good, the Bad and the Mean

Work and The Human Condition are intertwined. Without work we would not be human. The work we do as individual’s affects the Whole and we should strive to better ourselves and society. Finding meaningful work that puts you in the mean of society is essential to you in the long run. The work you do should be done to the best of your ability and what you get out of it is just as important as what you contribute to society.

Work was different in the past than it is today. Back in Aristotle’s time the aristocrats had all their needs met to survive. They had slaves and servants that would handle all of the activities that are needed for survival. With these basic needs met, Aristotle and the aristocrats had plenty of free time to go into the polis and engage in politics or action as Arendt would say. Aristotle talks a lot about being virtuous. He also talks about working towards the mean. “Now the virtues, as we say, are voluntary. For in fact we are ourselves in a way jointly responsible for our states of character, and the sort of character we have determines the sort of end we lay down.* Hence the vices will also be voluntary, since the same is true of them. (39) Having a balance of virtues and vices is Aristotle’s way of describing moderation. Too much of a good thing can be counter-productive. This is also part of the vita activa, labor, work and action. (Arendt) Without all three one cannot lead a complete life. Work is also a way to leave behind a legacy. “The task and potential greatness of mortals lie in their ability to produce things – works and deeds and words – which would deserve to be and, at least to a degree, are at home in everlastingness, so that mortals could find their place in a cosmos where everything is immortal except themselves.” (Arendt 19) There are many different types of work, ranging from intellectual to manual labor. Who is to say what a person should do for work? People find their jobs in a variety of forms and some people are suited better for one type or the other. Early on in Robinson Crusoe, his father tells him of the dangers of going to sea and that he would be wasting his life, but young Robinson had different plans, he longed to be a seafaring man. “He told me it was for men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortune on the other, who went abroad upon adventures…” (Defoe 2) His father advised him to stay at home and be content with his safe middle class life. “…mine was the middle state, or what might be called the upper station of low life, which he had found by long experience was the best state for human happiness, not exposed to the miseries and hardships. The labour and sufferings of the mechanick part of mankind, and not embarrass’d with the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy of the upper part of mankind” (Defoe 2) The middle class according to his father is the best position in life and he “prayed to have neither poverty or riches.” (Defoe 2) Robinson’s father had some good advice for him but he had his heart set on going out to sea and nothing was going to stop him. Even a near death experience on his first voyage and his father’s disappointment would not stop him from going on his adventure. When you work your brain is learning, especially from intellectually stimulating jobs, your brain has to consistently adapt and improve itself. Work that is personally satisfying is very important. Satisfying work leads to a happier life. The opposite is also true. Some people with remedial jobs can get stuck in the same routine and their brains stop being challenged. The same thing, day in and day out, limits your opportunities. Doing new things and failing is better than doing nothing at all because you can learn from your mistakes. The Economic Transformation of the 15th – 17th centuries and the growth of the Market Economy gave birth to many new ideas and opportunities for people to break free of their current situation. The new middle class of people had higher status and exposable income to invest. These people began to enjoy some of the better things in life that here only accessible to the upper class, such as books. With books came the education of the people. This scared the ruling class at the time because more people were able to read and come up with radical ideas that could change the power structure. These new ideas were able to spread faster and were more widely available. Working is one of the things that make us human. “The distinction between man and animal runs right through the human species itself: only the best, who constantly prove themselves to be the best, … and who ‘prefer immortal fame to mortal things’, are really human; the others, content with whatever pleasures nature will yield them, live and die like animals.” (Arendt 19) According to Arendt, those who do not better themselves and work to succeed are not human. People who are content with their current situation live like animals. Being human is a special thing as Akhilleus states in The Odyssey “Let me hear no smooth talk of death from you, Odysseus, light of councils. Better, I say, to break sod as a farm hand for some poor country man, on iron rations, than lord it over all the exhausted dead.” (Homer 201) Akhilleus would rather be a poor farm hand with little to no power or say in politics than a lord of the dead. He is talking about the importance of work and of being human. He believes this so much that he would give up his position of power. Work is more than just a source of income; it is also a way to make connections. These connections include friendships and possible future opportunities to advance in the workplace. As many know it’s not what you know that gets you the job it’s who you know. “Society and the individual are inseparable; they are necessary and complimentary to each other, not opposites. ‘No man is an island, entire of itself,’ in Donne’s famous words; ‘every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’” (Carr 36) Through work we are connected to the rest of society. The references and contacts you have are largely based on your class and position in society. It is very hierarchical. People like Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius were born into the higher rungs of society and because of this they had more freedom in what they chose to do for their life’s work. This theme of class is also evident in The Odyssey. Odysseus was king of the polis in Greece. This gave him pretty much free reign on what he did. When he went missing for all those years after fighting the war the suitors wanted to move in on his household and Penelope, not just for her but for the status, wealth and power that came with it. People today face challenges when looking for work. The higher paid jobs often go to people that went to prestigious colleges together and or friends or family of those with positions of power in a company. Anyone who has applied for a job will tell you that it is very important to have good references on your resume. Without these connections it’s almost impossible to get a job that isn’t entry level and even those jobs can be hard to snag without the proper references. Employers want to see that you are a reliable worker and have what it takes to be successful in the position. The work you do should be done to the best of your ability. When you practice hard work you are rewarded with feelings of self worth and a job well done. Taking shortcuts in life and in work may get you to the finish line quicker but are not the ideal way of achieving your goals. When you are handed things in life you can take them for granted and you don’t learn what it feels to do things the right way and don’t get the value of what it actually took to achieve that goal. If I were to be promoted I would want to know that I got it because I was the best person for the job. People who are given positions or titles just because of their name or friends are often despised by their fellow co workers and may never fully gain their full respect. Someone who sets goals and achieves them is a winner. These people have a better sense of self-worth. Winners work hard and work well. Taking the time to do a job well is much more rewarding. Aristotle also talks about “good” work. He says the harder you have to work, the more rewarding the work will be. People need adversity to overcome and learn from their mistakes. A winner is a person who can overcome their adversities. The Tao Te Ching talks about living a simple life and following the ways of nature. This advice is exceptional. Today mainly people are so caught up in their busy lives that they fail to take the time to enjoy themselves. “1. A person with superior goodness is like water, Water is good in benefiting all beings, Without contending with any. Situated in places shunned by many others, Thereby it is near Tao.

2. (Such a person’s) dwelling is the good earth, (His/Her) mind is the good deep water, (His/Her) associates are good and kind people, (His/Her) speech shows good trust, (His/Her) governing is the good order, (His/Her) projects are carried out by good talents, (His/Her) activities are good in timing,” (Tzu 74)

Living a simple life and being one with nature are important. Having these quality’s described in The Tao Te Ching help you individually and help your surroundings. Work that betters those around you makes you a better person, such as volunteer work that helps the less fortunate. Work is the common denominator in what makes us part of human society. As humans we engage in many different types of work, all of which contribute to the Whole. We were meant to labor as humans and finding the right work for us individually, makes life more fulfilling. We are all humans and we all need to work. We need to set high standards for ourselves and meet our goals. A happy person is one who enjoys their life’s work and strives to better themselves and their surroundings. The life of the middle class is best suited for human life with the least hardships. “Kings have frequently lamented the miserable consequences of being born to great things, and wish’d they had been placed in the middle of the two extremes,…” (Defoe 2)




Works Cited Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. The University of Chicago, 1958 Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Terrance Irwin. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company Inc, 1999 Carr, Edward Hallett. What is History?. International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions, 1961. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Dover Publications, Inc, 1998 Homer. The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Tzu, Lao. The Tao Te Ching. Trans. Ellen M. Chen. Minnesota: Paragon House, 1989.


Greg Plancich


Work and the Rules that Govern Society

Why is work important in a complete human life? Arendt argues that all throughout human existence, man has sought to eliminate work from their daily lives. Starting with the dawn of agriculture, man moved away from his hunting and foraging ways of before and began harvesting his own crops. Man, however, quickly learned that planting, watering, irrigating, harvesting, and bundling his own crops was back breaking, agonizing work. As such, man invented the plow and trained his horse to draw it. Over the next millennia, man slowly evolved and developed new and better ways to make use of his work and his crops. Man developed new ways to use his cattle to tend to the lands, worked in to devise new irrigation systems to increase yield. Later throughout history, and much closer to our current time, man began to focus his attention on spending the time and energy to develop mechanized ways of harvesting his crops. During the super nova explosion of technology that was the Industrial Revolution, man used his newfound knowledge of technology and mechanization and set out to work to develop new fantastic ways to make his farming life easier. The fruits of this labor were mechanical advancements such as the thresher combine, the tractor, and other such tools that we see in use by agri-busininess today; now a single person can do the work of ten. With one man being able to do in one day what once took ten men to do in ten days, it would be easy to assume that due to these machines, vast amounts of work had been eliminated. That is, however, simply not the case. While the actual work of farming and harvesting has been reduced, it has not been eliminated. What energy was once spent on planting, sowing, and harvesting, is now spent on building, maintaining, and running these new machines that do our work for us. The work hasn’t disappeared, it has simply moved from one part of the process to another. Despite this paper relating to the philosophy of work and how work plays into the human life and society as a whole, we can relate this last revelation to the science we had learned in high school. Realizing that work, or as we’ll call it for this example, “energy,” is not eliminated but simply moved, or “transferred,” we see that this is an example of the First Law of Thermodynamics. The energy spent by the farmer, in our case, does not increase, nor does it decline, it simply transfers. In all of our work to eliminate work, we simply transfer the work that we had been doing from one part of the process to another, never creating more or destroying any. Now we are faced with a very serious question: If we are always striving to, but never actually eliminating work, what are we to do when we actually do find a way to replace work? For it is only because we know how stressful that work can be that we can relax when we are not working. We cannot know the great feelings of not doing work if we never actually know what work is. This realization tosses us into a tizzy and sends us on misguided attempts at finding anything, anything that can replace work or take up our precious time with work. As such, we get attempts to explore space and exploring space and leaving this earth will have us end as humans. By leaving the earth, “the quintessence of the human condition,” we no longer remain human. While we share the physical characteristics of a human, our mind, our bodies, and our lives change. Gone are the times of living with our mother in nature or living in abodes that were built with the help from our mother, we now are strapped in a hopeless space suit where we can’t move in an infinite galaxy of cosmic rays and space dust. No longer are we held to the physical prison of the earth, we have everywhere in space to roam about. But this is a fallacy; we are cramped beyond all measure to our space suit, to our space capsule, with no hope of ever leaving for we will surely die within two minutes. The earth, while infinitely smaller than the cosmic galaxy of Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong and Arthur C. Clarke, allows us all the space we will ever need to move around and to live, anything more is far too little. The earth is where we live, where we play, where we have all of our labor*, our work*, and our action*. In space, the labor* that we must do to maintain our natural biological functions, while similar (in that we still must breathe and eat and drink and procreate) is vastly different in that we must breathe heavily recycled air mixed with a bit of nitrogen gas that smells much more like bleach than the natural mix of oxygen and various other elements that are mixed in with the air we breathe here on earth. The food, synthetic (like most foods nowadays), but prepared in a special freeze-dried way that prevents any sort of flavor or variety. Everything in space will be artificial, will be synthetic, will be fake, there will be no natural process for sustaining life in space. Our work* will change. Gone will be the days of writing music for the sake of writing music, gone will be the days of building statues to honor our greats, in space, everything that will be done must have an exact purpose. With the artificial resources far too scarce to be wasted on frivolous things such as music and directed only at maintaining the colony or capsule, life will devolve down to that of THX 1138, with everything having a prescribed purpose and nothing out of the ordinary shall be allowed. As our work changes, all action* will change also as the work we do helps create, define, and develop the rules, laws, and mores that we have as a society. In the former Soviet Union, a great emphasis was placed on the worker, the lowly machine laborer who built and ran the machines that powered society; in the United States, there is a great emphasis on the consumer, who works at their day job so that they make enough money to purchase items on the weekend and put their money back into the economy developing a circle and creating an economic and military powerhouse. In space, it will all be different. Gone will be the days of republicanism, federalism, democracy, and the ideas that we are all equal before the law. In space, as it is not our natural habitat, all of humanity must operate in perfect sync and perfect unison so that we can keep our oxygen generators pumping air, our water recyclers providing us with hydration, and our greenhouses growing our synthetic food. As such, we must and we will be run by a dictatorship that we will all be equal and subservient before, how Hobbes. For if there is any chance at all of dissent, the whole station or colony could collapse, leading us to a state of nature that is not only brutal and short, it also is a state of nature in which we will die within minutes from lack of oxygen and abundance of radiation. Work and our environment shape and form the rules that we have as a society. They change throughout time with the advancements we make in technology and the places that we choose to reside. While manned space exploration is certainly a possibility and almost likely a certainty, it is many many years away. So, instead, let’s divert our attention to ancient Greece. During the ancient Greece period, some of the greatest writings and thinkings on work were created. In the Nicomechean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the form and shape of a perfect society, one that is populated by his perfect people. His perfect person, Aristotle writes, is a virtuous one that practices the virtue of moderation and temperance. Aristotle often writes about a perfect man who never goes to any extreme, always continuing down the center path. His perfect man is magnanimous, brave, and intelligent. However, with being brave, he is never foolhardy and ready to rush into battle. While Aristotle’s society, by its nature of temperance and moderation, is well suited to continue on in existence for quite awhile (since it never makes rash decisions, but plans them out beforehand), it is very possible for Aristotle’s society to die out due to stagnation or be easily overrun by invaders. Athens and ancient Greece, however, did bring about an idea that Rome later built upon and we see in many of our countries today. That is, the idea of a polis, and city-state. Inside the polis, everyone was extended a right to voice their opinion and cast a vote. While, in actuality, the people allowed inside the polis was limited to the landed gentry males, it brought about a society that was one of the most free and most intelligent in the ancient world. Greece’s counterpart, Rome, took the ideas of democracy and, as it’s empire spread, developed into a republic. Considered one of the better rulers of Rome, Marcus Aurelius could easily have laid back and enjoyed the trappings of being emperor and simply let Rome rule itself because really, with an empire so vast and so full of people and with such an intricate economy, the gears and cogs of the machine are in motion and doubtfully needed much power to steer or keep going. Aurelius, however, not only ruled Rome and expanded its empire, he also wrote, from time to time, about ruling and about work. Aurelius took his role as emperor seriously and in numerous meditations, chides those that would rather sleep in than do their work. For if someone does not do their work, they must clearly hate themselves as their work is their nature and if their nature is to be a fishmonger, they must set out to do it. This view, however, would lead to a fairly rigid society with little chance for social advancement. The Book of Job seems takes a strange view on work and how work governs our lives. Job, a righteous man who is completely subservient to God and gives him a sacrifice each day, has his house destroyed, his family killed, and his body covered in sores by the Lord that he loved so much. While a common theme in history, particularly American with rugged individualism and the plucky characters of Horatio Alger, is that hard work pays off with great rewards, Job is completely and utterly defeated and all of his hard work is for naught. With the Book of Job, it almost seems as if the writers had become fed up themselves and were advocating a return to the State of Nature that Hobbes talks about so many years later. Job, despite his wife’s pleas, holds true to his beliefs, holds true to the laws of the land, holds true to the laws of God, and is eventually rewarded for staying true. The Book of Job is designed to keep people in line and within the rule of law even when their circumstances may send them along the path of robbery and murder. The Odyssey also talks about obeying the rule of the gods. Jumping back to China a few millennia ago, the Tao te Ching does not specifically speak about work, but it does offer us guidance on how to live and what rules to follow by. Like Aristotle, the Tao te Ching, preaches temperance and selflessness as the path to a long and successful life, specifically in book nine. In book eleven, we again hearken back to Aristotle and Aurelius when we come to realize that each and every single one of us are the same, in that we are all different. Throughout time, we have been told stories and read philosophies that excite our imagination, and while it may not seem like it on the surface, many of them discuss work and how the work of the time affects and shapes our society. While work may change over time from being simple farming and praying to god / God, to being castaway on an island for a number of years, to travelling through the vast expanses of space, work will always be a major force in the shaping of our society.



Heather Daley


Excellence in Solitude


Previously I held to the belief that excellence can only be achieved where a public exists. Since developing that thesis, I have reviewed some engaging new materials that contradict that theory to some extent. I am now of the opinion that in many ways excellence is as fully achievable in the private as it is in the public. I do realize that in order for ones’ excellent deeds to become known they must transcend the private and become immortalized either through oral history or written word. Because of this I am not abandoning my first thesis, however, at this juncture; I am not concerned with man’s capacity for immortality. I am shifting my focus to the nature of excellence itself, and its’ manifestation in man as a solitary being, separate from the public, either physically or metaphorically. Previously, excellence was defined by Carr, as any great or notable deed which made history, as decided by the primary social leaders of a given period. Arendt believed that it was a man’s goal to achieve immortality through their witnessed acts and deeds in order to combat the impermanence of life. In the Odyssey it was one who possessed desirable traits such as physical attractiveness, strength, power, bravery, and wealth, as well as one who was favored by the gods. Similarly, in Genesis, the excellent characters were those whom God found pleasing both in deed and through sacrifice. Aristotle defined excellence in terms of virtue, with emphasis being placed on finding the mean among extremes and deficits. I emphasized excellence in terms of happiness as defined by Aristotle. I found many similarities between the writings of Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius, especially in terms of virtuous deeds and activities. Aurelius differed in that his focus was far more on the natural world and the importance of returning to nature. I would bet that while Marcus Aurelius was likely to have been quite surrounded by people, being as he was, the ruler of Rome, he was probably often in solitude among his thoughts and beliefs, given the nature of his prose. Throughout The Meditations Aurelius continually stresses the importance of living in a way which benefits the whole, “That which does not benefit the swarm does not benefit the bee” (Aurelius, Book VI, 54). But he lays the responsibility of righteous living in the hands of individuals. In Book II, chapter 5, Aurelius prescribes the responsibilities of the individual, saying, “Firmly, as a Roman and a man should, think at all times how you can perform the task at hand with precise and genuine dignity, sympathy, independence, and justice, making yourself free from all other preoccupations. This you will achieve if you perform every actions as if it was the last of your life, if you rid yourself of all aimless thoughts, of all emotional oppositions to the dictates of reason, of all pretense, selfishness and displeasure with your lot. You see how few are the things a man must overcome to enable him to live a smoothly flowing and godly life; for even the gods will require nothing further from the man who keeps to these beliefs.” This passage lays out very clearly for us what it is that Aurelius believes makes an excellent man, and it is certainly not flamboyant and noticeable deeds. What is important is for one to live in the best way that they are humanly able, each and every day of their lives. In order to do this we must perform each and every activity with complete presence of mind so that we can ensure that we are truly doing our best. We want to live in such a way so that we can be assured that when we perform our final act in death; we have fulfilled our duty in life. Ironically, death must also be carried out in the best way possible. “For death too is one of the actions of life, and we die as we perform it. Therefore, even when dying, it is sufficient that one’s present task is well fulfilled” (Aurelius, Book VI, 49). In all of this, it does not seem important that anyone be present to witness a person’s acts of excellence, other than themselves. It is only important that they perform the acts. Anything of importance that might result from their actions will do so without aid. The goal is not the end result. The end result is inevitable. The goal is simply the present moment. The Tao Te Ching follows Aurelius’ line of thinking to some extent, at least in regards to the value and importance of the natural world. In the Taoist theme of “acting with no-action” (Tao Te Ching) I see the responsibility of the individual to be paramount to any responsibility held by the public realm. This idea is even more extreme in its quiet and solitary nature. The emphasis is on letting nature take its course and holding back rather than jumping into action, “1. Tao everlasting (ch’ang) does not act (wu wei), /And yet nothing is not done (erh wu pu wei. /If kings and barons can abide by (shou) it, /The ten thousand things will transform by themselves (tzu hua) (Tao Te Ching, 37: 1). This really embodies the concept of less being more. One is excellent not through what they do, but rather what they refrain from doing. As with Aurelius, it is not important that one is seen performing great and notable deeds, it is only important that one takes care to manage ones’ self, and act in accordance with nature. There is a natural course that is inevitable, and we will only get in the way by acting irrationally, or too soon. In Wang Pi’s comment after chapter 36 in the Tao, he explained this idea of no-action by saying, “If you desire to eliminate the strong, the violent, the cruel and the rebellious, rely on these four sayings. Follow the nature of things themselves. Do not use punishment to eliminate those that one is about to eliminate. Let them destroy themselves. This is called subtle illumination” (Tao Te Ching, 142). What a beautiful concept. Robinson Crusoe is certainly the most blaringly obvious example of one who exhibited excellent qualities with no one anywhere near him for 28 years. He is similar to Aurelius and the Tao in that he lived in accordance with nature to a certain extent. He was a bit wasteful with his meat and board making habits, but I think that he did the best that he could, being only one man. With no one around to witness his acts, Robinson Crusoe conducted himself in a manner which was utterly perfect by his society’s standards. He did not wallow in self pity at his dire circumstances, but went right to work, bound and determined to make the best of his situation. He consistently acted quickly and energetically, because of this, he was able to make out much better than he would have otherwise. “It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not to be had, and this extremity rouz’d my application” (Robinson Crusoe, 35). In the end Crusoe had made a small kingdom for himself. Although he was proud in showing off what he had created once people were present to witness it, I do not believe that the presence of people is what made the creation amazing. Crusoe was excellent with or without others to witness his excellence. A very different example of excellence in solitude is Job. Job was alone in many ways. He was alone in being the only righteous man (to our knowledge) of his time. He was alone in being God’s chosen example of perfection for Satan to test. He was alone in his physical pain and suffering, and he was alone in his knowledge that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he had done nothing to deserve the heinous atrocities he was forced to endure. Up to this point in the bible, the running theme was that if you acted according to God’s will, then you received God’s blessings, sort of a “cause and effect” type of a relationship. Job’s experience forever bucked this idea back up into the heavens. In the end, Job was blessed tenfold, but until that happened, Job was forced to sit in his misery and endure his supposed close friends’ doubt of his righteousness and their pleas for his repentance. This is a clear cut example of just how unnecessary a public can be in order for excellence to be present. As a reader of the book of Job, one has no doubt that Job is excellent, righteous, and undeserving of such misery, but his friends are utterly convinced that this can not be the case. “Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? If your sons sinned against him, he has left them to be victims of their own iniquity. If only you yourself will seek God and plead for the favour of the Almighty,” (Job, 8:4-5). One can only hope for protection from such friends. At least Job got his in the end. Given all of these fine examples, it is clear that; while the public is important for the individual in countless ways, a man’s capacity for excellence is not one of them. Each individual knows intimately what lies within their spirit. It is their personal responsibility to act in accordance with the nature of that spirit and in symbiosis with the natural world. In this way the whole will benefit for that is the cyclical nature of life.



Works Cited


Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianopolis: Hackett, 1983


The Bible. Revised English with the Apocrypha.

The Oxford Study Bible. New York: Oxford UP, 1992


Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Mineola: Dover, 1998


The Tao Te Ching. Trans. Ellen M. Chen. St. Paul: Paragon, 1989


Jim Dunivan

What We Are Doing


Vita activa defines the human condition in three activities that are shaped not only by the external forces of nature, but by the self made and imposed conditions humans place upon themselves. Labor is forged out of necessity and assures both individual survival as well as the life of the species. Work is the uniquely human activity that adds a measure of permanence and artifact upon the futility of mortal life. Action allows us to found and preserve political bodies, and therefore create the conditions for history. (Arendt 7-9) But, the highest human faculty is contemplation, the vita contemplative, which is different from thought and reasoning and is as influential over the human condition as is nature itself. (Arendt 14-16) The ability to contemplate, to seek the purpose of human existence, and to think about what we are doing, is the ability to define and shape the human condition. The philosophies and religions we arrive to and live by provide foundations for human existence and beliefs. The literature we write and the history we record seek to understand and explain the world around us. Contemplation informs and guides our existence, but more specifically, our activity. Human history is memorialized with accounts of our efforts to transcend basic survival, to define our purpose, and to know what it means to live a good life. Perhaps it was our fortunate fall from divine existence in the Garden of Eden that began this human pursuit of contemplation and thirst for vita activa. When God commanded Adam and Eve: “You may eat from any tree in the garden, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; the day you eat from that, you are surely doomed to die (Genesis 13), and they chose to disobey, the human condition was set into motion – humans had made the choice to define their own existence. Literature, which can be viewed as accounts of history in story form, informs us that with this free agency and the ability to produce concepts of truth come consequences for choices that are not natural or virtuous. When humans reject the values and virtues that seem inherent and good, or have been decided to be so by the common knowledge of humanity, bad things happen. Whenever Odysseus and his crew find trouble, they have some hand in it and they are thrust back into a mode of survival. Zeus confirmed this fact when he stated to the other Gods that “Greed and folly double the suffering in the lot of man”. Similarly, Robinson Crusoe attempts to make sense of his plight and to accept some responsibility for his actions when he acknowledges that nothing can happen without God’s knowledge and appointment. Crusoe went from “merely thoughtless of a God” and considering himself “an unfortunate dog, and born to be always miserable” to reflective and repentant for “rejecting the voice of Providence.” (Defoe 64-66) Labor and isolation from other humans (the very conditions that humans seek to transcend) were often the consequences of human judgment gone astray throughout the book of Genesis, the epic of Odyssey, and the novel of Robinson Crusoe. Perhaps it is the lack of contemplation, of true reflection and pursuit of goodness that is the cause of human despair more so than the unconscious act of making a bad decision. The same is true today, and the consequence for failing to conform to the social contracts of society often results in a punishment of incarceration where only basic human needs are satisfied. Without the ability to participate in the work and action of a society, humans are reduced to mere existence. They do not, however, lose their ability to contemplate and so, hope remains for the future. Artifacts (work) and politics (action) are at the core of the human condition, as Arendt puts it: “The impact of the world’s reality upon human existence is felt and received as a conditioning force”. (Arendt 9) The work of recording history as artifacts is significantly influenced by politics, which in turn defines future conditions – in other words, the work of history is a result of the action of politics. Humans immortalize events with historical stories of heroes and villains – great men and rebels, and often see history as being produced by individuals. However, historians who are able to transcend their own human experience are then able to examine man’s role in society, and therefore are capable of making accurate records of history. The very act of recording history is a uniquely human activity not shared with Gods or animals. Carr states that history reflects our own position in time and the view we take of the society in which we live and further, that where pundits contradict each other, the field is open to enquiry. “History…is a social process, in which individuals are engaged as social beings… Society and the individual are inseparable; they are necessary and complementary to each other, not opposites”. (Carr 36) The subjective lens of interpretation influences accounts of history and events, which can be acted upon with negative consequence to human kind. Humans affect their own condition by recording history and by writing literature that becomes available to the masses. They transform from the traditional concept of revealed truth and move to the pragmatic assertion that man can only know what he makes himself. Even as we seek to arrive at that higher calling where we are free of the bonds of the earth and its labor, we change the conditions of our existence through the history that we produce. Societies are where the work and action occur – where the philosophy, politics, religion, history and literature emerge. Societies existed prior to the emergence of a political realm and sought to provide for the basic human needs. Early societies still preserved the separation of private and public realms – in other words, the head of household still dominated the family structure and formed rule and morality, but accessed society as a means to further his own interests. As men collected in these societies and with the rise of the polis, freedom of thought and expression emerged in what is described as the political realm. Politics further define the rules and morality of society, therefore blurring the lines between public and private life. Politics becomes concerned with preserving the best interests of its society while individual freedom is diminished for the common good. Speech and persuasion become the driving factor behind politics and its influence over societal rules and morality. Therefore, as societies become more political, the most effective orators define the rules of the human condition (Arendt 26-35) – a shift from violence, and toward virtue and higher purpose. Aristotle held the premise that every craft, line of inquiry, action and decision seems to seek some good. Also, that the end goal or telos of political science is action, not knowledge. (Irwin 1-8) Human beings, having knowledge of good, have the ability to deliberate and make judgments about what is right and so, are responsible for those decisions and the resulting voluntary actions. (Irwin 36-37) Marcus Aurelius espouses virtues and character traits that are in accord with nature. He asserts in reflection that it is his own responsibility to live up to these virtues, and that if he falls short it is through his own fault and because he had not paid attention to the teachings of the gods. (Grube 9) Contemplation alone is not sufficient – reflection and virtue must be applied to the vita activa. A virtuous life means responding to temptation with moderation, treating each other well and looking out for the best interests of the community. We are personally responsible for our voluntary decisions regarding virtue and vice, and the ultimate prize is happiness. Therefore, humans who choose goodness are happy. The human condition changes with work and action intended to ease the burdens of life, but it also remains the same with our eternal contemplation of the unknown and the meaning of life. Humans today are not so concerned with the labor that sustains mere life, but we still face often harsh consequences for our decisions and actions, both on personal and social levels. We also seek to define the future and make decisions based on the past – a past that is open to misperception by the lens of philosophers, politicians, proselytizers, historians and authors. We must choose well the truths that we are willing to subscribe to, for humans have the potential to one day achieve purpose, prosperity and happiness for all. The human condition is not perfect, but as long as we continue to contemplate what we are doing there is hope.



Works Cited Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. New York: University of Chicago P, 1998. Carne-Ross, D. S. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998. Carr, Edward H. What Is History? New York: Vintage, 1967. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Dover Publications, 1998 Grube, G. The Meditations – Marcus Aurelius. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983. Irwin, Terence. The Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle. Boston: Hackett Company, Incorporated, 2000. Suggs, M. Jack, ed. The Oxford Study Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.




Jacob Bowler

What We Have Come To

When looking at the way we act one must look at why we do what we do. When we look at a persons actions we can get a look at their thoughts and this is important because we can’t see thoughts. Thoughts are private so the only way we can see into the private realm of thought is through the public. You can never get to see into the private no matter how hard you try. We as humans try to see into the private realm all the time that’s the reason for psychologists and as sad as it is to say reality television. Through looking at someone that is smiling you could infer that they are truly happy but this reading isn’t accurate because looks can be very deceiving. The subject in question very possibly

could be unhappy with several things but putting on a pleasant smiling face as a false front because it is far more appealing than the alternative appearances that one could have. In class we had read, studied and shared thoughts from Hanna Arrendt’s The Human Condition. Hanna first and later our seminar would discuss the action and thought relationship. In her words the relationship between vita activa and vita contemlativa. Arendt in her book The human condition writes that action or vita activa is divided into three different facets of our life and these facets are labor work and action. Labor, work and action compose the three most important aspects of Arendts vita activa. Labor being the acts that sustain life and “corresponds to the biological process of the human body” pg.7. Acts like eating and giving birth would definitely fall under the umbrella of labor. Work provides us an artificial world. Work is man made things like artist and athlete are work. The third leg of this handicapped dog is Action. Action is “the only action that goes on in between men without the intermediary of things or matter, corresponds to the human condition of plurality…”pg. 7. Vita contemplativa on the other hand goes into the realm of thought and the private world. The paths


that thinking men and men of action led to the division of eternity and immortality. Eternity is the indescribable, it is in essence a transitive stave that indeed transcends the world of men. When I describe immortality I think of the move the 300, their legendary story immortalizes them and in a way they, or at least the memory of them will live forever. Immortality is beyond time while eternity is beyond man. Meditation is a way in which man tries to achieve or reach eternity. Stories and great accomplishments or feats, in which the story or legend would live forever make people Immortal.

  Carr would argue that people are what makes certain people legend. Lets take Jesus for example, the big J.C. has achieved immortality through having a thrilling life story and lend behind him. Plus, Jesus could walk on water and everyone would tell story about a dude that could walk on water. Through his apostles writings of his quotes and lessons Jesus’ word of life guidance and aphorisms this quotable character will be remembered. Carr would argue that the strings of time will shape how Jesus is viewed. Lets say in the future the men as one society conclude somehow that Jesus punched babies (I’m not 


proposing that this is true but merely hypothesizing about possible futuristic movements involving the worlds most beloved superhero) then he would still be immortal but he will definitely be discredited and dishonored. Carr would argue that society could blank out the memory of something to make the immortal die, because large amounts of history and previously thought to be immortal things die and fade out of existence and therefore history. It’s weird how certain things can later be made into to history like say the man that releases the patent to the hydro engine used to work at the taco truck that taco truck won’t be history unless he did something important there like by the patent. Carr in his book what is history also talks about the society and the individual, and how the two shape each other and how they have a cyclical way of affecting the other ones existence. He quotes Donne at the beginning of chapter two using the quote no man is an island. I love this quote it goes on to say that a man is a part of the island he contributes to the island and if he disappears the island is lesser for it. He saying that every man is a part of the society if he’s good or bad he still contributes to the society as a whole.


Odysseus contributed to his society and equally so did the servants in the Odyssey. The gods in the society contributed the most but they are not of man, but of the eternal. The society in the Odyssey worked upon the caste system, the bottom caste being the vast amounts of servants. Above the assorted servants were the underlings of the house and just above them were the men of the households. The caste of this society answered to a king, who in turn answered to the many gods of the Odyssey. Odysseus interact with the gods on a very interpersonal level. Like the characters in genesis that interact with their one god. Characters like Adam and Eve and Cain and Able and the people of Babel. All of these are stories of ethics and lessons. I’m not going to go into which story gives what lessons but they are important to people to be the best people they could be and Aristotle wrote a bit about that in Nicomachean Ethics. In fact he would talk about virtues in relation to the bible if he were to be in our seminar (and Charlie would disagree with him just to do it). The Tao would say that it is what it is and we could take from it what we can and will.


I originally thought Marcus Aurelius was a really great guy, but I when I looked at who he was which was emperor, and that none of his thoughts were that original. I don’t think he is all that great because he wrote other peoples thoughts into a compilation. So when looking at someone one the viewer must realize that they can never truly know the persons thoughts or their state. But if they live virtuous and apply the lessons of the Tao and the compilation of thoughts in the Bible and Meditations.


Jason Aguero


To understand work, we must understand nature.

Human life would essentially be incomplete if work were absent since it is a necessity to survive. Work is important in human life because it is the cornerstone of human existence. Even, In Genesis, when life and the world began it appeared work was evident. What is work? Work is anything which requires energy. There is certainly intellectual work as well physical work. I believe intellectual work is something that requires thought. Intellectual work is also the thought process and conversations we have within ourselves. I think Arendt would consider this type of work to be similar to the Vita Contemplativa which refers to thought and reason (Arendt 8). However, my focus here in this section will be work in its physical state. The Vita Activa on the other hand includes labor, work and action. The Vita activa will also be one of my main focal points throughout this essay. In The Odyssey, Odysseus encounters plenty of work. For example, when Odysseus was leaving the Goddess Kalypso it was necessary for him to build a boat. Odysseus had to cut the timber and transform the tree into a boat. Another example of work was when Odysseus built his bed around the trunk of olive wood. Not only was this hard work, but it also showed Odysseus’s fine craftsmanship. Odysseus certainly displayed superior intellectual work many times throughout his life that his fellow men even referred to him as the “tactician”. In Defoe’s depiction of Robinson Crusoe I saw many different kinds of work that fit mainly in the labor and work section in Arendt’s definition of the Vita Activa. Arendt defines work as “the activity which corresponds to the unnaturalness of human existence, which is not imbedded in, and whose mortality is not compensated by, the species’ ever-reoccurring life cycle” (Arendt 7). This is to say that work is something that is not natural and is manmade. Arendt also explains that labor “is the activity which corresponds to the biological process of the human body…” (Arendt 7). Labor also means things that are necessary to sustain life itself (Arendt 7). Robinson Crusoe thought he would perish on the uninhabited island he fell upon. However with much labor and work he was able to sustain life. Robinson Crusoe showed labor by planting his rice and corn for his every day subsistence. Robinson Crusoe also tamed, bred, and milked the goats for his need for meat and milk. Robinson Crusoe picked and dried grapes. He also hunted for fowl and caught turtle for subsistence as well. These are all examples of labor. Robinson Crusoe needed these things to survive. Needless to say it was a necessity and not just a want. Robinson Crusoe then showed work by building his two great walls that he used for defense. He also made tools such as a shovel made from the hardest wood on the island. He admits he was not the greatest craftsmen, but he did his best with what he had. He also made some pots, wicker baskets and a device to bake bread. His work was amazing. He then was able to build his country home and excavate a remarkable cave behind his great walls. Robinson Crusoe also built boats and made miscellaneous items such as an umbrella and something he could sleep on from animal fur and hide. In Robinson Crusoe’s situation on this island, action was not a part of his life. Arendt describes action as “the only activity that goes on directly between men without the intermediary of things or matter corresponds to the human condition of plurality, to the fact men, not man, live on the earth and inhabit the world” (Arendt 7). Robinson Crusoe had no interaction through most of the story up until he meets Friday. His closest point to action was his interaction with God. However, I do not find that to fit within Arendt’s model of action. It is clear that Arendt meant the interaction between men and not between man and the divine. The human condition is also very important. The translation of Marcus Aurelius through The Meditations attempts to explain some parts of the human condition. Marcus seems to refer to inevitability and naturalness of death. Marcus also explains how we should be doing our work or activities. Marcus says we should “perform every action as if it were the last day of your life” (Aurelius 13). What I gathered from Marcus was his attitude. He had an “it is what it is” attitude. I guess with this attitude it would make it a little easier to accept death without fear. A passage from Marcus reminds me of a situation in Robinson Crusoe. It was when Crusoe was teaching Friday many different things like how to communicate and introducing him to goat flesh. In The Mediations, Marcus explains, “Men are born for each other’s sake. So either teach people or endure them” (Aurelius 85). That was an ideal example because Crusoe could have just co-inhabited with Friday as he was. Of course at the risk of Friday cannibalizing him and not being able to communicate. However, Crusoe chose to teach Friday to communicate so they could work together. In addition, he introduced Friday to the goat meat in hopes that Friday would enjoy it and chose to discontinue eating human flesh. Marcus also informs us that we must live for the moment. We should not be worrying about the past because we cannot change it and never mind the future because it is not here yet (Aurelius 22). Aristotle quotes Agathon in the Nicomachean Ethics when referring to acts of the past, “Of this alone even a God is deprived- to make what is all done to have never happen” (Aristotle 87). I believe this is an important concept with work because often times in our everyday lives we spend so much time stewing over all the horrible things that have happened to us. When indeed, we cannot change the past and what we should be doing is living and enjoying the moment. We also spend so much time worrying about our jobs or the difficulty of our lives that we lose sight of good things that are happening to us or have happened to us. This concept also plays out in Robinson Crusoe when Crusoe starts to get resentful of his fate or situation; he ultimately ends thinking how fortunate he is just to be alive. Unlike his other shipmates who met their fate by perishing into the sea. Marcus follows up by saying “Nothing happens to any man that he was not born able to endure” (Marcus 43). I got the impression that Marcus Aurelius also believed that everybody has a predetermined “lot”. That we all have a predefined time here on earth and that we should just accept everything that happens to us as just. This is where I may be misunderstanding Marcus but, he makes reference to this when says “Only love your present lot and fate, for what could be more suited to you?” (Aurelius 69). I found this sense of universe and nature between Marcus Aurelius and the Stoicism way of thinking to be at least a little similar to the Taoism belief in nature. An example that leads me to this correlation is from the Tao Te Ching when it speaks of the body. It states, “Treasure great misfortunes as the body. Because I have a body” (Chen 86). When talking about nature and the universe as a whole this is a powerful statement. The Taoism logic in the statement above is assuming man loves his body. If a man loves his body, he must love everything that happens to it regardless of its misfortune. This is not too far off from Marcus’s attitude of “it is what it is”. In conclusion, the idea of work and how all these different philosophies such as the Stoicism, Epicureanism, Taoism, and the Arendthian view the world is really widening my understanding of work and how it has evolved over time. Truly, work in the modern world is different. My view of the world and the different ways of approaching work has also changed. I am also gaining a better understanding of the human condition. Marcus Aurelius really made me take a look at my life. It also made me look at death in a different manner. I could honestly say I am more accepting of it just by reading Marcus Aurelius. That is how powerful it has been for me. William Defoe’s depiction of Robinson Crusoe is also remarkable in that it shows work in all its many forms and how it is used. Arendt helped me identify those different forms of work in the story Robinson Crusoe. Also, I now have a better understanding of how the human condition relates to work.


References Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1961. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics Trans. Terrence Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999 The Oxford Study Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 1976. Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc., 1998 Tao Te Ching. Tao Te Ching. Trans. Ellen M. Chen. St Paul: Paragon House, 1989. Marcus Aurlius. The Meditations. Trans. Hacket. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983


Jeff Russell


Bravery in the Twenty-first Century: The Civilian National Security Force or Hell No We Won’t Go Redux

With the election of Senator Obama to the presidency, the youth of America will be challenged in ways not seen since President Kennedy’s call in 1961: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” Responsibility is the sincere assumption of certain obligations, duties, or privileges, whether forced upon us by other people or circumstances, or voluntarily assumed. In the decades since Kennedy uttered those inspiring words, generations of Americans, have been taught by an education system that has left them with nothing to be proud of, certainly not pride of country. However, Americans of all ages have once again, been given a golden opportunity to truly live in the public realm. On July 2, 2008 Senator Obama, gave a speech where he called for the formation of a “Civilian National Security Force,” Saying his call to community service, "Will be a central cause of my presidency." He wants to double the Peace Corps' budget by 2011, and expand AmeriCorps, USA Freedom Corps, VISTA, Youth Build Program, and the Senior Corps. Plus, he proposes to form a Classroom Corps, Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, Veterans Corps, Homeland Security Corps, Global Energy Corps, and a Green Jobs Corps.1 On September 9, 2008 at the National Service Forum held at Columbia University, in remarks that clearly pointed toward the restoration of the military draft under an Obama administration, Senator Obama, said that his job as president would include demanding that the American people recognize an “obligation” for military service. “If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.”2 But this forces one to step up and be counted. By requiring women to register for the selective service, and with the policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” revoked, tens of thousands of new recruits, previously unable to join the military, will be given then a noble cause to, as Aristotle called it, “become a virtuous person.”3 Writing in The Human Condition, Arendt tells us that the public realm, which only existed for the citizen in Athens, is almost interchangeable with action. Whoever entered the political realm had first to be ready to risk his life, and too great a love for life obstructed freedom, is a sure sign of slavishness. The “good life,” As Aristotle called the life of the citizen, therefore was not nearly better, more carefree, or nobler than ordinary life, but of an altogether different quality.4 Every one of us starting when we are young should do our own work with as much ability as we possess with an aim to increase that ability as the months and the years go by. We should constantly work to increase this capacity, for by so doing we render a service not only to ourselves and our president, but to the community. Aristotle tells us that the more virtuous one is, the happier they are. Some of the most important virtues, which I fear, most of American society seems to have forgotten, are kept alive and nourished in the military; virtues such as loyalty, sacrifice, and bravery. I feel what really matters about bravery isn't necessarily bravery itself but what motivates it. Love causes us to be moved by brave acts. When facing danger while telling others to run away, that protection is motivated by love. When our soldiers do heroic things on the battlefield, it is motivated by love. It could be love for their comrades or it could be out of love for their families back home, or it could even be out of love for their country.

Aristotle further states, to be truly happy one must live a virtuous life, based on understanding and reason. He writes that there are two types of virtue; one of thought, and the other of character. Virtue of thought comes about through teaching, while virtue of character is brought out through habit.  This virtue of character is something that all people are born with, and by developing this ability for virtue while still young through good work habits, one is able to grow into adulthood a happy person.

Aristotle takes us a step further by explaining what is best for the individual is best for the whole community. The most important decision in this process is to decide to have a virtuous life to begin with. Aristotle felt that education is the most important action because it leads to understanding and reason, which in turn leads to greater happiness. The way to get citizens involved in civic life, the way to create a common culture that will make a virtue of our diversity, the way to give us that more capacious sense of "we" — finally, the way to keep the Republic — is universal national service, service that is in our enlightened self-interest as a nation. In seeking to be of service to others, however, one thing is constantly to be kept in mind. It is not out intentions that counts but the results and the way in which those results are achieved. If what we do for others helps them to become stronger, more courageous, more honorable, more just, more dependable, and more independent, then we can truly feel that we are conferring a benefit and rendering a service. It is the simple but compelling idea that devoting a year or more to a Civilian National Security Force instead of servicing in the military, should become a countrywide rite of passage, the common expectation, and widespread experience of virtually every young American. We cannot avoid this responsibility except by a refusal to undertake this performance, and where the responsibility is a moral one that should be undertaken by us, we cannot avoid this responsibility even by our refusal to accept it. If there has ever been a time in our nation’s history that, we, as a people, need to become a united country; this is the time and this is the man chosen to lead us. We must put our trust in him. However, Obama’s call for National Service will test us all particularly those in their twenties. Loyalty requires that every man, woman, and child should give their full measure of ability and careful thought to this work whether they like it or not, whether their efforts are appreciated or not, in order to prove true to their own best interests, both as to the upbuilding of character and the acquiring of the ability to work under adverse conditions. Not since World War II have the American people been united in a single cause, and it is the young who must lead the way by putting our country’s needs first. However, during WW II, the United States met its manpower requirements by implementing the draft. To accomplish everything that a President Obama wants to do will require a return of the draft as well. The United States ended the military draft in 1973. This time however, you will have no choice in the matter as the Presidential Executive Order has already been signed and has become the "law,” without the messy annoyance of congressional voting or debate, of course. As of June 2006, the new age limit of conscription was pushed up to 42 years of age, not 26 years as was the traditional limit.5 When, not if, the military draft returns, it will be enacted by a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President given a mandate by the American people looking for “change” not realizing what “change” actually meant. We will be living in a modern, progressive society and each individual; regardless of skin color, male or female, gay or straight will be forced to choose a way of life that up to this point in their lives and they haven’t a clue about.

Nothing in their background or education will have prepared them for life in the “new” United States. They are going to have to depend on society and the person next to them, but most of all themselves, to help keep their sanity by looking into their soul. It is there, that we need to look. By working together we can once and for all begin to heal. It will take sacrifice and forgiveness.


Works cited: 1) Obama, Barack. “Obama’s Remarks on Service.” Washington Wire. 2 July 2008. <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/07/02/obamas-remarks-on-service/>. 2) Martin, Patrick. “Obama calls for US military mobilization.” World Socialist Website. 13 September 2008. <http://wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/obam-s13.shtml>. 3) Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958. 4) Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Terence Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1999. 5) Adachi, Ken. “The Coming Military Draft Will Mean Compulsory Induction of American Men and Women age 18-42.” Educate Yourself. 10 January 2007. <http://educate-yourself.org/cn/comingdraft10jan07.shtml>.



Jess Buthorn

From Me to You

“I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.” Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine, September 2002

Throughout history, the types of work people have chosen to do are as subjective and variant as the motivations that influence the decided task. Work can be motivated by profit gains, social competition (“Keeping up with the Jones”), or simply mere survival. Ethics are a characteristic of an individual, which can impact the type of work one selects. For one, belief an a ethical code, whether it is a religious creed or secular philosophy, provides a framework for an individual to work from. Second, many moral ideologies encourage a sense of humility, which can inspire one to aim their work at the benefit of a greater, collective whole.

  Ethics influence the work an individual does because adherence to an ethical ideology provides a structure from which to work from. Taoism is an eastern philosophy centered on human activities corresponding to the cycle of nature. The Tao is not a noun, but an active verb. According to Taoism, the Tao is the “unceasing creative activity”(Chen, 65) behind the heavens and natures works. A Taoist believes an individual’s desires and works should follow what is provided by the collective whole of nature, which in turn will provide the person with immortality. “When the particular follows the universal, or when humans follow earth and heaven, which in turn follow Tao, they are long lasting as Tao” (Chen, 72). Hence, a belief in universal order provides an ideology on which Taoist’s actions are to abide by. 

Similar to Taoism, Marcus Aurelius professed to submit to a larger, universal structure which presided over human existence. As a Roman Emperor, Aurelius witnessed multicultural facets throughout his empire. Upon seeing the cultural differences upon man, Aurelius concluded that there was the Logos (the Whole), a supernatural entity which controlled the nature of the world and the universe beyond. Like the Taoist, Aurelius believed humans should not only parallel the work of nature, but events should be accepted as the nature of the Whole. “Everything which happens, is right… for you exist as part of the Whole. You will disappear into the Whole which created you” (Grube, 27-28). Because of his belief in a larger order to the nature of things as opposed to gauging matters based solely on the man-made world, Aurelius developed a non-esoteric view the world. This ideology allowed him to apply his beliefs to his actions. “Always keep this thought in mind: what is the essential nature of the universe and what is my own essential nature? How is the one related to the other, being so small a part of so great a Whole? And remember that no one can prevent your deeds and your words being in accord with nature” (Grube, 14). With an ethical ideological creed in place, an individual can then use work as a means to increase the welfare of others. Work grounded on ethics inspires a lessening of sense of self, which promotes focus on the greater whole of a society or humanity. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s opening line states “every craft and every line of inquiry, and likewise every action and decision, seems to seek some good” (1). He claims a “good” is the destined, completed result of all actions. Next, he claims the greatest good of all is happiness, for we seek it for its own. Pleasure, wealth, and honors are actions sought to become happy, but aren’t complete and don’t ensure happiness. However, because we are political beings, Aristotle believes “ethics seek to discover the good for an individual and a community” (Irwin, xvi). Therefore, since happiness is greatest, complete good achievable an action and humans are political beings, it is ethically appropriate to promote happiness within the society. “For while it is satisfactory to acquire and preserve the good even for an individual, it is finer and more divine to acquire and preserve it for a people and for the cities” (Irwin, 2). Similarly, Marcus Aurelius’ ethical principles promoted his actions to benefit the collective whole. A characteristic of Aurelius’ concept of the Whole is that the Whole does not impose evil actions, for all actions from the Whole are the order of the universe. Therefore, because the Whole is beneficial to all and men should act in alliance to the Whole, they too should act justly. “The material substance of the Whole easily submits to persuasions and change. The Reason which governs it has within itself no motive for evil-doing, for it contains no evil. It does no wrong to anything, nor is anything injured by it, but all things come into being and run their course in accordance with it” (Grube, 49). In The Meditations, Aurelius is continually concerned on what is “to be good”, and how one achieves it. Like Aristotle, Aurelius realizes man-made values, such as wealth and honors, are futile to happiness/goodness. Repeatedly, Aurelius claims goodness is only achievable through working in unison with the universal order. “You [I] did not find the good life anywhere, not in reasoning, not in wealth, not in reputation, not in pleasures – nowhere. Where then is the good life to be found? In doing what the nature of man requires” (Grube, 74). If the nature of man is to be impartial and morally right, as is the nature of the Whole, one’s actions should be undeterred, acting “without turning back and say what seems to you most just. Only act with kindness, reverence and sincerity” (Grube, 75). Ultimately, Aurelius’ ethics grounded in a cosmological order which serves all, installs a sense of humility which in turn promotes the societies needs over his own, for “to benefit others is to act in accord with nature”(Grube, 73) and the “things which are beneficial to these communities are good for me”(Grube, 58). Taoism also instills a sense of humility by focusing on actions promoting the wellness of others. “The true fulfillment of the self is through fulfilling others”(Chen, 75). A person with superior goodness is like water, Water is good in benefiting all beings, Without contending with any. Situated in places shunned by many others, Thereby, it is near the Tao. (The Tao Te Ching, poem 8; Chen, 75). As with Aurelius, the Taoist assertion of serving others is predicated on the notion that nature serves all. Therefore, Taoism promotes “the belief that true virtue imitates the ways of nature” (Chen, 111). From this perspective, the Tao Te Ching continually instructs leaders (the sage) to apply the habits of nature into their respective political and social landscapes. For “the best human government blends with the government of nature” (Chen, 97). In conclusion, the role of ethics is instrumental in how an individual perceives work. By abiding to the structure of a particular moral code or creed, a person can be molded to use work to the benefit of others.


Works Cited Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Terrence Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999. Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983. Chen, Ellen M. The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary. St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House, 1989.


John Malik Zinser


Aristotle recognizes a divine being that has a rational soul, but no feelings or non-rational desires. Aristotle explains emotion: “emotion is a non-rational desire for objects that appear good, not merely pleasant because of the agents emotions… [it is] self assertive feelings involved with pride and with anger” (Aristotle 394). Aristotle views the divine as holding the properties of a virtuous human, yet differs from humans with the absence irrational thought.

"Why did God create man?" An answer comes: "To be known." The simplest aspect of the view is that we are here to discover God. But are we not also here for God to discover Himself...to witness the infinite manifestations of the Divine in what is a very un-Divine being, man. The experience of faith is not a static, one-way process: It is a becoming. It is a mutual discovery between the created and Creator, the lover and the Beloved, the Lover and beloved.

Aristotle says, “excellence is found in all sorts of expenses called honorable, e.g. in expenses for the gods- dedications, temples, sacrifices and so on for everything divine” (Aristotle 1112b20). Work is often intertwined between gods and humans. In many of the texts addressed, we see a direct work between them. Here, Aristotle speaks to a more realistic notion of God. Most people don’t have such direct relations to the divine, yet their work for, worship of, and dedication to God is admirable. It is founded on intellectual ideas alone, and is in absence of physical reward.

In Robinson Crusoe, like the Odyssey, we see an abstract idea of talking to God become real. We can see Daniel Defoe’s justification of hardship and appeal to “the worker”. Unlike Aristotle’s idea that only the elite can be virtuous, Crusoe is limited in his wealth when he is stranded and is still, in many ways, virtuous. Robinson Crusoe looks back on his miserable desert island with longing eyes (101). When Crusoe faces the test of nature, he realizes he had taken for granted the isolated life he renounced when trying to leave. This is the idea of ‘brutal existence’ being softened. With hard work, and thanksgiving, Crusoe can have success on the island. A non-elite can appreciate his situation. The evil in Crusoe’s life can be managed and even harnessed to create good.

The idea of self-learned religion as a natural occurrence: this shows the separation of society and religion. In Robinson Crusoe the established contract and the ability to break it or revolt against it naturally occurs and parallels progressive individualism and the social contract historically prevalent at the time . The idea of political revolt and that of freedom to practice religion can be seen here. “The appeal to the social contract theory matches the state of nature… justifying political relations not based on tradition or divine rights” (Stephens lecture, 12-1). Again, the hero, Robinson Crusoe establishes religion with conversations with God and the bible; aside from society. This idea also shows Daniel Defoe’s voice as a Dissenting Protestant against the Roman Catholics with his open-mindedness toward Crusoe’s practice and acceptance of Christianity (Susan’s lecture, 12-1). It also is important to the idea of elites. According to Aristotle, virtue comes through knowledge. Aristotle would say that religion has to be learned, and cannot come though raw emotion. Although Crusoe does have a Bible to read, he is not schooled by any means and often comes to decisions through thought (this is seen in Robinson Crusoe as conversations with God).

In The Meditations, “The poet sings; ‘Dear city of Cecrops,’ and will you not say ‘Dear city of God?’” (Aurelius 19). We see the city is referred to in a divine light. The author refers to the best city-state as holding the properties of sustained biological life, political life and that of thought. Talking about foreigners, “a fragment cut off from the city, he who cuts off his own soul form the soul of reasonable creatures, which is one.” (Aurelius 21). The city acts as one body. Mortal separation is against human nature and the human condition. Although humans were not put on this earth for each other (Arrelius 16); “a god fearing life: for the gods themselves will require nothing more of him who keeps these precepts” (Aurelius 7), the establishment of complex society, is necessary because it allows art, polis and thought. All though, but curiosity and malice are good and necessary. (Arrelius12). Crusoe follows all that God asks him in accordance with Aurelius and his goal is to be back within society.

Like Aurelius, Defoe has the idea that society can equate to divine or ultimate living. Regardless that Crusoe is able to find religion aside from society, his ultimate goal is to live within it. “As to my condition…[I am] fully comforted in resigning my self to the dispositions of Providence, I thought I liv’d really happily in all things, except that of society” (Defoe 105) Yet Crusoe has fulfilled this great test against him by establishing economy and even a form of political order on his own, we see his ultimate goal to be in society again, “God himself, by ejaculations, is not better than the utmost enjoyment of humane society in the world” (Defoe 99).

“Morover, let the God within be the guardian of a real man, a man of ripe years, a statesman, a Roman, a magistrate, who has taken his post like one waiting for the Retreat to sound, ready to depart, needing no oath nor any man as witness” (Aurelius 13). Aurelius calls death the ‘retreat’. The divinity within offers the ability to judge. “If nothing higher is revealed than the very divinity seated within you…you will no longer have the power without a struggle to prefer in honour that which is your own, your peculiar good” (Aurelius 13). Good comes from within, we consider, “how mortal man touches God and through what organ of himself, and when the part of him is in what sort of condition” (Aurelius 8). Yet, “remember your retreat into this little domain which is yourself…be free and look at things as a man, a human being a citizen, a creature that must die” (Aurelius 17). Truth to one-self is the highest form of godly delight. According to Aurelius, God’s measure of a man is in absence of God Himself. It is more integrity of human nature than integrity of belief, and worship of God.

My dad weighed in on the importance of Work. His idea is very pertinent to Crusoe’s confusion about about why God doesn’t abolish evil. “We must work to heal the world. Just because the world is in a constant state of destruction--doesn't mean that we--as believers--can turn our back. We have not only have faith, but we must work. Work to heal it”. This speaks to the importance of mankind. Belief and faith in God is very important, but this shouldn’t undermine the importance of humanity.

Crusoe doesn’t want to die on the island isolated from society. He is very conscious of danger surrounding him. Aurelius speculates about death:“ [In death,] it is at least doubtful whether the intellect will hereafter be the same, still sufficient to comprehend events and the speculation which contributes to the understanding alike of divine and human” Death brings the unknown; thought about the unknown has to be different, assumedly “Accordingly we must press forward… because every day we are drawing near to death,” (Aurelius 10). The author separates death from life. The connection that Aristotle brings of death as almost a continuation of life is different form Aurelius’. Aristotle justifies life and thought in it because of the continuation of the soul in the afterlife. Aurelius says contrary, life and though should exist for the very reason that life ends.

“Of this alone even a god is deprived- to make what is all done to have never happened” (Aristotle 1139a20). We see the past beyond both human and supernatural control. The quotation is about decision, an intellectual idea, yet is valid to the idea of physical action. Decisions cannot be made about the past because they require action. Action has a desire for an end. Desire or action toward an end cannot exist if it has already occurred.

In many ways, the possibility of evil brings about the possibility for its opposite. Crusoe, largely finds God in his times of solace and pain. The realities of nature and the evils (really the realities) of the world (starvation, storms, etc) offer faith and surrender as an alternative. Also though, the possibility for action is offered. Crusoe’s goal, (although controversial issues arise to the modern reader) is the betterment of humanity. without evil, no work is available to remove it.



Karie Vaughn

The Meaning of a Virtuous Life: Aristotle, Job, Aurelius & Tao Te Ching


Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, The Book of Job, The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and The Tao Te Ching, all provide insight and instructions about how one’s life should be lead so that one’s community will be stronger. Specifically, all the texts instruct that the virtues of kindness, honesty, obedience, and loyalty are to be raised above others. These books differ about whether one is rewarded by acting virtuously in an after-life. If there is an after-life, all the books assert that it is the here and now is affected by the individual’s conduct. Furthermore, it is these virtues which propel a whole community forward. By examining each of these works and contrasting the insights found in each, a better understanding can be obtained about how these authors view humanity and living a virtuous life. Aristotle paints a picture of virtue and the virtuous life in his book, Nicomachean Ethics, which cannot easily be changed but only reinforced by habit: Hence it is also clear that none of the virtues of character arises in us naturally. For if something is by nature in on condition, habituation cannot bring it into another condition. A stone, for instance, by nature moves downwards, and habituation could not make it move upwards, not even if you threw it up ten thousand times to habituate it; nor could habituation make fire move downwards, or bring anything that is by nature in one condition into another condition. And so the virtues arise in us neither by nature nor against nature. Rather, we are by nature able to acquire them, and we are completed through habit. (II.1.2-3; 1103a19-26)

In other words, Aristotle is saying that the core of a person cannot be changed, even with a huge effort and much practice – or habit. If a person was born narcissistic, that person may try to be less egotistical and more empathetic, but all of the efforts to change their core person will be unsuccessful. On the other hand if a person is born with great kindness, but chooses not to act with kindness it will simply be a virtue that is never really noticed about them. In other words, a person must not only be born with virtues, but they must also make a habit of exercising those character traits. Virtues cannot be added later in life if they were not given at birth. An evil person cannot be good, even if they practice doing the good things. Taken further, virtuous people are those who make a habit of acting well. Thus, bad people do bad things and live unfortunate lives. Aristotle’s ancient view of virtue is helpful in understanding The Book of Job, which is found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The main character, Job, lives a virtuous life. Yet instead of Job being rewarded for exercising virtuous acts, he is instead tormented. Job had a strong faith in God and is said to be a “blameless man.” A blameless man is one who is completely without sin and only acts virtuously. Job lives his life to please God and pleasing God leads Job to fortune. For Aristotle, Job would be a person born with many virtues, and who actually engages in the practice of behaving virtuously, and thus he would be entitled to a good life. However, Job loses his good life. In The Book of Job, an “adversary” or Satan tells God that Job is only blameless because god has shielded him from the realities of life. In other words, Satan believes Job is not virtuous in character; but only that his life has been blessed by God. Thus, according to the adversary, instead of “good things going to good people,” Job is just an average person who happened to be blessed and sheltered by God. The adversary suggests to God that if Job were to lose all his life work he would turn on God. God allows the adversary to kill Job’s children and destroy his worldly possessions. The adversary inflicts near death illness on Job. Job possessing the virtue of faith and loyalty does not curse God or turn his back on him. But instead questions why God is allowing this and insists that if he could talk to God face to face he could convince him that he was a righteous man and did not deserve this unjust treatment. Ultimately, God does reward Job for his virtue and loyalty. Job never turned on God, nor lost his faith despite the severity of his circumstances. Thus, Job reinforces what Aristotle instructed: virtuous people who make habits of acting virtuously ultimately live good lives. If Job had abandoned God, or abandoned the virtue of loyalty and faithfulness, certainly God would have punished him. Instead he was given more riches and a new family. Much like Aristotle would agree with the moral of Job in that Job was a virtuous person all along, and thus he was entitled to live a good life, Marcus Aurelius would also agree with the moral of the story of Job as it relates to virtue. In Marcus Aurelius’ The Meditations, he agrees that some virtues are simply born. However, Aurelius ends up being more hopeful than Aristotle in that he asserts that even if one is not born with the most important virtues, practicing those virtues, despite them not coming naturally, will result in the living of a good life. For example, some people are simply not born with a quick wit. However, one can practice at being witty. Further, the core virtues can be learned via practice: Men cannot admire you for cleverness. Very well, but there are many other qualities of which you cannot say: “I have not the natural gift.” Display then those virtues which are entirely without your power: sincerity, dignity, endurance of pain, indifference to pleasure, contentment, self-sufficiency, kindliness, freedom, simplicity, common sense, and magnanimity. Do you not see how virtues can be yours which do not admit to excuse of lack of inborn talent or of inaptitude? And yet you are still willing to be inferior in them. Does any lack of natural talent compel you to grumble, to be grasping, to toady, to denounce your poor body, to curry favor, to be vulgarly complacent, or to be always undecided in your faults long ago and only been convicted, if such is indeed the case, of being a somewhat dull and slow learner. And even a man’s mind must be trained, unless he is satisfied to encourage his slowness of wit and to take pleasure in it. (38. Bk. 5:5.)

Thus, Aurelius, in contrast to Aristotle, believes that the most important virtues can be obtained by habit. Aurelius gives the individual a lot of control because he believes that the individual can just act better and thus live better. Thus, for Aurelius, even if Job were not born a virtuous person he could simply practice being a virtuous person and thus live a good life. For example, Aurelius instructs: “whatever anyone does or says, I must be good.” This is as if gold or purple or an emerald were always saying: “Whatever anyone does or says, I must be an emerald and retain my own color.” (7:15.) You control who you are and how you act no matter what outside forces act upon you. He instructs his readers to try to understand why people act badly because it helps the person avoid resentments. If one were to apply the lessons of Aurelius to the story of Job, Aurelius would say that it was immaterial whether or not Job was born a saint or a sinner – a naturally virtuous person or an evil person, Job acted in a perfectly virtuous matter. Thus, Job was a good person and thus entitled to the rewards of a good life. Aurelius’ emphasis on personal responsibility in one’s actions correlates to the Tao Te Ching’s emphasis on a virtuous life being a part of the virtuous community. Traditionally, western philosophies emphasize individuality, while eastern philosophies tend to focus on the community. Given the shift in perspective, it is not a surprise that the virtues of the Tao emphasize humility and self-knowledge. Examples of these virtues can be found throughout the text: The good is resolute only, But dares not take the path of the strong Be resolute but do not boast Be resolute yet do not show off Be resolute yet do not be haughty Be resolute because you have no choice Be resolute yet do not overpower Pg 128 ch 30 verse 3 toa

The Tao was a political philosophy espoused by the ruling class. Thus, it encourages confident inner knowledge, which would hardly start a revolution. It wants its people to stay in line, all the while knowing they could lead the line if called upon. Even using with the virtues described by the Tao, which can be contrasted to those virtues described in western literature, Job would still be considered a virtuous man. Job was confident in the self-knowledge that he was without sin. Although it is hard to imagine a “perfect” person, if we take the story of Job at face value, he was not being boastful or lacking humility, he was simply acting with clear self knowledge. It is at least noteworthy to wonder if anyone aside from a completely fictional character could ever be so free of any failing that they would be entitled to make such bold demands from God under Taoist philosophy. Nonetheless, Job would be virtuous under Taoist philosophies. A unified theme of virtues is developed by looking that the philosophies found in Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, The Book of Job, The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and The Tao Te Ching. Specifically, all the texts instruct that the virtues of kindness, honesty, obedience, and loyalty are to be raised above others. It is these virtues which propel a whole community forward. Further, the virtuous life seems to lead to some form of immortality or a transcendental goodness that can create a meaningful life.


Work Cited


Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. New York:

               Macmillan Publishing Company, 1958.

Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Indianapolis:

               Hackett Publishing Company, 1983.

Chen M, Emily. The Tao Te Ching. St Paul:

                Paragon House, 1982.

The Oxford Study Bible version. The Oxford Study Bible.New York: Oxford UP, 1992.


Karl Reichert

Life, The Universe, and Everything


“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… and it was good” (Gen. 1. 1-2). Then God decided to screw over a man named Job just to win a bet with Satan. Hello dear readers, I’m back to tell you all how futile this existence we call life is. In my last essay I talked about how life is decidedly unfair and that even if we work hard, a reward of some kind is not always a guarantee. I ended with asking the question, “What else are we to do? Throw up our hand and give up?” In this essay I hope to look at what we are suppose to do when we realize that our work may not pay off, but first I wish to give more examples of people getting screwed over in there lives. I will be looking towards The Bible yet again, to take a look at a man called Job and the adventures of one Robinson Crusoe to help show the randomness and futility of life. Yet, to help balance out this rather dreary and depressing thought, I will look at The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and the works of the Tao Te Ching, to try and work out what the hell we are supposed to do when we discover that life is a force of chaos. In the Book of Job, we see a man who all his life has worshipped God correctly and given praise to God. For all his hard work, God has put his protection around Job and his family so that Job is doing very well for himself. He has seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she donkeys and a large number of slaves (Job.1.3). Now here comes the down side. God is in heaven one day holding court, when Satan comes up for a visit and they start talking. They make a bet that if Job loses everything, he will renounce God. So Satan comes down and destroys the life of a man who has done no wrong, yet has his sons and daughters killed, his flocks stolen, and his slaves murdered. And then when he still does not renounce God, Satan says it’s because Job is still healthy. So, God lets Satan put sores all over Job’s body (Job.2.7). So Job is sitting on an ash pile when his friends come along to try and puzzle out why God is doing this and come to the conclusion that Job is at fault. So they begin berating Job, saying that he is too stubborn and that he must have done something wrong. Then God comes down and tells them that Job has done nothing wrong and that good things happen to bad people and that, bad things happen to good people (Job.40-42). So a just, hardworking man is struck down for no real reason and then God himself confirms that life is chaotic, unfair, and that even if you work hard, you may still get screwed over. Now that we have seen a man purposely struck down by God, lets take a look at a man who seems to face several similar trials like that of Odysseus, yet without God or gods directly interfering. In Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe goes out to sea seeking adventure and wealth and just seems to get hit with one disaster after another. On his first voyage the ship he is on sinks out at sea (9), then he is captured by moors and is taken as a slave for two years. He escapes, yet when he goes out to Africa to get some slaves to sell, the ship he is on gets caught in another storm and he is washed up onto a deserted island on which he spends about thirty years, give or take a day. Now we come to something I started in my last essay about how it is hard to judge what is equal to what, for Crusoe comes to believe he is on the island as punishment for leading an unjust life, so he turns to God. Yet was his time on the island really equal to the bad deeds he had committed? From my perspective, maybe, for he did deal in the slave trade, yet for Crusoe, the slave trade was probably not one of the reasons he thought he was on the island. So unlike Job, who stays with God even though he is being unjustly punished, Crusoe turns to God because he has to believe he is being justly punished for wrongdoings, rather than accept that maybe he has just been chosen at random by life to be stuck on the island (70). So if there is no guided path, no reason four our strife and pain, and no real way to justify the inequality in our world, I ask again; what are we supposed to do? Wallow in our self-pity? Nash our teeth together in frustration? Why are we here, where do we come from, where are we going? All these have been questions that greater and smarter people than I have been trying to answer for a long time. Fortunately both The Meditations and the Tao Te Ching attempt to tackle these hard questions and seem to arrive at some interesting theories. In The Meditations, we have a man who was the leader of the Roman Empire, Marcus Aurelius trying to puzzle out some of life’s great mysteries, such as why are we here and what is important in life. One of the main points in The Meditations is that in the end we are all going to die. “Now, if ever, you must realize of what kind of governor of the universe you are our emanation, that a time limit has now been set for you and that if you do not use it to come out into the light, it will be lost” (13; Book II, pt 4). So in life, the one guarantee, the only prize at the end of this game, is death. And once we are dead we are all equals, “Alexander the Great and his groom are reduced t the same state in death” (53;Book VII, pt 24). O.k. so death comes for us all, but what should we attempt to do if where we are going doesn’t matter? Why try at all? Well, according to Aurelius, we should strive for the good because helping our fellow man seems to be the one thing that may actually matter “Think at all times how you can perform the task at hand with precise and genuine dignity, sympathy, independence, and justice, making yourself free from all other preoccupations. This you will achieve if you perform every action as if it was the last of your life, if you rid yourself of all aimless thoughts, of all emotional opposition to the dictates of reason” (13; Book II, pt 5). Aurelius seems to believe that life is to short and important to get caught up in anger and other negative emotions, and that to lead a worthwhile life, one must find what makes life worth living to each of us. Find a craft, something you enjoy doing and go after it with everything you have, but not to the exclusion of other people. The work we do seems to be the one reason Aurelius gives for us not throwing our hands in the air and giving up. That only through work of some kind, can a person find a reason to keep going on in life. However, Aurelius also seems to think suicide is a acceptable route to go, “If the fates do not allow you so to live, then depart this life, but as one who suffers no ill” (46; Book V, pt 29), so long as you don’t commit suicide due to anger, depression, guilt, est. So this is the viewpoint of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, but what about others? What do others say about our existence and what we should live for if our works do not bear fruit? The Tao Te Ching is an eastern book that deals with how a sage should attempt to live there lives by being good, yet being unaware that they are doing good. Confused yet? Well, lets see if this can help explain it, “One who shows off his deeds is not meritorious. One who boasts of himself does not lead” (115; Book 24, pt 2). The overall theme seems to be that a sage is a person that has emptied himself from acknowledging that they have done good works, so that their works would be good. So the reason we should not give up are that we have a mission to do some sort of good works with our lives. Work seems to be what both of these authors were attempting to get at as the reason to go on in this world, even if the work we do does not pay off in any way, the fact that we are striving toward that work is what makes our lives worth living. So in the end we are all going to die and there is not much that we can do about it. So it seems that the only thing we can do is attempt to make the best of a bad situation by trying to find some work that you enjoy doing and that gives you are reason to go on. This work doesn’t need to be a job, but could be a craft, friends, and charities, whatever makes you feel like you are working toward something even if you get screwed over by the fates. So yes the world is still unfair, and yes even if you get no reward for the work you do, the work itself is what is important for us human beings to strive for. Lets face it, we all need some kind of mission in our lives, or otherwise we get bored as hell. Well I guess that’s the great answer to “Life, the Universe, and Everything”.

Work Cited

Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Indianapolis: Hackett PC, 1983.

Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983.

The Bible. Oxford Edition. The Oxford Study Bible. New York: Oxford UP, 1992.

The Tao Te Ching. Trans. Ellen M. Chen. St. Paul: Paragon House, 1989.


M. Katy Kuchno

Getting from Here to There: Answering the Question by Questioning the Answer

Work, purpose, virtue, action, labor- all of these are words that can be commonly defined; or so one would assume. Today’s definitions of these ideas are a far cry from the ideas as they pertained to in the readings by early thinkers. Trying to wrap ones head around understanding both ancient and modern interpretations of these things is, in itself, a task. But once examined I feel that more questions are brought up than there were before they were defined. Since there are such differences in both the understandings and applications of the texts of scholars, from Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations to Carr’s What is History?, in regards to work and labor compared to that of our modern understandings, there seems to be little point in trying to force a connection with today’s society. Over time, ideas evolve and with that so do our overall understanding of things. Hence work, virtue, action, and labor, which are explained in various ways by early scholars, are now collectively placed under the realm of purpose. They give meaning to both the individual and society simultaneously, making the point that work, like history, is a creation of both an individual’s ideas and the societal importance equally. It all started with the original question of, which came first the individual or society, or at least that is where my reading originally took me. At some point I went from trying to explain work in the human condition, to trying to answer a question regarding the individual and society. Edward Carr raised somewhat the ultimate question, “Which comes first – society or the individual” (Carr, 36)? comparing this quandary to the same as the hen or the egg, reminding us that in the end it’s not really a question at all because “you can no more have the egg without the hen than you can have the hen without the egg” (Carr, 39). Yet I’ve come to realize that neither the society nor the individual is contingent upon the other. The individual does not have to be compliant to its society and society as a vast entity can never base its existence on a single part. Compliance is not necessary on either side, all that is needed is the acceptance that both exist. Life is never devoid of pain just as it is never devoid of pleasure. But one must learn to take the bad along with the good; everything that happens can be endured. A person must not dwell on what has happened, to be truly a good person you must be able to just take events, learn from them, and move on. You must “stop allowing your mind to be a slave, to be jerked about by selfish impulses, to kick against fate and the present, and to mistrust the future” (Meditations 17). For nothing can be achieved when one pigeon holes themselves in the past. Live presently, because when all is said and done nothing can be redone or taken back. Spending time dwelling is just wasting what life you have left, “it will keep you from doing anything useful” (Meditations, 28). Whether we make the choice or not, we are all actors in the society. Even with our non-action we are forming a place within the society. “You participate in a society by your existence” (Meditations 123), but there will always be those who are hands on, just as there will be those who are content allowing others to take the reigns. Either way society is acting around us, just as we are acting within it. But to be a “good man” the person must find that balance between action and non-action. Then they would be able to take part in the public sphere without it taking over a person’s privacy. A person can never state that they do not need society, nor can society have a voice to silence specific parts of it. “It never ceases to amaze me: we love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own” (Meditations, 162). We work for ourselves and that is where work makes purpose specific to the individual. But although we do work seemingly for ourselves, in reality nothing is done or can be done without it affecting the whole. No aspect of work, especially if taken by the definition Hannah Arendt gives in The Human Condition, can be seen without applying to the whole. Work, in itself, is relevant to the world, to an artifact that is made and then put into viewing. Working for the majority of individuals is, “excellence, by definition, the presence of others is always required” (Arendt 49), so that the best work involves the presence of others in a society regardless of personal requirement for their involvement. A person must live within a society without letting the society choose how they live. The things that occur on a daily basis do not dictate the future. Be present in an event not absent, but also not encompassed by it. Everyone goes through the same things, but what sets people apart is how they take those experiences and use them positively to move forward. By always learning and taking from others, a person is striving for a balance between their vices, thus becoming closer to virtue. The Tao Te Ching explains that, “having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue” (Tao, 10). Meaning that when we try to force things into an understanding, what we are really just doing is getting farther away from truly comprehending both ourselves and everything around us. Release and then we will be able to see things for what they are, not just in our lives but in the whole of society. I found that my understanding of the individual and how we relate to work was greatly shaped by Edward Carr. He demonstrates that history is a rough outline of what certain people want us to remember, and that work in itself has to be decided and made relevant not only by society but by individuals themselves. Instead of separating work, labor, and action into their own sections; early scholars focused on comparing the idea of the three in explaining how the work, action, and labor create the individuals place in society. Man is a part of society because society is pieced together by individuals. But each of those separate entities relies more on how the society constructs them than how they construct a society. This led me to assert that a man without a place in society, according to our works, cannot be viewed as a man at all. And the same can be said about society: a society without man to construct and validate its purpose isn’t really a functional society. But after reading the works of Marcus Aurelius and even Defoe, I feel that neither society nor the individual has more power over the other. Because in the end everything is good for the whole and being part of the whole is being involved within it. A good example of this would be when Robinson Crusoe, who stated that, “whatever happens has always happened… What links one human being to all humans: not blood, or birth, but mind” (Defoe 167). Crusoe was shipwrecked alone yet he had really just left one society and created his own. This was due to the fact that society was engrained within him, so that no matter how outside you may seem our basic instinct is to always go with what you know. With work there is the importance of virtue; Aristotle focuses directly on the fact that there are two types of virtue: moral and intellectual. In Aristotle’s text, Nicomachean Ethics, one is taught by constant practice and habit, while the other is learned though instruction. In discussing either one it is important to understand that according to Aristotle, no person is born devoid of virtue; that every person learns their virtues and vices based on what occurs around them. “Virtue of thought arises and grows mostly from teaching; that is why it needs experience and time” (Aristotle, 18). Aristotle asserts the basic necessity to be both a student and teacher within the society. Because by educating yourself and others everyone is becoming a better person and staying away from what Aristotle saw as the “ useless man” (Aristotle, 4). Carr states this same idea in a different way, showing that “no man is an island, entire of itself” (Carr, 36), that once we are born, society takes us and gets to work on transforming us. From love and pain, to excess and deficiency; a person’s life is a function of what is given and exposed to the individual from the world around them. This principle infers that society is necessary for the individual’s whole purpose and the individual is essential for society to progress. Over time my work, meaning my purpose, in this paper changed. I fought between the importances of explaining work as it relates to the individual and society and how the individual and society relate to each other. Leading me to another quandary of, which came first- the question or the answer? But what I’ve come up with is that neither reigns over the other, just like it isn’t important whether the society acts upon the individual or if the individual acts upon the society, because in the end both demonstrate a need for the other. Everyone has purpose, because everything is given purpose. From Aristotle to Carr, no definite answer is found other than the fact that in answering a question we are really just creating more questions, thus creating more work. Remember that, “everything is interwoven, and the web is holy; none of its parts are unconnected. They are composed harmoniously, and together they compose the world” (Meditations, 86). In understanding that, we can remember that, society and the individual just like the hen and the egg, whether dependant or independent of the other, both exist.





Works Cited Arendt, Hannah, and Margaret Canovan. The Human Condition. New York: University of Chicago P, 1998. Carr, Edward Hallett. What Is History? New York: Vintage, 1967. Chen, Ellen M. Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary. New York: Paragon House, 1989. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe and Beyond: The Complete Story of Robinson Crusoe. New York: Ann Arbor Media Group, LLC, 2006. Irwin, Terence. The Nicomachean Ethics. Boston: Hackett Company, Incorporated, 2000.


Kristen A. Westlund


Work Gives us Purpose

In my last writing, I covered several topics related to the way working makes our lives more purposeful than it would be were we to remain idle. This is particularly true if we perform our work in a purposeful manner. In the Odyssey, many of the character’s lives were made more purposeful by performing their daily tasks around the home, kingdom, and even the surrounding countries Odysseus journeyed to. Odysseus was purposeful in his quest to return home as shown by his determination throughout the narrative, and his dissatisfaction at remaining in one place for an extended period of time. Athena was purposeful in her desire to facilitate the return as demonstrative by the numerous creative ways she assisted him in his travels. The household workers were intent and competent in keeping the household running and they did so with little complaint. The protagonists in this story were depicted as not only perpetually idle, but they were also a notable detriment to Odysseus’ household. Later, we learned in Genesis that God was very clear in his directive for Adam to work the land. Even before the fall of man, Adam was instructed to care for the garden. For those who believe God exists, it is apparent that God’s purpose in putting us on the earth was for us to take care of the earth. Alternatively, those who do not believe in God may similarly infer that the author of the Bible had this belief and that he used the bible as a way of teaching us that caring for the earth is our duty. Although we accomplish this task successfully to a certain extent, we also expend a great deal of energy destroying the earth. Ironically, this creates more work for other humans to perform as they endeavor to restore the damage their predecessors caused. It is interesting to ponder whether this was meant to happen, or if this is just an interesting side effect of mankind’s presence on the earth. Previously, I posed a few questions regarding what our lives would have been like if we had not been given the chore of caring for the earth. Would we have expected everything to be provided to us with little or no work involved? Would this lack of work cause our lives to be mundane? I, for one, am sure that I would go stir-crazy if I did go to work at least part-time. I have said many times throughout my life that I would not quit my job if I won the lottery. However, I am sure I would cut back on my hour in order to spend more time performing the more rewarding work of parenting my children. In the Meditations, Aurelius said, “Were you born for pleasure, to feel things, and not to do them? Do you not see plants, sparrows, ants, spiders and bees perform their proper task and you do not hasten to do what your nature demands.” It was Aurelius’ belief that mankind was meant to not only work, but also to do so in a purposeful manner that benefits the entire universe. Aurelius deemed it to be in a human’s nature to work. Thus, if a human ignored their nature, they clearly must not love themselves. Aristotle used many metaphors to illustrate his beliefs regarding the way we should live our lives and to explain his meaning in layman’s terms. One such illustration was of a stone which by nature moves downward and cannot be habituated to move upward. Similarly, fire moves upward and cannot be habituated to move downward. By using this reasoning, Aristotle argued that if something, by nature, is of one condition, it cannot be habituated to take on another condition. Working is in our nature and is not something that should be looked at as an extemporaneous activity that we, as a society or as individuals, could get used to not performing. In most circumstances, working should be expected. Consequently, working is not something for which we should seek praise. Aurelius described three different types of men: one man expects people to show gratitude for the deeds he performed; a second does not expect a display of gratitude. However, when the third man finishes working on a project, he barely knows what he has done. It is in this man’s nature to do the work just like “the horse who has raced, the dog who has followed the scent, the bee who made the honey.” Aurelius portrayed this man as having an instinct to turn to the next task upon completion of the first, just as a grape vine turns to producing new grapes the next season. The Tao Te Ching referred to this cycle as well. “Now things grow profusely; each again returns to its root. To return to the root is to attain quietude; it is called to recover life. To recover life is to attain the Everlasting; to know the Everlasting is to be illuminated. I agree with this philosophy as I have several cycles of tasks which I repeat over and over in my life without the expectation of praise. Whether it is the cycle of finalizing a divorce in my work as a paralegal only to turn around and file a new action, or cleaning my house which will inevitably become dirty again, or changing a diaper knowing it will not stay clean; it is in my nature to do these things over and over again. It does not feel futile to do tasks that refuse to stay done, nor do I expect anyone to tell me what a good job I did. It is enough for me to get the task done so I can move onto the next. There is a personal satisfaction to be gained through working. Previously I spoke of the pride when we feel when we accomplish a task or meet a goal we set for ourselves. This feeling of accomplishment greatly contributes to our happiness. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle focuses on human excellence and he informed us of how we should live our lives in an excellent manner. Aristotle talks of the happiness (eudaimonia) we receive from “living well and doing well.” We can achieve this happiness by participating in virtuous activities. According to Aristotle, virtuous behavior can be achieved by participating in activities that are not to an extreme, either in excess or deficiency. When applying this philosophy to the workplace, I take this to mean that we should not over-work ourselves, nor should we sit around being lazy and idle. Similarly we should not strive to earn a six-figure salary, nor should we settle for living in poverty. Based on this principal, when making plans for our future, we should actively seek out professions that pay us a proper amount with which to support ourselves, but not so much that we have more money and possessions than we need. Robinson Crusoe’s father would attest to satisfaction he received from living a middle class life. The senior Crusoe urged his son very earnestly to seek out a profession which would place him in the middle class. I, too, agree with this notion. When I do not have enough money, I feel an overwhelming amount of stress and spend a considerable amount of time thinking about money. Consequently, I do not spend enough time concentrating on my family, education, or simply enjoying life. When I have excess money, I tend to spend it quickly and impulsively which puts me back in the position of not having enough. It is only when my budget is perfectly balanced, and I am living with just the right amount of comfort, that I can effectively focus on things other than money. The purpose of my working should be to support my family, not to supply myself with entertainment or to live a hedonistic lifestyle. Marcus Aurelius is one who would also agree with this philosophy as he believed in the importance of controlling your judgments and passions. Aurelius had the notion that we should live a life free from excessive and unnecessary actions. All actions should be purposeful and done with the intention of benefiting society as a whole. Aurelius also specifically credited his mother with teaching him to “live simply without any display of wealth.” Another interesting concept touted by Aurelius is the practice of desiring only what is meant to happen. Although this is a difficult thing to determine in terms of the future, it is readily apparent what events are happening right now, or what has happened in the past. Aurelius believes that the past and present events were willed by Logos and therefore they were unavoidable. Thus, it only makes sense for us to think of these events in positive terms since it does us no good to lament the unavoidable. Although this may be a difficult attitude to embody, to a certain degree, it would be beneficial to think of past events in these terms. Life can be so filled with regret, emotional trauma, and general disappointment. If we were all to use Aurelius’ Stoical philosophy, perhaps we would be able to get over our negative experiences by acknowledging them as an important part of our life experiences that the Logos intended for us to go through. Since my adolescence, I have done my best to life a life free of regrets and to try to look for the positive that comes out of seemingly bad experiences. There us usually a lesson to be learned or a toughening of character that I can use to help me get through the next similar experience. Aurelius spoke much of working and performing tasks with purpose and only doing those things which benefit the universe. Aurelius said that a man should “think at all times of how [he] can perform the task at hand with precise and genuine dignity, sympathy, independence, and justice, making yourself free from all other preoccupation. Aurelius believed in not only performing only tasks which are purposeful, but also to rid ourselves of aimless thoughts as they lead to aimless actions. I believe that performing our work in a purposeful manner will lead to a happier and more purposeful life.

Works Cited

1. Homer. The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc., 1998. 2. Suggs, M. Jack, ed. The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with Apocrypha. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 3. Ellen M. Chen. Tao Te Ching. Minnesota: Paragon House, 1989. 4. Marcus Aurelius. The Meditations. Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983. 5. Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Dover Publications, 1998. 6. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999.



Melanie Lynae


Work and the Complete Life


In order to discuss the issues relating to the concept of work, the definition of the word ‘work’ needs to be clarified. Work is one of the unique words in the English language because the definition varies greatly according to the context that it is used in. There are several different situations that the word work could be used in. However, there is a commonality between them; all of them refer to a process. This process relates to the universal goal of achieving a complete life. According to The Bible, work was a punishment for disobeying God. “… on your account the earth will be cursed. You will get your food from it only by labour all the days of your life; You will eat of the produce of the field, and by the sweat of your brow will you win your bread” (Gen 3:17-18 Oxford). The story of Adam and Eve should not be treated as fact but as explanations for questions that people have been asking for centuries. Although, work might be an unpleasant process for many people; there is still enjoyment of the benefits that work brings. Work is a vital part of the complete life because of the benefits that are gained by the individual. Although there are many theories about what a complete life is based on, the views expressed by Hannah Arendt in The Human Condition contain some of the more universal ideas of a complete life or vita activa. A complete life contains a mixture of work, labor and action. It is important that there is a mixture of these three concepts exists. Work, the concept that relates to the artificial aspect of human life; it is important because it is important for people to create a place for themselves. Labor, the concept relating to biological processes, is necessary because it corresponds with the maintenance of good health. Action, the concept that relates to the plurality of humans, is important because human need social contact to remain healthy. A combination of these concepts is required in order to create a foundation that forms the structure of a complete life. The definition of a complete life varies greatly from person to person. Nevertheless, there are some commonalities between the perceptions of what is required for a complete life. The concepts of work, labor and action might be manifested differently but they are still present. An aspect of the complete life is the need that people have to create a place for themselves. In Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, the protagonist is marooned on a deserted island. Crusoe immediately begins to create a place where he can live and work. “My next work was to view the country, and seek a proper place for my habitation and where to store my goods to secure them from whatever might happen…” ( Defoe 38) His first instinct is to build a home where he can begin to provide for his basic physical needs of food, shelter and water. His home exists to provide him with a safe place to perform these activities. As Arendt described it in The Human Condition, “Work provides an “artificial” world of things, distinctly different from all natural surroundings. Within its borders each individual life each individual life is housed, while the world itself is meant to outlast and transcend them all.” (Arendt 7) Crusoe’s dwelling exists only for the purpose of providing him with a place to conduct the labor required to maintain his physical health. Although there are various opinions about how one should go about maintaining their physical health; there is no disputing that one needs to make an effort to achieve and maintain good physical health. This issue has been part of the human condition for centuries. Marcus Aurelius addressed this in The Meditations. “You are a combination of three parts: body, vital breath, and intellect. The first two are yours insofar as you must care for them, but third alone is yours in the strict sense. (Aurelius 122) Arendt also addresses this, “Labor assures not only individual survival, but the life of the species.” It is important to remain in good health not only for the benefits that good health provides; it insures the continued survival of the human race. Work provides a place for people to exist and function, labor provides a means to maintain physical health and action creates a society that can perpetuate the first two concepts. Crusoe lived alone, without the benefit of a society, on his island for many years, but he did so bringing the knowledge he had obtained from living in an industrial society. In the creation of his ideal life is the reflection of the ideals and values that the author was of the opinion formed the foundation of a complete life. Arendt, Aurelius and Defoe all wrote about their idea of what a complete life entailed. However, they all had something in common; they were strongly influenced by their society of origin. Edward Hallett Carr speaks to this phenomenon in What is History?. “Every human being at every stage of history or pre-history is born into a society and from his earliest years is moulded by that society….As has been well said, the individual apart from society would be both speechless and mindless.” (Carr 36-37) The influence that a society has on an individual begins the day that they are born. This influence can manifest itself in a variety of ways, either from the family of origin or from the society at large. It also can have an effect on the manner that individuals view how the complete life can be achieved in their unique circumstances as well as others achieve a complete life. In every society, there are different classes of people who have definite ideas of their roles in life as well as the people who surround. These ideas are determined by ethnicity, gender and social standing. This concept is emphasized when Crusoe finds Friday.”…I made him know that his name should be Friday, which was the day I sav’d his life; I call’d him so for the memory of the time; I likewise taught him to say Master and let him know, that this was to be my name…” (Defoe 151) It never occurs to Crusoe to treat Friday as an equal. He doesn’t make an effort to learn if Friday has a name. When he encounters Friday, his first thought is that he has found a servant. This belief was an effect of the society he lived in. Crusoe was a product of his society. The flaws of his society manifested when he encountered a person of color. When his treatment of Friday is analyzed from the perspective that slavery is an unpardonable offense, then his treatment becomes a cruel punishment. On the other hand, when one considers the fact that Crusoe provided Friday with food, clothing and shelter; insuring his survival, his behavior can be viewed in a more benevolent light. Arendt speaks to this conflict between slavery and free men. “This twofold and doubled “unhappiness” of slavery is quite independent of the actual subjective wellbeing of the slave. Thus, a poor free man preferred the insecurity of a daily changing labor market… and even harsh physical labor was preferred to the easy life of many household slaves” (Arendt 31) However, this view was prevalent in English society. When analyzing the actions of Crusoe through a contemporary lens; it is simple to arrive at the perspective that he was an immoral person. One should bear in mind that he was acting according to the current societal expectations. His behavior on the island, both before and after encountering Friday, was the expected or “proper” conduct for an Englishman. Upon his arrival on the island, he immediately begins to construct a home. He takes steps to feed himself. Every new food source that he discovers is a new stage of mastery over the island. He remains self aware, not falling into a bestial state. He keeps an account of everything he does. He repents and embraces the Presbyterian doctrine that he was raised with. During his time on the island, he achieved an existence that was extremely close to being the complete life for the time period that he lived in. The idea of what constitutes a complete life has changed greatly over time. The current ideal of what a complete life is varies greatly from to person. However, this variation has also become part of the complete life. Society has begun to recognize that there are many ways that a complete life can be achieved. Even though the concept of a complete life has changed drastically; it still has the same concepts of labor, work and action.


Bibliography- Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983. Carr, Edward Hallett. What is History? New York: Random House, 1961. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Mineola: Dover, 1998. Oxford Study Bible. Oxford UP, 1992.


Michelle L. Gulden


What is Work for Anyway?

It had been quite a while since my sister and I had a good old-fashioned gab session. I listened with concern as she shared with me her dilemma of having two jobs that kept her so busy that her health and family life were suffering. On one hand, she had a part-time paralegal job that she found challenging, rewarding and paid decent. On the other hand, she had a graveyard shift of delivery newspapers on several routes. After years of delivery papers in the middle of the night, she found that her health was suffering, her cars were getting beaten up from the harsh Alaskan winters, and she slept away too many hours of the day; Yet, this job paid extremely well (who knew you could make so much money delivering papers?) Her frustration peaked as she struggled with the pros and cons of each job and finally blurted out in an exasperated tone, “What is work for anyway!?” Although I didn’t have an answer for her at the time, what I would tell her now is this: Other than the obvious financial provision, work allows us to be creative, challenges us to be a better person, meets our social needs, and allows us to create change in the world. We need work in order to do these things. One of the rewards of work is the paycheck. The money that work provides allows us to meet our basic biological needs of food and shelter. A common cycle that many people slip into is that the more money you make, the more you spend. Even though basic biological needs remain the same, your desires seem to increase as your paycheck increases. The Tao de Ching implores us to focus on the “simple pleasures” (84) and warns about excess and the “futility and danger of holding in to worldly possessions” (78) and that our “consciousness comes to ruin when it madly pursues objects of desire” (84). Even Crusoe realized it was the basic essentials that mattered most when, after four years on a deserted island, he noted that he “had enough to eat and to supply my wants, and what was the rest to me?” (Defoe 94). I think that people attain more goods and property because they are trying to attain a certain level of wealth. But, how do we determine wealth? Some may see wealth only in terms of monetary and material possessions and that the more you have, the wealthier you are. Others may say they are wealthy because they have good health, a home, and food to eat. I would contend that wealth falls somewhere between these two stages as Crusoe’s father found “…the middle state, or what might be called the upper station of low life, which he had found by long experience was the best state in the world, the most suited to human happiness, not exposed to the miseries and hardships, the labour and sufferings of the mechanick part of mankind, and not embarrass’d with the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy of the upper part of mankind” (Defoe 2). However, unless you are focusing on keeping your life simple as the Tao implores, no station in life - whether it is the lower, upper, or the “upper station of low life” - will ever be enough. I would ask my sister, “What is enough for you and your family?” “Are two jobs providing you with money that is going to superfluous excesses that could be trimmed?” One of the greatest rewards of work is that it allows us to be creative. As created beings (Gen. 1.26), we have an innate desire to create and work is essential in providing the outlet for creativity. We tend to want to create something that will live on even though our bodies do not. If we are able to leave something behind for following generations – whether or not we are specifically remembered – then we are able to live on in a sense. In doing so, we break free from our human condition of mortality. Arendt notes that “the task and potential greatness of mortals lie in their ability to produce things – works and deeds and words – which would deserve to be…at home in everlastingness, so that through them mortals could find their place in a cosmos where everything is immortal except themselves” (19). We want to leave our mark on the world and shape it. One aspect of being creative is that it can allow us to create change in the world. Carr explains how an “outstanding individual is at once a product and an agent of the historical process, at once the representative and the creator of social forces which change the shape of the world and the thoughts of men” (68). At the same time we are trying to change the world around us, the world is changing us too. Here I would ask my sister, “Which job allows you the opportunity to make positive changes in your community?” Or, “Which job is best fitted to allow more time with your family so that you can affect change within the home?” Work is vital in providing the social and mental challenges we need to better ourselves as human beings and to “experience meaningfulness in talking and making sense with one another” (Arendt 4). Robinson Crusoe studied the Bible on his own but it wasn’t until he instructed Friday on its teachings that he was able to fully and completely understand his convictions due to Friday’s inquiries and Crusoe’s attempts at explanations (Defoe 162). As individuals, we need other people because we are “necessary and complimentary” to each other (Carr 36). Even Marcus Aurelius heeds that we are not to withdraw from the active life (10). Participation in the public realm affords one the opportunity to grow as a human being – to realize your full potential – which the private realm does not. It is the result of our interaction with others that we can work on our virtues of character. Virtues such as generosity, temperance, magnificence, truthfulness, and wit (to name just a few) can only be attained through are our contacts with people; people tend to be the scratchy sandpaper that either rubs us raw or refines our virtues – it all depends on how we react or act upon situations. Again, I would ask my sister a question or two in this area: “Which job allows you to grow as a human being? Which job challenges you to be a better person?” And perhaps most importantly, “Which job allows you to fulfill others as you fulfill yourself” (Tao 75)? My sister mentioned that she has a lot of fear if she decides to end the well-paying newspaper route since it provides a comfortable extra income. However, I found in life that sometimes the most difficult decisions are the most rewarding in the end, just as Aristotle states that “both craft and virtue are in every case about what is more difficult, since a good result is even better when it is more difficult” (21). Although this decision may not be exactly in line with Aristotle’s virtue of bravery, I would say that for post-modern times, it comes close. “Hence, whoever stands firm against the right things and fears the right things, for the right end, in the right way, at the right time, and is correspondingly confident, is the brave person; for the brave person’s actions and feelings accord with what something is worth, and follow what reason prescribes” (1115b18-20). For an adult who lived a childhood filled with uncertainty and instability, change can be a scary thing. But change is not to be feared as it is a necessary part of nature and “all things are in process of change” (Aurelius 64, 75). The Tao tells us that all of life is in the process of change and is cyclical (94). I would ask my sister to base her decision on what is good not only for her but for her family as well. Aurelius reminds himself that in whatever actions he does, it must be done with respect to the greater good of the community and the whole of humanity (98). It is easy to do what is best for ourselves, but in the long run it is more beneficial to us if we act in such a way that benefits humanity – or, on a smaller scale, our family. In order to do this, we must act with purpose and focus. We need to remove all irrational thoughts and behaviors from our mind when performing a given task, such as making a difficult decision. In doing so, we can live the good life because actions that benefit mankind result in an individual’s good life. (Aurelius 23, 98)

I commend my sister for pausing to take a discerning look at her work situation. Arendt asks that, if nothing else, we stop and “think what we are doing” (5) since “truth can only reveal itself in complete human stillness” (15). If after taking this moment of reflection she realizes that one of these jobs is not providing her with the qualities she finds to be important in her life - adequate income that provides for her basic needs, an opportunity to be creative and affect change around her, and an atmosphere that provides for the betterment of herself and the fulfillment of others, then I would hope that she bravely and wisely makes decisions to rectify her situation. It is important to note that work alone may not provide all of these qualities; however, there are other avenues – through family, volunteer work or social groups – that can provide what is lacking in her job. Most importantly, as Aurelius states, she has the freedom of choice (121) and can change her course (76) to find the work that she loves and persevere in it (6). In closing, I dedicate this paper to my sister. As we are both rational beings, I use the contents of this integrative essay as a means of helping her make her decision with purpose and reason. “I stir up [her] reason with my own, inform [her], and put [her] in mind of it” (Aurelius 46). It is easy enough for me to tell my sister what decision I think she should make, but if I can use reason that allows her to reason it out for herself, then she can own the decision and have more power in it. In order to make her decision, I leave these parting words from Marcus Aurelius: “When things appear too enticing, strip them naked, destroy the myth…” (50).

Works Cited

Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1958. Aristotle. Nichomachean Ethics. Trans. Terence Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1999. Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983.

Carr, Edward H. What is History? New York: Random House, 1961. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1998. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1961. Tao Te Ching. Trans. Ellen M Chen. St. Paul: Paragon House, 1989.

The New English Bible with the Apocrypha: Oxford Study Edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1976.



Natan Antolin


Work And The Human Condition

Work can be seen and done in many different ways, so I have broken down my understanding of work into three different categories, survival, love and greed work. What I mean by survival work would be work that is done for the basic needs such as, food, water and shelter. Work that is done to provide for the basic needs of people and or what people think they need. Love work can be seen as working to insure the survival of loved ones, making money for yourself or your family, working on your hobbies, working in order to make yourself and or others happy. And greed work can be seen as work that is done in favor of one-person. A person whose own desire over comes that of everyone else’s. These three categories of work all over lap each other to create our everyday work experiences, from the simple fact of your heart pumping to making money. In this paper I will use these three examples to highlight the different types of work and how they affect the human condition. My first example will be Robinson Crusoe, whose ship was wrecked in a violent storm and was stranded on an island for 28 years in Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe does a great deal of work in his lifetime. When Crusoe gets stranded on the “island of despair” as he called it, he uses the survival work to get his basic needs met. Crusoe finds him self in a perfect location where he can create a little fort and collect things that can be scraped from the ship wreak, food and gun powder being his priority. He gets his basic needs of survival, shelter and food met before perusing on to do other things. Crusoe begins building his table and chair, which would be under the category love work. By building the table and chair it will help him have some familiar objects that he had back home, helping him with his sanity. Crusoe’s greed work would be himself not being satisfied with riches he already had. He already had a plantation that was making a decent amount of money. “I went on the next year with great success in my plantation - these fifty rolls being each of above a 100wt.” (Defoe 27) Crusoe’s greed for money made him go on the voyage that would change his life forever. “I must go and leave this happy view I had of being rich and thriving man in my new plantation, only to pursue a rash and immoderate desire of rising faster than the nature of the thing admitted.” (Crusoe 27) The majority of Crusoe’s work on the Island was survival work. In order to maintain his sanity he found activities and projects that would aid in his survival, such as keeping track of time. He kept track of time by carving lines into a tree; thus he was able to tell what day it was. By keeping track of time Crusoe managed to remain connected to the order of the universe, as he knew it. By figuring out how to keep track of the days he managed to change the compounds so he can preserve the order of his universe. As Aurelius puts it, “changes in the elements changes [the] compounds [that] preserve the ordered universe” (Aurelius 12).


We all have a time limit while we live, it started the moment you were born and it ends when you die. Robinson Crusoe went by the philosophy of Aurelius by staying in the order of the universe, as he knew it by keeping track of time. As Aurelius puts it “You must realize what kind of ordered universe you are a part, of what kind of governor that universe you are an emanation, that a time limit has now been set for you and that if you do not use it to come out into the light, it will be lost, and you will be lost, and there will be no further opportunity” (Aurelius 13).

My second example of the human condition and work is through the life of Marcus Aurelius, who was a Roman Emperor and one of the most important Stoic philosophers. Aurelius worked under the category of love and greed. Aurelius wrote The Meditations to better him self and his society. “ If someone can show me and prove to me that I am wrong in what I am thinking or doing, I shall gladly change it, for I seek the truth, which has never injured anyone. It is the man who persists in self-deception or ignorance who is injured” (Aurelius 53). Aurelius raised an interesting point that made me wonder and think further about love work. In order to truly do love work do you need to love your self? Aurelius writes “ you shame yourself, my soul, you shame yourself, and you will have no further opportunity to respect your self; the life of every man is short and yours is almost finished while you do not respect yourself but allow your happiness to depend upon the souls of others” (Aurelius 13). In order to be able to love you must love your self first. I believe in order to truthfully do love work one must know how to love your self as well. In the Tao Te Ching it is mentions that, one should “treasure the body as the world, As if the body can be entrusted to the world. Love the body as the world, As if the body can be entrusted to the world” (Chen 86). Loving your self insures that you are confidant with your self and by being confidant you are not depending on others for their approval.

Aurelius greed work showed at the time of his death when instead of following tradition, he had his son Commodus become the successor accompanying him. Traditionally the emperor would find the successor and not keep the power in the family showing the greedy work done by Aurelius.

My third example of work and the human condition is through the life of Job. A G-d fearing man who did everything he can in his power to please G-d and have him watch over his family. G-d made a bet with the devil over the faith and love of Job. The devil reeked havoc over Job killing all of his children and all of his livestock leaving him miserable with out any of the things that he loved and worked for.

In order to live a content life you need a mix of all the three types of work. Survival work, which provides for the necessities of life, is not enough for most people to feel content and purposeful. Love work, which provides the feeling of happiness, desire and purpose, but does not solely provide what is necessary for survival. Greed work, which provides the feeling of accomplishment by being goal oriented, does not provide the feeling of contentment. Moderations of love, survival and greed work will help a person be content, productive and happy in life. You need all three types of work to make the most out of the human condition.



Rachel Lemke


Individual & Society


“Cities force growth and make people talkative and entertaining, but they also make them artificial.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What conditions define the individual and society? One thing is certain, the individual and society have a relationship with each other, but this relationship is complicated and has been viewed differently by intellectuals for all of time. Based on research, individuals must decide what point of view they want to invest in. Although what constitutes the individual and society is always adapting, one thing does remain certain. To live a complete life it is important to live as the individual in society apposed to the individual of society; The individual of society concerns himself with th e daily dramas that disfigure the public stage of speech, while the individual in society does not concern himself so much with the dramas as with living a virtuous life.

Many books that we have read this quarter have stressed how the individual and the public define each other (Arendt 41; Aurelius 85; Carr 36). This is apparent when you consider that the public is the stage, created by individuals, that facilitates interactions between human beings. As Arendt points out, what constituted the public realm, eventually adapted into our view of modern society, where private matters of individuals become public matters (Arendt 28). She continues, “society expects from each of its members a certain kind of behavior, imposing innumerable and various rules, all of which tend to “normalize” its members, to make them behave, to exclude spontaneous action or outstanding achievement (40). Since societies are based upon a speci fic set of conformities that separate it from others and compel its members to fulfill these social norms, regardless of their inner desires; then it becomes obvious that it nurtures artificial behavior because it influences its members to share one identity. As Carr notes, an individual’s thoughts are formed by their position in society (Carr 36). Therefore people gain distinctiveness from each other because of the uniqueness of their experiences.

“The empty pursuit of triumphal parades, the dramas of the stage, flocks and herds, battles with the spear, a bone thrown to puppies, scraps thrown into fish tanks, the calamities and burdens of ants, the scurrying of excited mice, puppets jerked by strings—amidst all this you must stand with kindness and without insolence, but realizing that the worth of each depends upon the worth of his pursuits” (Aurelius 61). Both The Meditations and the Tao Te Ching talk about living in accordance with nature as the method to a virtuous, complete life. What I have come to understand this to mean is to go with the flow and not allow yourself to get caught up in the day to day problems of the world (Chen 84).

Must you constantly be in company and conversation to be a functioning part of society? In Defoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe is apart from society and yet he is still a participant of it; he still uses its language and follows its costumes. Even though he isn’t being watched he is creating his own society and eventually he is joined by animals and a slave. Of course he endures loneliness because human interaction is a desired part of life, but he does not become any less human by being in solitude, as he feared. In fact there are positive aspects to his aloneness which people that seek constant company would miss. His time alone, living in accord with nature, really gives him the time to think about his life and the choices he has made, and he also blossoms spiritually.

One thing I have really considered this quarter is how important speech is. It is different from just communicating, which can be done in a number of ways. As we read Arendt I started to think of the political realm, in which the rules of societies are made. As Arendt explains society began to look “…to speech as a means of persuasion rather than the specifically human way of answering, talking back and measuring up to whatever happened or was done” (Arendt 26). I also think it might be relevant that speech is instantaneous whereas other forms of communication are not. Societies epicenter is the city; a place where humans can interact and converse with each other in large scale and politically.

Society and the individual are shaped at the mercy of perspective (Carr 42). Since every ones,=2 0including the historian, the writer, and the philosopher’s, perspective is shaped by their society then we must acknowledge that their arguments are also a byproduct of their society. This is important to understand when analyzing anything because the sources you use are basing their arguments on their perspective of life, making it obvious just how important perspective is when considering anything. Who is your source, what social biases do they have? These things determine which point of view the author will take. Furthermore the way in which anything is understood or expressed is dependent upon the individual’s perspective. Not only is our point of view determined by our society and experiences in life, it also determines how we view our society. This has changed my whole view of writing and reading in many ways; I don’t think I ever realized before how much of an affect society has on everyone or how that affect permeates almost all aspects of our lives. But more importantly, reading Carr, Arendt, and Aristotle has really helped me to understand the vastness of our quest to define the human condition and it has helped me to make the necessary connections between the human condition and society and the individual, action, and perspective.

“To live the good life to the end. The power to do this is in the soul, if a man is indifferent to things of no importance” (Aurelius 115). This same argument reappears in many of the text that we have read this quarter and to me it seems the most poingnant when considering society. The individual is a social creature, but to live a good life they must not let themselves be swept up in the petty dramas that can consume a person.





Works Cited Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Terence Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999. Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983. Carr, Edward Hallett. What is History? New York: Random House, 1961.



Simon Calcavecchia

We Can Make a Difference


In America, we are raised to believe that an individual can make a difference. If we believe in something enough, then we can make change happen. However, sometimes that belief can be persuaded to change. One can feel overwhelmed and ineffective as an individual. Throughout the readings in Work and the Human Condition, we have learned that the individual affects society and society affects the individual. If that is the case, then we must improve ourselves in order to improve society. In accordance with my previous essay, we know that work gives one’s life a purpose and a reason to live. However, until I took this class I did not realize that through work one can achieve happiness. In the past, I always looked forward to summer vacation and three months free from study. However, as I grew older I became less socially active and incredibly bored without forced stimulation. Not only was I bored, I would often fall into a depression. The problem was that I was not being challenged. When I realized that challenge is a good thing, my interpretation of work changed from negative to positive. In changing my perspective of work, I was able to change my state of being. Aristotle believed that by being virtuous one can find happiness. In his opinion, happiness is the best good and the best good is achieved by finding the virtues in one’s work. Therefore, work in accordance with virtue can change the state of one's being and improve one's level of happiness. Another example of work improving one's life is in the book Robinson Crusoe; in it, the main character is destined to live upon a tropical island in solitude. On the island, Crusoe had an abundance of time. In his desperate state, Crusoe had two choices: either he could give up or he could try and make the best of his situation. As we know, Crusoe chose the latter of the two options and immediately began working to improve his condition. His work consisted of building forts, hunting and gathering food, tilling the land, crafting tools and managing animals. Over time, his perception of the island and his level of happiness changed from being miserable to being content. It was his decision to work that allowed him to find happiness in his life on the island. Through work we can achieve good and the greatest good is happiness (Nicomachean Ethics). As a result, happiness improves one's life and makes it worth living. Through improving one's life, human beings can improve society. According to the author of What is History?, “Society and the individual are inseparable; they are necessary and complementary to each other, not opposites (Carr pg. 36).” The author believes that society and the individual cannot exist without the other. It also means that the individual is always changing society and society is always changing the individual. Carr also states, “The development of society and the development of the individual go hand in hand, and condition each other (Carr pg. 38).” If an individual can change society, then improving the state of an individuals being will improve society. An individual can change society. Therefore, through improving oneself one can improve society. For example, I volunteer at the Olympia Film Society. Usually, my job is to tear tickets or work security in the theater. When I started volunteering I was given very few rules. One of them was that I could only have one small bag of popcorn per shift. The other was that candy and tea were not free for volunteers. I found these rules were very reasonable, but I noticed that they were not monitored very well. Many volunteers disregarded the rules by helping themselves to candy, tea, and more than one bag of popcorn. It was either because they did not know the rules or they did not care. If the Olympia Film Society had been a major corporation, I would have no qualms with taking advantage of the business (a contradiction I know, but that deserves another essay.) However, the Olympia Film Society is a nonprofit organization and it is important to the community of Olympia because it supports the local economy. It offers a venue for independent films that are not often shown in mainstream theaters and also offers tickets at a low cost. Normally I would have remained quiet and avoided confrontation, but this time I decided to be just and improve my integrity by addressing the infractions. When I spoke to my supervisor and let her know that I did not think the rules were being followed, she subsequently reiterated the rules to the volunteer staff. By taking this action, I was able to improve myself because I increased my integrity, instead of taking advantage of the theater for personal gain. As a result, I improved the group by having the rules enforced for everyone and ensured that the Olympia Film Society would not be taken advantage of. This was confirmation of how improving one’s self, one can improve the group.

What is good for the individual is good for the whole. In the book Meditations, Marcus Aurelius states that, “All that befalls the individual is for the good of the whole. That by itself is warrant enough for us; but if you look closely you will also notice that, as a general rule, what is good for one man is good for his fellow-men as well (Aurelius pg. 71).” In the above quote the author believes that what benefits the individual benefits the group. For example, Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School, conducted a research experiment on happiness. The experiment demonstrated how happiness is contagious. If an individual surrounds himself with happy people they increase their own happiness as well as the group. On a small scale it is a demonstration of an individual affecting the group. If an individual is happy, then they will increase the happiness of those around them. (Fox)

If the power to change society lies within the individual, the human beings must take advantage of the present moment. Marcus Aurelius believes that, “one should live each day as though it was one’s last”. According to Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle believes that all of the virtues are products of one taking advantage of the present moment and that it is a guideline for individuals to live one’s life by. One does not know what will happen tomorrow. A person that we are with, may no longer exist or a person’s condition could drastically change.

My personal example of this happened in 2002 when I was injured in a rugby accident. I was left paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair. As in Robinson Crusoe, I could have given up and been miserable instead I chose to take advantage of the present moment and started a new life. I realized the possibilities for my future by, instead of dwelling on my misfortune, taking advantage of my time and educating myself to become a valuable member of society. In the meantime, I volunteer at different venues such as the Crisis Center and the Olympia Film Society which has added a significant value to my life.

In life, an individual has control over very few things, such as one’s health, the weather or the stock market. However, we can control the decisions we make and the work that we do. Through choosing the right work, we can find happiness and by improving one’s self, one can improve one’s society. From what we have learned, we know that an individual can affect society and society can affect the individual. We also know that what is good for the individual is good for the group and since we are only in control of one’s self, we must take advantage of the present moment to benefit one’s self and subsequently one’s society.


Works Cited

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics: Translated with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary, by Terrence Irwin. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Hacket Publishing Company, 1999. Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. Translated by Maxwell Staniforth. United States of America. Penguin Books, 2005. Carr, Edward Hallett. What is History?. New York. Vintage Books a Division of Random House, 1961. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: 1st ed. W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. 1975. Fox, Maggie. Happiness is Contagious: Study. Reuters, Washington DC, 5 Dec 2008. <http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4B400H20081205?rpc=64>




Work Cited Suggs, M. Jack, Katharine D. Sakenfeld, and James R. Mueller, eds. The Oxford Study Bible. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 1992. 3-1597.

Chen, Ellen M. Tao Te Ching : A New Translation with Commentary. New York: Paragon House, 1989. Aurelius, Marucs. The Meditations. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1983. Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1998.



Sophie Hakala


All work is purpose driven and is a means for a greater end. We work to benefit ourselves or others. As social beings, our existance relies on others within our environment. The work we do is assigned value by ourselves and others. The most rewarding work produces a self-sufficient end that is an end in and of it self. Without work, we are incapable of living a fullfilling or meaningful life. The capacity to perform work separates us from other animals. Work is essential to making us fully human. It is only through work that we are able to harness our greatest potential for becoming excellent human beings.

  We desire to leave a lasting legacy; this desire is often the motivation for the continuation of our work. It is essentially human to want to leave proof of our existence in order to be remembered. The ability to create artifacts that will exceed our finite existence separates us from other living creatures. "The distinction between man and animal runs right through the human species itself: only the best, who constantly rove themselves to be the best and who 'prefer immortal fame to mortal things,' are really human; the others, content with whatever pleasures nature will yield them, live and die like animals" (Arendt, 19). The products of our actions are more valuable because they will remain longer than the process of creating them.  Though our lives are brief in the eternal expanse of the universe, we attempt to achieve distinction in order to believe our lives have served a meaningful purpose.

Unlike any other being, we strive to equivocate ourselves with immortal deities. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5). Eve and Adam eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because she wants to be god's equal. God punishes them both for disobeying his command. Later in Genesis, the people of the town of Babel build a tower with the intent to reach the heavens so that they can be closer to God. "The task and potential greatness of mortals lies in their ability to produce things--works and deeds and words--which would deserve to be and, at least to a degree, are at home in everlastingness, so that through them mortals could find their place in a cosmos where everything is immortal except themselves" (Arendt, 19).

However, All organic matter will decompose into the earth and make space and provide nourishment for that which will come after it. Each generation will fade out and be replaced by the next. Our brief existence is not petty nor is our demise something that should be feared. Rather, we are to spend our lives acting in accord with nature, as nothing natural can be evil, and performing actions that are beneficial to the Whole. We are to accept death as a transformation of leaving the tribulations of the flesh and becoming a part of the intricate workings of the universe. Although change is perpetual, in the broader scope, nature remains very much the same. The nature of man is unvarying. We will always be interdependent social beings. We will never escape the pains and pleasures of the body. We will always be able to utilize our intellect."What a small part of the whole of matter, what a small part of the whole should, what a small clod of the whole earth you creep on. As you reflect upon these things, do not imagine anything to be important except this: to act as your nature urges you to do, and to endure what the common nature allots to you." (Aurelius, 129). Aurelis also says that fame is inconsequential and it would serve us better not to seek it out, for everything is eventually forgotten as time is unceasing and our lives comprise such a minuscule portion of it.

  Humans are social beings dependant upon others within the public realm. We are conditioned beings habituated by the man-made environment in which we live. We process all information in a manner that has been trained by the public realm, which is reliant upon appearances. We want to be celebrated within this public realm, so we do work that will be seen and will earn us an honorable reputation. "The facts of history are indeed facts about individuals, but not about actions of individuals performed in isolation, and not about the motives, real or imaginary, from which individuals suppose themselves to have acted. They are facts about the relations of individuals to one another in a society" (Carr, 64). Ultimately, it is decided by other people whether or not we will be remembered. Honor depends more on the people that are honoring and less on the act of doing work. History is composed of events that individuals may have formulated on their own, but these events go unnoticed without a public realm. 

Reason belongs to human beings as opposed to other animals. According to Aristotle, it is our ability to think and act rationally that separates us from other living things. We become excellent human beings by utilizing our ability to intellectualize our actions and perform our essential function well. "We take the human function to be a certain kind of life, and take this life to be activity and actions of the soul that involve reason; hence the function of the excellent man is do to this well and finely" (Aristotle, 9) To become excellent human beings, we must behave virtuously. We learn virtues of thought by instruction and gain moral virtues through the repetition of our actions within the public realm. We are born with the capacity to use reason and it is conditioned by our education. If we are raised under adequate instruction, we will be better able to behave virtuously. In order to perform virtuous actions, you must realize that what you are doing is virtuous, you should have no other motivation for performing this virtuous action except for its own sake, and you must continue to do virtuous actions.

Although we attempt to resemble god-like beings through our work, we will always be confined by our mortality. We create things so that they will be remembered and the stories of our lives will exceed our brief existence. However, even those who remember us will die and will soon be forgotten. Work does allow us to become great human beings during the time we do have. We have the capacity to utilize reason to ensure that the actions we do are the most beneficial and rewarding actions we are capable of. It is only through work that we are able to live meaningful lives and become exceptional human beings.



Work Cited:

Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1985. Aristotle. Nichomachean Ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999. Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983 Carr, Edward. What is History?. New York: Random House, Inc. 1961. New Revised Standard Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.