Connection 2 Reflection 2

Reflection #2

At this point in the novel things are beginning to pick up and the plot outside of the philosophy lessons is almost as intriguing as the new knowledge Sophie receives. The postcards that Sophie is getting from Hilde’s father is really strange and it makes me wonder if she is actually somehow tied to their lives. Later in the chapter, Sophie reads her lesson from Alberto and he describes to her the philosopher Plotinus. Sophie learned that Plotinus believed in an idea of two poles. One pole being called the One or God, which by his definition was the presence of all light and the other pole was the absence of that light. The idea is the closer something is to the light the the closer it is to God. Plotinus also believed that the our soul is what is closest to God and that earth, stone, and water are the things that are the furthest. However, this made me wonder why would God create something such as earth or water that is so far away from his glory? If the soul is the closest thing humans posses on Plotinus’s light spectrum, then why isn't the world just some ghostly pot of souls? It would make more sense for the creator to want his creations to be close to him as possible. After considering this idea, there truly does not seem to be a point in the creation of the human body. Our souls are the most pure and immortal thing we humans have. Why let an aging sack of organs get in the way of the light?

Connection #2

After reading about the Epicureans way of living I thought how interesting it seemed to me and how I could see the application of the philosophy in my own life. The idea that “the highest good is pleasure” and “the greatest evil is pain” really made sense to me. Life will end sooner than later and the reality is I could die tomorrow. I would rather have lived my life seeking pleasures and doing what makes me happy, than having lived a life of pain doing what I felt was necessary for a better tomorrow. The reality is tomorrow is not guaranteed and even if we do live to see tomorrow it may be a life filled with suffering. I often find myself living my life this way when I choose to indulge in eating an entire sleeve of oreos rather than having an apple for a late night snack. I weigh the good over the bad. I would much of rather have enjoyed that moment by eating yummy oreos than settling for an apple and feeling like a being responsible to my bod rather than enjoying myself while I still can. Although I wish I could live my life this way all the time there is a problem with constantly being a pleasure seeker. I’m a rather ambitious individual and I don’t think I would get very far in my journey to becoming a doctor if I never did the things I don’t find pleasurable. Epicureanism is a lot like eating breakfast every morning: it sounds like a great idea, but it just doesn’t work out.