Law

"The life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. ... The condition of man ... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone" - Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century philosopher, argued that humans are inevitably bad and they need government to control them. Hobbes' claims bring up a question, do humans need laws or government and what constitutes a fair law? In society there are people who view laws as a vital aspect, yet there are people who view laws as an infringement of rights. As professor Anthony Trollope said, "The law is a great thing, because men are poor and weak, and bad... [And] where it exists in its strength, no tyrant can be above it. But between you and me there should be no mention of law as a guide of Conduct.” I believe he is saying that there are laws that are good, yet at the same time laws should not guide your moral decisions. Both Hobbes and Trollope state that men are poor and need guidance. The statement these two men bring up connects to Antigone in Antigone. Antigone is faced with the dilemma of obeying the laws set by the King, or defying them and doing what is morally correct, which is burying her brother. In essence, this example does not show that humans are inevitably bad. However, it does bring up the question that although man may be essentially bad and need government to keep them in line, are there artificial laws that society should get rid of?

What Fate Has In Store For Us

When I was reading "The Great Encounter" by Paul Roche, the line "it is not what fate has in store for us that matters, but what we do with it when it comes" stuck out to me. This line itself can serve as a guiding point for characters such as Oedipus, because although he has the prophecy and future of his life placed on him, he has the power to alter it through the way he lives his life. This line, however, can also serve as a guiding point for high school students such as myself. Although, personally I did not have my future set out by a prophecy, I have had expectations and guidelines instilled in me. For instance, the question of not going to college was never an option. I am apart of a family who has been attending college for several generations, so it is inevitable that I would go.

I do not know what my exact fate has in store for me, but I know the general path in life I am going to take. In my personal life the line “what we do with it when it comes” is still unclear because currently being a senior in high school I am still trying to figure out what exactly I want and what my life exactly has in store. This sentence from the "The Great Encounter" has not only had an impact on characters like Oedipus, it has sparked many new thoughts about my own actions and pathway in life.

Over Time

For this weeks blog no immediate thoughts jumped into my mind about what to write about, so I decided to visit one of the websites from the 'Blog & Notebook' Handout Mr. Burke gave us. I decided to visit indexed.com. I came across this index card drawing (to the left) and it reminded me of the discussion we had in class regarding the poem of the week, "The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently" by Thomas Lux. The poem talked about the inner voice of a person and how each individual perceives a word in a different way. The author is saying that people learn through experiences and this gained knowledge varies from person to person. I think this index card is saying the more you pay attention, the more you learn as students. This concept is related to the fact that the more you know, the more you can relate to and enjoy a written work. Both Thomas Lux from the poem "The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently" and the index card drawing encourage people to gain knowledge through paying attention and experience, so they can form connections with words and be successful in life.

Jobs, College and "Shop Class as Soulcraft"

This week we read “Shop Class as Soulcraft”, which made me think about the relationship between having a job and having a college education. The character in this work of literature thinks of himself above other people because of his qualifications (master’s degree). The author, Matthew Crawford, explores the idea that people let education put them into an identity and say that their degree is the reason they took that job. In modern times the job world is very tough, my uncle lost his job for several months and despite the fact he is highly intelligent and graduated from Berkley, he still was jobless for quite some time. Situations like these make scared for the real job world, yet they also force me to think, “What do I really want to do when I get older?” I think this is a vital question that everyone should think about because if one is doing what they like to do, then there will be no situations of hate towards ones job discussed in “Shop Class as Soulcraft”, or characters like Bartleby in “Bartleby the Scrivener”.