13 November 2012
Discussed Text: Levinas, "Bible and Philosophy, Ethics and Infinity
Three lecture classes have gone by and so far, Emmanuel Levinas' take on the topics of experience, modalities of living, and Heidegger's Sein und Zeit has been molding in class a sense of practicality in realizing one's orientation towards consciousness, whether it be in the form of an ego check, self help/motivation, or something as normal as “ah!, that's nice to know”. College comes with many instances where an ambitious student could lose his or herself in a cascade of self-inflicted expectations and peer obligations, but the manner in which the lecture topics fall into place seem appropriate to prepare the student for exactly that, especially when dealing with the infamous third year burden.
Take for instance, last Thursday's lecture which tackled the dynamism of consciousness, and Being contrasted with being. Many a semester (well, back when I was still an engineering student) have I heard friends and peers relate their then current predicament with what they assumed their current position to be. For instance, the struggles of dealing with circuit analysis coupled with calculus every week, with no respite or safe haven with which to take a breather, and the sighs of disappointment and discouragement that ensued every time a long test would be returned imprinted on some (and to a certain extent myself) a very distorted transmutation of what they first considered a pursuit of knowledge, into a struggle to adhere to a certain standard, at a certain pace. It is at these times that the question “is this really for me?” is asked, and back then, I would be inclined to say that it made sense going along that particular direction of thought. Looking back however, and with last week's lecture topic in mind, the more appropriate questions would have been “what am I doing”, “what do I want” and “how am I to get there”. It is this delicate balance of self identification tied to one's actions and decisions that is most often confused with identification tied to one's accomplishments, although sadly this is what history seems to favor.
To realize who you are in this world is to realize that the hurdles and obstacles that bear down on you is to acknowledge that your existence is what gives those challenges the significance that they have. What you make yourself out to be entails that you have to “be” to be. Let each and every succeeding instant, opportunity, moment, and waking hour, remind of you of who you are. The famous question posed in Hamlet to be or not to be is only half the decision. Most of it is getting there once you decide to.
The last paragraph, I would say, is significant to anyone who is experiencing their own peaks and declines.
ReplyDeleteI wish people would spend more time looking back and reflecting on their lives more often 'cause it doesn't only help in discovering, but it also aids in reliving. And, it's always good to relive because it reminds us of the things that we can and can't change.
(ps. sorry I kind of rambled, haha)
- Bea Antonio PH102A
DeleteWhat struck me the most last discussion was the emphasis on the Sein-zum-Tode,that which refers to being human by taking very seriously time. We need to have a sense of this, here and the now. We need to live life the way we want to live. We have to choose the possibility of being we want to enter. We cannot be confined by parents and authorities to specific possibilities of being. We have to realize that we have only so little time to really do what we want to do in life and really existing is precisely the way we can achieve this. We have to make a mark and make our existence known to others and ourselves in order to live a fruitful life.
ReplyDeleteThomas M. Mañalac
Ph102-A
I'd just like to note that though it is true that asking questions such as those you have stated ( “what am I doing”, “what do I want” and “how am I to get there”) are probably the better questions to ask, the answers are far from easy to find. In fact, for me personally, answering that will be quite easy. The hardest thing is to actually know who you are, who you want to be. Answering that is already half the journey in life.
ReplyDeleteLica Lee
PH102 A