Joe Hoffmann

Theology 300

Journal

Key Idea/Summary

The key idea of this course was Socrates statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living.  This leads us to ask the question, “Do I value the Truth?”  These two are closely intertwined because to live an examined life we must value the truth.  In class we did many things to examine and answer this question.  Socrates- “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  On the back of our Man’s existential predicament sheet is a letter from John Horman to Sluh and Mr. Scuito.  This letter shows us truly how an unexamined life is not worth living because of John’s drug addiction.  If you live an examined life it will be good, and true to yourself.  When Fr. Hadel was asked by the Prep News how to live a good life he responded with “Seek beauty, Seek the truth, and seek goodness.  We are shown through the Blind Men and the Elephant that we may not know or understand the whole truth though we believe we do.  That is why we are asked to seek the truth in our lives.

Three Key Ideas to Remember

            One of the main ideas I remember from this chapter is that “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  I believe this statement with all of my heart.  If we live our lives ignorant to the bad yourself and others are doing you are not living for the right reasons.  The letter from John Horman really explained to me how the unexamined life is not worth living.  Not until after he got caught with marijuana did he look at his life, and realize how he can make it better.  Horman is now happy even though he was kicked out of Sluh because he is no longer addicted to marijuana.  He is now happier than he ever would have been if he hadn’t examined his life.

Socrates

            The next idea I would like to remember from these two weeks was the idea we picked up from The Allegory of the Cave and The blind men and the Elephant.  I like how the truth may be different in different people’s eyes because of the way we view and feel the world.  In the Blind Men and the Elephant 10 men are convinced that they know and are correct on what an elephant is like.  For what they were shown, every man is correct, but none of them have seen the big picture and understand what the whole thing is like.  It is the same idea in the Allegory of the Cave.  The men in the cave believe what they see is what life is like.  They see the shadows on the wall and believe that is what life is like because they cannot turn around and see what it is really like.  I’m very interested in this idea because there are probably many cases where I am the blind man feeling the part of the elephant.  The key thing for me is to seek the truth, and find what I cannot see now.

Plato's Cave

            Thirdly, I would like to remember the necessary elements of faith, Knowledge and Understanding.  I have never thought any elements of faith before, or what they could do for my own faith.  This statement couldn’t be truer in my mind.  To have faith you must know what you are working with, and completely understand it.  I think if I always keep these in mind when dealing with my own faith it can help me strengthen my faith.

Question to Ponder

            The question that came up in my head is, “Am I in the Cave?” or more generally, are humans in the cave?  The thing about all humans is we all believe our outlook on the world, god, and science are the right ones.  But like the prisoners in the cave, we are dead set positive that we are correct.  This lesson has brought me to think about weather there is something more to life or the world that humans are just too blind to see?  The possibility that humans are in the cave seems very possible, but if we are, what could it be?  I believe we are in the cave with things to do with religion and philosophy, but I will most likely never find out for sure.