Reflection Of Sophie's World

The Leading Doctrines of Epicurean philosophy state that ‘it is impossible to live the pleasant life without also living sensibly, nobly and justly, and conversely it is impossible to live sensibly, nobly and justly without living pleasantly’ (Epicurus, 1998b, p.53). Therefore, the good Epicurean believes in order to live virtuously, one must adhere to a pleasurable life. For Epicureans it is impossible to live virtuously and unpleasantly or vice-versa. In addition, Epicurus describes pleasure as our ‘primary native good’ (Epicurus 1998a, p. 51), implying that all human actions are driven by pleasures and by the avoidance of pains. Another imperative concept to Epicurean philosophy is Epicurus’ idea of the three fundamental aspects in attaining pleasure, those of friendship, freedom and an analysed life

Yet moderation only makes the individuals enjoy the desires of everyday life. “Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.” (Epicurus) The gratification of an experience is better delayed so that the qualities and true desires for significant options are available in the future.

     Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.

Epicureanism is a philosophy developed the teachings and ideals of a man named Epicurus. Epicureanism is defined by Epicurus as the pleasure for the end of all morality and that real pleasure is attained through a life of prudence, honor, and justice. Epicurus introduced this philosophy around 322 B.C, and two schools established in Athens. Epicurus taught the ethics of his philosophy in his school, that a person should live by "the art of making life happy", and that "prudence is the noblest part of philosophy"(newadvent.org). Epicurus ideals for life intrigued people and they began to think that perhaps the ethics of Epicureanism had some truth behind it; a person should live his/her life to the fullest in order to become happy. Epicurus

One of the most basic philosophical questions, as well as at the same time being the most complicated, in the novel Sophie’s World is the question, who are we? This question alone is what embarks Sophie, the main character in the novel, on a never ending journey of questions and through the world of philosophy. As it is shown in Sophie’s World, the concepts of philosophy have been in constant change all throughout history, philosophers contradicting one another in a constant battle to achieve greatness, and proceeding in a constant never ending cycle of philosopher contradicting philosopher. Because of this non-stop constant change in philosophy, Democritus, one of the earliest philosophers, would have a

25. Epicurean teachings and politics were based on individual pleasure. The highest of all pleasures is the serenity of the soul, in complete absence of mental and physical pain. This can be achieved by eliminating fear.

In evaluating the philosopher’s goal of determining how to live a good life, Epicurean philosophers argue that pleasure is the greatest good and pain is the greatest bad. Foremost, for the purpose of this analysis, I must define the pleasure and pain described. Pleasure is seen as the state of being pleased or gratified. This term is defined more specifically by the subject to which the pleasure applies, depending on what he likes. Pain is the opposite of pleasure, which is a type of emotional or physical un-pleasure that results in something that the person dislikes. “Everything in which we rejoice is pleasure, just as everything that distresses us is pain,” (Cicero 1). Through this hedonistic assessment of pleasure and pain, epicurean philosophers come to the conclusion that, “the greatest pleasure [is that] which is perceived once all pain has been removed,” (Epicurus 1).

The Handbook vs. 90210 Finding happiness in life is the ultimate goal for many people; this task, however, is not easy. In a world surrounded by temptation, it is often extremely difficult to distinguish the difference between what leads to true happiness and what only temporarily gratifies. Innumerable philosophers have tried to tackle this challenge, and each has left behind various theories on how to achieve happiness. One of the most famous philosophers, Epictetus, came to the conclusion that Stoicism is the best way to find happiness in the mortal world. Epictetus lived from approximately 50-130 A.D. and the stoic movement began to catch on even earlier, around 300 B.C. (Epictetus 1).

In Sophie’s World, Alberto teaches Sophie about Aristotle and his philosophies. Aristotle believed that we have no innate ideas, but he, “did not deny that humans have innate reason.” (Gaarder, 108). Nevertheless

In between Ann Petry’s short stories “Miss Muriel” and “The New Mirror”, the narrator ages from twelve to fifteen. Besides growing older, the narrator’s life appears relatively consistent: her family continues to run the same pharmacy in a small New England town. Yet, as a result of the lessons learned in both coming-of-age stories, the narrator experiences important racial awakenings. Petry expresses this transformation through the narrator’s changing relationship towards her family, an expanding perspective on private versus public space, and a deepening understanding of racial dynamics. Ultimately, the narrator realizes how her community’s oppressiveness towards African-Americans influence her personal identity, both internally and externally.

A human being is described as being a creature capable of questioning concepts such as “who am I” and “why am I here” in order to give meaning to their existence. (Creech Ph.D., 2015)

In part one of our book, “The Good Life,” we studied five different philosopher’s viewpoints on what is needed in order for a person to have a good, fulfilling life. They all included the concepts of pleasure and happiness to some extent in their theories, but they all approached the ideas in different ways. The two hedonists we studied, Epicurus and John Stuart Mill, place heavy emphasis on the importance of pleasure. They both believe that pleasure is a necessity in the ideal life. Jean Kazez agreed with their viewpoints in her theory and said that happiness was a necessity for a good life. Epicurus and Mill also argue that there is nothing else that we ultimately desire beyond pleasure and that it is an intrinsic good.

Lucretius was a Roman poet who believed that the Epicurean systems provided the most important and valuable way of thinking. He pledged all of his poetic and persuasive writing skills towards presenting Epicurus’ teachings in a concise expose. A key Epicurean doctrine which he explores is the concept of the Nature of Happiness. Philosophy, in this mindset, is a refuge from the trials and tribulations of the

To Epicurus happiness was the same as pleasure. And pleasure was freedom from bodily pain and mental anguish. He lived a simple life, owning only two cloaks and only eating bread and olives. With the occasional slice of cheese for a treat. He believed desire was a form of pain and therefore should be eliminated, and thus one should be satisfied with the bare minimum of what is needed to be happy. Therefore, while it was not a life of many desires, it was filled with the only pleasures you would need to be happy. There was a certain joy he found, in pure existence. Today’s society could learn a thing or two from this philosophy, most of which being living simply. It was better to take pleasure in simple things, rather than to chase pleasure.

The book gets us to think a lot about how much control we really have. Sophie doesn’t seem to go as deep into the philosophy as it seems the Philosopher wants her to. She answers the question, but she doesn’t think about the depth to the question. She just skims to find the answer. Everything she has thought so far was just her thinking about exactly what that Philosopher wanted her to. She never really puts her own thoughts into the depth. The story is showing Sophie on her way to finding the answers to the world’s most unanswered questions. Whether or not she will find them, who knows? There will be sad things passing through your life, but that doesn’t mean that you will become a sad person. Your life does not become sad because of sad moments. If you think about how the past has dealt with bad situations, you can find better ways to get through them. If you don’t ever think about the past, you are determined to repeat it. You will only focus on what is right in front of you, instead of looking past your comfort zone into the world. Passage: I don’t want you to end up in such a sad state. I will do what I can to acquaint you with your historical roots. It is the only way to become a human being. It is the only way to become more than a naked ape. It is the only way to avoid floating in a vacuum.