Dilemma- Ann Allan

Ethical Dilemma- Ann Allan

To homework or not to homework?

With the busy life that I have, it's difficult to find the time to just relax. On an average day I'm at the school from 7am to 5pm and I can't waste a moment of it. To do well in all my studies I have to work my hardest at each one, however these leads to a lot of stress and burn out. Many times my family and friends urge me to take a break, however this is not always possible if I want to keep up my academic routine. On the other side of the argument, working as hard as I do 24/7 can cause serious repercussions. This leads me to my dilemma, do all of my work to the best of my ability, whist sacrificing my physical and mental health? Or take a break at the expense of my prized routine and grades.

My answer to this particular question is the former, for a couple reasons. Doing all my work at the best of my ability could be seen as the more moral thing to do. In this case, I'm taking the opinion of Hume, and his materialist values. I have two desires, one to do well, and one to rest. The higher of these two desires is clearly to do well, and it is in this case that desire is a good thing. This desire can motivate a person to do good, because they know they will be rewarded for doing so. Along with this, I also put a lot of value into people who work hard, and it is my desire to be as celebrated as they are. Also, it is in this case that the work will not last for ever. It is better to power through and reap what I sow than to relax and be dissatisfied for longer than I am tired. While the desire to rest is also good in the way of being a more relaxed and happy person for a time, it is not the best choice I could make.

This also taps into moral philosophy. In this case, the moral thing to do is also in my higher self interest. Although I want to relax, which is indeed in my self interest, I also want to succeed. This leads to a battle of what I truly want more, and in my case it is to do the higher action of working. This shows that me self interest is not at war with my morality, just as Plato states.

With Humes Materialist values and Platos understanding of morality, it is easier to come to the conclusion of workings hard over taking a break, since it is both in my self interested and the morally right thing to do.  

Siddhartha Essay- Ann Allan

Siddhartha Essay- Ann Allan

Renouncement is a critical value in Buddhism. How does this principle operate in Siddhartha's life? It it a positive or negative force?

Throughout Siddhartha's life and journeys, Siddhartha's greatest value and savior is his ability to renounce. Renouncement means to put aside or reject voluntarily unnecessary or inferior pleasures, often in order to gain personal joy or enlightenment. In the book, it gives Siddhartha the ability to be more at one with his surroundings and be able to sustain and understand his inner self in a more sophisticated and learned way. This positive act and broad capacity of understanding is what starts his journey and what saves him along the way, right until the end.

In the beginning Siddartha's life is that of a privileged man. He is the son of a Braman and adored by many, in particular, his friend Govinda. However, he has the realization and urge to leave this life to become a Samana, since he could no longer find joy in materialist things that adorned his life. So, he left his family and did just that, joined by his loyal companion Govinda as they being the toilsome and rigorous task of 'unselfing'. This process consisted of fasting and meditation, giving him the ability to endure fatigue, hunger, thirst and allowed him to have a clearer mind. With this he is able to ponder fully without need for gratuitous physical materials, the exceptions being life providing substances. He then begins to question this life of deprivation and total renouncement. He speaks to Govinda, saying that experience is the best way to learn. In this new frame of mind, he moves on again.

In order to have those such thoughts however, Siddhartha had to completely empty himself. In his meditations he described leaving the self for long moments of time, but that he would always return. This lead him to believe he had learned all he could from the teaching of the Samana, and went to acquire experience. He soon delights in lust with Kamala, an entirely new kind of relationship for Siddhartha. She requests he find a job and new clothes in order for her continued companionship, which against all he has worked for, he does. His natural abilities allow him to become a very care free merchant who become quite successful. His Samanas skills slowly leech from him amoungst the 'child people' though, and he begins to enjoy the life of comfort and riches. He losses himself again in the absence of renouncement.

Siddhartha had forgotten what the purpose of his renouncement was. In all cases, renouncement helps us find what makes us happy or unburdened, the lack of grasping and greediness. While with the child people he became involved with much greed in his love for gambling. It gave him a drive of emotion in which he felt so little of. His excitement and happiness with Kamala had left him, and his involvement with drink, women, and foods that were once forbidden to him (such as meats) drove him to the ultimate sadness. Realizing how far he had fallen, he leaves his riches, renouncing them all again to end himself by the river he had crossed to attain them. He is stopped though, by hearing the sacred 'Om' that refuels his original desire to find his Atman. Even when his child leaves him, he is able to renounce once more, returning to a happier and wiser mind.

Throughout his life, Siddhartha had made many selfish and hasty decisions. Whenever his path was lead by the drive of renouncement, he had only found knowledge and happiness. When his path was driven by the gain of material or physical pleasures, he found his range of emotions dim. It was this lack of renouncement that pulled him away from his goal of true wisdom, and if it weren't for his second successful attempt at it, he would have taken his life. This shows the true positive force renouncement had been throughout his entire life, and proved the evils of greed and want. Although his ideas of how you retain or gain knowledge varied throughout his journeys, at first believing in teachings, and then in experience, it was the common variable of renouncement that lead him to his wisdom, and was the most powerful action of all.