Examined Life Pt. 1
It’s been too long since posting! Even in spite of the knowledge that I’m the vast majority of the audience for this writing.
Moving to Philadelphia has been a blessing in many ways. I have made some of the best friends, eaten some of the finest food, and shared some of the best experiences of my life with the people here. I’ve (somewhat) adapted to city life and developed much resilience in the face of the parking authorities. It’s also the first year that I haven’t been enrolled in a school program since the age of 4 and 5, and this alone has felt different. It feels like I am more self-responsible for maintaining an intellectual life, or at least seeking out opportunities to share this with others, and I have not made too much of the opportunity so far. Certainly some books have provided highlights, including Lost in Thought, Walden, and Don Quixote (none of these are assigned and I’ve appreciated the freedom of reading whatever I choose without having to attend to assignments first). But in a significant way, i’ve struggled to authentically live an “examined life.”
Or have I? Maybe this is how life outside of school feels for lots of people - school can provide a certain source of meaning and sense of purpose. Devoid of this structure, intellectual pursuits become a choice easily (but dangerously) disregarded in favor of social life, work, and rest. One must sacrifice time and energy to maintain a life of the mind, or at least maintain the presence of mind to pursue it over other diversions - to exercise deliberate choice. It has been over two years now since we read Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics in the St. John’s Politics and Society tutorial - in response to this feeling that I am not in appropriate control of my attention or decisions, it might be wise to revisit this text in particular. Currently finding myself in a period of starting many books, finishing few, and wondering what line of inquiry to take.
How humbling! That in such little time I’ve forgotten so much of the substance of this book, my memory barely tracing the outlines of an incomplete impression made two years ago. And yet how lucky was I to engage this text in the company of an intelligent and varied group of students and teachers.
I’d intended to pursue the question “What is an examined life?” Here, and provide something of a backdrop for asking this question. It’s not exactly how this stream of consciousness went. But it remains a focus point nonetheless (hence “Part 1”).
