Successful people have the ability to obviate situations and make concise decisions, which lead them to a final goal or destination. In order to make these decisions and weave a path through a maze of obstacles, they must have confidence in their own judgment. Good judgment is subjective and requires discipline and control to achieve. Good judgment is unfettered by outside influences but allows individuals to conduct themselves in a manner appeasing to themselves and their situation. Individuals of this type maintain their own behavior, separating and acknowledging how they are perceived and who they would like to be. Good judgment leads to a person in control and control is dependant on nothing. Michael De Montaigne describes in his essays how one can gain control over oneself while achieving a coherent totality.
One is often influenced and criticized by close peers. Because of this constant speculation and concern for others, people turn trivial decisions into difficult life altering battles. Even in solitude one’s conscious is a constant—and dogmatic—observer. The idea of even having to make a choice has escaladed into a tyrannical monster. To take back control, Montaigne advises individuals to look inward. He proposes people discipline themselves in “a back shop all our own”(Montaigne 214) because “it would be madness to trust [one]self if [one] do[es] not know how to govern [one’s] self” (Montaigne 221). In solitude—”free from the violent clutches that engage” (Montaigne 216)—one must go so far in discipline that he “dare not trip up in your own presence” (Montaigne 221). By doing this, individuals respect their decision, trusting it the most beneficial and appropriate to the situation.
Often division is another source of confusion, making it difficult for individuals to have authority in their own life. People are torn between their “own affairs” and the “headaches… of our neighbors and friends” (Montaigne 215). To this, Montaigne discusses how one should comfortably detach oneself from earthly materials and allow “one to be a whole people” (Montaigne 221). Certainly, one should find pleasures in having a, “wife, children, goods, and above all health” (Montaigne 214); however, one must not be bound to any materials so strongly that his “happiness depends on them” (Montaigne 214) or “they cannot be detached without tearing off our skin and some part of our flesh as well” (Montaigne 216). One tends to give one’s self away, so that portions of one’s time and thought belong to others rather than belonging to one’s self.
A Separate Peace is an impeccable paradigm of critical mythology interpreted by philosophers such as Marx, Engels and Hegel. The philosophy of Marxism serves as a basis for socialism and communism and is explicitly demonstrated by means of power, the understanding of human nature, and alienation. Finny demonstrates authority and control over a lonely, alienated friend Gene, however, unitedly they discover friendship through the individuality possessed by one another. Finny and Gene agonize with these eminent responsibilities and endeavor to uncover an inner peace within themselves as they evolve into young adults waking to the realities of life. Their entity follows the social formation of their lives, “men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and dependant of their will, relations of production ...development of their material productive forces.” (Tucker, 1978, pg.4)
...ni and Steinbeck draw attention to the diminishing power of an individual in a large society. By using motifs and settings, the authors explain the ability the world has to influence humans’ behaviors and lives negatively. Hosseini convinces us to remain individuals, as Steinbeck professed, and not conform to the world in which we live. As Dahli Lamma once stated, “The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis”. Is he correct: is it necessary for humans to make individual decisions rather than follow the in the footsteps of others?
Do we control the judgments and decisions that we make every day? In the book,
Tests and decisions are as numerous in any man's life as are the beats of his heart. The consequences follow him forever - he is judged by them and they affect his entire existence. However, judgement should not be passed on a man's single decisions individually, but only by observing how he has chosen to live his life.
In the article Daydreams of What You’d Rather Be by Lance Morrow; a Harvard graduate who is a contributor to Time, proposes the idea that there is a distinct relationship in-between the self and the “anti-self”. He exposes this idea throughout by using different examples that involve numerous people, and also by using different comparisons to make his writing more relatable and more easily understood. The methods that Morrow uses to support the claims that he is making and to help uncover that message that is being emphasized in the article are essential to the meaning and the understanding. In Daydreams of What You’d Rather Be, Lance Morrow validates his main idea that underneath every person there is an “anti-self” that is just begging to be let out; by using examples of different people and situations, but also by using different comparisons and going as far as to explaining his true thoughts on this person that everyone has inside of them.
Few situations exist that can strip a person of their ability to influence their world as much as social desolation. In the words of Rudyard Kipling, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too h...
In the unit “The Spirit of Individualism” there are two parts, “Celebrations of the self” and “The Dark side of Individualism” with pieces that present very different perspectives on human nature. “The Dark side of Individualism” portrays human nature as greedy, confused, easily caught up in fame, and addicted to wealth and possessions. In “Celebrations of the Self”, human nature is viewed in a more positive light. The characteristics shown are self reliance, independence, wisdom and selflessness. “The Dark side of Individualism” pieces are written in a more macabre tone, whereas “Celebrations of the Self” pieces have a more positive and uplifting tone to them. The generalizations of human nature are different because of the pieces in “The Dark side of Individualism” and “Celebrations of the Self” have entirely different views on life and human nature.
The notion of individualism is extremely important in exercising the duty people have to cease from the...
From his figurative window, Rousseau sees a Europe ravaged by conflicts resulting from supposedly peaceable and civilized institutions (111). He posits that the essentially problematic flaw, the cause of conflict, is a contradiction in modes of relating: while individuals live within a framework of enforced norms ("l...
What seems to lead Jung to these strange beliefs of the spiritual forces that are produced because of the psyche and the transcendent is difficult to explain in psychological terms. As Jung states in the Modern Man in Search of the Soul, the spontaneous activity produced by the psyche often become so intense that vivid pictures are seen and voices are heard. Jung believed that our dreams are integrating our conscious and unconscious lives in which guidance takes place. The source of the symbols that take place in dreams, cannot be shown in our consciousness. Some of the images that are produced in our dreams stem from outside of the images of our life. Not all of the images from our dreams are things created from the “I”. Some images present
...s, shaping who we are and who we become. We do things even if we don’t want to because we are told by someone with power over us or from people we want to be friends with. What people need to take from this essay, is that we need to understand when to obey and order, and when to think about what is being asked of us before doing it.
There are points in life wherein individuals tend to escape from reality and isolate themselves from the people and the problems around them. People are different in many ways; some cope with stress easily, and some can be devoured by their problems and are unable to find resolution. Solitude is a broad term associated with social isolation. It may be classified into different types. Based on previous studies, scholars and psychologists were able to mention the possible types of solitude one may find in an individual. The researchers in reference to these researches have been able to identify the types of solitude present in the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
People define themselves in many different ways: I am (my name), I am (my job position), I am (my life’s experiences), etc. With so many different means of classification, it is hard to come to a conclusive answer on just what makes you, you. Montaigne’s approach consists of his life’s experiences and while this encompasses practically everything that is you, it still lacks much to be desired in narrowing down one’s identity. So, is it really possible to take something as complex and multifaceted as the soul and shrink it down to an idea we can grasp and understand? . The answer is no, to have a true understanding of who we are could take a lifetime of reflection and then some, which is odd because who knows you better than you? Right? Most people agree with Montaigne that they are the result of their life experiences, but humans have an imagination and free will that allows us to go far beyond what our experiences characterize.
Adversity can come in a number of shapes or forms and each requires a different action in order to defeat it. When facing adversity it is important to have support and encouragement and the ability to make the correct decisions. Social context has a massive impact on these three items and thus had a massive impact on the ability of one to triumph in an adverse situation. Cauron and Hancock use different social contexts, isolation and society, in the presence of adversity to demonstrate the impact on decision making and provided support or encouragement.
One simple consideration that can change the course of how people think about their approach to life is, the examination of the influences that they have on other people’s lives. An individual could also look outwards and analyze the impact that other people have on that individual’s life. One should also self-reflect and search for how their thoughts and actions craft a pathway towards their own destiny. The statement by Socrates, “the unexamined life is not worth living,” is an interesting statement that requires a considerable amount of analysis.