What Really Matters?
By: Miguel Dionne
After reading chapter thirteen on hedonism and the ideologies that Wolf
described, I agree with the theory that Susan Wolf presented. With her slogan,
“Meaningful lives are lives of active engagement in projects of worth” ( 276 ). I
believe that this is very well put by how she said it. I strongly feel as though this is
the key to making one's life the best that it can be by removing the unnecessary
distractions that hold us back from achieving something greater in life. Removing the
unnecessary things in life, such as riding roller coasters or watching appealing films,
can hold you back from doing something else that can get you further in life, such as
learning a new trade or a new language to communicate to those who speak a
different language. In my personal experience, I go by the motto: if you do not know
how it works, then you don't own it. This plays a hand with Mrs. Wolf by filling my life
with worthwhile things that can benefit my life in the long run. A perfect example
would be learning how a car operates and works, so if the possibility the vehicle is
malfunctioning, I will have the ability to fix it rather than spend more money on labor
to get another professional to fix it. The ideology I had obtained from reading Wolf's
theory was to get rid of distractions and get the goals done that will put you in
another and better place in your life.
One argument that could be presented in this is the enjoyment of life. We do
things that help us relieve and destress from the daily grind we are responsible for
doing. In other words, enjoy something like watching a sitcom or comedy movie or
even riding a rollercoaster. Someone can be enjoying something while at the same
time not being actively engaged in that activity. A tremendous other alternative is that
meaningness can be completely different from one person to the next. An example
of something like this would be, “Practicing on uneven bars is good in the short run
because it makes me happy, but it does not bring meaning to my life because it is
just a game” ( 279 ). Some see this as meaningful because they could be dong this
to grant a scholarship for college funds to help pay for schooling, while others may
be doing it for a hobby and to create friendships.
A solution is that even though one might not see meaning doesn't mean that
there is no meaning in that activity. For the example of watching a comedy, even
though it is not meaningful in some eyes, the individuals watching could be actively
engaged by reflecting and building connections with friends after the show. Helping
them build a stronger bond with that friend, therefore being meaningful in Wolf's eye.
With the example of the uneven bars, they face a culture-bound situation where
meaning can vary with the different parties that find meaning differently from the
same activity. In both scenarios, they are getting themself in a better position then
they were in the past by either gaining a scholarship or making friendships.
