History Journal

1600 years ago, St. Augustine observed a similar obsession: “Indeed, a man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.” This question has endured the test of time – all human civilizations have struggled with and have attempted to answer this fundamental question of human existence.

In western civilization, the Greeks and Romans, Jews and Christians, ancients and moderns, philosophers and theologians have all had something to say about happiness. What is happiness? Why does it seem to be so important? Is it important to you? How do you answer this question:

What does it mean to be happy in life?

The great Greek philosopher, Socrates , has been famously quoted as stating that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

Happiness means to experience pleasure, is living a life of virtue and A person should not be concerned with happiness because it is selfish.

Greek philosopher Epicurus who believed that pleasure was the goal of life. Epicurus wrote: “Pleasure, we declare, is the beginning and end of the happy life.  We are endowed by nature to recognize pleasure as the greatest good.  Every choice and avoidance we make is guided by pleasure as our standard for judging the goodness of everything”

What do you mean by pleasure: It is the freedom to do what I want, whatever makes me happy or freedom from pain and anxiety?

Circular Reasoning and it is not a good basis for a position. Technically, circular reasoning is defined as when the conclusion of an argument is basically the same as one of the premises in the argument or in plain English, it’s when someone argues that “It’s true because it’s true

Excess – Virtue – Deficiency

Recklessness – Courage – Cowardice

Boastfulness – Truthfulness – Understatement

Shyness – Modesty – Shamelessness

Sophists:

The Sophists were a group of philosophers/teachers in ancient Greece. They emphasized the practical side of philosophy and argument, teaching young men who were interested in political office and power how to persuade people.

“Greeks agreed with the Hebrews that people fail to follow wisdom. Aristotle lamented “such men are rare,” arguing “the mass of mankind are evidently quite slavish in their tastes, preferring a life suitable to beasts.

Plato describes this dilemma in his Allegory of the Cave. Plato argues that we are like prisoners chained in a cave. We are unable to understand perfect virtue because all we see in this life are but shadows.

Part 1:

This dialogue activity was designed to help you think deeply about happiness and how you view it in your life.

In this journal assignment, please reflect on this dialogue and the following questions:

· During the course of this dialogue activity, did you change your mind about happiness; that is, did your perspective on happiness change from your initial view, and, if so, at what point in the dialogue did that occur? What element of the dialogue was instrumental in that transformation?

· If your perspective did not change, how effective was the dialogue in challenging or reinforcing that perspective?

· Finally, summarize your perspective on the question presented; in other words, based on your dialogue interaction, present a succinct response to the question, What does it mean to be happy in life?

Your journal entry should be between 250-300 words in length.

Part 2:

For this part of the assignment, we would like your feedback on the technology and approach that this assignment utilized; specifically, the use of an automated dialogue process. Please respond briefly to the following questions:

Your journal entry should be between 250-300 words in length.

· What did you like about the dialogue activity?

· What did you not like? 

· How was it effective?

What would you change about it, if anything, to make it a more effective learning tool?

Click on the Week 5: Journal Reflection link above to post your journal.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life-meaning/

http://www.utm.edu/staff/jfieser/class/120/1-meaning.htm