Care of the Soul
The soul is a rational part of a person, focused on solving moral problems. Socrates placed at the center of his teaching the question of an individual’s essence, especially the principle of knowing yourself. He understands the soul as people’s ability to think and evaluate their actions according to moral principles. As long as the essence of a person is the soul, it demands special care. Caring for the mind is the moral duty of every person. Virtue makes the soul genuine and perfect; it is associated with knowledge, which is necessary for doing good deeds. Without understanding the essence of ethics, a person will not know how to act appropriately.
I agree with this statement since virtue and reason do not contradict each other since thinking is vital to determine the concept of happiness and the possibility of achieving it. These days, the scientific and technological revolution, giving rise to innovative technologies, changes social communication and reality. The new cultural structure requires unusual norms and guidelines. Current realities pose further questions for a person, actualize old problems of good and evil, self-awareness, the boundaries of what is permissible. The issue of falling morals and rejection of universal human values and happiness questions are often discussed.
Consequently, Socrates’ attitude towards the internal has become acute as the source of joy is not in the body or external but the soul; people are happy when their soul is ordered and virtuous. “The best way to learn how to read philosophy well is to read it often” (Vaughn 30). Socrates calls on a soul to concern moral purity as the goal and meaning of life instead of the desire for fame and wealth, which often forces a person to commit crimes. Thus, the soul’s term is more precious than the body; it is an invisible, immaterial entity that determines the true self and personality.
Fundamental Belief
Fundamental beliefs are critical, being a psychologically significant position of a person. The presence of conscious life principles indicates a person’s place in the world. Through life principles, people define themselves, guide, and take actions. Basic beliefs are presented in speech statements, being value judgments chosen by a person as determining his or her actions. One of the principles is to avoid negative thinking and not to worry about issues being out of control. It is called Stoicism, whose primary focus is the ability to distinguish between what is under control and what is not. It would help if individuals concentrated their efforts first and not waste time. Many philosophical works are complex to understand and require in-depth reading and analyzing the text through the lens of self-reflection and the understanding of the world (Vaughn 29). However, stoicism’s main feature is its practicality; the opinion that philosophy is purely theoretical reasoning does not apply to this approach. Besides, stoicism is distinguished by its openness to new knowledge and readiness to criticize.
This belief belongs to axiology and practical philosophy, which represents different aspects of ethics. Ethics, in the broadest sense, primarily examines the place of a person in the world, tries to answer the questions of what human happiness is and how it is achieved. It explores the issues of good and evil, the concept of justice, looking for the meaning of human life. Axiology concerns the origin of values, their place in everyday life, the relationship of various matters with each other, social and cultural factors, and personality structure.
Work Cited
Vaughn, Lewis. Philosophy Here and Now: Powerful Ideas in Everyday Life. Oxford University Press, 2018.