Philosophy Ethics - Research Paper Example

1). On the other hand, Confucius’s The Analects – a post-mortem compilation of his thoughts and written works (Walsh, 2006, p. 11), according to Van Norden (2002), illustrates the combined influential power of Jesus and Socrates (p. 3), essentially implying that it is at par with Plato’s. Suffice it to say: If Plato is the Socrates of the West; then Confucius is the “Socrates of China” (Walsh, 2006, p. 11). Plato’s definition of the meaning of life can be understood from his view of reality, which to him is divided into two worlds: ‘becoming’ and ‘being’.

The world of becoming is the ever-changing material world we deal with everyday with our five senses, that we mistaken it to be what true life is. In reality however, everything in this world is mere unsatisfactory and substandard copies of the original form, which is the unchanging world of being that though abstract is nevertheless the true world – the perfect world; that is why it is unchanging. (Young, 2003, p. 10) Essentially so, ‘being’ is essentially what defines each of us; this is our reason of existence; it is this world that truly defines the meaning of life.

Yet since it is the invisible reality, we have to strive hard to see it beyond the visible world. But to be able to do so, we ought to know first the forms of perfections that we have to seek. As such, the meaning of life rests in our pursuit for what is good; because it is only through this that we can attain perfection. Yet, perfection is impossible to the fallible man. Nevertheless, striving hard to get closer to perfection is what matters, as this would differentiate us from the rest. (Walsh, 2007, p. 25) Truly so, it is easy to become a man but it is difficult to attain one’s being.

Confucius’s definition of the meaning of life can be understood from his belief of the influences of fate and