What happens after we die - Essay Example

? Journal November 30, The Philosophical Act In the modern times, people became interested with its occurrence that they applied science to test about the life after death. Some peer-reviewed studies had found such memories in children but they remained non-conclusive because no tests were sufficient to measure it (Ward 3). It was even doubted greatly by skeptic scientists. The life after death seems to be hard to be proven. It may or may not exist. Some naturalists may just say that life will just cease once biological death approaches and consciousness will fade too. It only means that the concept of the soul is even under debate if it truly exists or not. Personally, I may think of the concept of life after death as subjective because various people have different notions regarding it. It is still not proven by science until now. For the paper regarding the life after death, the focus would be on the work of Joseph Pieper, the author of Leisure: The Basis of Culture. Pieper was a philosopher from Germany who was the primary proponent of the New Thomistic wave as a philosophy since he is part of the Catholic Church. Joseph Pieper learned various fields in social science from sociology to philosophy from popular universities. He had worked as a writer and sociologist until he pursued being a professor in the University of Munster where he also studied. His perspective was influenced greatly by the ways of Thomas Aquinas together with the ideologies of the Greek philosopher Plato. In the first chapter which is entitled The Philosophical Act, Pieper was very philosophical. The meaning was so deep in the chapter where he talked about the common good and the common need (Pieper 78). He might want to tell something about how philosophy can cause disturbance but it was left to the reader to identify what kind of disturbance did Pieper want to convey to the readers. Probably he tried to connect the philosophy of common good and common needs as people go for the utilitarian world filled with work to satisfy the needs to survive. I can see his point regarding the philosophy that he promotes. Nowadays consumer culture is prevalent and sometimes it goes beyond the necessity. As a result, crimes increase, imbalance in nature is observed and destruction of the environment is noticeable and all of them happen in the name of greed. People live on the outside world and I may not say that I am not part of it. Sometimes being too busy with the supply and demand, people become accustomed to the materialistic world where all that matters is the functional basis of living and things are compartmentalized. Probably Pieper did not say that it is bad to engage in such a world or system but he wanted to also point out the importance of the oneness or the unity of people despite of differences. It is even linked to the practice of spending the seventh day of the week as a break from work and worship God. For him, it is also an essential component in life that even transcends beyond the common needs which the utilitarian world provides. It only shows that the common need is a subset of the common good because the latter is more complex which requires something beyond the physical and material needs. December 1, 2012: Leisure: The Basis of Culture Chapters One and Two Another thing that Pieper pointed out was the definition of leisure. Sometimes culture had dictated what leisure is but actually the roots of leisure is seen when people are at work. They are busy. He also pointed out that leisure should involve not just the mechanistic or functional way of doing things without having time for rest or not serious activities. Sometimes work becomes not so engaging and people just do what they are doing for the sake of doing it. It is in contrast with what Pieper had said that work can be leisure if people have the time to reflect or contemplate. He pushed the idea of having enjoyment and appreciation on what is being done. Personally, the writer of the reaction paper thinks of it as an art wherein appreciation and reflection are both necessary to live the life to the fullest. It goes beyond the ideas provided by the materialistic world where enjoyment and leisure are only seen in movies, video games and internet. I can provide a testimonial to the truth in this content. Leisure has been measured in the world today as something that should be socially acceptable like video games and movies driven by the popular culture and the motivation behind the promotion is money. It does not mean that we do not need money but sometimes it goes beyond the necessity. Also the definition of leisure should be an activity. Is there really an art and engagement in it? Pieper had also provided an argument between the liberal arts and the servile arts. The former pertains to the education and learning of the students to think for themselves and gain the necessary skills to become a wise man while the servile arts focuses more on particular careers wherein learners are prepared for specializations. The earlier forms of education focus on preparing the students to be learned man in many fields. In short, they are trained to become generalists while most of the modern schools train the students to become specialists. They are focused on narrowed vocations instead of looking into the wholeness of the learner. December 2, 2012: Mayflower Compact In relation to the conditions mentioned in the previous entry, Mayflower Compact may also show the oneness of people for the common good. It may be in contrast with the dominating culture in America in the modern times wherein people are individualistic and materialistic (Fradin 19). They focus more on the outside, on the physical world instead on the deeper aspects of life which consists of unity, common good and the virtues. It is not easy to look at the deeper aspects of life that goes beyond the material especially in the modern world where learning focuses more on compartmentalized and functional instructions. Science is prevalent and focuses on the materialistic component of life since it offers people to learn the existence of objects. In short, things must be tangible or observable. Mayflower Compact has shown something different which goes beyond the material and individual as those who rode the ship escaping from Britain made the prayer for the reform that they envisioned (Fradin 24).The people involved there focused on the general wellness of people through unity and the common good. December 3, 2012: Henry David Thoreau Another supporting document would be that of Henry David Thoreau. He pointed out the importance of life over economics although money is still very important in life. He said that money can answer the needs but never allow it to take over the life of a person as the only pursuit of those who live (Thoreau 200). Money cannot be brought to the grave which means the focus should be wider and bigger. It should be the common good which means it goes beyond the material things that the individual needs. It is about compassion and lifestyle change for the sake of other people too. In the modern world, people have the difficulty to define the limit of the amount of things that can satisfy them. It would be hard to identify unless the particular thing has been identified. The consumer world has been so fast that sometimes it degrades the common good. People go beyond the common need. They have developed the lifestyle of greed and pursue the consumption more to satisfy the desire. Thoreau might suggest an alternative economics to control the devastating effects of too much consumption. He had identified the things beyond the needs as luxuries. Everybody has his own purpose or objective in life and materials are necessary to make them come true. They are called tools but sometimes what a person desires is not in line with his objectives. It even interferes with the ultimate purpose. It is suggested to know the limits but it depends upon the person because the definition of enough is subjective. It is hard to generalize it. The solution can be seen in the alternative economics proposed by Thoreau. The process might not be easy but it is worthwhile to accomplish. Thoreau had said that money is necessary for survival as those who have problems with their needs must not despair (Thoreau 567). It only means that there is a way to create security to meet the needs. It is not bad to pursue money for survival but once needs are satisfied, people must not focus on money but on what the soul desires which goes beyond the needs. He even pointed out that the things that can satisfy the spirit are found in free things (Thoreau 568). There is no need to pursue more money than ever if it is only for luxury and being blind with the common good. It seems that Thoreau advocates a simplistic life without condemning the importance of money for survival. Sometimes necessary things are invisible especially in the world today where things are run by a system of materials and commodities. Learning is even confined to individualism at most part with functional focus instead of promoting a wider form of education for everybody. It is noted that money is not bad but if it is pursued to satisfy the too much desire of people, the common good is affected negatively. Work Cited Fradin, Dennis. The Mayflower Compact. USA: Marshall Cavendish, 2007. Print. Pieper, Joseph. Leisure / The Philosophical Act: The Basis of Culture. USA: Pantheon, 1952. Print. Thoreau, Henry. Carl Bode Ed. The Portable Thoreau. USA: Penguin Group, 2012. Print. Ward, Paul. The Soul Genome: Science and Reincarnation. USA: Fenestra Books, 2008. Print. Read More