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Philosophy [Number]
[Date Month Year]
One underlying goal of Professor Francis J. Ambrosio’s Lesson 1 (Meaning – A Question and a Commitment) is the taking of responsibility for our search for meaning by experiencing the full power of such meaning in our individual lives. He proposed not a mere intellectual recitation of a theoretical answer to an existential question; but a passionate living of such meaning through the power of commitment. Both the lives of Socrates (Marvin, n.pg.) and Abraham (Jones 28-42) reflected such basic passion for meaning.
The ultimate meaning of Socrates’ life centered upon his quest for the truth in all things arrived through the facility of reason with his students. Conversely, that of Abraham revolved around his innermost desire to find and follow the will of God, not just in his own life but in the life of his family as well.
Their lives also involved a lifelong commitment to questioning. Socrates spent the rest of his life pondering the fundamental reasons of everything through logical reasoning; Abraham did so, asking God for his will. Both had been called ‘crazy’ (the fool’s errand) by the people who failed to understand the passion for meaning raging inside these two. To a certain degree, both were heroes based on the purpose of their journeys: Socrates’s search for knowledge (truth in all things) and Abraham’s search for the Promised Land.
These are the perils of the hero in human history. Each faced their own monsters to conquer when the rest simply failed to even ask the question. Socrates’ judges never saw the meaning of what he fought for; neither, Abraham’s parents and siblings understood the new meaning that he found when he found God, or perhaps more accurately, God found him.
The lives of Socrates and Abraham also lent themselves to the three characteristics of investigative styles that Ambrosio proposed. Both persons lived in the past (historical), struggled with their own question of meaning in their lives (existential), and shared it to those who joined them in the quest (dialogical).
While both had the characteristics of the hero archetype, certain traits of the saint archetype can be found in Abraham: meaning as defined by others (human or divine vs. necessity and fate), a covenanted bond of care for others (vs. for no one), and a love-propelled responsibility (vs. self-mastery and indifference).
Is human existence meaningful or absurd? The archetypes of hero and saint, both prototypes (Mish 60), presume that human existence is never absurd. Both hero and saint find themselves in the midst of a passionate quest that brings specific meaning to their lives. While passion may be lacking in others still not in the quest, the struggles and journeys of the hero and the saint can still be seen among us today, evident in many issues we collectively and individually face.
Everyone however has opportunities to play certain archetypes in specific moments in their lives. Our quest though may follow the journey of the hero or the saint, at times playing the archetype of the initiate, the mentor, the threshold guardian, and others. In the end, what meaning we put into our lives rests upon our decision to be in the forefront of the ultimate quest of our lives or spend it not even knowing that the journey could have been fun.
Works Cited
Jones, Alexander, ed. “The Book of Genesis.” The Jerusalem Bible. Darton, Longman & Todd;
Doubleday & Company, 1966. Print.
Marvin, Chris. “Philosophers: Socrates.” Trincoll.edu. Web.
Mesh, Frederick C, ed. “Archetype”. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed.
Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 1996. Print.
