Compare And Contrast Plato's Gorgias
In Plato’s Gorgias, two different perspectives are argued on how to obtain happiness. The first perspective, Callicles, who believes an undisciplined life, leads to happiness whereas Socrates argues that self-control is needed to be happy. In this essay I will argue that Socrates is correct that self-discipline is essential for true happiness.
The ultimate end goal in life is to be happy. Happiness by definition is the state of which one is happy. The term is subjective, but most agree “happy” is associated with “good”. Something good can’t be something bad at the same time, yet pleasure is simultaneous with pain. If pleasure can be felt with something else, but good cannot, therefor pleasure doesn’t equal good and can’t be happiness. Since pleasure isn’t what’s good and what’s good is happiness, how can feeding into your vices lead to happiness? …show more content…
This would contradict the idea that living without limiting your desires brings happiness. I’m happy, up until I realize the consequence it has, then the temporary happiness would disappear.
The cycle would then continue, I would pursue another pleasure and end in the same situation as before. After awhile of living in the moment and going after everything you want, consequences occur. In life, if you live without limiting your desires and feeding into your vices, inner peace can never be achieved because you will never find happiness in the end.
However, how realistic is it to live a life with self-control? Humans aren’t perfect creatures, and temptation is always present. Will feeding an appetite every once in a while compromise happiness? We aren’t perfect humans; living with complete self-discipline is too high of a standard to attain. It’s almost more reasonable to believe a happy, realistic life is to only feed appetites in
The ultimate end goal in life is to be happy. Happiness by definition is the state of which one is happy. The term is subjective, but most agree “happy” is associated with “good”. Something good can’t be something bad at the same time, yet pleasure is simultaneous with pain. If pleasure can be felt with something else, but good cannot, therefor pleasure doesn’t equal good and can’t be happiness. Since pleasure isn’t what’s good and what’s good is happiness, how can feeding into your vices lead to happiness? …show more content…
This would contradict the idea that living without limiting your desires brings happiness. I’m happy, up until I realize the consequence it has, then the temporary happiness would disappear.
The cycle would then continue, I would pursue another pleasure and end in the same situation as before. After awhile of living in the moment and going after everything you want, consequences occur. In life, if you live without limiting your desires and feeding into your vices, inner peace can never be achieved because you will never find happiness in the end.
However, how realistic is it to live a life with self-control? Humans aren’t perfect creatures, and temptation is always present. Will feeding an appetite every once in a while compromise happiness? We aren’t perfect humans; living with complete self-discipline is too high of a standard to attain. It’s almost more reasonable to believe a happy, realistic life is to only feed appetites in