Relevant Literature

Which piece of literature has had the largest effect in my life? Why?


My immediate reaction is to say Plato's Republic, hands down, but the Republic only gave me half of the story. Well. Two-thirds of it. The remaining third I got from Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Plato's Republic taught me how to think, and the Nichomachean Ethics taught me how to act. I read both of these books in my junior year of high school, and they quite literally changed my life.

The different ways that people think are ridiculously diverse, and I have no idea how to characterize the way I thought before junior year. I took most things at face value, I made grand statements about things I understood very little of, and although I was very good at winning an argument, I thought winning was the point. Well, through Plato, I came to the realization that I'm probably wrong in just about everything I believe, and that it is counterproductive to assume that you know the answers to everything, or even anything. Plato sort of cut my knees out from under me, and forced me to rethink... well, everything. I was raised Christian, so of course, I knew I wasn't supposed to steal, or cheat, or do bad things, etc. But I didn't really *know* that. It was something my parents told me, it was something society expected of me, so I was happy to do it. But in high school, there are so many temptations, things your parents tell you to do, or, rather, not to do get harder and harder not to do. A lot of lines get real fuzzy. I was, intellectually and morally, in a very dangerous situation. One of the most important parts of my transformation of my mind, if you will, was my dad. I have always prided myself on having a good relationship with my parents, but during this whole episode, I realized a couple of things. My dad works for the justice department, and by the time I was in junior year, he had been doing the job he was being paid to do, as well as the job above him. The guy's job who was above him was to manage all of the people who did the job my dad did. Needless to say, my dad was a little overworked. In addition, my dad worked part-time at my high school, teaching the two-hour, philosophy/literature/history seminar that juniors take. So he was *really* overworked. Well, after a little while I realized that my dad had kept the teaching job, despite being overworked, because he wanted to be there to teach the stuff to me. Well, that made me realize, damn, it is this important to him that I understand the full impact of this stuff. Wow, this must be important. Well, it was. All of those things that I used to believe because I was told to believe them I now believe because I understand them, because I have worked through them myself. Lines still get fuzzy, but I have the tools to sharpen them again. Before, my soul was some concept that was important for some reason...yeah. Well, now it's something I think about daily, and its importance is central to my life. However, while working through the Republic made me realize the importance of my soul, and that I should always act justly, it did not tell me, in very much detail, how to act justly. From the Republic, I gained universal principles and the like, but day to day details were lacking. That is where Aristotle came in. Aristotle taught me gratitude, both to my parents, my school and, well, my nation. I can be quite cynical at times, and you will never see me up on a stage saying how great America is, I'm not an outspoken patriot, but I will forever be grateful for everything that the U.S. has made possible for me. So Aristotle gave me perspective, and understanding. Further, he taught me the true meaning of words like courage, justice and reason. We all know what justice is... but do we really? The number of things Plato and Aristotle made me really think about was astounding, and it was always remarkable to me that I could get so many answers from Plato, and yet Socrates, the actual speaker in the Republic, is forever the one asking the questions. He claims he knows nothing, yet everything I learned, I learned from him.

All in all, Aristotle and Plato saved me from a whole lot of mediocrity, and gave me a shot at real happiness. I even still read them, so not only have they had an impact on my life, but they continue to. I can usually get something new every time I read even bits and pieces. For a couple of guys who died 2400 years ago, they did a great job answering questions that we don't even think to ask anymore.