Journal evought's Journal: Arete and Agon - Ecology and Greek Personal Development 1
Of late, particularly in some of the slashdot discussions involving environmental/enviro-economic problems, I find myself making posts like this one, which, though I feel are justified, are getting more argumentative than I want to be. I am getting close to the line between agon, "discerning judgment or evaluation", and krinos, "final or critical judgment" (or, if you prefer, "getting cranky"). I wanted to use this journal entry to explain where I feel the overall issue is, why it bothers me and talk a bit about Greek ideology.
First off, let me say, as I have said elsewhere, that I am not an enviro-fascist that thinks people need to revert to stone age technology. In some of my recent endeavors, I am indeed using and teaching traditional craft and farming technologies and using them myself, but this is more for purposes of living history and education than ecological policy per se. I do not believe that people need to go back to horse drawn plows (although, there are some applications, like low-impact tree-culling, where horses are ideal). As a slashdot reader, I obviously have a computer. As a disabled farmer, I actively seek conveniences and assistive devices to make my job easier.
The problem is not the technology per se, but the culture of profligate waste which surrounds it. This is why I do not think any technological solution will get us out of our developing predicament. Any margin which new technology gives us will simply be absorbed by more waste and consumption--- barring social change. Which change, I think will be hard in coming, if at all. As cascadingstylesheet responded to one of my posts, top down legislation of social change just breeds corruption at the top and injustice at the bottom.
In any case, I believe, from one of several factors, including economic dependence on foreign oil, we are in danger of learning our lesson by being slapped, hard, by reality. Technical solutions all have serious problems and may generally cause more harm than good, such as biofuel production's dependence on fossil fuels and competition with food for arable land. Whenever someone mentions conservation or social change as part of the solution, people become very incensed that encironmentalists are asking them to "go back to the trees" or otherwise give up a God-given write to certain must have conveniences. This is not limited to the environment, but connects with many things, such as the disappearance of local business to Walmart and chain bookstores, our over dependence on a fragile interstate trucking system, the trade deficit, and much more. This is just sad.
What makes it sad is that (many? most? US?) people are refusing not only to make a choice, but even to see that one exists at all. They take images handed to them from the media and cling to them to the bitter end, without even evaluating what the consequences might be. They complain about the consequences, and sometimes lament the loss of things that have disappeared, then shrug and go on. I can't say I always make good choices or am not sometimes forced into corners, but it is never because I don't care. Maybe I am just wired differently, but I cannot understand how other people can stand to live with their eyes closed.
Is it really too much to pick up a book instead of turning on the TV? To play cards and talk instead of sitting with video game? To go to a farmers' market instead of Walmart every so often? To live close to where you work? To walk down the street (assuming physical ability) instead of buying a treadmill, maybe say "Hi!" to a neighbor? To support a local business even if it is not quite as cheap or convenient as Megacorp(tm)? Sit in on an occasional town council meeting? To get a wash machine that cycles the rinse water into the next wash? etc, etc, etc. Sometimes (maybe most of the time) it isn't perfectly clear which way is the right way, but trying, thinking, adjusting, trying again, is the way to get there.
The Greeks had two very interesting concepts called Arete and Agon. Arete is the source of our word "Art", but it meant more to the Greeks, more like "excellence in all things" and is in line with the Renaissance's mens ano in corporus ano "A sound mind in a sound body." The Greeks believed that, even if you were particularly good at one thing, it was your responsibility to be well rounded as well.
Agon is the root of "agonize" and, simplistically, means "contest". It was the contest or debate of the will, the process of judgment. It came to be used to describe the moral tension in the plots of greek plays, and, in particular, the dialog between two characters mediated by the chorus as some great dilemma was fought out. Unlike Krinos, another Greek word meaning judgement, agon was not final, but an ongoing and continuing process of evaluation.
What would the world be without the agon--the agonistics of one man against another--to show everyone the order of precedence among men,just as no two other things on earth are alike? How could any of us alive know quality if competition and personal combat did not let all the world know who embodies excellence and who merely manages mediocrity?
--Odysseus, OLYMPOS
Agon, the responsibility to judge, is balanced by arete, the need to do it well, which requires compassion, empathy, and the ability to see faults in yourself, maybe that last above all. This can only be accomplished by doing it often--- constantly testing and revising. As Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." This code was taken up by the Romans, embodied in chivalry, and revived in the Renaissance, but despite the classical roots of our society, we have entirely lost touch with them. It was always a hard to reach ideal, but now it seems we no longer have that much. Our mythology is dead, our heroes sterile. Our society desperately needs to grab hold of something before we are overwhelmed by mediocrity and complacency.
For a short piece I wrote on comparing the forms of "judgement" used in the New Testament, look here. You may find it interesting even if you are not Christian.
nice writeup (Score:1)