Tuesday — I’m a Sceptic
This morning, I was forced out of bed by my well-meaning mother. Probably for the best, I was made to go to school, still feeling slightly off.
“Surely I can do this. I’ll be sitting down for most of it.”
On the tram to school, I read through the morning text. I recognised the obvious irony of the question “Was I framed for this, to lie under the bedclothes and keep myself warm?” The morning text addressed the importance of doing what is required of you, in this case, getting out of bed, going to school, sitting in a classroom, and learning. So as the 96 tram rattled towards Parliament Station, I tried to convince myself that I had a duty to do… well, my duty. But two things bothered me about the morning text.
- It had a very religious undertone. Destiny, the idea that everything exists for a reason, and that every living thing has its purpose, these ideas are all statements that I cannot help but automatically refute whenever I contemplate them.
- I do not believe that there is a prescribed duty or “job” for a human being. A person has many different duties in life. The text seems to hold judgement over those who stay within their bedcovers, but what of a volunteer firefighter who works for 5 days, then has 5 days off? Would you judge them, if they decide to stay in bed on one of their days off, weariness extending to their very bones, the price of saving three children from a burning building the previous night? Marcus Aurelius’ writings seem to display a belief in the black and the white, good and evil, fulfilling of duty and avoiding of duty.
Despite my differences with Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism on the whole, I did write a list of things that are in my control, compared to those that are not.
In my control:
What subjects I put on m VCE subjects form.
How hard I work in school.
What time I wake up and go to sleep.
The decision to read Peter Singer’s Writings on an Ethical Life, instead of watching TV.
What is not in my control:
What subjects I get assigned in Year 11 and 12.
What my grades are at school.
How long it takes me to get to sleep, whether or not I sleep well, wake up during the night, or am kept awake by external factors.
Whether or not I will agree with Peter Singer’s views on non-human animal rights (I do).
Whether or not my favourite TV show is scheduled for when I want.
The Evening Text:
The evening text is a paragraph written by Marcus Aurelius, about what to do when an external force tries to influence your actions. He says that when possible, you should follow the course of justice, and do what is right. However, when you are forced to do something that is not just, right, or ethical, he suggests you allow your actions to be changed, and use this situation to express a different virtue.
Something I see in Aurelius’s writings is the certainty that “you” (the person he addresses his writing to, presumably himself) are always right. He tells you to pity and help others who do not share your opinion. That very statement cannot exist without the pre-existing assumption that your opinion is the most valid. What if the others, who do not share your opinion, are correct? I believe that this lesson of Marcus’s is not applicable to the real world.
I’m not convinced that Stoicism is practical in the 21st century. Hopefully the rest of the week puts up a more convincing fight than Monday and Tuesday.
