Kreeft Best Things in Life

1. Auflage 1984
ISBN: 978-0-8308-7452-1
Verlag: InterVarsity Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 192 Seiten

What are the best things in life?Questions like that may boggle your mind. But they don't boggle Socrates. The indomitable old Greek brings his unending questions to Desperate State University. With him come the same mind-opening and spirit-stretching challenge that disrupted ancient Athens. - What is the purpose of education? - Why do we make love? - What good is money? - Can computers think like people? - Is there a difference between Capitalism and Communism? - What is the greatest good? - Is belief in God like belief in Santa Claus? In twelve short, Socratic dialogues Peter Kreeft explodes contemporary values like success, power and pleasure. And he bursts the modern bubbles of agnosticism and subjectivism. He leaves you richer, wiser and more able to discern what the best things in life actually are.

Peter Kreeft (PhD, Fordham University) is professor of philosophy at Boston College, where he has taught since 1965. A popular lecturer, he has also taught at many other colleges, seminaries, and educational institutions in the eastern United States. Kreeft has written more than fifty books, including The Best Things in Life, The Journey, and Handbook of Christian Apologetics (with Ronald Tacelli).

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kreeft, Peter

Leseproben

1 On Education and E.T.

Socrates: Excuse me for bothering you, but what are you doing?

Peter Pragma: What kind of silly question is that? I’m reading a book. Or was, until you interrupted me. Can’t you see that?

Socrates: Alas, I often fail to see what others see, and see things others cannot see.

Peter: I don’t get it.

Socrates: I saw you holding the book, yes, but I did not see you reading it.

Peter: What in the world are you talking about?

Socrates: You are holding the book in your hands, aren’t you?

Peter: Of course.

Socrates: And I can see your hands.

Peter: So?

Socrates: But do you read the book with your hands?

Peter: Of course not.

Socrates: With what, then?

Peter: With my eyes, of course.

Socrates: Oh, I don’t think so.

Peter: I think you’re crazy.

Socrates: Perhaps, but I speak the truth, and I think I can show you that. Tell me, can a corpse read?

Peter: No. . .

Socrates: But a corpse can have eyes, can’t it?

Peter: Yes.

Socrates: Then it is not just the eyes that read.

Peter: Oh. The mind then. Are you satisfied now?

Socrates: No.

Peter: Somehow I thought you’d say that.

Socrates: I cannot see your mind, can I?

Peter: No.

Socrates: Then I cannot see you reading.

Peter: I guess you can’t. But what a strange thing to say!

Socrates: Strange but true. Truth is often stranger than fiction, you know. Which do you prefer?

Peter: You know, you’re stranger than fiction too, little man.

Socrates: That’s because I’m true too.

Peter: Who are you, anyway?

Socrates: I am Socrates.

Peter: Sure you are. And I’m E.T.

Socrates: I’m pleased to meet you, E.T.

Peter: My name is Peter Pragma.

Socrates: Do you have two names?

Peter: What do you mean?

Socrates: You said your name was E.T.

Peter: And you said your name was Socrates.

Socrates: Because it is. I have this strange habit of saying what is.

Peter: What do you want from me?

Socrates: Would you let me pursue my silly question just a moment longer?

Peter: I thought you got your answer.

Socrates: Not to my real question. You see, when I asked you what you were doing, I really meant, Why are you doing it?

Peter: I’m studying for my exam tomorrow.

Socrates: And why are you doing that?

Peter: You know, you sound like a little child.

Socrates: Thank you.

Peter: I didn’t mean it as a compliment.

Socrates: I don’t care. Only answer the question, please.

Peter: I’m studying to pass my course, of course.

Socrates: And why do you want to do that?

Peter: Another silly question! Don’t you ever grow up?

Socrates: Let me tell you a secret, Peter: there are no grown-ups. But you still haven’t answered my “silly question.”

Peter: To get a degree, of course.

Socrates: You mean all the time and effort and money you put into your education here at Desperate State is to purchase that little piece of paper?

Peter: That’s the way it is.

Socrates: I think you may be able to guess what my next question is going to be.

Peter: I’m catching on. I think it’s an infection.

Socrates: What is the next question, then?

Peter: You’re going to ask me why I want a degree.

Socrates: And you’re going to answer.

Peter: But it’s another silly question. Everyone knows what a degree is for.

Socrates: But I am not “everyone.” So would you please tell me?

Peter: A college degree is the entrance ticket to a good job. Do you know how difficult the job market is today? Where have you been for the last few years?

Socrates: You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. But we must ask just one more question, or rather two: What is “a good job” and why do you want one?

Peter: Money, of course. That’s the answer to both questions. To all questions, maybe.

Socrates: I see. And what do you want to do with all the money you make?

Peter: You said your last two questions were your last.

Socrates: If you want to go away, I cannot keep you here. But if we pursue our explorations one little step further, we may discover something new.

Peter: What do you think you’ll find? A new world?

Socrates: Quite possibly. A new world of thought. Will you come with me? Shall we trudge ahead through the swamps of our uncertainties? Or shall we sit comfortably at home in our little cave?

Peter: Why should I torture myself with all these silly questions from a strange little man? I’m supposed to be studying for my exam.

Socrates: Because it would be profitable for you. The unexamined life is not worth living, you know.

Peter: I heard that somewhere. . . Good grief! That’s one of the quotations that might be on my exam tomorrow. Who said that, anyway?

Socrates: I did. Didn’t you hear me?

Peter: No, I mean who said it originally?

Socrates: It was I, I assure you. Now shall we continue our journey?

Peter: What are you getting at, anyway, Socrates?

Socrates: No, Peter, the question is what you are getting at. That is the topic we were exploring. Now shall we continue to make your life a little less unexamined and a little more worth living?

Peter: All right. For a little while, anyway.

Socrates: Then you will answer my last question?

Peter: I forgot what it was.

Socrates: What do you need money for?

Peter: Everything! Everything I want costs money.

Socrates: For instance?

Peter: Do you know how much it costs to raise a family nowadays?

Socrates: And what would you say is the largest expense in raising a family nowadays?

Peter: Probably sending the kids to college.

Socrates: I see. Let’s review what you have said. You are reading this book to study for your exam, so that you can pass it and your course, to graduate and get a degree, to get a good job, to make a lot of money, to raise a family and send your children to college.

Peter: Right.

Socrates: And why will they go to college?

Peter: Same reason I’m here. To get good jobs, of course.

Socrates: So they can send their children to college?

Peter: Yes.

Socrates: Have you ever heard the expression “arguing in a circle”?

Peter: No, I never took logic.

Socrates: Really? I would never have guessed it.

Peter: You’re teasing me.

Socrates: Really?

Peter: I’m a practical man. I don’t care about logic, just life.

Socrates: Then perhaps we should call what you are doing “living in a circle.” Have you ever asked yourself a terrifying, threatening question? What is the whole circle there for?

Peter: Hmmm. . . nobody ever bothered me with that question before.

Socrates: I know. That is why I was sent to you.

Peter: Well, sending kids to college isn’t the only thing I’m working for. I’m working for my own good too. That’s not a circle, is it?

Socrates: We don’t know until we look, do we? Tell me, what is “your own good”?

Peter: What do you mean?

Socrates: What benefit to yourself do you hope the money from a well-paying job will bring you?

Peter: All sorts of things. The good life. Fun and games. Leisure.

Socrates: I see. And you are now giving up fun and games for some serious studying so that you can pass your exams and your courses and get your degree.

Peter: Right. It’s called “delayed...