Rachael Rackley
Concept Diary Week 4- 9/18/12
Concept: Self- Control
Quotes:
Bhagavad Gita—
“Those who have serenity, self control, austerity, purity, patience, honesty, knowledge, Selfrealization, and belief in God are labeled as Braahmanas, the intellectuals.”
“Endowed with purified intellect, subduing the mind with resolve, turning away from sound and
other objects of the senses, giving up likes and dislikes; and Living in solitude, eating lightly,
controlling the thought, word, and deed; ever absorbed in yoga of meditation, and taking refuge
in detachment; and Relinquishing egotism, violence, pride, lust, anger, and desire for possession;
free from the notion of “my'', and peaceful; one becomes fit for attaining oneness with
Brahman.”
Plato—
“Are not the chief elements of temperance, speaking generally, obedience to commanders and
self-control in sensual pleasures?”
“Then, I said, we will not allow those for whom we profess a care and of whom we say that they
ought to be good men, to imitate a woman, whether young or old, quarreling with her husband,
or striving and vaunting against the gods in conceit of her happiness, or when she is in affliction,
or sorrow, or weeping; and certainly not one who is in sickness, love or labour.”
“If then we adhere to our original notion and bear in mind that our guardians, setting aside every
other business, are the dedicate themselves wholly to the maintenance of freedom in the State,
making this their craft, and engaging in no work which does not bear on this end, they ought not
to practice or imitate anything else; if they imitate at all, they should imitate from youth upward
only those characters which are suitable to their profession—the courageous, temperate, holy,
free, and the like; but they should not depict or be skillful at imitating any kind of illiberality or
baseness, lest from imitation they should come to be what they imitate.”
Davis and Moore- “(b) The fact that the rulers represent the interest of the group rather
than of themselves, and are therefore restricted in their behavior by rules and mores designed
to enforce this limitation of interest.”
Analysis:
This week I chose the concept of self-control as it pertained to multiple readings and I noted
references to different methods of self-control throughout the readings as well. The Bhagavad
Gita discusses self-control through the renunciation of worldly pleasures and fruits of labor. To
work without expectation of fruits and to indulge in spiritual practices results in the cessation of
sorrow and pleasures that delude a person. The text notes that after this self-control, one becomes
fit for attaining oneness. Throughout Plato, the conception of a just society is discussed and it is
debated between the men what values the just society should place upon young guardians and on
heroic stories. These values all revolve around self-control; values that immunize the guardians
from fearing death, from engaging in violent laughter and emotions, and imitating sorrow,
extreme happiness and feminine qualities. Self-control as Socrates views it, is essential in
developing a justice and competent rulers. Davis and Moore depict that rulers are restricted in
their behavior and must practice certain levels of self-control designed for their position and for
the interest of society. All of these notions of self-control that I noted give reference to the fact
that those who can control their emotions and their desires will be fit to rule. Which begs the
question of why qualities such as expressing sorrow and overjoyed laughter would not be
admirable qualities? Through my understanding of this analysis, self-control displays a strong
character and any actions such as weeping will lead to a weak ruler who therefore could not
adequately lead a society. This concept ties into conflict analysis due to the fact that many
conflict situations can arise from lack of self-control from rulers, and as well in situations where
self-control is practiced too rigidly and the leader is assumed to be out of touch with reality.
(Although I chose the concept of self-control, there were many other concepts that I would have
loved to have written on this week, but simply did not have enough time. These concepts that I
saw related to the multiple readings were fear, death, freedom, strength and truth. I was not sure
if these could be concepts in terms of conflict analysis and therefore I also wanted to check and
see if I am going in the right direction, or not exactly thinking in terms of conflict concepts.. )