Alford writes:
What is the meaning of life? To this little question Freud answered, love and work, an answer that by now is almost a cliché (Erickson 1963). What happens when the world becomes unlovable and our work impossible . . . If love is not just a psychic discharge but a way of being in the world, then that way of being 'demands that the world present itself to us as worthy to love (Lear 1990, 153). . . if love is not just a feeling but the force that makes the world go around, as Freud speculated in his later works . . . then loving the world and being able to love the world because the world is lovable are two sides of the same coin. We make the world meaningful by being lovable. When one partner fails, both do. The meaning of life depends on our ability to remain in a love affair with the world. (52).So this is about the reciprocal nature of love and the meaning that it gives our lives. Alford is saying that part of the whistleblower's dilemma is that when her work becomes unprincipled, when she has the freedom to act on principle but loses everything else and is confronted with a world that does not share these ethical principals, her world becomes unlovable. This leads into the next discussion on paranoia. But let's focus on the first idea. Again, we have this theme about individual agency actually being contingent or finding a source in a relationship with the world. Can you start to tie the themes of these prompts together?
1 comment:
To me this means that: Most don't know what it's like to be overwhelmed by our beliefs because we haven't personally been in a position that directly impacted our lives, perhaps it is less dramatic and that is why we call it choice, but for a whistleblower there is no choice.
I think that some of the students at county community are controlled by their motives as students and members of society. My student that I tutor seems to be motivated to learn and at times he shares his career goals for the future. This can change from week to week. I think his motivation is outsourced and varies depending on how he is feeling. I think that he has the principles and action to achieve his goals, it's just a matter of acknowledgment and motivation.
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