The Diagnosis And Cure Of The Soul’s Passions

1. This text reminded me of my dad. My dad used to be strict on everything I do, especially my words and behaviors around people older than me. I hated this growing up because I thought I did nothing wrong. Galen stated similarly that “it is impossible to know them, since we love ourselves to excess” (Harkins, 1963, p. 3). I believed that my dad was being too unforgiving. After reading the text, I realized that I “hate those who speak the truth” (Harkins, 1963, p. 4). I learned an important lesson here because my dad was “the man does not greet the powerful and wealthy by name, when he does not visit them, when he does not dine with them, when he lives a disciplined life, expect that man to speak the truth” (Harkins, 1963, p. 4) because of his love and responsibility of a parent. Not only that, over the past few years, I have been appreciating everything that he did to be that I thought was harsh, simply because now I see other people around me that made the same error as me, I “see it better than when he does something wrong (Harkins, 1963, p. 10).
2. I got yelled at by a lady in a restaurant when I was little. I was behind my friends, so I kind of rushed them with my body, giving them hints that they should hurry. I was embarrassed, ashamed by the insult, but I was angry that the lady laughed at me for being uneducated and stupid. I held grudges until recently. Galen stated that “we must permit all men to accuse us; we must listen to them in a gentle spirit; (we must show) gratitude, not to those who flatter us, but to those who rebuke us” (Harkins, 1963, p. 10). The little me did not appreciate the words that came out of that lady’s mouth; it was more an insult than a lesson. Despite the painful experience, I improved myself in how to be patient, and how to behave properly while in line from a stranger lady that was upset. I knew that “cutting out any error is difficult for one who is unwilling to try. But if a man determines to do so, it is very easy to get rid of the major errors” (Harkins, 1963, p. 10). It was painful at first when I had to swallow the insult, but it also motivated me to fix my errors so I don’t make the same mistakes again.

1. Galen mentioned that when he saw his friend releasing his anger on people, “I conceived such a hatred for anger that I was never thereafter seen behaving in an unseemly manner because of it” (Harkins, 1963, p. 7). He later mentioned that “most men look with scorn upon all the other diseases of the soul, and so they fail to observe them when they see other men who are affected by them. But no one fails to see clearly that grief is an evil of the soul, just as pain is an evil for the body” (Harkins, 1963, p. 15). He first stated that he observed some who was affected by the diseases of the soul, he learned not to be affected by it. In the second statement, he said that men fail to see other people who are affected by diseases of the soul because the look with scorn up all the other diseases of the soul. These statements, in my opinions, contradict with one another: people both learn from observation or they don’t even observe at all is my understanding of the message. I think the latter quote was toward younger audiences while the first was his personal experience after training. But it was interesting how people react so differently.
2. Galen stated that if children’s “nature will accept the advantage of our care, they could become good men. If they should fail to accept this attention, the blame would not be ours” (Harkins, 1963, p. 16). He also proposed that “nature is in all cases a great factor, as is also imitation of those about us; later on, principles and practice are important influences (Harkins, 1963, p. 15). Do these quotes foreshadow that people’s failure do not depend on education but on how a person’s self-reflection and interpretation? Wouldn’t that just mean that people who don’t accept the attention, education wouldn’t work on them anyways, and that they are destined to fail? I agree that nature impacts us when we are little and later principles will build who we are, but if all that fails, it is no one’s fault (education) but mine?

1. How would religion fix passions and errors of the soul?
2. Does Galen believe in utilitarianism?