A few months ago, I received a phone call from a friend who is pursuing a master’s degree at a local university. An assignment was given in one of her classes, and each student had to interview someone about the process of aging. My friend asked me to be the subject of her interview. Why she asked a young kid like me, I don’t know. While I agreed to the interview as a favor to her, I was surprised that the two-hour session we had on the phone proved to be interesting not only to her but also to me.
Reflecting on my thoughts about the process of aging was, for me, a kind of examination of conscience and prayer. I did not expect that to happen when I agreed to the interview, but I am glad it did. Taking my friend’s questions led me to a serious reflection on my life.
In all the philosophy classes I teach at St. John’s University, I tell students that philosophy reflects personal experience. Engaging in a two-hour interview about my life, I was forced to think about my own experience.
At the beginning of the interview, I was surprised by what I was experiencing. Taking the interview seriously, I think I discovered some ideas about aging that I had never thought of previously. I know I never had previously reflected for two uninterrupted hours about my own experience of aging.
I also know I never shared my thoughts about aging in detail with anyone. My young friend turned out to be an excellent interviewer, and her questioning and welcoming encouragement probably helped me gain insights I might never have received without submitting to the interview.
One of the philosophers whose philosophy I teach is Plato, who is considered by many to be the greatest of all philosophers. The brilliant philosopher Alfred North Whitehead claimed that after Plato, all of Western philosophy was a series of footnotes to Plato. I think he meant that Plato reflected on almost every philosophical problem and dealt with them deeply.
One of Plato’s important insights is expressed in the statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I wonder how many times I have mentioned that statement in the philosophy courses I have taught. Somehow, today, it seems especially relevant to me. Human life is precious. It deserves serious and deep reflection. The human person is a mystery.
There is no end to the number of insights that can be reached by reflecting on that mystery — insights into the experience of knowing, insights into the meaning of death, insights into freedom, insights into personal relationships, insights into the experience of loving and insights into the experience of being loved, insights into the mystery of God. The next time I present Plato’s claim that the unexamined life is not worth living, I plan to invite the students to spend some time on the truth of Plato’s claim.
What in their lives is worth examining? Do any of us sufficiently reflect on what is important in our lives? What do we think deserves reflection? Why? The next time I teach Plato, I hope I will be able to provoke the students to reflect on what they think in their lives deserves serious reflection and whether they believe that they, at least occasionally, should engage in serious reflection. Perhaps I will ask them to share some of the topics that they think deserve serious reflection and whether they think serious reflection will cause them to change anything in their lives.
As my interview progressed, I found I often anticipated the next question that would be asked. I did not intend to do that, but more and more, both the interviewer and I seemed to be on the same page. Our minds were going in the same direction. Near the end of the interview, my friend pointed out several times that I had already made comments that could be taken as answers to questions she was about to ask.
I suppose the interview, at times, seemed like a religious activity because the topics we were discussing were so important and relevant. I think that in philosophy courses, I teach that the content, without slipping into theology, can easily be related to religious topics. I know that if I ever again receive an invitation to be interviewed, I will try to accept the invitation. I suspect that I will look at the invitation as an opportunity to grow in self-knowledge. Growth in knowing yourself is always a good experience.
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.