Plague Journal, Arete
It is midweek, Wednesday. Today I have a early appointment with my primary care physician. I will be cleared for surgery on Wednesday of the coming week. My eyesight is in need of surgical attention, the consequences of age and diabetes. I did not understand the meaning of having a body that is subject to the laws of physics, thermodynamics in particular, until I reached the age of 60. Then things began to go downhill, slowly. What goes up must come down. Surprise! I am not the exception to the rule of Nature: birth, growth to maturity, aging, and death. Of course it is possible to express the matter more poetically, metaphor to conceal the stark tragedy of the matter. Who would not chose to remain eternally in the summertime of one’s life? The choice is not mine, or yours to make.
Arête is the Greek word that can be translated “excellence.” It was used by Homer around 800 BC to describe the strength, dexterity, and self control of the heroes of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Arête; there is a great deal entailed in that single word.
I have made acquaintance with a medical doctor, a retina specialist, who has considerable experience in the delicate art of retina repair. I am depending upon his possession, and his pursuit of excellence in the technical project of restoring the normal curvature of the macula of my eye. My eyesight, the acuity of my vision, depends upon the physician’s skill, and upon his focused purpose to “do good work. ” As I am the patient, I have much at stake. It is easy for me to “see,” to approve the ethical component of excellence entailed in the practice of medicine. There is a community of interest, between a patient, and a physician that demands reciprocity of concern. The doctor will apply his skill and do his best work. For my part, I will pay him for his good work.
This is an exchange, a reciprocity that can be extended to every endeavor which we undertake as human beings. Homo sapiens are by definition social beings. Exchange is the form of survival, what it means to be, to continue to exist as the sentient beings that we are. Entire cultures, ways of life can be constructed upon the foundation of arête. The excellence which we extend to one another, giving and receiving, is the assurance that all of us, no one excluded, will have a fulfilled life, a life of purpose, within the random circumstance, and inherited abilities of our birth.
Now I must depart for the appointment with the Doctor.
