Throughout the last year or so, I've spent time with Dante's Divine Comedy. In it Dante's protaganist ventures down into the depths of Hell. He encounters many of the damned and through that medium, Dante examines the nature of sin and of mankind itself. I agree with a lot of what Dante says, however, one thing that I disagree is his organization of the nine "circles" of Hell. The second circle is home to those overpowered by lust, the third houses those overcome by gluttony, and the fourth contains those consumed with greed. Normally, people would not question this. However, I think that the all three of these circles can be categorized in one word: Appetite. Gluttony is appetite for physical food, Greed is appetite for money, power, or other physical objects, and lust is appetite for.. well, you know.One thing predominant in Book IX of The Republic is appetite. It says near 571b, "I think all of us harbor within ourselves unnecessary pleasures and appetites. Some are also lawless." Socrates and Glaucon go on to explain the characteristics of private and public tyranny. They say that it starts with subconscious appetite. The desire only appears in a dream, but the dream state soon provides fruit for the awakened state. The desire grows like a tick. Increasingly occupying one's thought until every decision is driven by desire. I agree with this to an extent. I believe that in the back of every man's mind is a sense of self-preservation and betterment. Mankind ultimately wants to better itself. Book II also supports this with Glaucon's analogy of the Ring of Gyges. Glaucon states that the reason people act justly here on Earth is only for self-preservation. We give up temporary pleasure on Earth to be rewarded by God via eternal pleasure. The negation also is true. We submit ourselves to temporary abstinence of worldly pleasure, so we do not have to abstain from eternal pleasure and face eternal punishment in Hell.
P.s. commented on Emerson's "Knowledge or Ignorance."
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