Very Rough Draft, Please Destroy It!
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 9:44 pm
I'm a 3.45/173 splitter shooting for a t-14.
In Peri Physeos, Epicurus builds the universe from the ground up. He claims that everything consists of atoms and that each motion is predetermined by the natural “falling” of atoms or collision between bodies. But of course, there is now the risk of total determinism, and this is unacceptable. This is because determinism potentially rules out voluntary action, which is necessary for the efficacy of rational choice, which is a requirement for the attainment of ataraxia: the ultimate state of bliss posited by the Epicureans. So a critical component of Epicurean ethics is now at stake, and to salvage it, Epicureans posit the clinamen: a random swerving motion in the trajectory of atoms. But wait a minute. How does this allow for voluntary action? Wouldn't this just promise completely unpredictable and erratic human behavior?
Believe it or not, I devoted most of my time as a senior to examining this single gap in Epicurean reasoning. I pored over centuries of scholarship about the topic and tried to understand the problem in its proper context, invoking Latin and Greek sources to sketch the academic climate of Epicurus' time, and defining carefully the relevant terms: agent, volition, choice, swerve, etc. In studying the clinamen, I obsessed over a single concept, reconsidering the world from the ground up. It was this kind of small-scale, detailed intellectual work that was always the most rewarding.
At the end of my senior year, I was seriously considering PhD programs and was even accepted to a post-baccalaureate at Columbia University. Yet there were lingering doubts. As the summer after my graduation came to a close, I was already immersed in my studies. There I was, sitting alone in the cold corner of the basement of a library, laboring over every inch of a musty 1000-page commentary on De Rerum Natura, nearly a century old. The cobwebs on the page spewed dust into the air. My eyes grew weary and my mind began to wander. Could I see myself buried in ancient texts for the rest of my life? In the quiet safety of my solitude, there reemerged a longing for social impact. I was measuring the rhythm and stress of Latin poetry, although, deep down, I yearned to map the heartbeat of the universe outside the text. I did not need to save the world, but I wanted to engage with the social and political realities around me.
This was the same desire I felt when I decided to intern for [non-profit], where I worked to raise funds to provide schools in low income neighborhoods of the Bronx and Harlem with a music education. It is the same motivation that led me to volunteer as an editor and contributor for [publication], through which I inform the public of the decrepit state of education in the developing world. Whether it is by a computer, in front of a classroom, behind a video camera, or within an orchestra, my experiences point to a fundamental need for civic engagement. By applying to law school, I hope to maximize the imprint I make upon the society and policies around me. It's time for me to shelve Lucretius, swerve away from my original trajectory, and pursue my interest in the law and public policy.
In Peri Physeos, Epicurus builds the universe from the ground up. He claims that everything consists of atoms and that each motion is predetermined by the natural “falling” of atoms or collision between bodies. But of course, there is now the risk of total determinism, and this is unacceptable. This is because determinism potentially rules out voluntary action, which is necessary for the efficacy of rational choice, which is a requirement for the attainment of ataraxia: the ultimate state of bliss posited by the Epicureans. So a critical component of Epicurean ethics is now at stake, and to salvage it, Epicureans posit the clinamen: a random swerving motion in the trajectory of atoms. But wait a minute. How does this allow for voluntary action? Wouldn't this just promise completely unpredictable and erratic human behavior?
Believe it or not, I devoted most of my time as a senior to examining this single gap in Epicurean reasoning. I pored over centuries of scholarship about the topic and tried to understand the problem in its proper context, invoking Latin and Greek sources to sketch the academic climate of Epicurus' time, and defining carefully the relevant terms: agent, volition, choice, swerve, etc. In studying the clinamen, I obsessed over a single concept, reconsidering the world from the ground up. It was this kind of small-scale, detailed intellectual work that was always the most rewarding.
At the end of my senior year, I was seriously considering PhD programs and was even accepted to a post-baccalaureate at Columbia University. Yet there were lingering doubts. As the summer after my graduation came to a close, I was already immersed in my studies. There I was, sitting alone in the cold corner of the basement of a library, laboring over every inch of a musty 1000-page commentary on De Rerum Natura, nearly a century old. The cobwebs on the page spewed dust into the air. My eyes grew weary and my mind began to wander. Could I see myself buried in ancient texts for the rest of my life? In the quiet safety of my solitude, there reemerged a longing for social impact. I was measuring the rhythm and stress of Latin poetry, although, deep down, I yearned to map the heartbeat of the universe outside the text. I did not need to save the world, but I wanted to engage with the social and political realities around me.
This was the same desire I felt when I decided to intern for [non-profit], where I worked to raise funds to provide schools in low income neighborhoods of the Bronx and Harlem with a music education. It is the same motivation that led me to volunteer as an editor and contributor for [publication], through which I inform the public of the decrepit state of education in the developing world. Whether it is by a computer, in front of a classroom, behind a video camera, or within an orchestra, my experiences point to a fundamental need for civic engagement. By applying to law school, I hope to maximize the imprint I make upon the society and policies around me. It's time for me to shelve Lucretius, swerve away from my original trajectory, and pursue my interest in the law and public policy.