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[kweve123]

RECONCILING DIFFERENCES

Reconciliation is one of the virtue ethics we are learning about in class - but what exactly does it mean to reconcile? If we look at the dictionary definition, reconciliation is the act of restoring friendship or harmony (Merriam-Webster). However, I think the word means much more than this. I think the act of reconciling one's differences is often one of the hardest virtues for someone to live up to and learn. It is difficult for one to overcome their own stubbornness to forgive someone for their wrongdoings and misdeeds. Especially when the wrongful acts inflicted pain and suffering onto an individual or group one cares deeply about. Nevertheless, this virtue is necessary to live a fulfilling life in order to move past the wrongs of the past and continue to push forward into a better future. In order to cultivate this virtue, one must truly learn to forgive and recognize the imperfections in human actions.

An example of an individual who expresses this virtue is Daryl Davis. I first heard about this man in my YouTube feed a few years back and have come across him a few other times on my podcasts and news. He is a black musician-activist who befriended members of the Ku Klux Klan and broke down stereotypes of black people. Through Davis's friendship and heart-to-heart conversations, many of these individuals left the KKK and their longheld ideals of white supremacy.

Entertainer Musician / Actor Daryl is an international recording artist, actor and leader of The Daryl Davis Band. He is considered to be on

I think Davis is a great example of someone who has been able to forgive others for their hatred toward people who look like him. I cannot imagine that it would be easy to talk with, more or less befriend these individuals who historically have caused much terror and hatred towards his community. This is why he is a great example of someone who is able to reconcile and change people for the better.

Reconciliation relates to Maslow and Seligman's model of well-being, specifically through the need for positive relationships and love and belonging. In order to build positive relationships, it is necessary to love those around you and forgive them for any errors they caused in the past. This is one of the ways in which we bring about change in our society - by not giving up on relationships with individuals or groups with whom we do not see eye to eye to start.

Where does one begin to look when learning about this virtue? Looking to history for answers is always a great stepping stone and through our class, studying the individuals who impacted Korea's democratic movement is a start. One of these figures we can look to is Namgang, who faced many hardships but never gave up on the Korean people.

"Namgang was imprisoned many times for laboring to free the spirits of the people of Korea, but these hardships only strengthened his determination and resolve to work for the Korean people. By the time of the March 1st Movement in 1919, he was well prepared to lead the people through Strength of Love" (Forward Into Memory).

Learning these stories of the Korean democratic movement gives us exemplars of reconciliation which may help us implement these ideals into our own lives.

[kweve123]

What is Virtue?

One thing I consistently was thinking about when watching the three videos on virtue ethics was how do we determine what is or is not virtuous? Or from a deontic perspective, what is wrong or right? Of course, there are certain ideas (virtues) like honesty, courageousness, kindness, humbleness, and others that we think to be important virtues for one to have. However, we are always looking at and discussing these virtues from a western perspective. Therefore, how do we apply this to the study of Korean history in our class or the study of any culture outside of our own?

I am curious to see how we are to study this in terms of Korea in our class. I imagine that we will need to dive deep into Korean culture first and try our best to put ourselves in a Korean person's shoes. I think this will be difficult, as many of us do not have a background in anything related to Korea. But this will be necessary to really understand what virtues are most important and prominent in Korean culture and then further understand why the important moments in Korean history are what they are.

[kweve123]

The Need for a Positive Outlook

Hearing the ideas of Seligman on top of all of the other discussions we have had in our class on positive history has made me reflect on the way I approach my studies, especially regarding my economics major. What really struck me from Seligman's video was his idea of measuring happiness, or PERMA, in a way that we sometimes overlook. If we look at the amount of happiness one is experiencing at different levels of wealth, for example, Seligman says there is no correlation between higher wealth and more happiness. In fact, when a certain point is reached, happiness begins to level off.

A lot of the classes for my major focus on theory and studies looking at the supposed well-being of individuals based off of various economic factors. Although utility (or the well-being of an individual) is considered within many of these models, it is never the primary focus of our conversations and I am not sure how this level of utility is measured. Instead, our conversations in class usually revolve around maximizing profits and minimizing expenses, in what is thought to make people happier.

To be honest, I don't think this is only the problem of economists, but of a human mindset that does not focus as much as it should on happiness or positive outcomes. Of course, it is important to study the best economic policies to bring about wealth for society, or in history to study the problems of the past in order to not repeat them, but that should not be the only focus of these fields of study. We also need to take a more positive approach to these subjects in order to do what is truly beneficial for everyone.

[kweve123]

Turning the Page

An interesting fact we discussed the other day in class was that there still has not technically been a peace deal ending the Korean War. However, the death and destruction of the war ended in 1953 with an armistice between the United Nations Command, the Korean People’s Army (North Korea), and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.

Is the Armistice Agreement a moment of positive history? Any event in which human suffering ends has to be positive in some way. But perhaps not having the full context of what comes next, such as dictatorships and oppression in both North and South Korea or the failure of peace talks in Geneva, means that by entering the forest here, one is not entirely understanding what this moment means in history. Though it is a jumping-off point.

This image is from July 27, 1953, the date of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.