What is 'Success'?

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the danger with the word 'success' comes when a person lets other people dictate the standards to which a person holds him or herself accountable and that achieving success is about establishing degrees of success in relation to one's values. The author indicates that Socrates is saying that the individual is ultimately accountable for himself, and success should be first and foremost, defined by the individual himself. The paper relates that Robert Frost's famous poem "Mending Wall" is about the dangers of accepting the values of the status quo without first rigorously deciding for oneself if it is right to do so.

From the Paper:

"Let us make-believe an example to further probe into the issue of how to define success. Let us say Joe is 30 years old, with a job that pays an average salary, and Joe has a wife and two children. Well, one might say, there seem to be a number of ways we might judge whether or not Joe is "successful." From the perspective of Donald Trump, Joe's life may be unsuccessful. From the perspective of an urban welfare recipient, Joe is on top of the world. So what's important? What counts? The answers to questions of Joe's success can only come from one person - Joe himself."

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