From the dawn of philosophy, the division of the mind and the body has formed one of the classic dualisms. Many philosophers have focused their attention on the importance and superiority of the mind while ignoring the impact the body has on our general being.
For the longest time, I thought I was the lone fuck-up in a world of over-achieving do-gooders. I thought everyone’s life was an unbroken string of success and that the charted trajectory of their experience was the steady, upward climb of progressively improved living.
It is clarity of what I want out of life that I sometimes lack. That perfectly distilled purpose that shines white hot, like the summer sun reflecting hard off of still waters.
It is every parent’s secret wish that their children should grow up to be something great. Greater than them, in fact.
Throughout the storied and colorful history of philosophy, it has made many attempts at defining the good life. With these attempts some common themes began to emerge and a set of general models grew out of the disparate threads of definition that philosophers attached to their specific ideas of what the good life should look like.
When I talk to people about philosophy the conversation is inevitably steered towards the practical value of it. Why does it matter if we engage in deep philosophical inquiry into our lives?
By now you all know my adoration of philosophy as means of personal development. This is especially true of the philosophy of Stoicism, which is seeing a modern resurgence.
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It is a common cry that life is short. There is never enough time to do the things we want to do or to get the things we want to get.
Of all the philosophies so soundly misunderstood and misappropriated, Existentialism deserves to be near the top of the list. During its heyday after World War II it made its rounds –
