Why Stoicism is one of the best mind-hacks ever – Lary Wallace We do this to our philosophies. We redraft their contours based on projected shadows, or give them a cartoonish shape like a caricaturist emphasising all the wrong features. This is how Buddhism becomes, in the popular imagination, a doctrine of passivity and even laziness, while Existentialism becomes synonymous with apathy and futile despair. No wonder it’s not more popular. It ignores gratitude, too. O you noble Stoics, what deceptive words these are! This is pretty good, as denunciations of Stoicism go, seductive in its articulateness and energy, and therefore effective, however uninformed. Which is why it’s so disheartening to see Nietzsche fly off the rails of sanity in the next two paragraphs, accusing the Stoics of trying to ‘impose’ their ‘morality… on nature’, of being ‘no longer able to see [nature] differently’ because of an ‘arrogant’ determination to ‘tyrannise’ nature as the Stoic has tyrannised himself. Marcus Aurelius lay ill in that hospital, too.
When Philosophy Becomes Therapy Alain de Botton's self-help books for those who style themselves as intellectuals are making their way to the United States. Philosophy has earned a reputation as a complicated, inaccessible, and irrelevant pursuit, consigned mostly to old white men in wood-paneled offices. It’s vaguely associated with asking the kinds of big questions—Do we exist? What does life mean? But for the past ten years or so, Alain de Botton, a Swiss-British philosopher, writer, and TV presenter, has made it his mission to rebrand philosophy by stripping away its crusty, academic trappings and restoring its day-to-day value. The School of Life is a cozy space that hosts classes and lectures; the organization also consults with big-name businesses and sells “books, objects, and tools” to help anyone who walks through its doors make headway in “the quest for a more fulfilled life.” All of this has been a savvy move by De Botton, spiritually and financially.
What is Philosophy – and what’s it for? © Getty People are understandably confused about what philosophy is. From a distance, it seems weird, irrelevant, boring and yet also – just a little – intriguing. But it’s hard to put a finger on what the interest really is. What are philosophers? Luckily, the answer is already contained in the word philosophy itself. Though a rather abstract term, the concept of ‘wisdom’ isn’t mysterious. So a philosopher or ‘person devoted to wisdom’ is someone who strives for systematic expertise at working out how one may best find individual and collective fulfilment. In their pursuit of wisdom, philosophers have developed a very specific skill-set. 1. What is the meaning of life? But these questions matter deeply because only with sound answers to them can we direct our energies meaningfully. Philosophers are people unafraid of the large questions. © AFP/Getty 2. Public opinion – or what gets called ‘common sense’ – is sensible and reasonable in countless areas. © Rex 3. 4. 5. 6. © ASAblanca/Getty
Wat filosofie is (en wat het niet is) | Jan Dirk Snel [Vrijdag 4 juli 2014] Wat is filosofie? Een beetje filosoof begint dan met op te merken dat dat nou al een echte filosofische vraag is, maar het lijkt me nog maar de vraag of het nou zo’n heel erg andere vraag is dan die naar wat meteorologie is of wat sociologie is. Hooguit kun je zeggen dat die laatste twee vragen geen typisch meteorologische of sociologische zijn. Het zijn praktische, begripsmatige vragen over waar zo’n discipline nu over gaat en daar zou je inderdaad een zeker filosofisch aspect in kunnen onderkennen. FilosofieFilosofie gaat volgens mij vooral over verheldering. John Locke (1632-1704) was lijfarts van Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper. Filosofie gaat in concreto onder andere over de vraag hoe mensen redeneren. Filosofie gaat ook over de vraag wat kennis is, epistemologie dus, al is het de vraag of die discipline in onze dagen, nu de wetenschappen zich ver ontwikkeld hebben, nog wel zo spannend is. Filosofie kan ook gaan over het geheel van onze werkelijkheid.
Filosofie wiki In het dagelijks spraakgebruik wordt de term filosofie gebruikt om elke vorm van wijsheid of levensbeschouwing aan te duiden (zoals in "iemands filosofie") of iemands uitgangspunten (zoals in "het sluit niet aan op de filosofie achter dit plan"). Dit verschilt van het begrip filosofie in een academische context, zoals deze in dit artikel gehanteerd wordt. Oorsprong van het begrip filosofie[bewerken] De introductie van de term "filosofie" werd toegeschreven aan de Griekse denker Pythagoras: "De vita et moribus philosophorum", I, 12; Cicero: "Tusculanae disputationes", V, 8-9). Deze verwijzing is waarschijnlijk gebaseerd op een verloren gegaan werk van Herakleides Pontikos, een leerling van Aristoteles. Filosofie en 'filosoferen' was volgens Aristoteles de meest verheven en meest goddelijke activiteit voor de mens, die ze van nature voltooit en die een bron van vreugde is. Mogelijke definities en afbakening[bewerken] Thema's binnen de filosofie[bewerken] Stromingen[bewerken] Wat kan ik weten?
Against happiness: Why we need a philosophy of failure In Hawaii, people are expected to be too happy. Is Britain going the same way? © Hakilon While in Hawaii on a quest for the perfect wave, I once bumped into a psychiatrist who asked me where I came from. She gave a sigh of respect at my answer. “England!” It turned out that she was a specialist in depression. She pointed out to me that: (1) In Hawaii the same ratio of people are depressed as anywhere else; (2) The problem with Hawaii is that you are expected to be happy—by idiots like me, for example—so that when you are depressed, you are not just depressed, you feel guilty about being depressed too, so you’re doubly screwed; (3) And, finally, because Hawaii is technically the United States too, if you’re depressed, guilty and broke as well, when you’re supposed to be affluent, then you’re in triple trouble. “Yep,” she concluded, “Hawaii really sucks.” But the spread of depression is partly a side-effect of our addiction to happiness. Bougainville stresses two things.
A Visual Dictionary of Philosophy: Major Schools of Thought in Minimalist Geometric Graphics by Maria Popova A charming exercise in metaphorical thinking and symbolic representation. Rodin believed that his art was about removing the stone not part of the sculpture to reveal the essence of his artistic vision. Perhaps this is what Catalan-born, London-based graphic designer Genis Carreras implicitly intended in chiseling away the proverbial philosopher’s stone to sculpt its minimalist essence. Many moons ago, I discovered with great delight Carreras’s series of geometric graphics explaining major movements in philosophy and now, with the help of Kickstarter, the project has come to new life in book form. Skepticism True knowledge or certainty in a particular area is impossible. Carreras writes: The visuals [are] open to different interpretations, allowing the reader to draw their path to connect the idea behind each theory with its form. Relativism Absolutism An absolute truth is always correct under any condition. Stoicism Positivism Empiricism Humanism Holism Authoritarianism Solipsism
Stoicism / Getting Stronger Hormetism is a practical set of tools that can help you lose weight, get fit, or even improve your eyesight. But thinking of it as just “as set of tools” actually undervalues the benefits of Hormetism, because it leaves out the greatest benefit: a path to freedom from stress and a means of increasing your physical, mental and spiritual strength. Hormetism is at once a broad perspective on living and a specific set of techniques that can free you from distractions and foster your ability to focus on the important things in life–even the most challenging ones–with greater engagement and joy, and with less distraction from negative emotions such as anger, fear, worry, and the other negative manifestations of stress. Hormetism is not just a set of tools, it is an overarching philosophy of life. But did Hormetism come out of nowhere, or are there historical precedents? Epictetus was a prominent Stoic philosopher who lived from 55-135 AD in Greece, and later in Rome. Tranquility. Meditation.