Freedom and Possibility - According to Kierkegaard
Saturday Review | Notes, Takeaways, and Reflection (25 Sep - 1 Oct)
Welcome to Perennial Meditations (Saturday Review) — A weekly recap and reflection of ancient lessons for modern life. Below you’ll find links, notable quotes, transcript summaries, and a Saturday Meditation.
1. On Being Well (Listen here)
In a letter known today as On Brawn and Brains, Seneca wrote,
The old Romans had a custom which survived even into my lifetime. They would add to the opening words of a letter: “If you are well, it is well; I also am well.” Persons like ourselves would do well to say. “If you are studying philosophy, it is well.” For this is just what “being well” means. Without philosophy the mind is sickly, and the body, too, though it may be very powerful, it is strong only as that of a madman or a lunatic is strong.
This, then, is the sort of health you should primarily cultivate; the other kind of health comes second […]
2. Theological Virtues for Modern Living (Read here)
In our Monday Meditation (The PATH), we searched for ancient lessons on theological virtues for modern living (Faith, Hope, and Love).
Faith — The theologian Thomas Merton observed that we do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going. What we need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment and embrace them with courage, faith, and hope. […]
Hope — The English writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton called hope the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate. However, not everyone is in agreement on the value of hope. […]
Love — The theological virtues, just like anything else, must be practiced. Where should we begin that practice? Everywhere. As Seneca stressed, “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.” […]
3. How to Meditate on Your Mortality (Read here)
Meditating on our mortality helps us remember to lead the type of life we actually want to live. This ancient practice that exists across wisdom traditions has the ability to put into perspective what truly matters.
In the short book, How to Die, author James Romm (a previous podcast guest) writes that modern readers have sometimes found Seneca’s writing to be death-obsessed. But Seneca might respond that such readers are life obsessed, deluding themselves with a denial of the importance of death. […]
4. On Not Being Someone Else (Read here)
We all have unled lives. There will always be forks in our path. For this reason, we need clarity — we must determine what truly matters — and what doesn’t. In an interview towards the end of his life, Christopher Hitchens remarked, “One is always going to regret something; you have to decide in advance what it will be.”
Who are you not? We must all choose what our unled lives will be. The art of leading a life is about deliberately choosing the type of life we want to lead. […]
5. The Quest for Character (Listen here)
In this episode, my guest is Massimo Pigliucci, the author of the new book, The Quest for Character. Prof. Pigliucci has a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology and a Ph.D. in Philosophy. He currently is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. His research interests include the philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophies like Stoicism.
In the conversation, Massimo and I discussed: Whether virtue can be taught. How to define or think about virtue. Why we have a duty to cultivate our character, and much more.
6. The Courage to Lead a Life (Read here)
What does courage actually look like in your daily life?
The American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that we need courage for whatever we do. Emerson stressed,
Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. […]
7. Life is Short (Listen here)
Why do spiritual and philosophical traditions all stress the notion of the shortness of life? It seems it would be in the category of self-evident. Although the notion of impermanence (or nothing lasts) is straightforward, deepening our understanding can change how one lives in the world.
Buddhist scripture tells the story of a religious teacher named Araka. He taught his students this doctrine:
Short is the life of human beings, O good and virtuous ones, limited and brief; it is full of suffering, full of tribulation. This one should wisely understand. One should do good and live a pure life; for none who is born can escape death. […]
8. Freedom and Possibility — According to Kierkegaard (Saturday Meditation)
In the classic book The Meaning of Anxiety, the existential psychologist Rollo May wrote, “Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) is regarded, according to Werner Brock, as ‘one of the most remarkable psychologists of all time, in-depth, if not in breadth, superior to Nietzsche, and in penetration comparable only to Dostoevsky.’”
Kierkegaard held that “anxiety is always to be understood as oriented toward freedom.” Psychologically speaking, freedom is the goal of personality development; “the good is freedom.” He defined freedom as possibility.
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