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The Courage of Cynicism
I love the Cynics and I wish I were courageous enough to be one. I think they are essentially right in everything they say. A student once expressed surprise at this, when I said as much in a lecture, pointing out that I had celebrated Socrates’ prioritisation of the ethical. Weren’t the two incompatible? Socrates […]
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Shouting from the Sidelines
I’ve often thought there’s something absurd about a philosopher shouting from the sidelines of society, accusing everyone of being miserable. Most people seem quite content to go about their business; they don’t seem particularly tormented by being in ordinary society; it’s only the philosopher that is. Who is more miserable here? The one who is […]
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Philosophy is a Fruiting Tree
Whenever I consider introducing philosophy to people, it always seems like it’s the wrong time: too late for the old, because they don’t have time or inclination to change themselves, and too soon for the young, because they don’t understand why it could be needed. Only the young person who has suffered knows why you […]
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It is better to be better than feel better
Anyone who has lived with depression or anxiety will be very accustomed to getting a lot of advice. People want you to feel better, so they will talk to you about what makes them feel better. They don’t understand that you live in different worlds. It is the ‘let them eat cake’ of mental health: talk that advertises ignorance. And yet there is a paradox, because what they say is both ignorant and true: they will say that these things will improve your mood, and they are right, because cake is nice.
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The Lighthouse Keeper Simile
There is an old philosophical simile that says: we are in this life like a sentry at their post. The underlying thought is that we have a moral duty not to commit suicide. I have always found it to be a provocative and challenging thought. We have a personal duty to hold the line against […]
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The Ship
Imagine you are a ship. The hull, mast, and sails are your ‘body’; your feelings, thoughts, ambitions and aversions, wants and fears, everything that makes up your ‘soul’, are the crew. The ship needs to sail, but in order to do so the crew needs to be organised. You need to hoist the sails, plot […]
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Ask the Right Question: The Laches
Socrates is always asking questions. But not just any questions: he wants to ask the right questions. Understanding which, of all the questions, is the right question, and how to ask that question in the right way, is one of the most important things you can learn from philosophy. If you ask the wrong question you will always get the wrong answer.
An experiment with philosophy as a way of life
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