-
Two Philosophical Approaches
Two approaches have been pre-eminently influential in philosophy. One approach says that we should trust what we think over what we see, because our perception is unreliable: we should place ‘mind over matter’. The other approach says that we should trust what we see over what we think, because our thinking is unreliable: we should place ‘matter over mind’. Both approaches have consequences, good and bad. […]
-
Plato’s Tripartite Soul
Reflect on yourself: your personality, your desires, your actions and thoughts, your body, whatever you care to think of as being something that makes you what you are. Do you find it to be in unified agreement, pushing you in the one same direction, or do you find it to be in disagreement, pulling you in different directions at one time or another or even at the same time? For me, as I suspect would be true for many people, it is the latter. […]
-
Aristotle’s Practical Wisdom
According to Aristotle’s view, wisdom lies in the ability to identify and choose the happy middle, for you, relative to yourself and your purposes. One part of this is philosophical: you need to look, think, and understand what the happy middle is, for you, for any given virtue. The other part is practical: you need to choose what you identify as the happy middle. This choice is an action; it is something that it done, not only something that is thought about. […]
-
Aristotle’s Happy Middle
Look around you, and have a think, and draw up a list of qualities that some people have that you admire or appreciate. What comes to mind? It’s not for Aristotle (or me) to list the virtues, nor identify their purposes, because you can do this for yourself based on your own observations and reflections. What Aristotle points out is that virtues are very important, but you can have too much of a good thing. […]
-
Translation Matters: The Ergon of Stoicism
I am no expert in translating ancient languages, but I know enough to recognise when a misunderstanding has become pervasive. In popular Stoicism, the important phrase that might lead people astray is: ‘in one word, whatever are our own actions.’ Alarm bells ought to be set ringing by the obvious contradiction there: whatever is said ‘in one word’ in ancient Greek is something that takes five words to say in English. But to what ‘one word’ does this phrase refer? […]
-
Plato’s Political Philosophy
It might sound odd to say that Plato’s discussion of political philosophy shows us important truths about how to live well. For many of us, thinking about politics is likely to make us feel more anxious and depressed, not less. But it makes more sense when you consider why Plato is discussing political philosophy in the first place. […]
-
Translation Matters: The Happiness of Stoicism
The meaning of the word ‘happiness’ has never been straightforward. Most of us aren’t clear what it means in our own language, let alone what it meant in an ancient one. This makes translation difficult. Most widely-available translations of ancient Stoic works think it easier to just say ‘happy’ and trust that people will understand more or less the right thing by that. But I think it’s an important word, and I’m not sure ‘happy’ is good enough. […]
-
Happiness, According to Aristotle
If everything we do, we do for the sake of happiness, what is happiness? What is it to live well? What is it we are aiming for? Aristotle’s answer here depends on his metaphysical categories. That’s enough to put some people off. But even if we are not on board with his metaphysical reasoning, the answer he gives is profoundly insightful and has been tremendously influential. It’s very much worth some serious consideration. […]
-
The Purpose of Life, According to Aristotle
What is a good life? What is ‘Good’? Socrates and Plato would say that these are very difficult questions to answer, requiring an almost other-worldly kind of wisdom. Not so for Aristotle, whose method brings us right down-to-earth. What is ‘Good’? Well, look around, what do you point at and say ‘that is good’? […]
An experiment with philosophy as a way of life
tobybetenson.com 