Reading’s Joys
“Nothing is more beautiful than Plato; such reading, for those who are able to understand him, can give one happiness even in the most miserable circumstances.” –Simone Weil
Category: Philosophy
Self-Reliance, Self-Sabotage
Study the capacities you have, and after studying them, say: Zeus, bring whatever circumstances you like; for I have the equipment and resources, given to me by you, to make a cosmos of myself by…
How Some Saw Simone
A very Jewish soul. There was something of the Talmud in her. Very stringent in her logic. 206 [W]hat most struck me in her were her nobility, her straightforwardness, the purity of her soul. 218…
Forever on the Alert
I’ve known Pat Geier almost 40 years. Not two months into the pandemic, we began Zooming on Fridays, then added Mondays, and before too long were immersed in reading and discussing the works of French…
Reflections on the Intellectual Life by Irina S.
In one of my classes, we are reading a variety of books on the love of learning. I asked Irina (a nom de plume) if she’d be willing to share a few reflections on Zena…
Spinoza Sees into the Future When Twitter Reigns
“The love of esteem [Gloria] which is called empty [vana] is acquiescentia in se ipso that is encouraged only by the opinion of the multitude. When that ceases, the acquiescentia in se ipso ceases, i.e….
Train Wholeheartedly
Attention [prosoche] is the fundamental Stoic spiritual attitude. It is a continuous vigilance and presence of mind, self consciousness which never sleeps, and a constant tension of the spirit. Thanks to this attitude, the philosopher…
Awe
Two things fill the mind with every new and increasing wonder and awe, the oftener and the more steadily I reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I…
The Mutation of Vision
Pierre Hadot, What is Ancient Philosophy? Translated by Michael Chase My friend Pat and I have been reading and discussing via Zoom works by French philosopher Pierre Hadot since this past summer. Having previously read…
True Happiness Is a Verb
Monday 28 December 2020 Dear C, Having written you yesterday about Annie Liebovits and Susan Sontag, I want to mention today that I took the phrase “Wisdom Project” from Sontag in her collection, At the…