How Philosophy Can Help Us
Philosophy in the modern world tends to take a passive place in our society. It is put in the backseat, while ‘scientific materialism’ is allowed to drive the entire car. However, many people throughout history saw Philosophy as a way of life, as a method to improve the quality of one’s life. I happen to agree with this. Practical Wisdom in my view, is a strong antidote to our contemporary distress and turmoil. The insights given to us by past philosophers can be valuable to our present-day life.
Here are some different philosophical traditions, and what they teach us about living:
Socrates showed us that an unexamined life is not worth living. Thus, developing wisdom becomes a goal we can all strive for. Increasing our understanding of ourselves, others, and the world, improves the quality of our experience. Wisdom begins when we accept our ignorance and question our assumptions.
Plato’s Allegory of the cave is an excellent metaphor for the process of Existential therapy. We realize that we are often living our life to the story and ‘facts’ given to us by others. Coming out of the cave means recognizing the fullness and richness of life that exists outside of the manufactured narratives and social conditioning that we all start with. It involved daring to question the ‘shadows on the wall’, and be able to see the bigger picture.
On the other hand, Joseph Campbell tells us that ‘The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek’. The ‘Cave’ in this metaphor has to deal with our shadow. The fearful, shameful, and traumatic. Wisdom tells us that in some cases, the only way ‘out’ is ‘through’ the cave. Confronting the ‘dragon’ that has burned us, is the path towards treasure(personal growth).
Aristotle, while generally agreeing with Socrates, set out to develop a system for knowledge. He also gave us the concept of ‘Eudaimonia’, which means ‘To be on good terms with your demons’. If hedonism involves physical and material pleasures, eudaimonia involves pleasures of the spirit. This generally comes to us when we take responsibility, practice virtuous habits, and focus on what is in our control.
Epicure’s approach to ‘mental health’ was to reduce your life, and simplify it down to only what you can control. Things that aren’t in your direct control, fall out of your ‘care’. Practically, the lesson is that sometimes, we can simply put a PAUSE to the things we do that further our suffering. I bet you reading can think of at least 1 thing you are doing that is making your life more difficult. Are you able to simply put a pause on it?
The Skeptics teach us that being ‘indifferent’ reduces emotional reactions. While this may sound tempting to throw our hands up and say ‘Who Cares’, it ultimately isn’t a good long-term strategy. Certainly, there may be things that being indifferent towards could help. My mind goes to things that are out of our control such as politics, the weather, etc.
The Stoics tell us that a person needs to become their own teacher. Thus, the soul needs practice through logic, poetry, and art. This helps ‘train’ the soul to be open to the good life while detaching ourselves from worry.
Finally, Spinoza came around and flipped our understanding of emotions on its head. He shares how our emotions are actually another way we express our values. Thus, any emotional reaction both positive and negative, is a reflection of the persons underlying values. Anxiety is an up-swinging emotion, showing us our freedom to approach a value while depression is a down-swing emotion, indicating the distancing from a value.
While this is a very brief concise version, I hope to showcase how ancient wisdom can be relevant to our lives today.