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Edmund Husserl—he’s one of the greats. His term noema refers to the thing as we experience it, the thing as structured by us.
“So you’re saying that I’m dizzy because the solid ground of my past has been shifted?” “Precisely. Well put, Alfred. Your mind is on overload because it is totally preoccupied with reconstituting the past, and it has not the capacity to do its normal jobs—like taking care of your equilibrium.”
because home is not a place—it’s a state of mind.
Really being at home is feeling at home in your own skin.
What is Plato’s idea of our fundamental goal in life? It is to attain the highest form of knowledge, and that, in his view, was the idea of the ‘good,’ from which all else derives value. Only then, Plato says, are we able to reach eudemonia—in his view, a state of harmony of the soul. Let me repeat that phrase: ‘harmony of the soul.’ It’s worth remembering; it may serve you well in your life.
“Now let’s look at the next great philosopher, Aristotle, who studied with Plato for perhaps twenty years. Twenty years. Remember that, those of you who have whimpered about my curriculum being too hard and too long.
What did Aristotle hold to be our purpose in life? He thought it was to fulfill our innermost unique function.
‘that sets us off from other forms of life?’ I pose that question to you.” No instant answers from the class.
Bento said, “I believe it is our unique ability to reason.”
“Precisely. And hence Aristotle claimed that the happiest person is the one who most fulfills that very function.”
When you read some of Epicurus in two weeks, you’ll see that he, too, spoke of the good life but used
another word entirely. He speaks much of ataraxia, which translates . . .” Again van den Enden cupped his ear. Alphonse instantly called out “tranquility,” and soon others added “calm” and “peace of mind.”
“For Epicurus, ataraxia was the only true happiness. And how do we achieve it? Not through Plato’s harmony of the soul nor Aristotle’s attainment of reason but simply by the elimination of worry or anxiety. If Epicurus were speaking to you at this moment, he would urge you to simplify life. Here’s how he might put it if he were standing here today.”
Van den Enden cleared his throat and spoke in a collegial manner: “Lads, your needs are few, they are easily attained, and any necessary suffering can be easily tolerated. Don’t complicate your life with such trivial goals as riches and fame: they are the enemy of ataraxia. Fame, for example, consists of the opinions of others and requires that we must live our life as others wish. To achieve and maintain fame, we must like what others like and shun whatever it is that they shun. Hence, a life of fame or a life in politics? Flee from it. And wealth? Avoid it! It is a trap. The more we acquire
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“Does Epicurus propose only a negative approach? I mean, does he say that removal of distress is all that is needed and that man without extraneous worry is perfect, naturally good, happy? Are there no positive attributes for which we should strive?”
Today I sought only to touch on the central idea that distinguishes him from others: that the good life consists of the removal of anxiety. But even a light reading will indicate that Epicurus is far more complex. He encourages knowledge, friendship, and virtuous, temperate living. Yes, Dirk, you have a question? It appears as if my Latin students are more inquisitive about the Greeks than my Greek class.”
He believed that there is no afterlife and that since this life is all there is, we should strive for earthly happiness.
But do not make the error of concluding that Epicurus suggests we should spend our lives wallowing in sensual or lustful activities. Absolutely not—he lived and advocated an almost ascetic life. I repeat: he believed we could best maximize pleasure by minimizing pain. One of his major conclusions was that the fear of death was a major source of pain, and he spent much of his life seeking philosophical methods to lessen the fear of death.
he considered himself a medical philosopher, ministering to the ailments of the soul just as a physician ministers to the ailments of the body. He once said that a philosophy unable to heal the soul has as little value as medicine unable to heal the body. I’ve already mentioned some of the soul’s ailments arising from a pursuit of fame, power, wealth, and sexual lust, but they were only secondary. The behemoth of anxieties underlying and feeding all the other worries is the fear of death and the
afterlife.
In fact one of the first principles in the ‘catechism’ that his students had to learn was that we are mortal, that there is no afterlife, and therefore we hav...
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“As far as I know, Epicurus did not marry but believed in marriage and the family for some—those
those who are ready for the responsibility. But he staunchly disapproved of irrationally impassioned love that enslaves the lover and ultimately leads to more pain than pleasure. He says that once lustful infatuation is consummated, the lover experiences boredom or jealousy or both. But he gave great weight to a higher love, the love of friends, that awakens us to a state of blessedness. It is of interest to know that he was inclusive and treated all human souls equally: his was the only school in Athens that welcomed both women and slaves.
His position was that we should live a quiet, secluded life, avoid public responsibilities, holding office, or any other type of responsibility that might threaten our ataraxia.”
Epicurus is shocking to today’s readers because his formula for happiness pays so little attention
to the Divine. He believed that happiness emanates only from our own mind and places no importance on our relationship with anything supernatural.”
He was born about sixty years after Socrates had been executed for heresy, and he knew that disbelief in the gods would have been bad for one’s health. He took a safer position and stated that the gods existed, lived blissfully on Mount Olympus, but were entirely unconcerned with human life.”
“That God did not make us in His image—we made Him in our image. We imagine He is a being like us, hears our murmured prayers and cares about what we wish—”
Bento, “I believe that if one lives among men with greatly different beliefs, then one cannot accommodate them without greatly changing oneself.”
As long as there is ignorance, there will be adherence to superstition. Dispelling ignorance is the only solution. That is
“I worry that it is a losing battle,” replied Bento. “Ignorance and superstitious beliefs spread like wildfire, and I believe that religious leaders feed that fire to secure their positions.”
Science is science regardless of the discoverer.”
“One of the things I love about psychiatry is that, unlike any other field of medicine, it veers close to philosophy. Like philosophers, we psychiatrists rely on logical investigation. We not only help patients identify and express feelings, but we also ask ‘why’? What is their source? Why do certain complexes arise in the mind? Sometimes I think our field really
began with Spinoza, who believed that everything, even emotion and thought, has a cause that can be discovered with proper investigation.”
Spinoza is a paragon of logic.
“I’ve studied the matter for many years and believe that a careful and open-minded reading of the books of Moses provides much internal evidence that Moses could not possibly have been the author.”
“There are inconsistencies in the story of Moses; some parts of the Torah contradict other parts, and many passages don’t hold up to simple logic. I’ll give examples and start with an obvious one that others before me have noted.
“The Torah not only describes the manner of Moses’ death and burial, and the thirty days’ mourning of the Hebrews, but further compares him with all the prophets who came after him and
states that he surpassed them all. A man obviously cannot write about what happens to him after his death, nor can he compare himself with other prophets yet to be born. So it’s certain that part of...
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The Bible was put together by human hands.
There is no other possible explanation for the many inconsistencies.
“Miracles exist only through man’s ignorance.
In ancient times any occurrence that could not be explained through natural causes was considered a miracle, and the greater the ignorance of the masses about the workings of Nature, the greater the number of miracles.”
I am of the opinion that the larger the multitude that claimed to have seen it, the less believable is the event.”
First, remember that the ancients all believed the sun moved and the Earth stood still. We know now that it is the Earth that revolves around the sun. That error itself is evidence of the human hands behind the Bible’s construction. What’s more, the particular form of the miracle was shaped by political motivations. Was not the sun god worshipped by the enemies of Joshua? Hence, the miracle is a message trumpeting that the Hebrews’ God was more powerful than the Gentiles’ God.”
“And,” Jacob asked, “what about the miracle of the Jews surviving whereas the other nations have not?” “I see nothing miraculous in it, nothing that cannot be explained by natural causes. The Jews have survived since the Diaspora because they have always refused to blend in with other cultures. They have remained separate by virtue of their complex rites, their dietary rules, and the sign of circumcision, which they scrupulously observe. Thus they survive, but at a cost: their stubborn adherence to separateness has drawn down upon them universal hatred.”
“What I’m saying is that the Torah contains two kinds of law: there is moral law, and there are laws designed to keep Israel together as a theocracy separate from its neighbors.
“You misunderstand me,” said Bento, drawing on his recently acquired knowledge of the views of Epicurus. “I do not negate the importance of civic tranquility, but I do differentiate it from true blessedness.” Bento turned to Franco. “If you love your community, wish to be a part of it, wish to raise your family here, wish to live among your own, then you must participate agreeably in community activities, including religious observances.”
Solomon, who says, ‘When wisdom enters into your heart and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul, then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, yea, every good path.’”
“The world to come, immortal life, blissful afterlife—I repeat, all such phrases are the inventions of rabbis.”
