This post is a follow-up of the previous one, and serves to clarify one particular statement from that article.
In the third-last paragraph of the previous article, I wrote:
…when the right company is found, the quality of life increases in direct proportion to one’s philosophical understanding of life.
This statement, I realized, is an oversimplification of the complex process. The statement is true in that once the philosopher reconciles well his desires/expectations/goals/aspirations in life with his new philosophical knowledge, he is likely to have a better life; such reconciliation, however, is a crucial condition, and isn’t inherent in philosophical advancement.
Quite often a philosopher becomes rather prone to dysfunction because of the overwhelming discoveries and his inability to reconcile with the new-found truths of life and existence. In such cases, even though one may be philosophically advanced, one’s life’s quality won’t be better because of it, but may rather be much worse.
So, the clarification is: “Philosophically advanced” would mean having reconciled well with the philosophical knowledge, aka, truth. For example, after finding out that life is intrinsically meaningless and death is the end of everything (no life after death or no re-birth), if one sinks into depression, one can’t be called “developed” despite one’s more advanced knowledge. The absurdist who is in a state of angst is not better off after discovering about the mind-boggling absurdity of the existence; but the one who is well reconciled with this knowledge is “truly developed”.
In this sense, it is true philosophical development that provides better prospect of life. (Though some cost in the form of isolation and loneliness may have to be incurred, but that’s okay as long as it’s not because of one’s philosophical development per se, but because of other people not being developed – because the possible benefits far outweigh these costs.)
…when the right company (surrounding) is found, the quality of life increases in direct proportion to one’s “philosophical understanding of life” (better put as “true philosophical development”, after the clarification).
There’s this thin line of difference between being merely philosophically advanced (as in possessing more philosophical knowledge) and being truly developed (as in having made life better instead of worse by philosophical endeavors). To be the latter, the goal of personal development and better life must never go out of focus while in the truth-seeking journey. For that knowledge which doesn’t help make life better is worthless.
In the third-last paragraph of the previous article, I wrote:
…when the right company is found, the quality of life increases in direct proportion to one’s philosophical understanding of life.
This statement, I realized, is an oversimplification of the complex process. The statement is true in that once the philosopher reconciles well his desires/expectations/goals/aspirations in life with his new philosophical knowledge, he is likely to have a better life; such reconciliation, however, is a crucial condition, and isn’t inherent in philosophical advancement.
Quite often a philosopher becomes rather prone to dysfunction because of the overwhelming discoveries and his inability to reconcile with the new-found truths of life and existence. In such cases, even though one may be philosophically advanced, one’s life’s quality won’t be better because of it, but may rather be much worse.
So, the clarification is: “Philosophically advanced” would mean having reconciled well with the philosophical knowledge, aka, truth. For example, after finding out that life is intrinsically meaningless and death is the end of everything (no life after death or no re-birth), if one sinks into depression, one can’t be called “developed” despite one’s more advanced knowledge. The absurdist who is in a state of angst is not better off after discovering about the mind-boggling absurdity of the existence; but the one who is well reconciled with this knowledge is “truly developed”.
In this sense, it is true philosophical development that provides better prospect of life. (Though some cost in the form of isolation and loneliness may have to be incurred, but that’s okay as long as it’s not because of one’s philosophical development per se, but because of other people not being developed – because the possible benefits far outweigh these costs.)
…when the right company (surrounding) is found, the quality of life increases in direct proportion to one’s “philosophical understanding of life” (better put as “true philosophical development”, after the clarification).
There’s this thin line of difference between being merely philosophically advanced (as in possessing more philosophical knowledge) and being truly developed (as in having made life better instead of worse by philosophical endeavors). To be the latter, the goal of personal development and better life must never go out of focus while in the truth-seeking journey. For that knowledge which doesn’t help make life better is worthless.
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