Unfortunately, the word Philosophy has come to mean something old, dated, boring and not relevant to today’s modern world. We are told repeatedly by our culture that the world is changing rapidly, and we need to hustle our way through life. We are told the sine qua non of our lives is to seek material objects and experiences. That is, be a consumer.
But this template hasn’t worked. The rise of depression, isolation and suicide is an indication that we have failed to meet the true needs of people. This is why we need to re-examine our life’s true goals and align them to those activities that promote human well-being.
As a consumer, most of us want similar things. We want an education, good health, a relationship, a family, kids, a house, a car, a high-paying job, respect in society, consumer electronics, travels and exotic experiences. The problem with limiting life to these objects is that they don’t truly bring us what we seek. They cannot, inherently, satisfy the gaping hole in human consciousness.
What we need, therefore, is a value system that helps us bring what we truly need. In short, we need a philosophy of life. Why am I alive? What is it that I must do in this ephemeral life? The answers to these questions form the core of one’s philosophy – the reason to be alive.
And why do we even need a philosophy to exist? Can’t we just take life as it comes; flow with life; why make the whole thing so serious? William Irvine in his wonderful book “A Guide to the Good Life” sums it up perfectly. He says,
Why is it important to have a philosophy? Because without one, there is a danger that you will mislive – that despite all your activity , despite all the pleasant diversions you might have enjoyed while being alive, you will end up having a bad life. There is, in other words, a danger that when you are on your deathbed, you will look back and realize that you wasted the one chance you had at living. Instead of spending your life pursuing something genuinely valuable, you squandered it because you allowed yourself to be distracted by various baubles life has to offer
A Guide to the Good Life. William Irvine. Oxford University Press.
We need a philosophy to avoid the danger that we spend our time and energy on things that don’t really add value to our lives. We need a compass to help us make decisions and prioritise the worthy over the worthless. To help us say no to short-term distractions over our long-term development. We need to examine this in depth.
In today’s world of unlimited distractions, corporations are constantly fighting for our attention. They make money off our attention. And the inane, the banal, the stupid – all those that do not require an investment of will, a focus of our attention – are given to us seemingly ‘freely’. And thus we have meaningless news, politics, sports, entertainment, social gossip, shorts, and reels. All these titillate us and make us laugh momentarily. We spend an inordinate amount of time giving our precious lives to such entertainment. They do not necessarily bring us lasting joy, contentment, or tranquillity. They make us into slot machines, bringing in money to large corporations. Unfortunately, most of us are knowingly or unknowingly feeding this large, well-oiled machine.
This destroys us. It keeps us distracted and prevents us from developing everything necessary for a good life. It prevents us from framing a philosophy and pursuing it sedulously. It prevents us from developing a resilient character that is needed to ride out the storms of emotions that befall us during difficult times. We must, therefore, eschew such entertainment, at all costs! You might rebut me and say, “Oh but this is harmless fun”. Yes, it usually starts out that way. But the best test is to note the amount of time you spend on such meaningless entertainment. You will be surprised to find it runs into hours. What’s more, we can examine how we respond on stressful occasions. You will find most of us break down while handling stress. These instances indicate that we are being taken in.
Having a philosophy helps us say no to the things that do not add value to our life – to those things that actively undermine a wholesome life. And most importantly, having a philosophy helps us ride out difficult times barely unscathed. It makes us resilient.
What should we value? What should we adopt as a philosophy?
Having a philosophy is to have an overarching value system in life. What do we truly value? It is not goals – material or non-material. Having a family does not constitute a philosophy. Nor does becoming a CEO of a company. Nor does owning a beautiful house. A philosophy is not a goal-oriented action. It is a way of being. The Stoics for instance thought that tranquility was a true philosophy in life. “How can I ensure I maintain my centre at all times?” It might also be love: “How can I look at all people with kindness’? It might be service: “How can I ensure that my life is useful to the world?”. These questions, help us prioritise what we spend our time on. It orients us to a single track. This brings energy, purpose and joy in life.
It is important to remember that our philosophy must have an emotional resonance to it. We must feel it. We cannot enforce and adopt a philosophy in life merely intellectually. We must investigate, we must examine our lives and see what resonates emotionally with us. Our philosophy must be a felt value, unlike a set of values printed on large corporate office boards. It must be our primary state of emotion.
As Nietzsche famously said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”. Having a philosophy makes us resilient, but also brings tremendous tranquillity, stability and subtle happiness. These are the things most valuable to all of us.
Journey of a thousand words 