Philosophy is a mode of life, an act of living, and a way of being. Modern philosophy has forgotten this tradition, and philosophical discourse has all but overtaken philosophy as a way of life. Philosophy is not just an intellectual discipline, which can get abstract and divorced from the real world, but is most importantlyContinue reading “Philosophy: The Love of Wisdom | A Guide to Life”
Category Archives: Philosophy
Journey to Hell – The Path to Self-Knowledge
Mankind has speculated about the afterlife since the dawn of civilisation. In Duat, the Egyptian underworld, the hearts of the dead were weighed against a feather. The heart was considered as the most important of the internal organs, and the source of human wisdom, which could reveal the person’s true character. If the heart weighedContinue reading “Journey to Hell – The Path to Self-Knowledge”
Loneliness, Emptiness, Anxiety in Modern Society
Loneliness, emptiness, and anxiety – these are the main complaints American existential psychologist Rollo May encountered over and over from his patients. In 1953, May published Man’s Search for Himself, in which he explores these problems – that are perhaps more relevant than ever in our modern age. When society can no longer give usContinue reading “Loneliness, Emptiness, Anxiety in Modern Society”
The Dark World of Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka is one of the major figures of 20th century literature who received little public attention during his lifetime. He dealt with existentialist themes such as alienation, anxiety, disorientation and the absurd. It is hard to put Kafka into a box. Many people have tried to read his work in the lens of psychoanalysis,Continue reading “The Dark World of Franz Kafka”
The Dark Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German Philosopher born in 1788 who is known as the philosopher of pessimism. He is among the first thinkers to bring eastern philosophical ideas into western philosophy. Schopenhauer’s father was a wealthy merchant and his mother was a popular author and is among the first German women to publish books withoutContinue reading “The Dark Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer”
Nihilism | Encounter with Nothingness
Nothingness is generally considered to be analogous with death and extinction which every healthy living instinct wants to avoid. Many find the notion of nothingness unfathomable. The following thinker, however, was convinced that the way out of nihilism, that which renders meaningless the meaning of life, could only be reached by gazing into the abyssContinue reading “Nihilism | Encounter with Nothingness”
The Courage to Be: An Antidote to Meaninglessness
Paul Tillich was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher born in 1886 and is considered as one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. He is best known for his works The Courage to Be (1952), Dynamics of Faith (1957), and the three-volume work Systematic Theology (1951–63). At the age of 8, Tillich wouldContinue reading “The Courage to Be: An Antidote to Meaninglessness”
The Dark Philosophy of Cosmicism – H.P. Lovecraft
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature Fear of the unknown is something that has been with mankind from the very beginning. Man’s first instincts and emotions formed his response to the environment inContinue reading “The Dark Philosophy of Cosmicism – H.P. Lovecraft”
The Nightmare of Total Equality – A Warning to The World
“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, andContinue reading “The Nightmare of Total Equality – A Warning to The World”
The Philosophy of Existential Despair
Many people criticise philosophy as being disconnected from our daily existence, however, this critique is not new, it is in fact as old as philosophy itself. In the ancient Greek fable, “The Astrologer who Fell into a Well”, Thales of Miletus, considered as the first philosopher, is said to have been so lost in thoughtContinue reading “The Philosophy of Existential Despair”