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Phil.Oliver@mtsu.edu
👣Solvitur ambulando
💭Sapere aude
Successor site to the Philosophy of Happiness blog (http://philoshap.blogspot.com/) that supported PHIL 3160 at MTSU, 2011-2019. The course returns Fall 2025.
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LISTEN https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/travel/finland-happiness-challenge.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Ph...
'This is Adam Smith from Oxford, England. Hi Adam, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.'
ReplyDelete'Hi Dave. This is more celebratory than anything else, but I'm 22 with a bachelor's in Classical Philosophy. I only had taken out a couple of grand worth of loans (I was mostly on scholarship), and I just finished paying them off this month.'
'That's fantastic! Good on you! Do you want to do the debt-free scream?'
'I was hoping to! Here it goes: I'M DEBT FREEEEEEEEEE!!!!'
'Now what are you gonna do about a job? Philosophy doesn't do to much for ya there.'
'Well, my mother knows some people, and I might end up giving lectures back at my old school or something, who knows...'
(Attense)
Adam did okay, like his pal Hume who said "Be a philosopher, but be still a man."
DeletePhilosophers are more employable than our pop culture knows, at least in fields that reward creativity, flexibility, and critical acuity.
The happiness of being debt-free is much of what the Epicureans were (as they say in Oxford) on about.
I do like the simplistic goals Smith poses for a happier life though it could seem benign to some. But I do find myself becoming more relieved in my life when contrasting it with others who either have physical or mental conditions that paralyze the idea of living a "normal" life as we know it. Whether it be debilitating forms of Tourettes or losing your face in a freak accident, these people find ways to cope and deal with the ever-present reminder of their differences. It inspires me and reminds me to appreciate having the ability to sleep at night with relative ease.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a companion could be added since it is human nature to find a mate.
ReplyDelete