Post your comments.
1. Young William James's problem, as he felt "pulled in too many directions" and worried that we might be nothing but cogs in a machine, was ____.
2. What is distinctive about "our age" that makes James particularly relevant?
3. What happened on Feb. 6, 2014 that prompted Kaag to write this book?
4. "Too much questioning and too little active responsibility lead" to what?
5. Human history is "one long commentary on" what?
6. A "wider world... unseen by us" may exist, just as our world does for ___.
7. The "deepest thing in our nature," which deals with possibilities rather than finished facts, is a "dumb region of the heart" called (in German) ___.
IS LIFE WORTH LIVING?
When Mr. Mallock's book with this title appeared some fifteen years ago, the jocose answer that "it depends on the liver" had great currency in the newspapers. The answer which I propose to give to-night cannot be jocose. In the words of one of Shakespeare's prologues,—
"I come no more to make you laugh; things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,"—
must be my theme. In the deepest heart of all of us there is a corner in which the ultimate mystery of things works sadly; and I know not what such an association as yours intends, nor what you ask of those whom you invite to address you, unless it be to lead you from the surface-glamour of existence, and for an hour at least to make you heedless to the buzzing and jigging and vibration of small interests and excitements that form the tissue of our ordinary consciousness. Without further explanation or apology, then, I ask you to join me in turning an attention, commonly too unwilling, to the profounder bass-note of life. Let us search the lonely depths for an hour together, and see what answers in the last folds and recesses of things our question may find... (continues)
Discussion questions:
- Have you ever felt "pulled in too many directions"? 2 How did you respond?
- Do you approach philosophy as a "detached intellectual exercise," an "existential life preserver," or something else?
- Where would you place yourself on the spectrum between "sick soul" and "healthy-minded"? Does that change, over time?
- Can belief that life is worth living become self-fulfilling?
- Do you know any "sick souls"? 3 Or "healthy minds"? 4 Are they the same person?
- Do you agree that believing life to be worth living "will help create the fact"? 5
- Do you like WJ's answer to the question "Is life worth living?" 9
- Is suicide always "the wrong way to exit life"? 10
- Have you ever visited the Harvard campus? What were your impressions?
- Is "maybe" a good answer to the eponymous question of James's essay below?
- Do you like Whitman's poetic expression of "the joy of living"?
- Have you ever been as happy as Rousseau at Annecy?
- Do you agree that nature cannot embody the ultimate "divine" spirit of the universe? What if you remove (or re-define) "divine"? 489
- Do you agree that "sufferings and hardships do not, as a rule, abate the love of life..."? 491
- Does the "purely naturalistic basis" suffice to make life worth living? 494
- Does life feel like a "real fight" to you? 502
When Mr. Mallock's book with this title appeared some fifteen years ago, the jocose answer that "it depends on the liver" had great currency in the newspapers. The answer which I propose to give to-night cannot be jocose. In the words of one of Shakespeare's prologues,—
"I come no more to make you laugh; things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,"—
must be my theme. In the deepest heart of all of us there is a corner in which the ultimate mystery of things works sadly; and I know not what such an association as yours intends, nor what you ask of those whom you invite to address you, unless it be to lead you from the surface-glamour of existence, and for an hour at least to make you heedless to the buzzing and jigging and vibration of small interests and excitements that form the tissue of our ordinary consciousness. Without further explanation or apology, then, I ask you to join me in turning an attention, commonly too unwilling, to the profounder bass-note of life. Let us search the lonely depths for an hour together, and see what answers in the last folds and recesses of things our question may find... (continues)
Do you agree that believing life to be worth living "will help create the fact"?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!!! Isn't that what is called a "self-fulfilling prophecy?! We have more control of our minds/life than we want to admit sometimes!
1. Young William James's problem, as he felt "pulled in too many directions" and worried that we might be nothing but cogs in a machine, was meaninglessness. (Kaag, p. 2)
ReplyDelete2. What is distinctive about "our age" that makes James particularly relevant?
Our age: "...eschews tradition and superstition but desperately craves existential meaning; is defined by affluence but also depression and acute anxiety; valorizes icons who ultimately decide that the life of fame is one that really ought to be cut short." James urges us to “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” (Kaag, p. 5)
3. What happened on Feb. 6, 2014 that prompted Kaag to write this book?
ReplyDeleteOn Feb. 6, 2014, "a 2006 Harvard alumnus, Steven Rose, as the age of twenty-nine, took his life by jumping from the roof of William James Hall”. (Kaag, p. 7)
4. "Too much questioning and too little active responsibility lead" to what?
The edge of the slope, pessimism, and a suicidal view of life.
4a. Why is pessimism "an essentially religious disease"?
The craving for God when confronted by Science and hard facts can breed pessimism.
5. Human history is "one long commentary on" what?
The cheerfulness that come with fighting ills.
6. A "wider world... unseen by us" may exist, just as our world does for dogs.
7. The "deepest thing in our nature," which deals with possibilities rather than finished facts, is a "dumb region of the heart" called (in German) Binnenleben. p. 25.
"Too much [idle] questioning" leads to what WJ called "grubelei," or pointless brooding.
ReplyDeleteNothing "dumb" about binnenleben, it's smart to live in possibility so long as we're alive and breathing.
Is suicide always "the wrong way to exit life"? 10
ReplyDeleteSuicide is an error in judgment in the sense that the judgment was made over something that shouldn't have been judged. Radical Honesty talks a lot about this and I can't wait to give my presentation.