Kierkegaard, Philosophy, and the lesson I learned
I'm taking a Philosophy class at Dan diego state called Phil 508 Existentialism.
The first philosopher that we have started studying is Kierkegaard.
Before this class I was not at all familiar with him.
After today's lecture I was fascinated with some of the things he mentioned.
In an essay (perhaps it is two separate novels, I'm not quite sure, being as we are reading an anthology) titled Either/Or Kierkegaard discusses how to live an aesthetic life or an ethical life. He goes on to explain that you can't do both it has to be one or the other.
The first idea that I began to ponder was what he called "The Rotation Method" or active forgetting.
In order to live an aesthetic life, you have to be able to find pleasure in everything that you do. Unfortunately, once you've done something once, the next time you do it the pleasure of the activity decreases, until eventually it is boring. By teaching yourself to remember to forget, if this is at all possible, you can enjoy activities longer.
We as humans live in the moment, always hoping that the thing we do now is going to bring us the most pleasure possible, oftentimes however, there is a point in our life that we remember to be the greatest, to which we hold all other events accountable. When it doesn't measure up, we are disappointed and become bored. Then life becomes meaningless...
The thing that got me most was that if I keep comparing all of these other events to something that happened so long ago, something I probably built up in my head to be greater than it really ever was I wonder what I am really missing out on. Perhaps it is okay to be a little afraid and go for it. Maybe the new memories will be even more pleasurable than the original. The only way to find out is to experience it. To not back away, but to emerge fully in whatever you can learn.
Pushing People away is not the answer.
Some other lines that are from the same passages of reading that are interesting ideas.
* "From the beginning one should keep the enjoyment under control"
* "If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible."
* "Now I long only for my first longing. What is youth? A dream. What is love? The substance of a dream."
~The thing that really got to me was the last quote. Kierkegaard's character "A" doesn't long for love. He longs for that longing you feel. That is very easy to relate to.
The first philosopher that we have started studying is Kierkegaard.
Before this class I was not at all familiar with him.
After today's lecture I was fascinated with some of the things he mentioned.
In an essay (perhaps it is two separate novels, I'm not quite sure, being as we are reading an anthology) titled Either/Or Kierkegaard discusses how to live an aesthetic life or an ethical life. He goes on to explain that you can't do both it has to be one or the other.
The first idea that I began to ponder was what he called "The Rotation Method" or active forgetting.
In order to live an aesthetic life, you have to be able to find pleasure in everything that you do. Unfortunately, once you've done something once, the next time you do it the pleasure of the activity decreases, until eventually it is boring. By teaching yourself to remember to forget, if this is at all possible, you can enjoy activities longer.
We as humans live in the moment, always hoping that the thing we do now is going to bring us the most pleasure possible, oftentimes however, there is a point in our life that we remember to be the greatest, to which we hold all other events accountable. When it doesn't measure up, we are disappointed and become bored. Then life becomes meaningless...
The thing that got me most was that if I keep comparing all of these other events to something that happened so long ago, something I probably built up in my head to be greater than it really ever was I wonder what I am really missing out on. Perhaps it is okay to be a little afraid and go for it. Maybe the new memories will be even more pleasurable than the original. The only way to find out is to experience it. To not back away, but to emerge fully in whatever you can learn.
Pushing People away is not the answer.
Some other lines that are from the same passages of reading that are interesting ideas.
* "From the beginning one should keep the enjoyment under control"
* "If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible."
* "Now I long only for my first longing. What is youth? A dream. What is love? The substance of a dream."
~The thing that really got to me was the last quote. Kierkegaard's character "A" doesn't long for love. He longs for that longing you feel. That is very easy to relate to.