Many people have this impression that philosophy is all about pointless musings and abstractions, headachy nit-picking and really out-there topics. And it absolutely can be at times. But there is also a huge underestimation of philosophy’s benefits. Studying philosophy is by no means a waste of time, whether you’re doing it at an undergraduate, Masters…
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As a generation accused of being lazy, self-obsessed and self-entitled, obsessing over travel seems to fit that bill. To feel entitled to quit a job and go backpacking around the world on a ‘personal journey’ – equipped with selfie (selfish) stick in hand – might be a sign of self-indulgence. This might play some role in…
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Seneca the Younger (4 BC – 65 AD) was a Roman philosopher who expounded, promoted and practised Stoicism – the philosophy that asserts that virtue is what makes us happy and that we should be calm in the face of misfortune. We are not in control of, and cannot depend on, external events – as…
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If you have a miserable outlook on the world, then it makes sense that you would also feel miserable. However, there is some more nuance to this notion – that your philosophical outlook is tied to your well-being – than just accepting that pessimism leads to poor mental health outcomes. For instance, mental health aside,…
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The spiritual teacher Ram Dass often examines human suffering in his many lectures and writings, since it concerns us all. As the First Noble Truth of Buddhism says, “life is dukkha” (a Pali term commonly translated as “suffering” or “unsatisfactoriness”, although its meaning is quite varied, since impermanence is also dukkha). It may seem like…
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