Tag: happiness

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Mark Twain reportedly said, “‘Be yourself’ is the worst advice you can give some people.” The problem with Twain’s assertion is that, if you don’t tell people to “be themselves,” who else can they be? You don’t really have a choice. You can’t be somebody else. So, like it or not, we are doomed to be ourselves.

In ethics and psychology, another term for “being yourself” or “becoming yourself” is self-actualization, also called self-realization. For many, self-actualization is the definition of happiness. Thus they define the pursuit of happiness as self-actualization, becoming who you are. (more…)

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Schopenhauer monument, Frankfurt.

All parts here.

The Tragedy and Comedy of Life

We are continuing our discussion of Schopenhauer’s pessimistic philosophy of life. In the fourth book of The World as Will and Representation (“The World as Will: Second Aspect”), he writes, famously, “The life of every individual, viewed as a whole and in general, and when only its most significant features are emphasized, is really a tragedy; but gone through in detail it has the character of a comedy.”[1] (more…)

Socrates accepting his fate. The Death of Socrates – Jacques-Louis David, 1787

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In Plato’s Euthydemus, Socrates argues for the paramount importance of philosophy because philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom, and wisdom is the most reliable way to attain happiness, which all men are pursuing. Happiness requires many goods, but they won’t be good for us, unless we use them wisely. In fact, wisdom is so important for happiness that foolish people are better off having fewer goods, because these just provide them the means to harm themselves. A simple example of this is giving money to a drunk or a drug addict. They are better off poor. (more…)

You can buy Greg Johnson’s The Trial of Socrates here.

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In my essay “The Most Important Thing in the World,” I presented Plato’s argument in the Euthydemus for the importance of philosophy. All men are pursuing happiness. To do so, we try to secure certain goods. Something is good if it contributes to your happiness. Socrates names a number of goods: wealth, health, good looks, the things that the body needs, noble lineage, power, honor among one’s countrymen, moderation, justice, courage, wisdom, and good fortune.

One of the Euthydemus’ most important distinctions is between two kinds of goods: conditional and unconditional. (more…)

Seated Socrates, fresco from ancient Ephesus

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Sometimes the most momentous truths can be established with the simplest arguments. A good example is Plato’s argument in his little-known dialogue Euthydemus for why philosophy (the pursuit of wisdom) is more important than any other pursuit. I found this argument completely convincing. It shattered and remade how I lead my life, and I used it to similarly shattering effect for years in Introduction to Philosophy courses. (more…)

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Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.
– Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (more…)

A contemporary coin depicting Archelaus, King of Macedonia. (Image source: Wikipedia)

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Part 7 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here)

Doing Injustice vs. Suffering It

Polus grudgingly accepts Socrates’ argument that tyrants and demagogues don’t enjoy real power, since real power is the ability to attain well-being. Yet Polus doesn’t really believe it. (more…)

Kristian Zahrtmann, Socrates and Alcibiades, 1911 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

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Part 7 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here)

Wisdom vs. Tyranny

Having established that the true self is the soul and defended philosophical dialogue as the best path to self-knowledge, Socrates wraps up his argument. (more…)

Xerxes I of Persia and his wife, Queen Amestris

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Part 4 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 5 here)

Socrates has convinced Alcibiades that he is ignorant of justice. Therefore, he should not go into politics until he is educated. But Socrates undermines his argument by pointing out that none of the other eminent Athenians, even Pericles himself, knows what justice is. From this, Alcibiades concludes that if his rivals for power are equally ignorant, he has no need to waste time on education, because he is confident that he can beat them based on his superior nature. (more…)

Joos van Craesbeeck, The Temptation of St. Anthony (1650)

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The New York Times quoted French social critic Jacques Barzun when they defined decadence as the “economic stagnation, institutional decay and cultural and intellectual exhaustion at a high level of material prosperity and technological development,” in a 2020 article entitled “The Age of Decadence.” (more…)

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Greg Johnson is teaching a five-week course on Plato’s Gorgias on Counter-Currents Radio, which will continue on three Saturdays later this month (July 15, 22, and 29). The second lecture, which dealt with Socrates’ discussion with Polus from 461b to 481b, can be heard below. A visual aid that accompanies the lecture is here.

The theme of the course is “Might vs. Right.” Dr. Johnson is using Donald J. Zeyl’s translation of the Gorgias published by Hackett as both a separate book and as part of their Plato Complete Works volume. (more…)

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English original here

Jason Kessler hizo recientemente una crítica al movimiento Nacionalista Blanco en su canal de Telegram: «Si el Nacionalismo Blanco está totalmente desprovisto de mujeres Blancas solteras y no puede proporcionar funciones básicas de una red social para los hombres solteros, es insostenible.»[1] De hecho, el Nacionalismo Blanco es «inútil» porque «no está proporcionando funciones sociales básicas para sus adherentes»,[2] particularmente proporcionando parejas a los hombres. (more…)

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Spanish version here

Jason Kessler recently offered a critique of the White Nationalist movement on his Telegram channel: “If White Nationalism is totally devoid of single White women and cannot provide basic social networking functions for single men, it is unsustainable.”[1] Indeed, White Nationalism is “worthless” because it “isn’t providing basic social functions for its adherents,”[2] particularly providing men with mates. (more…)