Tag: philosophy

It is a formidable audacity that money has invaded the field of philosophy in the way it has. These days, any self-respecting treatise on individual freedom must devote a good few pages to this earthly and unpleasant subject. It is as if a huge bucket of dirt had been thrown on top of a fountain of idealistic conceptions. It does not seem that it would be possible today to live as many ascetics of times past lived; that is, it is unlikely that, today, those would not be subjected to necessary slavery. It is true that lack of money limits freedom, and one does not have to be a materialist to accept the hypothesis that, yes, money can also increase it. But what can money do for human freedom? At what point is it superfluous? If the common man, perforce, has to take part in the money-making culture, it is quite right that he should determine how much and how far he should sink. So therein lies an important object for ethics…

There should be a name for the feeling of affection towards one’s own land that differentiates it from this despicable patriotism that does nothing but castrates the mind from equanimous judgment. The dictionary itself would do well to point out xenophobia as a possible synonym for patriotism, in view of the use that has been made of this unfortunate word. What a disappointment! To open history books and come across infamous adulators of tyranny and power, to find unacceptable justifications for every kind of crime, to come across the attachment to stupidity, the unswerving refusal to admit any virtue that does not flatter the “patriotic” pride… It is worth subscribing to what Cioran said: “Un homme qui se respecte n’a pas de patrie.”

A love disappointment affects, more often than not, a superficial and less noble layer of the individual. It hurts, but it is the physical pain of the wounded animal. Generally, it does not shake the concept of love in the disappointed soul: it is possible to find someone else. Disappointment, however, when it comes from a friend to whom friendship in the only sense in which this word should be used, which elevates the souls involved and ennobles the race, is like a stab wound of very harsh philosophical and moral consequences. Unlike the common love betrayal, it is not pride that is wounded, but the higher part of nature that asked for nothing and received meanness in exchange for generosity. It is something that fills the soul with grief. It destroys the concept one has of others; it weakens the ability to trust; it undermines, in advance, the disposition for future relationships… Such nonsense! As if this word, just like the other, was not already corrupted…

Although they can be related, antipathy to socialization and social inability are completely different things. Introversion does not necessarily imply shyness or inhibition. Many psychologists fall into this error, and those who do not, err in judging the former to be a personality disorder—therefore, something which must be corrected. Psychology ended up sinking because it did not define, from the beginning, the scope of its work. It gave in to the charms of novelty and invaded other terrains—terrains whose complexity is beyond its means of analysis. It proceeded in this way, classifying behavioral patterns as if they were always the result of a stupid formula, as if the man had no capacity to judge and choose. Worse than that: without noticing, it established a supposedly universal scale of values to be used as a reference for what is or is not normal. Thus, it erected a human model devoid of individuality—a model, therefore, extremely superficial.