Tag: philosophy

Seneca said that if he were offered wisdom on condition that he kept it to himself, without being able to communicate it to anyone, he would not want it. And it is really curious that even more than the delight in understanding reality is the delight in describing it, verbalizing it, which seems essential for us to prove ourselves by really mastering it, for our thinking to really be consolidated. Although possessing wisdom and being able to communicate it are different things, not knowing how to communicate it seems to us to be evidence that we do not fully possess it, and there is work to be done to reach this level.

Some philosopher has noted that philosophical work is the repercussion of a single, decisive flash, from which a before and after can easily be delineated. Such a flash is certainly observable; but the curious thing is that, as is customary before thirty, it only points the way, the unavoidable path, but does not ensure where it will lead. By thirty, there is no denying it, philosophy is done more or less as literature is done: recording and discussing impressions. These, although true, although decisive, seem to require time to crystallize. In other words: the admirable, impressive confidence with which some white-headed philosophers express themselves is almost never matched by younger philosophers, which seems to suggest that the great philosopher is discovered early on, but is only realized after a long time of maturation.

If I am not mistaken, it was Nietzsche who said that in order to know how to respect, one must know how to despise. And that is why iterated praise seems hollow. Although it is much more pleasant, it is also necessary to exercise criticism, so that praise, when it comes, is valued. Rejection and appreciation are, in short, complementary and inseparable manifestations.

Disdain is the most childish response to the reality of miracles. Facing them sincerely is an unparalleled exercise in humility, which imposes an awareness of insignificance and vulnerability that is foreign to modern presumption. In fact, to face them sincerely is to run the risk of slipping into a state of paralysis, perhaps discouragement, in the face of the irrefutable confrontation between what there is and what one is.