Evil – What It Is and What to Do About It Living well is primarily about pursuing good. But what about evil? A good person recognizes evil and responds appropriately. Better yet, they work to prevent it. The focus here is on the people, actions, and even ideas that far exceed standard definitions of bad. People encounter and address bad behavior daily. It is routine. It is more challenging to…
Love Everyone cares about love. Poets, philosophers, and religious leaders have written much about it. Life without love would be bleak. But love has many meanings and affects happiness in different ways.Choice is a feature of love relevant to learning how to live. There are choices about whether and how to love, regardless of the type of love. The circumstances surrounding love may be random. Many marriages result from unexpected…
The Value of Work Work affects happiness. It is unavoidable given the number of hours spent working during life. Understanding the relationship between work and thriving can help make work contribute to our well-being rather than detract.I always wanted to work. As a child, I offered to mow a neighbor’s lawn even before I was big enough to effectively to push a lawn mower. I couldn’t finish the job, but…
Virtues That Most Affected My Life: Humility A story about Socrates highlights the essence of humility. When asked who the wisest person in Athens was, the Oracle of Delphi said Socrates. Socrates said this couldn’t be true because he knew nothing. By admitting his ignorance, Socrates confirmed the oracle's judgment.Humility is acknowledging our limitations, ignorance, and mistakes. This virtue, paradoxically, is a foundation for learning, which leads to knowledge and…
The Individual Versus the Community There is tension between living for our happiness and living for the benefit or happiness of others. There is an eternal conflict between the needs and desires of the individual and those of the community. I struggled to determine which is most important, whether more of one means less of the other, and whether a middle ground is preferred. Each view has good arguments in…
Virtues That Most Affected My Life: Moderation Several virtues share a focus on self-control and balance in life. Moderation is perhaps the broadest. It is the term I prefer. For my purposes, moderation includes the classic virtues of temperance and continence. Temperance involves control over desires and avoiding excess. Continence often refers to controlling emotional responses. There are extensive writings on the meanings and subtle differences between these terms.“Moderation in…
Determine What is True How should we decide whether what we learn is true and should be used to guide our life? We take in lots of information but only some of it is true. Determining truth is not easy for broad principles about living and moral philosophy. There are no certain answers. At best there can be persuasive evidence that what is learned deserves inclusion in our philosophy of…
Seek Knowledge and Wisdom Wisdom is one of the four basic Stoic virtues. Wisdom requires knowledge. Wise people have knowledge and know how to apply it to living. But what is knowledge? What types of knowledge should we seek? Where should we seek knowledge and wisdom?Knowledge is information that true. Information comes from many sources – reading, the internet, classes, conversations with others, etc. Information becomes knowledge when we determine…
The Knowledge in Our DNA DNA is a vast library to tap in the quest for knowledge and wisdom. Human DNA contains the results of millions of experiments over millions of years on how to thrive – or at least how to survive. The results can help us understand our nature, our society, and what has worked in the past. Encoded in DNA is the knowledge to create complex life…
