Psyche presents a reflection on Nietzsche and the shaping of the self in an essay titled “When Nietzsche said ‘become who you are’, this is what he meant.” As the author of the piece notes: “Contrary to popular belief, Nietzsche was not a nihilist set on destroying human values. In fact, the unifying purpose behind his work was to fill the moral vacuum left by the decline of religion. His aversion to the legalistic and guilt-inducing ethical systems of his time stemmed from his fundamental goal of guiding individuals toward psychological health, personal excellence and virtue.”
The Korean Herald presents a review article on Kang Yong-soo of the Institute of Philosophical Studies at Korea University and author of a best-selling book in South Korea titled Reading Schopenhauer at Forty. The article title suggests the relevance of Schopenhauer: “When relationships tire you out, try Schopenhauer.”
From the personal blog Eternalised comes an essay titled “Nietzsche: Living in Solitude and Dealing with Society,” highlighting a central issue concerning Nietzsche, living a life of solitude in the midst of society (that is, in the midst of others).
Psyche presents “Gardening with Heidegger: from mystery to truth, via the earth.” Byline: “The garden as a source of authority beyond human wisdom – on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of gardening for truth.”
From the essay:
“Epicurus held his classes in a garden in Athens, where he taught the nonexistence (or at least indifference) of the gods. Roughly 700 years later, Saint Augustine converted to Christianity in a garden. British aristocrats used gardens to display the flora of the lands they colonised, and Native Americans today use them to preserve the plants of their ancestors. Every culture of every age established gardens for practical reasons such as food and medicine but also had deeper motivations, such as aesthetics and spirituality. What is it that makes gardens so special?
“No one ever claimed gardens served a single purpose, but the philosopher David E Cooper has written a concise book on the many reasons to praise them. In his A Philosophy of Gardens (2006), Cooper dismisses the idea of a garden as just a practical way of obtaining food and flowers. Instead, he gives us one ‘modest proposal’ and one ‘immodest’ proposal (his words). Neither is, from my perspective, modest, and both are insightful and reflect Martin Heidegger’s view of aesthetics.”
from the Argentine local news site El Cordillerano, a short note of remembrance marking five years since the passing of a local hermit named Argentino Aranea, called “the hermit of Collón Cura.” Once a ranch hand, he lived in solitude beside a highway for thirty years, enduring the Patagonian climate without water or power, in a shack of corrugated metal.
