Hermits around the web – Hermitary
news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude
The magazine Mutual Art presents an essay titled “An American Solitude: Short Stories by Edward Hopper.” Early 20th century American artist Hopper has been celebrated for insightful paintings portraying solitude in an urban sitting.
URL: https://www.mutualart.com/Article/An-American-Solitude–Short-Stories-by-E/81DAD09C6423E878
Stephen Batchelor — author of the classics Alone With Others and The Art of Solitude, plus his key book Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World — discusses his ideas about modern Buddhism with host Krista Tippett on an installmentment of the podcast On Being titled “Wonderous Doubt.”
Batchelor: “Many of my critics would be quite happy for me to stop calling myself a Buddhist. And even some of those who like my work feel that the Buddhism gets in the way. But I disagree profoundly with that. The rootedness in tradition is central to me; and I see Buddhist tradition — I suspect like other traditions, also — as not something which is static and fixed and somehow preserved in formaldehyde, but it is something that is alive.”
URL: https://onbeing.org/programs/stephen-batchelor-wondrous-doubt-mar2018/
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.”
URL: https://psyche.co/ideas/when-nietzsche-said-become-who-you-are-this-is-what-he-meant
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).
URL: https://eternalisedofficial.com/2021/08/21/nietzsche-living-in-solitude-and-dealing-with-society/
NPR affiliate station WBUR (Boston) presents a conversation with Thuy-vy Nguyen, professor of psychology at Durham University (UK) and director of the Solitude Lab at the University and co-author of the2024 book <em>Solitude: The Science and Power of Being Alone</em>. The interviewer is “On Point” host Meghna Chakrabarti. The program aired in June 2024 and runs 48 min.).
URL: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/06/03/power-science-solitude-alone-creativity-emotion