Enjoying the view from Limbo
The key to participating in the definitive activity of the philosophic life is not, as may sometimes be assumed, merely a matter of having sufficient private time, let alone of being alone for any specific length of time. The essential thing, rather, is the subjective certainty of being free to become immersed in one’s train of thought without any (perceived) threat of interruption....
Recently, a student who got started on the philosophic path a little later than is ideal, and who, in spite of her endless enthusiasm and inquisitiveness, is still occasionally beset — as indeed we all are at times — with belittling self-doubts in the face of the vastness of all there is to know, and the undeniably daunting wisdom of the men who...
Social existence is being surrounded by a hundred relentless and incorrigible replicas of everything you have ever disliked and tried to correct in yourself. Social existence is tolerating what you told yourself you would never tolerate, accepting standards you swore you would never lower yourself to accepting, and pretending you are satisfied with conditions you despise. Social existence is living and working alongside...
I had the following exchange the other day with a thoughtful student who is currently in the process of working out how to orient her life in ways that involve the least spiritual compromise. I reproduce it here with only minor cosmetic editing. Do you like money? I like it as much as I don’t like living on a park bench. But I...
I was recently asked, by a student seeking to understand the full conditions and practical implications of the philosophic life, a question which has, in one form or another, probably occurred to, or rather preoccupied, the mind of every person attracted to philosophy in a serious way from the sixth century B.C. to the present. I paraphrase her question closely: “Let’s suppose everyone...
“The soul” is mankind’s general name for everything we are and are meant to be. “The body” is our name for every obstacle, hardship, and distraction that would prevent us from becoming what we are and are meant to be. The old war between the Ancients and the Moderns turns on the fact that the Ancients understood this relation and therefore perceived the...
Nietzsche is, without question, the most influential philosopher in today’s world, and his influence has grown steadily for more than a century. While it is probably true that more people read Nietzsche’s words these days than those of any other major philosopher, book sales are certainly not the way a philosopher achieves profound influence. Rather, the great philosophers influence the world to the...
There is nothing wrong with thinking there is something wrong with you. There undoubtedly is something wrong with you, and the precondition for any serious thought and growth is the recognition of this fact. Modern psychology is continually trying to persuade us that self-doubt, self-rebuke, and the periodic influx of shame and social discomfort, are illnesses to be cured, whereas these are rather...
Friends.– No one has fewer natural friends than the tyrant, who is rivalled in this only by the philosopher — the former to the extent that he has reduced his soul to nothing but vested interests, the latter to the extent that he has expunged his soul of vested interests. The tyrant falls farthest away from the conditions that make true friendship possible;...
by Daren Jonescu · Published July 5, 2025 · Last modified July 6, 2025
The opening lesson I offer whenever I teach any kind of classic literature, in a classroom or privately, and whether fiction or philosophy, is always some version of this: “There are ideas in this book that might strike us as immediately strange, morally uncomfortable, or completely contrary to our modern way of looking at things. When you see such ideas, always remind yourself...
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