Mental Colonialism

Once a friend told me his brother divided into two kinds of people: People without philosophy and people with philosophy. I imagine that in his head he made a confusion of concepts, and actually he was dividing people based on their knowledge, that is, people without culture and people with culture, because in order to move fluidly within a philosophical conversation vocabulary is necessary to have a moderately nourished to turn our ideas into words as accurately as possible. This suspicion I was born to me the fact that I can not imagine a single human being who lacks abstract guidelines that guides their behavior is, I do not think a person can exist without philosophy. Some would have philosophies sencillitas volume corresponding to their cultural background and who also will have as sophisticated and complex philosophies like clockwork and ornamented with details of the Sistine Chapel. But someone who can perform simple tasks such as grocery shopping or getting up everyday to go to work, and that may not be able to create for himself (or taking someone else's, but of this more anon) a small system belief to allow more or less explained how and why the world there is a character that I find very unlikely. I think this description is more likely for the golem of Jewish tradition or to a remote operated robot than a person. Take someone serious philosophy zombificarlo, reducing it to the level of something.

Now, this does not mean that all people are equally valid philosophies or worthy of being taken into account, because a great evil of our time is the colonization of subjectivity. By this I imply that many people today no longer think for themselves, if not rather are intended, either by their religious leaders, either by the writers of the TV show fashion, etc.. A person who distances himself from these ideological systems McDonald's style generally be a person worth listening to. Normally called our attention, in addition to its originality, that knows how to put into words or ideas-ideas-jumbles that occasionally have crossed our mind, but we do not know how to externalize, we do not know how to say please add to this the views that this person has generated since its isolation and the sea of ​​new ideas that we never would have occurred to us. You also have to be honest, nothing new under the sun shines, and although these people in turn may have taken a little bit of moisture, another sliver of Sartre and so have been committing plagiarism innocent little when ideological form an opinion own, often are the ones that serve as a bridge between the great thinkers and us.

I personally do not think that there are people with philosophy and no philosophy, rather I think that there are people with their own philosophy to which you have devoted time and care, and people with the philosophy of someone else, a very quick and easy solution to a doc to the lifestyle of today's man.

Aristotelian catharsis

Aristotle once said that people liked the theater cus’ at the end of a function one out of the theater in better spirits than one entered. And this is nothing illogical, because if we come to think, to see the protagonist suffering some drama we feel identified with him and his suffering, and this somehow helps us to take out those negative emotions that sometimes make our lifes so uncomfortable. This process Aristotle called catharsis (which in Greek means purification). Have not you noticed that there are seasons in which you feel a kind of discomfort in the head, as a kind of chronic anxiety (I like to call a "metaphysical itch", if you'll excuse the pedantry) and often not you know you should? Well, the Greek philosopher explained that the feeling is that we humans have repressed emotions are always looking out, but can not find the way to do it. It is like a funnel and siguieras gourds pouring water into it, between pour more water, the greater the pressure on the cap. Well, the theater as this gentleman is a kind of acid or destroying this plug hole and let it flow what we have stored within us.

The other arts also have this healing effect, all have a song that makes us mourn, a verse that makes us feel the head burst, a painting that gives us vertigo, a movie that we love, etc.. In turn, creating art also has these same properties, and it is no coincidence that one can distinguish between a guitarist who is running with a musical passion and one that simply is playing mechanically. After knowing this does not seem so illogical that many artists have a reputation for being mentally unbalanced, since for an inner life as turbulent as carrying them, surely art is a big source of comfort and pleasure to others could be drugs. To their way to your mother when you embroidering a sweater equals Jim Morrison when he wrote his songs, so you could be more considerate next time and get that ugly brown sweater that she'll last Christmas gift.

I once read in a book by Carlos Cuauhtemoc Sanchez That if one wanted to Achieve Their Goals in Life Should start to get down to work and Entrusted to God instead of watching movies on the couch. For me personally I find it much more useful to stay home on Sunday to a movie to go to church and then waste an hour of my time bored beatitude and abetting a group worthy of an Oscar. In my view, a person who cries watching a movie is a person who even helped.

Plato, Not Prozac - Lou Marinoff

"You can be your worst enemy, but the next in the line is the person with whom we shares an intimate relationship. Living with someone provides much information on how to make that person unhappy. Socrates was aware of the capacity inherent in whom we are closest to us more harm than anyone, and to love more than anyone, when he formulated his ethics symmetrical: "We are able to do a certain amount of good, and always accompanied by the ability to do the same amount of evil”

-Lou Marinoff-

Plato, Not Prozac is a book by French author Lou Marinoff, where with a bit of humor, while seriously and in depth, we show philosophical views on the issues of everyday life.

This book starts from the proposition that today many of the internal problems of the people can not be treated right through the psychology and psychiatry, because although these have a range of action within the healing of the human psyche, are very limited in some aspects, such as anxiety that may cause an ethical dilemma at work (for example, trying to decide between laying off workers to increase profits of the company or reduce these profits to keep staff) or the death of a loved. Given this situation, Marinoff suggests psychological counseling as an alternative means of therapy, where the "patient" trying to put their priorities and values ​​in order, then put your life in harmony with this hierarchy that help you discover the philosopher.

Issues such as family life, the depression, the ethical conflicts at work, death of a loved one, raising children are treated in this book from a perspective very different from what common sense tells us (aka the "doxa" Aristotle), and although this book may not be the panacea to relieve our anxieties undoubtedly give us some interesting insights about our everyday

Link to free books online http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/