A. It is not to be expressed how much I was delighted, or rather edified, by your discourse of yesterday. For although I am conscious to myself that I have never been too fond of life, yet at times, when I have considered that there would be an end to this life, and that I must some time or other part with all its good things, a certain dread and uneasiness used to intrude itself on my thoughts; but now, believe me, I am so freed from that kind of uneasiness that there is nothing that I think less worth any regard.
M. I am not at all surprised at that, for it is the effect of philosophy, which is the medicine of our souls; it banishes all groundless apprehensions, frees us from desires, and drives away fears, but it has not the same influence over all men; it is of very great influence when it falls in with a disposition well adapted to it.
For not only does Fortune, as the old proverb says, assist the bold, but reason does so in a still greater degree; for it, by certain precepts, as it were, strengthens even courage itself. You were born naturally great and soaring, and with a contempt for all things which pertain to man alone; therefore a discourse against death took easy possession of a brave soul.
But do you imagine that these same arguments have any force with those very persons who have invented, and canvassed, and published them, excepting indeed some very few particular persons? For how few philosophers will you meet with whose life and manners are conformable to the dictates of reason! Who look on their profession, not as a means of displaying their learning, but as a rule for their own practice! Who follow their own precepts, and comply with their own decrees!
You may see some of such levity and such vanity, that it would have been better for them to have been ignorant; some covetous of money, some others eager for glory, many slaves to their lusts; so that their discourses and their actions are most strangely at variance, than which nothing in my opinion can be more unbecoming: for just as if one who professed to teach grammar should speak with impropriety, or a master of music sing out of tune, such conduct has the worst appearance in these men, because they blunder in the very particular with which they profess that they are well acquainted.
So a philosopher who errs in the conduct of his life is the more infamous because he is erring in the very thing which he pretends to teach, and, while he lays down rules to regulate life by, is irregular in his own life.
—from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.4
You may laugh all you like, but not only has philosophy helped me to restrain my vices, I can also honestly say it has saved my life, by providing meaning when despair was about to do me in. Let us certainly invest in medicines to cure the ills of the body, while not forgetting why the love of wisdom is the ultimate remedy for the ills of life.
It may still sound awkward because of our confusion about the term “philosophy”. Even though I am from an academic family, and have also found myself becoming a teacher, I continue to cringe at the word, for it is so heavily associated with vain bickering about bombastic abstractions.
There is a deeply imbedded hypocrisy in the field, where the nobility of the concepts does not translate into a commitment to character. Appeals to universal justice are meaningless if I am sabotaging my colleagues’ careers and treating my students like tools for my own advancement.
I stew about this far too much, which tempts me to harbor resentments, and so it is best to ask how I can improve myself instead of condemning others. At least there is some relief in knowing how the problem was equally prevalent in Cicero’s time, and is not a peculiar characteristic of this current mess we call post-modernity.
I find great inspiration in what Cicero has to say here, in stark contrast to the many obstacles and limitations that come from reducing philosophy to a mere profession. Where there is an open mind and a loving heart, driven on by fortitude and constancy, the cultivation of reason elevates a man from the state of a beast to something approaching the divine.
In the hands of the honest and humble man, philosophy is a great blessing; in the hands of the shifty and haughty man, philosophy is a great curse.
This human tendency to say one thing and do another can be found in all walks of life: consider the doctor who abandons the health of his patients to line his pockets, or the lawyer who trades justice for utility, or the politician who confuses service with being served. Perhaps I can say they do not know any better, since they never took the time to reflect upon the difference between right and wrong.
Yet shouldn’t the philosophers know better, as their very work is about getting back to such first principles? The beautiful irony is that the best philosophers are often those who come from the most unassuming backgrounds, precisely because they don’t care about putting on a show or increasing their reputations. Indeed, it is their commitment to doing, not to seeming, that makes them worthy of the honors in which they have absolutely no interest.
I remind myself daily how my calling must be about forming my virtues, and thereby encouraging others to take more notice of their own; anything else is a diversion. If I do not take a moment every morning to dwell on this priority, I will quickly be swept up in the obsession with power and glory. Don’t worry if this fellow is rich, or that fellow is charming, and only focus on the exercise of awareness and compassion.
The pretentious are unfortunately drawn to philosophy, but don’t let that deter you. They will have to settle for their fleeting rewards, and you can be confident in the durability of yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment