Human life, finite and incarnate, burns with desire, craving not only physical necessities such as food and drink, but yearning also for an ever elusive wholeness. As the poet Novalis observed, “we seek the unconditioned, but all we ever find are things.” Man’s life is thus one of love and longing. We learn much about …
Pythagoras on the Purpose of Philosophy In this essay, I’d like to turn from investigating Pythagorean doctrine to examining Pythagorean practice. For Pythagoras identified philosophy not with a set of abstract doctrines to be grasped by the understanding alone, but with a way of life that purified and strengthened the soul. Porphyry, for instance, describes …
1. Values in Psychology and Therapy. The concept of value has become central in contemporary therapeutic discourse. Many therapeutic interventions rely on the concept of value to prod people behave in ways society deems “healthy”. For example, positive psychology notes that values are a vital part of self-actualization. For a person to live a self-actualized …