{"id":505,"date":"2014-04-07T10:51:58","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T15:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/schizosoph.com\/?p=505"},"modified":"2014-04-07T10:51:58","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T15:51:58","slug":"a-higher-life-or-no-future-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffreyabell.net\/?p=505","title":{"rendered":"A Higher Life; or No Future Revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an earlier post<\/a> I argued that one way to think of Foucault\u2019s project is as an extension of Camus\u2019 thought, or as I put it there, as a philosophy with no future. Just as Camus sought to encourage the recognition of the absurd as a prompt to live life with more passion and consciousness of the present, so too Foucault\u2019s project sought, through his archaeological enquiries, to unearth from the past a problem contemporaneous to our present field of experience. For both Camus and Foucault, therefore, a philosophy that has no future is not a philosophy that denies the future, or a philosophy that denies the importance and relevance of an awareness and orientation towards a future \u2013 that is, foresight \u2013 but rather it is a philosophy that subordinates the future to the concerns of the present, to a problematization (Foucault) and consciousness (Camus) of the present, for it is in the present where life unfolds, and where change begins.<\/p>\n

This same emphasis on the present is also found in Seneca\u2019s fifth letter to Lucilius.<\/p>\n

The overarching concern that motivates Seneca\u2019s fifth letter is that philosophy, by its very nature, is already contrary to the customary concerns of the \u201cmultitude.\u201d Philosophy, in other words, is untimely and at odds with the concerns and motivations that are common to the time in which one lives. It is for this reason, no doubt, that Seneca recognizes that philosophy is already \u201can object of sufficient scorn,\u201d and hence the philosopher would be best served by avoiding reinforcing this prejudice by willfully living contrary to the norms of society. Unlike the philosopher who broadcasts their untimely status through \u201crepellent attire, unkempt hair, [and a] slovenly beard,\u201d the philosopher should inwardly be \u201cdifferent in all respects\u201d but outwardly \u201cconform to society\u201d if they are to encourage others to the benefits of philosophy. And benefits indeed are to be had, Seneca argues, for philosophy enables a person to live a higher life, a life that is different from the common life, the life of the multitude, but a life that is not contrary to the \u201cfellow-feeling with all men\u201d that comes with the \u201csympathy and sociability\u201d that philosophy can engender. Philosophy, in short, enables a higher level of adaptability to the present in that it encourages one to think through the relationship with ourselves and others in the present, to take what is \u201cmost essentially ours\u201d and \u201clay hold of today\u2019s task\u201d rather than live with excessive thought for the events of the past or future (see my discussion of letter 1<\/a>)<\/p>\n

If done right, this laying hold of our present is a philosophical task that constitutes what Seneca sees as a \u201chappy medium between the ways of the sage,\u201d who Seneca describes as one who foregoes all of the customary goods of society, including those that can be had \u201cat no great price,\u201d and \u201cthe ways of the world at large\u201d\u2014that is, the ways of the multitude whereby one largely engages with the thoughtless pursuit of luxuries and goods without concern for how well they adapt us to the present.<\/p>\n

It is in the context of this discussion regarding the philosophical life that is a happy medium between the sage and the common life of the multitude that Seneca brings hope and fear into relationship with one another. Despite being as \u201cdissimilar as they are,\u201d hope and fear \u201ckeep step together; fear follows hope.\u201d And they keep step together precisely because both belong, Seneca argues, \u201cto a mind that is in suspense, a mind that is fretted by looking forward to the future.\u201d A result of this fretful suspense that comes with hope and fear, Seneca claims, is that \u201cforesight, the noblest blessing of the human race, becomes perverted.\u201d Without forsaking foresight, therefore, the philosopher is to live a life without hope, or pursue a philosophy with no future in order to fully live with conscious engagement in the present, for the \u201cpresent alone,\u201d as Seneca closes the letter, \u201ccan make no man wretched.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an earlier post I argued that one way to think of Foucault\u2019s project is as an extension of Camus\u2019 thought, or as I put it there, as a philosophy with no future. Just as Camus sought to encourage the recognition of the absurd as a prompt to live life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seneca"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t