Aristotle Archives - Meandering home

We breathe calmly. The word purpose agitates. Propos, to 'put forth' says the etymology. We are familiar with a hierarchy of purposes. At the end of a curious child's inquisitive series of "why?" every adult will resort to "just because". The purpose of growing up is to contribute to society. The purpose of society is ...

26 August, 2018

Aristotle, goal, intention, meditation, purpose

Philosophy

Aristotle and death

Death is the end, yet not the purpose of life, Aristotle said. But when you die it has to be done right the first time. The way you die will say a lot about your life. But doing something right implies purpose. What did Aristotle say about this?

2 March, 2018

Aristotle, death

Laughs, Philosophy

Habit and comfort

Sometimes, the categories of an ad hoc philosophical anthropology can be revealing. Today, my anthropology says: We are beings of habit as well as beings of comfort. The inertia of our species and our politicians is grounded in these principles. There is always a certain optimal balance of comfort and habit, which our organisms are ...

27 September, 2013

Aristotle, comfort, habit, pleasure

Philosophy

The three Ps of Motivation

Let's categorize motives of people roughly in "doing it for the money" and "doing it for the fun" and we miss something essential. The third category of motivation, one that needs to remain vague and adventurous. Indeed: that other type of motivation has something to do with adventure. Not with just any treasure hunting ...

28 March, 2012

Aristotle, motivation, passion, pleasure, possession, Safran Foer

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