The Value of Worldly Philosophy

A brief exposé of what is missing in mysticism, eastern philosophy, pop psychology and spiritualism.

      This is a brief exploration of what feel-good philosophies tend to miss.  Feel good philosophies include mysticism, eastern philosophies, pop psychology, new age thinking and spiritualism.  They tend to make you feel good by idealizing a certain state or mind set such as enlightenment or faith in God or positive self-esteem.  These ways of thinking can definitely play a role in moving one towards happiness, but there is a danger of adopting feeling good as a sole world view.  I once thought Buddhism was a good, self-sufficient philosophy, until a wise college roommate of mine pointed out: "I'd like to dump you naked in a snowbank in Alaska and see you meditate your way our of that."

      The problem with adopting a single, main philosophical idea such as feeling peaceful or praising God is that when the philosophy is expanded to all aspects of life it inevitably runs into contractions.  Life, unfortunately, is varied and multidimensional.  Too much so for it to be contained by just one point of view.

      Half of life is a psychological problem.  The other half must be dealt with in an entirely different way.  The mortgage must be paid, cavities filled, cars fixed, social skills learned, working systems of government and culture set in place; and even if one is a bohemian artist, he or she must find some way to sell their work.

     This is where traditional Western culture excels.  In the West, (though psychology and spiritualism flourish here) there is a history of worldly values that enable us to solve practical problems.  The physical sciences are constantly being further developed along with mathematics, the language of worldly affairs.  Ideals of accuracy, efficiency, universality and simplicity are projected onto the fabric of society to create an utopia that is beyond the cave man's wildest dreams.

     It is often pointed out that people are not any happier than they were a hundred years ago.  But a very reasonable response to this is the simple question: If you had a choice of going back to the limitations of yesterday would you choose to do so?  Most would not.  Who would wish to die young with a mouth full of rotting teeth, having worked yourself to death for little financial compensation, your children locked into the same routine fate you had.  Not many.  As it turns out, not everything is relative.  There are certain prerequisites to happiness.  Good friends, health, a certain degree of freedom and a varied environment are just a few of those not so relative needs that help us to be happy.

      To be fair, of course, there is a psychological component to happiness.  Feel good philosophy has its place.  It's just not the place.  It needs to be balanced with worldly concern and wisdom.  Perhaps when we work we can focus on worldliness and when we need a break from becoming we can indulge in a little being, prayer, inspirational reading or whatever.

      Best wishes.

Reviews

[Stanley R. Teater]

A good read. It brought to mind the Hare Krishnas who seemed to be everywhere when I was in college in the late 60's, early 70's. The mindless chanting, the weird clothes, the irritating cymbals. They struck me as shallow children foolishly dipping their toes in unknown waters. Haven't seen a Hare Krishna in many years. Most of them are probably Wall Street bankers or politicians today.

[Daniel Seward]

Interesting comments and thanks for reading my stuff!
Dan

[Cyprian Van Dyke]

Interesting write. The world loves philosophy, most people, not everyone! But you did a good job writing it, it did hold me to the end!

[Daniel Seward]

Thanks for reading my stuff!

[Cyprian Van Dyke]

You're welcome!