The point about slavery and the treatment of women is well-taken. For example, the upper class nowadays seldom has houses with "servants quarters". Instead they eat out and the servant live who-knows-where. And the term "wage-slave" is especially onerous for those who work at a low wage that can barely pay the rent. And a major result of women in the workforce is that nowadays, we feed and clothe our family on the money earned by two parents instead of just one which was the prevaling case back 50 years ago. And there is a clamor for funds to pay for people to care for our children because we are too busy at work to be with them ourselves.
Like your comments about slavery and exploitation. I see many examples around me where individuals have very few choices with regards to their conditions of employment. The power to determine those conditions rests mostly with the employer. In many cases some of the less empowered staff that I work with are required to work long hours on projects deemed important by their bosses.
Although this may not be slavery per se it is clearly exploitive. Unfortunately these people have no other choice but to do as they are told. It's a sad situation and I really don't see things changing for the better.
Unfortunately there must be many people around the world who are in similar circumstances. I often feel very fortunate not to have to work under such conditions.
As for the value of philosophy, I don't think I've ever read any material that has ever been of such value in improving the quality of my day to day existence. I have less anxiety about the future, less domestic problems, :), fewer useless discussions that lead to arguments, more humility, greater use of self deprecating humour (very useful), greater appreciation of others perspective ("it seemed so to him") and amongst other things, a greater understanding of the illusory power of externals.
I couldn't imagine what life would be like in the absence of such wisdom. Thank you
David, sounds like you've been making progress on a number of major areas!
And yes, I agree that a lot of people are being exploited, and that there is little hope, at least short term, for systemic change. Philosophy is useful, I suggest, also, or perhaps especially, under those circumstances. And it is certainly not mutually exclusive with attempts to change such circumstances!
Thanks Massimo - nice reflection. Your principles of 'why the Greco-Romans' apply to the world religions too and their lasting legacy to us today - In the best possible sense in that practitioners of religion are attempting to flourish as humans and love their neighbors.
Jason, yes, particularly because I think that religions are a type of philosophy of life. That said, they tend to be dogmatic and metaphysically questionable for my taste.
Happy thanksgiving and thank you for all your work
Appreciated! Happy TG to you as well!
The point about slavery and the treatment of women is well-taken. For example, the upper class nowadays seldom has houses with "servants quarters". Instead they eat out and the servant live who-knows-where. And the term "wage-slave" is especially onerous for those who work at a low wage that can barely pay the rent. And a major result of women in the workforce is that nowadays, we feed and clothe our family on the money earned by two parents instead of just one which was the prevaling case back 50 years ago. And there is a clamor for funds to pay for people to care for our children because we are too busy at work to be with them ourselves.
I've always found the Greco-Romans much more relatable to us morderns than medieval Europeans.
I know, weird, right?
I remember a quote not sure by whom .History does not repeat itself but human nature does
There are a number of possibilities: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Historic_recurrence
Hi Massimo
Like your comments about slavery and exploitation. I see many examples around me where individuals have very few choices with regards to their conditions of employment. The power to determine those conditions rests mostly with the employer. In many cases some of the less empowered staff that I work with are required to work long hours on projects deemed important by their bosses.
Although this may not be slavery per se it is clearly exploitive. Unfortunately these people have no other choice but to do as they are told. It's a sad situation and I really don't see things changing for the better.
Unfortunately there must be many people around the world who are in similar circumstances. I often feel very fortunate not to have to work under such conditions.
As for the value of philosophy, I don't think I've ever read any material that has ever been of such value in improving the quality of my day to day existence. I have less anxiety about the future, less domestic problems, :), fewer useless discussions that lead to arguments, more humility, greater use of self deprecating humour (very useful), greater appreciation of others perspective ("it seemed so to him") and amongst other things, a greater understanding of the illusory power of externals.
I couldn't imagine what life would be like in the absence of such wisdom. Thank you
David, sounds like you've been making progress on a number of major areas!
And yes, I agree that a lot of people are being exploited, and that there is little hope, at least short term, for systemic change. Philosophy is useful, I suggest, also, or perhaps especially, under those circumstances. And it is certainly not mutually exclusive with attempts to change such circumstances!
Thanks Massimo - nice reflection. Your principles of 'why the Greco-Romans' apply to the world religions too and their lasting legacy to us today - In the best possible sense in that practitioners of religion are attempting to flourish as humans and love their neighbors.
Jason, yes, particularly because I think that religions are a type of philosophy of life. That said, they tend to be dogmatic and metaphysically questionable for my taste.