Philosophical Exercises

Do you want to think about death intensely, every day, for a month straight? It’s not as morbid as it sounds. I’ve had the pleasure of participating in a 28-day workshop or “challenge” called “The Joyful Practice of Stoic Death Writing” 1 . I recommend it. E very day, we were sent ( via email ) a quote about death written by Marcus Aurelius, along with a few thoughts about this quote from the author of the workshop – stoic, writer & coach Kathryn Koromilas. In addition to those, there were always a few writing exercises & attention exercises to engage in, in order to internalize the quote and its wisdom. For instance, we were often asked to reformulate the quote with our own words, or to think to ourselves some kind of “ M emento M ori” during the day. Each email came with a countdown reminding us of the passage of time; “There are 28 days left” , “27 days left” , etc. This really puts you in the mood. The group of people who went through these exercises could spea...

To say that someone you disagree with is “ wrong” is one thing, to say that they are being “irrational” is another, and it is unjustified. There is no need for political psychologism. (8 minutes read)      We are prone to accuse each other of being irrational, especially in highly polarized contexts. Let’s take, for instance, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and how various political commentators tried to make sense of people they strongly disagreed with. On the one hand, we had conservative commentators who argued “ that the pandemic is not as severe as generally thought, and that the liberal media are victims of “hysteria” in failing to recognize this.” On the other hand, we had progressive commentators who would throw the accusation of irrationality back at them, by “ citing a psychologist claiming that ‘in a crisis event, one thing people do is engage in sense-making—seeking out facts and coming up with explanations,’ as ‘a way of psychologically coping with ...

  (The plan? Each month, I try a new philosophical exercise! In the previous episode, we explored  Soji: Zen Housework without Hope )      By and large, mindfulness meditation instructions urge us to stop daydreaming in order to go back to the present moment. At most, we are encouraged to take stock of where the mind has wandered, while we gently go back to our actual sensations. But what would happen if instead we decided to stay there and to be mindful of those daydreams? It is the question that James Morley asks in his article “Meditation, Lucidity, and the Phenomenology of Daydreaming” 1 . And testing his hypothesis is what I did this month (May 2024).      James Morley provides a handy framework to think about the phenomenon of daydreaming. First of all, he describes what triggers the event. Typically, what happens is that we are undergoing a feeling that we cannot adequately express in the present situation. For instance, we experience ...

Embrace what increases political comprehension and reject what doesn’t. (3 minutes read, or skip to the list of resources) It is easy to feel stressed and maybe even overwhelmed by politics. When we do, our stress is all about how shocking we find the behavior of our political adversaries. It leads to feelings of indignation, disbelief, grief, resentment, etc. And it is difficult to decide what to do with those feelings or how to respond to a given situation. At bottom, the question we are wrestling with is this: what should we make of the shocking thoughts, words, and deeds of our political adversaries? What should we think of this situation and what should we do about it? Today, what I would like to offer you is a way to recognize the difference between answers that help and answers that don’t. The right answers to these questions allow you to see that “those who come to hold ...

(The plan? To try one new philosophical exercise every month. This article is part of a series. In the previous episode, we explored Spinozist Mindfulness & Loving Kindness ) For the month of April, I practiced a zen ceremony called “Soji”. Here’s how it was explained to me: “ In many Zen temples, there’s an activity called soji, a period of about 20 minutes where the whole community participates in cleaning up the temple and its grounds. It usually happens right after a bowing and chanting service, marking the end of the morning meditation schedule. The premise is simple. You are assigned a simple cleaning task (rake the path, dry the dishes, sweep the hallway), which you do silently and without ambition to finish. In other words, there’s no ownership of the task: Just pick up the broom and do the best job you possibly can sweeping the hall until it’s time to stop. After about 20 minutes, the work leader walks around ringing a bell that signals the end of soji. When you hear the...