As our technological and material advancements rise, so does an unsettling dearth of mental wellbeing. We are a society rich in conveniences but impoverished in spirit. While it's become commonplace to focus on psychological solutions, the overlooked healing might come from philosophy. In this letter, we'll unravel how philosophy might fortify our minds and spirits against today's challenges and how it might offer a new frontier for personal and societal regeneration.
As usual, very interesting approach 🙏 Where I would go from here is to try to clarify which illnesses are rooted in philosophy as opposed to those rooted in the body or conventional psychology; while holding on to the sense that they are all interrelated anyway. So maybe I mean, which areas of ill health can usefully be approached through philosophy? Other people for a long time have also pointed to spiritual health... to what extent does that overlap with philosophical health. Definitely worth a conversation!
Really interesting. Looking back on an old journal, I remember writing “I don’t need a doctor, but a philosopher”. The angst I felt was profoundly existential - anxiety about life direction, a lack of meaning, finding purpose and so forth. In the end, I found solace in zen and Buddhism and yoga, which were philosophical soul-balms. I’d add something else to this, though: I think the very premise of “mental health” is a little flawed. It’s great we’re all now talking about it. But now we need to change the discourse again to a more holistic approach. ‘Mental health’ is deeply affected by physical and physiological health, the mind-body are intertwined. This is where we need to go next - and the philosophical aspect is, I’d say, the ‘meaning’ part which creates the third corner of the triangle - a base for good, holistic mind-body-spirit health.
My current hypothesis of the world state is that the shit storm we are in is driven by a modernity worldview (Vanessa Andreotti) or story of separation (Charles Eisenstein) or what Jeremy Lent writes about. And this worldview, this existential, philosophical paradigm comes from individual and collective trauma, some intergenerational. Trauma shows up as fragmentation, rigidity. Or too chaotic. (What I learned from Darcia Narvaez, Peter Levine, Dan Siegel, Thomas Hubl, Resmaa Menakem and others). I would also add the lack of elders and true maturity what Bill Plotkin works with.
Health is integration, connection, meaning.
I enjoy your perspectives and find some overlap with mine, my mycelium mind and questions about sustainability, mental health, theories of change. Thank you.
As usual, very interesting approach 🙏 Where I would go from here is to try to clarify which illnesses are rooted in philosophy as opposed to those rooted in the body or conventional psychology; while holding on to the sense that they are all interrelated anyway. So maybe I mean, which areas of ill health can usefully be approached through philosophy? Other people for a long time have also pointed to spiritual health... to what extent does that overlap with philosophical health. Definitely worth a conversation!
Very good points - as always :)
Really interesting. Looking back on an old journal, I remember writing “I don’t need a doctor, but a philosopher”. The angst I felt was profoundly existential - anxiety about life direction, a lack of meaning, finding purpose and so forth. In the end, I found solace in zen and Buddhism and yoga, which were philosophical soul-balms. I’d add something else to this, though: I think the very premise of “mental health” is a little flawed. It’s great we’re all now talking about it. But now we need to change the discourse again to a more holistic approach. ‘Mental health’ is deeply affected by physical and physiological health, the mind-body are intertwined. This is where we need to go next - and the philosophical aspect is, I’d say, the ‘meaning’ part which creates the third corner of the triangle - a base for good, holistic mind-body-spirit health.
My current hypothesis of the world state is that the shit storm we are in is driven by a modernity worldview (Vanessa Andreotti) or story of separation (Charles Eisenstein) or what Jeremy Lent writes about. And this worldview, this existential, philosophical paradigm comes from individual and collective trauma, some intergenerational. Trauma shows up as fragmentation, rigidity. Or too chaotic. (What I learned from Darcia Narvaez, Peter Levine, Dan Siegel, Thomas Hubl, Resmaa Menakem and others). I would also add the lack of elders and true maturity what Bill Plotkin works with.
Health is integration, connection, meaning.
I enjoy your perspectives and find some overlap with mine, my mycelium mind and questions about sustainability, mental health, theories of change. Thank you.