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The problem with incorrect emphasis on "will" in our culture is that it takes you to voluntarism. The will is the appetite of the intellect, oriented toward the

The problem with incorrect emphasis on "will" in our culture is that it takes you to voluntarism. The will is the appetite of the intellect, oriented toward the good (real or apparent), and so one cannot just will anything, but rather, only of the things that the intellect first apprehends. (Of course, the will can also turn the intellect away from things we'd rather not know or have due awareness of, and this is the essence of the evil act; an act of self-blinding in order to move the will toward what we know we should not choose.) So freedom is in choosing or willing the good, what one ought, and for that, as the article notes by way of Augustine, we need the right habits, and this is what we call virtue. Here, the virtue of being able to choose the good is prudence. And since freedom classically understood is found in the ability to will the good, only a virtuous person is free. Compare this with the liberal (as in Hobbes, Locke, Mill) notion of freedom as the absence of external limitation. It becomes apparent what lunacy that is, as choosing anything but the good is, again to draw from Augustine, nothing short of the worst kind of slavery, a slavery to passions and vice. Thus, this modern notion of "authenticity" is, frankly, total bullshit, and a completely destructive notion at that.

motohagiography 2y ago
I also got the sense the way authentic self was presented was kind of morally nullifying, a variation that reduced to "do what thou wilt," where the animal chaos is the true self, instead of the active exercise of choosing good. What Arendt was clearly onto has been said elsewhere as something along the lines of, nothing short of indefatigable exertion can induce the habit of virtue, where she notes Augustine emphasized it was this regular exercise of virtue that would render the soul pure, where Heidegger appears to be taking it for granted as a base state we need to strip away our experiences to find. I've been down both roads and have spent a lot of time alone in the woods at night to find the fears that only exist without others around, and really, it's dwelling on the past. The search for Heideggers authentic self is a substitute for engaging the present and the real. Worse, it's neutralizing. If you want prevail over hell, it's other people, and engagement the necessary condition.
- nonrandomstring 2y ago
  What I like about Sartre is his tremendous life journey from 'hell is other people' to a belief that solidarity and engagement with others is the only proper path.
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    That doesn't necessarily take a journey (or even a returning?), if one were to start out by framing it as a project of terraforming hell? G*d: So, Peter, I heard you were visiting The Other Place the other day; how's ol' Lucey doing? St. Peter: It's amazing! Since I was last, they've really done a lot with the place... irrigation, orchards, pizza and community sings on the week- G*d: (pounding fist on Heavenly Throne) Those Me-damned mormons!
    - vinnyvichy 2y ago
      So what was Saint Al's project :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_First_Circle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_First_Circle Although.. yeah it would be hard for Saint Al to depict Lucey as being as cooperative as the LDS (as you do.., but you didn't have to make the tradeoff for publication)
      - 082349872349872 2y ago
        Project at Marfino (under "auspices" of KPSS), or project (in conjunction with ER) to cleanse the бессмертная русская душа? (swimming in ice water and jumping over fires are said to be good for the soul, at least when properly timed, but I can't think of any equivalent atmospheric or chthonic rituals, and of course the chinese have a fifth element, so maybe we ought to be craving the strength and certainty of steel?) Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvM0RxcxPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvM0RxcxPg [EDIT re publication: A film which followed the code of the Hays Office to the strictest letter might succeed in being a great work of art, but not in a world in which a Hays Office exists. — TWA]
        2y ago
vinnyvichy 2y ago
The giant pachyderm in the room of modernism (arguably the largest pachyderm): any post-liberal program of self-moderation needs to account for the magic of intragenerational QoL improvements (even if we restrict ourselves to considering only the inner life). We can all go Greek, Latin, Pali, or Classical Chinese in search of questions and answers, but those civilizations didn't have either mass literacy or tech. Once upon a time (last century) we had to contend with the Eastern Bloc's moral positioning, but since the end of That no one who suggests putting personal growth (of the psychological kind) ahead of the economic one has been taken seriously. (And this is why @nonrandomstring above gets upvoted, even though I like your post better)
Bluestein 2y ago
> Compare this with the liberal (as in Hobbes, Locke, Mill) notion of freedom as the absence of external limitation You put your finger methinks on one of the reasons for the slippage downhill of our society: Everybody wants to be the "wrong" kind of free. (Also: All rights. No duties ...)

motohagiography 2y ago

I also got the sense the way authentic self was presented was kind of morally nullifying, a variation that reduced to "do what thou wilt," where the animal chaos is the true self, instead of the active exercise of choosing good. What Arendt was clearly onto has been said elsewhere as something along the lines of, nothing short of indefatigable exertion can induce the habit of virtue, where she notes Augustine emphasized it was this regular exercise of virtue that would render the soul pure, where Heidegger appears to be taking it for granted as a base state we need to strip away our experiences to find. I've been down both roads and have spent a lot of time alone in the woods at night to find the fears that only exist without others around, and really, it's dwelling on the past. The search for Heideggers authentic self is a substitute for engaging the present and the real. Worse, it's neutralizing. If you want prevail over hell, it's other people, and engagement the necessary condition.

nonrandomstring 2y ago
What I like about Sartre is his tremendous life journey from 'hell is other people' to a belief that solidarity and engagement with others is the only proper path.
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  That doesn't necessarily take a journey (or even a returning?), if one were to start out by framing it as a project of terraforming hell? G*d: So, Peter, I heard you were visiting The Other Place the other day; how's ol' Lucey doing? St. Peter: It's amazing! Since I was last, they've really done a lot with the place... irrigation, orchards, pizza and community sings on the week- G*d: (pounding fist on Heavenly Throne) Those Me-damned mormons!
  - vinnyvichy 2y ago
    So what was Saint Al's project :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_First_Circle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_First_Circle Although.. yeah it would be hard for Saint Al to depict Lucey as being as cooperative as the LDS (as you do.., but you didn't have to make the tradeoff for publication)
    - 082349872349872 2y ago
      Project at Marfino (under "auspices" of KPSS), or project (in conjunction with ER) to cleanse the бессмертная русская душа? (swimming in ice water and jumping over fires are said to be good for the soul, at least when properly timed, but I can't think of any equivalent atmospheric or chthonic rituals, and of course the chinese have a fifth element, so maybe we ought to be craving the strength and certainty of steel?) Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvM0RxcxPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvM0RxcxPg [EDIT re publication: A film which followed the code of the Hays Office to the strictest letter might succeed in being a great work of art, but not in a world in which a Hays Office exists. — TWA]
      - 2y ago

vinnyvichy 2y ago

The giant pachyderm in the room of modernism (arguably the largest pachyderm): any post-liberal program of self-moderation needs to account for the magic of intragenerational QoL improvements (even if we restrict ourselves to considering only the inner life). We can all go Greek, Latin, Pali, or Classical Chinese in search of questions and answers, but those civilizations didn't have either mass literacy or tech. Once upon a time (last century) we had to contend with the Eastern Bloc's moral positioning, but since the end of That no one who suggests putting personal growth (of the psychological kind) ahead of the economic one has been taken seriously. (And this is why @nonrandomstring above gets upvoted, even though I like your post better)

Bluestein 2y ago

> Compare this with the liberal (as in Hobbes, Locke, Mill) notion of freedom as the absence of external limitation You put your finger methinks on one of the reasons for the slippage downhill of our society: Everybody wants to be the "wrong" kind of free. (Also: All rights. No duties ...)