What Matters to You and I
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This document discusses the life and work of philosopher Michel de Montaigne. It notes that Montaigne agreed with Solon that no one can be judged happy until they have died. The document also suggests what Montaigne may have said to himself on his deathbed, reflecting on his life experiences which included being brought up strictly by his father, the death of his close friend at a young age, isolation in a tower for 10 years, and suffering from severe pain in his later life due to kidney stones.
What Matters to You and I
- 1. What matters to you and I? • Digby Tantam • New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling
- 3. Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592, agreed with Solon that no-one could be judged to have been happy until they had died. 27/08/201 6 www.nspc.org.uk "That such a man wrote has truly augmented the joy of living on this Earth” Untimely Meditations, Chapter 3, "Schopenhauer as Educator," Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 135
- 4. What would Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592, have said to himself on his deathbed? 27/08/201 6 www.nspc.org.uk An authoritarian father who brought him up by system Insisted on him being fostered with farmers for the first 3 years of his life Closest to his friend, Étienne de la Boétie, who died, aged 32, when Montaigne was 33 Spent ten years isolated in this tower Forced into marriage. Had 6 daughters of whom 5 died in childhood End of his life in regular severe pain because of kidney stones
- 6. The youngest Sartre: phenomenology of biography Son of Jean-Baptiste (a naval officer, who died when J.-P. was 1) and Anne-Marie (Schweitzer) Sartre; Never married, but life long companion of Simone de Beauvoir Children: Arlette el Kaim-Sartre (adopted). Born June 21, 1905, in Thiviers, Aquitaine. Inaugural existential
- 7. Poulou as a boy: falling from grace Bullied at school, and few friends Mother remarried when he was 12 to an engineer and the family moved to La Rochelle where his step father had been put in charge of the dockyard. Untreated squint when his hair was cut ugliness was disclosed Poor school results but then average Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS—think of en soi), agrege de philosophie, 1929 failed, 1930 (1st. place, Simone de Beauvoir second) Inaugural existential
- 8. Sartre in his 30s Called up to Meteorological Corps, 1929-31; Lycee teacher in le Havre, and Paris. 1933-4 Fellowship to study in Berlin ( Conscripted to French Army, 1939- 40; Prisoner of war in France then Germany (Trier) for nine months (friendly guard gave him Heidegger to read), 1940-41. Some relationship to Resistance Movement, 1941-44, wrote for its underground newspapers, Combat and Les Lettres Francaises, but also had plays performed publicly in Paris with consent of German occupying forces.Inaugural existential
- 9. Sartre the celebrity Memberships: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Modern Language Association of America (honorary fellow. Lived in hotels or with his mother for most of adult life. Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964 but refused to attend ceremony. Also refused to be Academicien . Inaugural existential
- 10. The intellectual as activist Became strongly Marxist post-war and broke with Camus over the ethics of violence. Partisan of many minority causes, and moved from Russian communist support to Maoism Inaugural existential
- 11. The ageing Sartre Wrote last books under influence of amphetamine and other drugs, and heavy alcohol use. Relied more on Simone de Beauvoir usually sleeping at her flat but going to his own flat during the day. Sight in left eye deteriorated. Died April 15, 1980, of a lung ailment, in Paris, before completion of several magna opera. Inaugural existential
- 12. Being in him/her/it-self • “The error (of psychologists) consists in confusing the essential structure of reflective acts with the essential structure of unreflected acts. It is overlooked that two forms of existence are always possible for consciousness. Then, each time the observed consciousnesses are given as unreflected, one superimposes on them a structure, belonging to reflection, which one doggedly alleges to be unconscious”. Being and Nothingness Inaug ural
- 13. Ontology • Being in itself • Being for others • Being for itself
- 14. 27/08/201 6 14 Eudaimonia • Right action (arete/skill) i.e. actions that hit the target (typically the mean between two extremes) • Phronesis or practical reason that enables us to achieve them
- 15. Etre pour autrui
- 16. Determines us/ etre en soi/ focus on our equipment
- 19. 27/08/201 6 19 Liberating oneself from the past • Working through, coming to terms with, forgiving, forgetting, pitying,leaving it to God • Railing against fate, regretting, pining, hankering, longing, wishing, waiting for justice, waiting for recognition, ruminating, hoping for vengeance
- 20. 27/08/201 6 20 Justice Punishing Injustice Called Madame Adelaide As Justice Greeting Card by Jean-Marc Nattier
- 21. 27/08/201 6 21 • Correcting • Putting things right • Witnessing • Regaining reputation • Punishing the unjust • Betting understanding • Morbid fascination • Paranoia litigans • Litigious complainant • Chronic complainer • Bore • Whitterer • A loss of faith in the world
- 22. 27/08/201 6 22 • Morbid nostalgia • PTSD • Hypochondriasis • Shame proneness • ?
- 23. 27/08/201 6 23 • Morbid nostalgia • PTSD • Hypochondriasis • Shame prone