The Personalist Project | Entries tagged with Kierkegaard

Misery and Earthly Optimism

May. 7 at 10:18am

Another way of trying to deal with the miseries of life involves an attitude that may be termed “earthly optimism.” It some ways it is a more formalized type of escapism, but now developed into theory of life, either on a popular or on a more sophisticated intellectual level.

On the popular level, we might term this a “Pollyanna” attitude, though I don’t mean thereby to make a judgment about Disney’s 1960 movie of the same name. (Like every other red-blooded American 10-to-15-year-old male of my generation, I fell deeply in love with Hayley Mills after seeing that movie, rivaling even my devotion to Annette Funicello. So I do not mean to tread on anyone’s sacred memories here!) …

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Tags: william marra, suffering, misery, kierkegaard, escapism

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Misery and Escapism

Apr. 29 at 3:18pm

One technique for handling life’s pains and miseries is simply to run from them, to try to distract oneself from the dark side of life and thus not really face the problem. This is, admittedly, not really even an attempt at a “solution” or an answer, but it can allow the individual to go on functioning day-to-day in practical terms.

This can be done with drugs or alcohol, trying to blot out the pain or threat and blissfully overcome it with the aid of artificial stimulants. Another version of this would be trying to “drown one’s sorrows” in the face a particular source of unhappiness or a general weariness or disgust with life. This is often the theme of country songs, e.g. Hank William’s …

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Tags: reading circle, purity of heart, kierkegaard

Jules van Schaijik

Kierkegaard in search of solitary individuals

Apr. 2 at 8:07am

Our next two reading circles, on April 21 & May 19, are on Kierkegaard's Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. It is a great book, worth reading slowly and reflectively. As Kierkegaard says in the preface:

It is in search of that solitary "individual," to whom it wholly abandons itself, by whom it wishes to be received as if it had arisen within his own heart; that solitary "individual" whom with joy and gratitude I call my reader; that solitary "individual" who reads willingly and slowly, who reads over and over again, and who reads aloud — for his own sake.

This kind of reading is not easy for contemporary men and women. All the more reason to make the effort. And, hopefully, doing it …

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Tags: von hildebrand, st. paul, patience, marriage, kierkegaard, john vianney, francis de sales, anniversary

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Patience is a Virtue

Jan. 13 at 10:24pm

Further Reflections after 35^th Wedding Anniversary. When I first read Von Hildebrand’s Transformation in Christ at age 21, I was immediately struck by the title of Chapter 12: “Holy Patience.” The beauty and appropriateness of the conjunction of those two words have stayed with me ever since. Von Hildebrand unfolds in the chapter that impatience is a form of self-indulgence and is rooted in an illegitimate claim to sovereignty of the self. Patience, on the other hand, is opposed to all petulance and quarrelsomeness; it is also opposed to fickleness and inconstancy—e.g., if a task or goal seems to require commitment over a long period of time. True patience recognizes the sovereignty …

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Tags: von hildebrand, vanauken, marriage, marcel, kierkegaard, francis de sales, fidelity, faithfulness, anniversary

After 35th Wedding Anniversary: Reflections on Fidelity

Jan. 8 at 6:13pm

Fidelity, faithfulness, constancy—these words imply an entire worldview or personal orientation toward reality. In classical times, such words also implied strength and virtue, something to be celebrated. In modern times, unfortunately, fidelity is sometimes ridiculed, as if fruitlessly binding me to a reality which is no more, e.g., in Engelbert Humperdinck’s ‘60’s pop hit Release Me, wherein the crooner, pining for a divorce, sings “to waste our lives would be a sin, so release me and let me love again.”

However, Gabriel Marcel, in his chapter on “Obedience and Fidelity” in Homo Viator, as well is in a separate article on “Creative Fidelity” from the book of the same name, points out …

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Tags: religion, newman, kierkegaard, christmas

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Genuine Religion and Conventional Religion in the Current Season

Dec. 30, 2011, at 11:56am

Besides the distinction Mircea Eliade makes between the religious and the secular man (see earlier post, Dec. 26), one can further distinguish between the genuinely religious man and the conventionally religious man. The latter follows religion more out of social habit or expectation rather than authentic faith and devotion.

John Henry Cardinal Newman calls this a distinction between vital religion and nominal religion. Soren Kierkegaard conveys the same idea with his distinction between a Christianity which is socially acceptable compared to Christianity as a “scandal,” as described in the Acts of the Apostles. We could perhaps capture the difference here in five points.

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Tags: recollection, mother teresa, kierkegaard, depth, christmas

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Silence, Recollection, and the Season of Hectic Activity

Dec. 21, 2011, at 1:12pm

Be still, and know that I am God.--Ps. 46:10

But Yahweh is in His holy temple, let the whole earth be silent before Him. –Hab. 2:2

The Lamb then broke the seventh seal, and there was silence in heaven. –Apoc. 8:1

Silence before the Lord Yahweh! –Zeph. 1:7

When peaceful silence lay over all, and night had run the half of her swift course, down from the heavens from the royal throne, leaped your all-powerful Word. –Wis. 18:14-15

We are often reminded during the holiday season to keep Christ in Christmas. This, of course, is a noble aim. However, it can never be achieved via billboards, advertisements, and public announcements, which themselves just contribute to the clutter …

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Tags: phenomenology, personalism, kierkegaard

Katie van Schaijik

Deliberations

Sep. 14, 2010, at 10:34am

After an almost overwhelmingly rich and full summer, we are back home in West Chester. Normal life has returned, and I have leisure to resume philosophical reading and thinking.

The other day someone asked me about phenomenology. What is it?
It’s not an easy question to answer, since there are so many different meanings of the term. But one way of explaining it is as a deliberate effort at rightly centered, disencumbered thinking—a thinking that is first of all a listening, a stripping away of all prejudices and pre-conceptions in order to be purely and intelligently present to an important reality. Perhaps it is person, or a moral experience. The aim is to let that person or …

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Tags: marriage debt, kierkegaard

Persons, Friendship & Technology

Katie van Schaijik

The marriage debt

Dec. 21, 2009, at 1:19pm

Janice Shaw Crouse has an article at American Thinker about the problem of sexless marriages.

We’ve all seen it happen: a young couple steps onto the fast track, and the treadmill of life begins to take its toll. An overly stressful lifestyle becomes habitual and inevitably has a corrosive effect upon health and relationships. Natural exuberance gets ground down, laughter seldom breaks through the grim determination and drive, and the little touches of endearment ebb away.

Are these the inevitable, natural effects of building careers or businesses? Of having children? Of simply getting older? Of two people with different temperaments, expectations, and tastes trying to navigate their …

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Purity of Heart (Ch. 8-15)

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Lectures:

Introduction to Søren Kierkegaard

by Alice von Hildebrand

The Role of the Heart in Human Life

by Alice von Hildebrand

Who is my Neighbor? Christian Charity in a Globalized World

by David Thunder

The Art of Loving Your Spouse

by Peter Damgaard-Hansen

A Response to “Von Hildebrand on Human Sexuality”

by Christopher West

Von Hildebrand on Human Sexuality

by Michael Healy

The Problem of Hell (2)

by Michael Healy

The Problem of Hell (1)

by Michael Healy

The Person’s Creation in Love (2)

by Maria Fedoryka

The Person’s Creation in Love (1)

by Maria Fedoryka

Truth and Panic

by Alice von Hildebrand

Latest comments:

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

Gay Marriage--Nothing New Under the Sun

Just came across this. A relevant presentation from a year ago. Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, in a presentation to U.S. bishops:

Same Sex Attractions in Youth and Their Right to Informed Consent.

Also relevant, is this article at Catholic World Report:

May. 22 at 3:43pm | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

I'll make this my last remark for now!

So, children, in a Catholic view of life, actually have a right in accord with their inherent human dignity to be created only in the context of a certain kind of act--the natural sexual union of a man and woman married to each other, thus committed to give to each other for life in the sacred bond of marriage. Anything less is beneath the dignity of every child.

The first time I read this in the catechism (before I became Catholic), I was deeply struck by how beautiful this is! And I was deeply struck with a sense that this has to be the truth about human life.

I don't hear any talk about this aspect of Catholic teaching in the context of same sex marriage debates. I think it is very important to speak, along with other things, of the right of every child to be the fruit of the loving conjugal union of a man and woman joined for life in marriage, that anything less is an insult to the dignity of the human person. (So, any embryogenesis done in a test tube or by a surrogate, etc., is immoral).

May. 22 at 2:00pm | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

See also, the "Sex Ed Library," by SIECUS. This is intended specifically for educators (see the prepared lesson plans). Notice how much it sounds like Planned Parenthood. This is where educators are told to go for training for their own presentations on the topic of sexuality. This is the sort of things kids have been taught in many American schools for four decades.

It seems to me that another very important key to talking about this issue is contained in the implications of Catechism nos. 2373-79. Especially see 2376 and 2377, which speak about a "child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage."

Because of the inherent dignity of the human person, the Catechism teaches that each act that brings about new human life should be an act, "by which two persons give themselves to one another." And, "Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses' union." (CCC 2377)

I think explaining this beautiful teaching more deeply is essential in this debate.

May. 22 at 1:48pm | See in context

By: Kevin Schemenauer

Hello Katie,

You raise two important issues for me: 1) when we talk frequently about something negative are we promoting that negative thing; and 2) what should the Catholic voice be in our current U.S. context.

On the first issue, I have found that you get more out of what you put more into. I think we should talk more about why marriage between a man and a woman committed for life and open to life is good than why same sex unions are bad. That being said, urgency demands that we speak to the danger of particularly harmful actions.

On the second issue, I agree with Scott. Morally, we must speak to the disordered nature of homosexual acts, but unless you seek to criminalize same sex acts, the central issue politically seems to be the state's interest in the having and raising of children. While marriage is about companionship and commitment, the state cannot measure companionship and the reason the state has enforced commitment (unfortunately, largely absent now) in marriage and not in other friendships, I think, is for the sake of children.

What should state policy be concerning adoption placement and surrogacy?

May. 22 at 1:24pm | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

To see an example of this warped view of sex and how it is promoted, see the Planned Parenthood web site. Note the lower right of their home page for the sections, "Info for Teens," "Tools for Parents," and, "Tools for Educators." It's worthwhile looking through these pages because it shows what we're dealing with. The Planned Parenhood attitude is essentially the same as those promoted in public education through health and science classes.

For more about this, look up info on the history and role of SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States). This organization is largely the source of the sex ed content in American schools since the early 70's. The history section of their web site states, "SIECUS has become a recognized leader in the field of sexuality and sexuality education, publishing numerous books, journals, and resources for professionals, parents, and the public." Their first published book was intended for teacher training. SIECUS was founded in 1964. The founder was the former medical director of Planned Parenthood. The amoral, animal-like approach to sexuality of PP is shared by SIECUS. And from SIECUS came the sex ed now entrenched in our schools for 40 years.

May. 22 at 1:16pm | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

Perhaps the higher degree of phsychological problems among SSA persons has to do with the inherent sterility of homosexual acts. (I heard a man with SSA who had left the lifestyle and become a practicing Christian say this). No matter how much you "enhance" same-sex sexual acts, there will never be a new person in the world by the morning. With natural hetero sex, there could be a new person by the next day--a tremendously powerful and mysterious possibility. This, he said, made same sex acts inherently lifeless and meaningless in a way that at a certain point shocked him into realizing the vast difference, even though he still had a desire for such things. If my memory serves, I think this was David Morrison, author of Beyond Gay (Our Sunday Visitor, 1999).

Deviant sexual behavior has been passed off as normal among culturally elite circles (including educators of educators) at least since Kinsey's perverted "research" and the subsequent promotion of his ideas in mainstream education (and entertainment and jornalism and psychology) circles. And actually, before that, with Margaret Sanger and her "Birth Control Review" and other outlets.

May. 22 at 12:55pm | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

Here's more from the same article:

Well-designed research studies, published in leading peer-reviewed journals, 15 have shown a number of psychiatric disorders to be far more prevalent in teenagers and adults with SSA: major depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and sexual abuse victimization.

The SSM lobby claims that this is because people with SSA are rejected and shamed by society. But,

Many of these studies were done in countries where homosexuality is widely accepted, such as in New Zealand and the Netherlands.

I think it's important to show (what I'm sure is true) that it is the nature of the acts that causes and/or greatly exacerbates human misery and anguish.

As Kant said, persons are ends-in-themselves, never to be used as a mere means. Those acts, in their nature and structure, reduce persons to "mere means," regardless of subjective intention.

May. 22 at 10:48am | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM

A friend who counsels teens with addictions has alerted me to an article in Homiletic and Pastoral Review that deepens my sense that the left is defrauding the youth with dangerous lies. [emphasis added]

Youth have the right to be provided with the accurate medical and psychological knowledge about homosexuality by pediatricians, mental health professionals, school counselors, educators and parents. Presently, well-organized attempts are under way to attempt to block youth from being given both the appropriate scientific knowledge, and informed consent about: same-sex attractions, gender identity disorder, transsexual issues, the psychological needs of a child for father and mother, and marriage.

One example of this activity is the American Psychological Association publication, Just the Facts 1, that was sent to all the school superintendents in this country two years ago. It was sponsored by a coalition of 13 national organizations, including the American School Counselors Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Just the Facts advised schools that all forms of sexual attraction are normal, warned against psychotherapy for homosexual attractions, encouraged on-campus gay clubs, and cautioned schools about the scientific literature—such as studies by the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH)—that presents heterosexuality as normative.

May. 22 at 10:30am | See in context

Scott Johnston, May. 21 at 10:07pm

Katie, when it comes to disucussing this issue politically and especially what our laws should be, it seems to me (and I've heard Michael Medved speak of it this way) that the main question is, what sort of relationship should the state give special sanction?

Yes, I agree. But, having participated in many such discussions, I can only say that they often reach an impasse, where I feel pressed to spell out more explicitly why there is no comparison between a conjugal union and a SS liaison. I find myself up against the assertion that since marriage is about companionship and commitment, there's no reason why SS couples can't participate it in. IVF and adoption allow them to be parents, many of them are good parents, etc.

What I think needs showing is that it is a grave injustice, even a kind of insanity, to declare in law that these two kinds of relationships are moral and social equivalents. The conjugal union is something beautiful and good, integrated and integrating, healthy and life-giving.

Homosexual acts are not.

May. 22 at 10:08am | See in context

Re: To speak or not to speak: a dilemma in the debate surrounding SSM