Love, Meaning, Hope and The Coming Storm - #2
Brilliant takes on fundamental questions past and present
In this second edition to our newsletter, we bring you another batch of excellent content to stimulate your mind this week.
Something to read/listen to 🎧
In this rich and vibrant exposition published by Aeon Magazine, Barbarah H Rosenwein takes us through “the love story story” through a historical outlook that questions how prominent ideas in psychology have conceptualised and restricted our notion of love. She makes the case that love is shaped by emotional communities and the narratives surrounding it, offering numerous riveting examples throughout the text: “Already Plato talked about that, in the guise of a speech by Pausanias, who contrasted two sorts of love. The one worthy of praise was utterly attached to one life-long companion (in his view, another man). The one that was ‘shameful’ moved on from person to person – even to women!
Shameful was not, however, how all people in the ancient world considered this sort of love. After all, the gods were said to fall in love seriatim, and on the vases owned by perfectly respectable ancient Greeks (and, later, on the walls of perfectly respectable ancient Romans), satyrs were depicted merrily disporting with nymphs. In the 1st century BCE, Ovid wrote happily of the great joy of falling in love, falling out of love, and moving on. But in the next century, the Christian Church simply voided this sort of love. It was not love. The best sort of love was for God. Second best was love in marriage. All else was lust.”
For a deeper reading of the subject, we recommend checking out the comments section of the article. The author engages in stimulating and constructive discussion with the readers.
Something to watch 🎬
This video tackles a heavy question in a lighthearted way. Taking us through Albert Camus’ work and life, it serves as a wonderful introduction not only to his work but to its impact today.
Something to read 🤓
In this sharp observation on the relation between Aquinas’ and Aristotle’s ethics, Christopher Beem argues on Big Think that hope is more realistic than despair, and that it should be harnessed in the face of difficult / unjust conditions.
‘Aristotle defined virtue as “a mean between two vices, that which depends on excess and that which depends on defect.”… Aquinas follows this concept of virtue, and he argues that the theological virtue of hope fits the pattern. According to him, it lies between two vices: Presumption is the excess of hope, while despair is its deficiency.’
Applying Aquinas’ principle of hope as virtue in an American context, the author argues that it is also a democratic virtue necessary to combatting social problems: “Without willful, realistic hope, and without a coalition of hopeful people working together, Jim Crow does not end, the Berlin Wall does not fall and marriage for gay couples remains impossible.”
At ThinkThrough we believe that personal development, like virtue-attainment, is necessary for making sense of current affairs and making more informed personal and social decisions. Read more about our values and beliefs through our Manifesto.
Food for thought 🤔
The Coming Storm is a gripping, pensive, expertly researched and narrated podcast on conspiratorial thinking and its future. Combing through the origins of conspiracy theory groups and their strong presence today, Gabriel Gatehouse reveals on BBC Sounds his fascinating learning about and understanding of them.
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ThinkThrough is an exciting new venture that promotes critical thinking, comfort with uncertainty, and the ability to think things through.
In a world of noise and limited attempts of coping with it, ThinkThrough is building a calm, clear space for people who want to learn and master complex topics related to the choices we make in our everyday personal, professional, social, economic and political lives.
Learn more about our values through our Manifesto, and understand how we choose content through our Content Guidelines.
