Philosophy to be happy in the digital era
A few days ago I was reading ‘Philosophy for Everyday Life’, by Walter Riso. In this book, the doctor of psychology tells how the boss of one of his patients asked him to provide information about those colleagues who were not very attached to the company. The task triggered in the employee a moral conflict that was complicated to resolve: he acted following orders, he felt he needed a salary and he thought he was a traitor.
When a depressive condition worsened his patient’s situation, Riso suggested reading Epictetus. The therapeutic process, combined with the philosophy of this Stoic who lived in the early Roman Empire, allowed him to approach his problem from an ethical perspective, made him more aware of the lifestyle he wanted to lead and clarified the principles he did not want to give up. He was not fired. But he decided to resign and look for a job more in line with his values.
Following this case, the Italian psychologist explains how internal coherence increases the efficiency and power of our capabilities. It is what we know as enthusiasm and, when it happens, “something reminds us that we have been very close to the gods”. It’s not a new idea. The word and its meaning — “to feel the wrath of god in the chest” — come from ancient Greece and its philosophers.
Far from being outdated, Walter Riso argues that these wise men offered teachings that even today can help us find happiness, serve as a basis for improving our quality of life and guide us to adequately analyze possible scenarios and advance in our life and professional careers.
- Thus, for example, Socrates’ ideas are focused on making us aware of who we are, with our strengths and weaknesses. Many of the things we cling to generate security, but they are nothing more than irrational forms of self-deception. A sign of an ignorance that we often try to conceal when, for Socrates, the first step in our personal growth is the opposite: to recognize and identify what we do not know. The philosopher also invites us to reduce those thoughts with which we tend to punish ourselves and which assail us daily -such as “I am useless” or “I am not intelligent”- and to cultivate self-esteem.
- Epicurus, on the other hand, teaches us to enjoy life and to create a vital space where guilt and irrational fear do not exclude pleasure -understood as the absence of pain- and happiness. He believed in biological desires, such as eating, which are satisfied and do not reappear until the need is reactivated. But he harshly criticized those other pleasures “neither natural nor necessary,” such as fame, power and ambition, which are the product of social learning, which do not relieve any pain and do not produce tranquility. For Epicurus, moreover, friendship is one of the greatest sources of happiness, because it gives us security and confidence: the important thing is not only what you eat, but with whom you do it.
- Diogenes of Sinope defended the right to protest, to personal independence and to absolute freedom. Therefore, fear of social criticism and the need for approval were not part of his philosophy, which gave him a certain power over other people. Diogenes, who was the main representative of the cynical school, tried to unmask double standards, but he also wanted to subvert the established order, which is why he opposed consumerism, massification and conventions.
- Inspired by the ideas of Socrates and the Cynics, Epictetus believed that coherence, self-control and rational thought illuminate the path to inner peace. Thus, what affects us is not the things themselves, but what we think about them. It is our attitude that relaxes or unsettles us.
Walter Riso concludes that questions about the meaning of life, happiness, inner freedom and even the relationship with the cosmos are not a current fad. They are questions that make us human.
