Tom Donovan suggests reading Freud today for inspiration in shaping one's outlook and taking control of one's life - and he leads the way. We all have to confront the human condition and we face a constant challenge to steer a satisfying course around, over and through the distractions that tempt us to accept the easy gratifications and let the real treasures dribble away.
Can one live a philosophical life in a world that has killed God and given the reins of society to what Nietzsche called "the last men"?
Many of us are unsatisfied with the alternatives offered up today from various ideologies, as well as the obscene nature of today's consumer capitalism, and the incoherent and distracting roaring of identity politics. But are there viable choices in the search for meaning, happiness, and value?
There are major threads throughout our philosophical tradition for understanding the human condition and coming to terms with both our individual and collective lives. This book suggests that we return to our Western philosophical tradition: The Ancients, the Frankfurt School, and the existentialist penseurs. Tom Donovan places Freud within this tradition and utilizes Civilization and its Discontents as a catalyst to offer theoretical tools and concrete practices on how to forge ourselves into excellent humans.
Happiness requires the evolution of a self. A coherent interpretive and hermeneutic approach understands that identities are situational. We should be wary of essentializing them. This book argues that there is a philosophical way of living and that this path emphasizes the pursuit of excellence and the courage to mediate our instincts through deep reflection, conversation, and noble practices. Rather than searching for some child within, what if we try to forge mature and deep ways of being and acting? La vie philosophique is the true path towards happiness and capturing human meaning and noble values.
Freud for Thought: On Forging the Philosophical Life is for readers interested in forging a meaningful life, and for those of us who are not interested in dogmatic religions, vulgar consumerism, and overbearing social identities.
Prof. Tom Donovan is chair of Philosophy at Mt. San Jacinto College, where he has been teaching philosophy and humanities for over 15 years.
