Introduction The phrase hell is other people (L’enfer, c’est les autres) is one of the many memorable phases penned by Jean Paul Sartre. It comes from his play No Exit (Huis Clos). The phrase is often misunderstood as a poetic expression of misanthropy. It manifestly is not. In No Exit, three
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The Truth about Ageing and the Eternal Return
Introduction The eternal return – this is deep; very deep. Deep and thought provoking. I first encountered this idea when I was 16 and had not long left school. I was doing an apprenticeship and had to attend college on a day release scheme. Back in the 1970s, it was
Continue readingThe Truth about Ageing and Why Is There Something?
Introduction The most important question in all of philosophy, I suggest, is: Why is there something? I mean, why is there something rather than nothing? Surely the fact that there is something – the universe and everything that makes up the universe is contingent. Surely it could have been otherwise.
Continue readingThe Truth about Ageing and Sartrean Ethics
Introduction To my knowledge, Jean Paul Sartre never formally named his ethical theory; so, Sartrean ethics it is. Sartre is one of the giants of 20th century philosophy. He’s regarded as an existentialist philosopher but, I think, he thought of himself as a writer first. This writer/philosopher overlap was common
Continue readingThe Truth About Aging and Synchronicity
The truth about ageing and synchronicity is that as you age coincidences may appear more prominent and meaningful. That’s what synchronicity is: Meaningful coincidences. To be more accurate, it’s the occurrence of meaningful events together but there appears to be no cause. It is a concept developed by Carl Jung.
Continue readingThe Truth about Ageing and Bad Faith
Introduction You may be asking what on earth is this all about? Ageing and bad faith? We’ll, all the world’s a stage, according to then Bard. And on that stage, we are all players who through the seven acts of our life play many roles. Bad faith is a concept
Continue readingThe Truth About Ageing and Free Will
Introduction Here’s an interesting question about ageing and free will. As we age, does the balance between free will and determinism shift in favour of the latter? Of course, this assumes that we have free will in the first place. So, do we really have free will? or is it
Continue readingThe Truth About Ageing and Time
Introduction What does the phrase ageing and time conjure up in your mind? For me, time is one of those things that is endlessly compelling. It has exercised the human mind – some of the most brilliant human minds – for millennia. It is trivial to say that over time
Continue readingThe Truth About Ageing and the Meaning of Life
Introduction So, what is the truth about ageing and the meaning of life? The answer to the meaning of life the universe and everything is forty-two. Those of you of a certain age and literary bent will understand that. Those of you of a certain age but not of that
Continue readingThe Controversial Intersection of Dementia and Hypnosis: 6 Things You Must Know Now
Introduction We know so little about the human mind. We know so little about hypnosis. What if we combine one aspect of the non-functioning mind, dementia and hypnosis? How much do we know about this? At the moment, much of our knowledge is speculative. There is a groundswell of opinion
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