John Vespasian

Aristotle (384-322 BC) is not only the three most influential philosophers in history, but the creator of brand-new mentality. The other two key philosophers, Plato and Kant, cannot claim the same honour. Through keen observation and logic, Aristotle arrived at the conclusion that everything in the natural world has a purpose and a cause. When I say “everything,” I really mean everything tangible or intangible, whether in the past, in the present or in the future. What is Aristotle’s theory of causality? It’s widely known as “the theory of the four causes” because that’s the name that monks gave it in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Aristotle named the four causes as follows: the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause. The latter is particularly interesting because it links the events of the world to human motivation. First, the material cause is the substance or ingredients of which something is made. One could say that the material cause is answering the question, “What is this thing made of?” For instance, in the case of a car body, the material cause is steel. In the case of a basketball, the material cause is rubber. Second, the formal cause represents the shape of a the thing in question. It provides an answer to the question, “What is the shape of this thing? For instance, in the case of a bicycle, the formal cause must necessarily include at least two wheels. In the case of a pen, the formal cause is an elongated thin shape. Third, the efficient cause. Aristotle defined it as the force responsible for making an event happen. The efficient cause is answering the questions, “What is causing the movement? What is making this thing happen?” In the case of the car, the efficient cause is a car manufacturer. In the case of a bicycle, it is the bicycle manufacturer, and so on. Fourth, the final cause, which constitutes the most crucial element in Aristotle’s philosophy. The final cause explains the purpose of an action or an event. In Greek, the term purpose is expressed as “telos.” This is why philosophers call the study of Aristotle’s final cause as “teleology,” which means “the study of purpose.” The final cause is answering questions such as, “What is the goal of this action? What is the point? What is the intended purpose?” In the case of a car purchase, the buyer’s final cause is mobility. In the case of a pen purchase, the final cause is to write, and so on. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-theory-of-causality/

The first thing to say about Aristotle’s metaphysics is that its very name has become misleading. The original Ancient Greek text is using the term “metaphysics” with the meaning “principles of physics” or “principles of reality.” In Aristotle’s writings, “metaphysics” has nothing to do with the supernatural, the occult, or hidden forces of nature. On the contrary, Aristotle understood metaphysics as a method for the analysis and understanding of reality, a method devoid of any magical elements. I deeply regret that his “metaphysics” are regarded by some people with the same distrust as magical incantations, occult secrets, and random intuitions. Unfortunately, Aristotle himself contributed to discouraging people from reading his work on metaphysics by defining it as “the study of the being qua being.” Instead, he could have defined the term simply as “the study of the principles of reality.” The truth is that Aristotle’s work on metaphysics constitutes his second most important contribution to philosophy. Only his theory of causality takes precedence in terms of significance. Metaphysics studies the principles underlying the world and all its elements. Its principles apply equally to minerals, plants, man-made objects, animals and human beings. Like his theory of causality, metaphysics place Aristotle far above all other ancient philosophers, in particular far above his teacher Plato, who had concentrated on the search for abstract, unchanging ideas. Instead of looking for otherworldly abstractions, Aristotle’s metaphysics rely on empirical observation; they rely on inputs from our senses and in our intellectual capacity to assess those inputs. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-philosophy-of-metaphysics/

Learning to fish is more valuable than getting a free meal, because the former can feed us for a lifetime. Methods are far more valuable than objects, because objects are finite. Methods are not limited in time. We can simply employ them to arrive at our goals once and again. The essays by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) include an important hidden message: Keep your eyes open and stay alert. Don’t accept things without questioning, especially if they look too good to be true. Look beyond the obvious, especially when people tell you that there are no alternatives. Montaigne’s hidden message is about self-reliance, alertness and method. His essays illustrate his thought patterns and help readers acquire the habit of looking at the whole picture. I find it particularly impressive when Montaigne applied his method to seemingly innocuous subjects. Take for instance Montaigne’s essay “On Names” where he starts with the anodyne remark that some heirs fail to honour their family name. Their ancestors had become famous thanks to their heroic or courageous actions, but the heirs do not care. Would it not make more sense, asked Montaigne, to name individuals after their own deeds. Montaigne points to a Central African tribe called Yoruba, where children are named after something that they have done themselves or after the circumstances surrounding their birth. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-hidden-message-in-michel-de-montaignes-literary-legacy/

Some people are so afraid of dying that they waste hundreds of hours trying to protect themselves against the normal risks of life. They fear catching the flu, falling from their bicycle, or eating too much meat; as a result, they restrain their lifestyle in the vain hope of living a little bit longer. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), after a long reflection, made the opposite choice. Instead of being paralysed by fear, he remained extremely active. Instead of worrying, he focused on his favourite activities. I admire in particular his decision to travel to Paris after his fifty-fifth birthday, suffering from chronic kidney pain. Even in our century, few individuals at that age keep pushing resolutely to develop their careers, especially something as uncertain as a literary career. In Paris, Montaigne met for the first time his admirer Marie de Gournay, who was twenty-three years old at that time. They hit it off immediately, intellectually, and Montaigne started to refer to Marie as “my adopted daughter.” Montaigne was speaking metaphorically since he never took any steps to adopt Marie, nor had she asked for any adoption. Marie was the daughter of a minor aristocrat, who had passed away when she was twelve, leaving Marie, her sisters and their mother in a precarious financial condition. The relationship between Montaigne and Marie de Gournay lasted three and a half years. I count those years as the happiest in Montaigne’s life. Why? Because, for the first time since the death of his best friend Etienne de La Boetie, Montaigne had met a kindred soul, someone who understood him perfectly and with whom he could converse for hours on end. Note that twenty-five years had elapsed between La Boetie’s death and the first time that Montaigne met Marie de Gournay. When meeting Marie in Paris, Montaigne was taken aback by the resemblance of their conversations (in terms of breadth and depth) with those he had held with La Boetie. Despite their age difference, Montaigne and Marie shared a key personality trait: to a large extent, both were self-educated. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-5-of-5-joy-until-the-last-minute/

When things are falling apart and everything seems lost, we might just as well enjoy ourselves. Once we realise that our days are counted, there is little reason for stress. Every day that is left can deliver exhilaration and happiness On his fifty-second birthday, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) must have come to that conclusion. He had already exceeded the average lifespan, which had severely diminished in sixteenth-century France due to the religious wars. Montaigne thought that, if he had a few more years to live, he might as well enjoy every minute. Thus, he decided to focus on the activities he loved, and drop everything else. Strangely enough, most individuals will embrace an enjoy-every-day strategy only after going through intense trauma. It’s a fact that most people will only grasp their own mortality after seeing the writing on the wall. Montaigne returned to his countryside estate when his four- year term as mayor of Bordeaux had come to the end. He was through with politics for the rest of his life. Despite his efforts and best intentions, he had achieved nothing of practical value. Instead of embracing toleration, Catholics and Protestants in France had only grown to hate each other more intensely. The war had turned into ruthless savagery. Montaigne’s attempts to put his philosophy into practice had failed all the way. Montaigne was however not crushed by his ineffectiveness. He knew enough of history to realise how hard it is to modify a harmful ideology. When disastrous ideas are set in motion, it can take a long time before the trend is broken. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-the-pinnacle-years/

People always show their true colours in times of crisis. We can then recognise our true friends, true priorities, and the best and worst parts of our own character. Hardship makes the hero come forth, while the cowards sink into misery. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) faced the hardest period in his life precisely when he was expecting to enjoy the easiest. He had quit his stressful job in Bordeaux and retired to live in the countryside, expecting to lead a quiet, predictable lifestyle. Unfortunately, his began to suffer from kidney stones in his early forties and the pain only got worse over time. It did not help to try the herbal remedies recommended by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), a German nun that had written a detailed handbook of home medicine. Montaigne was forty-seven years old when he published his essays, which comprised ninety-four titles. Most of them don’t take more than ten pages; the first edition of the essays saw the light in Bordeaux. By far, the longest work in the collection is the “Apology for Raymond Sebond,” a theological defence that pre-dates the other titles by a decade. Montaigne had written this work while he was still practising law in Bordeaux. After the publication of the essays, Montaigne undertook a journey across Europe in the hope of finding a remedy for his kidney stones. The physicians he had consulted in France had not been able to alleviate his pain, but they had told him about thermal waters in central Europe and Italy as possible cures. Even with a generous budget, travel in the sixteenth century was uncomfortable and dangerous. Travellers had to take with them gold and silver coins to procure horses, food and lodging, but those coins turned them into targets for criminals; and even in the best weather conditions, the speed of travel was slow. Montaigne travelled accompanied by a few servants who doubled as guards. Those rendered his trip safer, but not faster. It was a long journey, interrupted by six-week stays at spas in Germany and Switzerland. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-dealing-with-chronic-illness/

The most intriguing aspect in the biography of Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) is his decision, when he was in his late thirties, to abandon a promising career in law and retire to live in the countryside. I have an explanation for Montaigne’s unusual decision: His daily work at the Bordeaux Parliament had made him acutely aware of the social decay in France. He had witnessed cases of confiscation, discrimination, and the beginning of the religious war between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). At that point, he weighed his chances and took an audacious decision, which would prove enormously successful. I wonder how many individuals today would be willing to take a similar choice. In addition to the social decay, Montaigne had experienced two major personal losses, namely, the death of his father and that of his best friend La Boetie. He had other friends, but none that could compare to La Boetie in terms of intellectual powers and commonality of cultural interests. Thus, Montaigne’s decision to retire to the countryside was partly derived from his circumstances and partly from a desire to improve his life. I must point out an aspect that few historians mention: the life expectancy in sixteenth-century France. When Montaigne decided to abandon his career in the law, he was thirty-seven years old. In our century we regard a man of thirty-seven as young. He has decades ahead of him to develop his career, or otherwise to change careers. In contrast, in sixteenth-century France, it was not unusual for peasants or soldiers to die in their mid-forties. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-his-momentous-decision/

I consider the French essayist Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) one of the most underrated philosophers in history. He is not on the same level as Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, but when it comes to personal development, he is one of the best. Montaigne was born in southern France within a family that belonged to the lower aristocracy. His father had made a small fortune as a wholesaler and purchased a countryside castle and the surrounding land. His father had a deep interest in classical ideals, and hired a tutor to teach Michel at home how to speak and read Latin. As soon as he learned the first words, he was asked to speak only Latin at home. As a result, Michel became fluent in Latin at an early age. His tutor introduced him to the works of Cicero (106-43 BC) and Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), which he read many times. They would later give shape to his personal philosophy and his literary style. His early biographers tell us that Michel de Montaigne was once sent by his father to live for a year with nearby peasants, so that he would acquire simple tastes and learn humility, but I give little credence to the story. I find difficult to believe that his father was willing to hire a tutor to accelerate Michel de Montaigne’s learning and, at the same time, he was willing to send him for a year to live in an environment of total cultural deprivation. If Michel de Montaigne was sent at all to live with nearby peasants, the experience must have been fairly short, so that it would not interfere with his Latin education. Montaigne learned to read and write at home, but did not go to school until fairly late. When he turned six, his father sent him to the College de Guyenne in the closest city, Bordeaux. The education program of the College de Guyenne revolved around the Latin language and the study of Latin authors. They also taught ancient Greek, but with a lower emphasis. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-his-early-years/

When authors write, they cannot avoid revealing their views and personal history, their traumas and pressing concerns. Consciously or unconsciously, they are giving hints and clues about their own life. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) and his works prove this theory correct. In his essays, Montaigne addressed a wide array of subjects, but could not avoid imprinting his personality and philosophical views in every discussion, even when recounting anecdotes from ancient Greece and Rome. Take for instance Montaigne’s essay “Whether the governor himself should go out to parley.” The essay’s title is raising a question of political or military theory, but Montaigne makes the discussion revolve around his personal experience in public office. The essay conveys Montaigne’s conclusion from all his years in public office: When bad turns to worse, display the utmost care, so that you don’t paint yourself into a corner. In order to prove his point, Montaigne uses anecdotes from ancient history. He recalls that, during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), Hannibal tricked many ancient Roman generals into fighting from inferior tactical positions, for instance, next to a river or a cliff, or facing the sunshine. In contrast, general Fabius Maximus (280-203 BC) avoided combat with Hannibal when tactical circumstances were not in favour of the Roman troops. He had no problem to keep his legions manoeuvring around Hannibal, week after week, trying to gain higher ground or some other tactical advantage. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-literary-hints-and-clues/

I’m going to point to several examples to illustrate the views of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) on the nature of human existence. The examples are drawn from famous literary works depicting challenging situations that put Schopenhauer’s advice to the test. Before starting with the examples, let me summarise in four paragraphs Schopenhauer’s views on the nature of existence. First, living creatures are driven by the will, which I translate as “life force” or “primal energy;” the will drives them towards reproduction and survival. The will generates one desire after another. Some of them can be fulfilled, others not. Second, the influence of the will can have disastrous effects on humans because it drives them towards decisions that fulfil short-term desires but without considering the costs, risks, and liabilities. These aspects are presented in Schopenhauer’s book “About the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason,” published in 1814. Third, unless you adopt countermeasures, you are likely to succumb to the influence of the will and pay a high price. Your career, finances, reputation and health are at risk. It is in your interest to stay alert and steer away from questionable choices. These aspects are outlined in Schopenhauer’s book “The world as will and representation” (1818). Fourth, human beings can adopt countermeasures to reduce the negative influence of the will, avoid suffering and increase happiness. The measures involve self-discipline, risk reduction and keeping a margin of safety. The countermeasures are found in Schopenhauer’s book “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/examples-of-schopenhauers-views-on-the-nature-of-existence/