As a follow-up to my last post, I thought I'd share this article by Eric Wilson with you. I heard him on CBC the other day talking about his new book Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy, which sounds quite compelling. I've long thought that the increased medicalisation of unhappiness can't be a good thing.
(Thanks to Jane for the link.)
(Thanks to Jane for the link.)
Good article. I'm inclined to agree: suffering is the crucible. However, a proviso: Nietzsche may have written, "what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger" -- but he forgot that it can also crush and cripple.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that he did, Brian. Nietzsche was chronically ill and was often crushed and crippled by migraines and intestinal afflictions. And what eventually killed him first rendered him catatonic; he no doubt had intimations of the null to come before he lost contact with the world altogether. Indeed, the feverish pace of his last writings suggest he had a very good idea.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he wrote that when he was catatonic -- ooh, excuse my black wit.
ReplyDeleteYes, you could be right there.