Author: Wes White

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7 Quotes that Invite You to Read Josef Pieper

Josef Pieper (1904–1997) was a Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher from Elte, Westphalia, Germany. He imbibed the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas but thought deeply about the rest of the Western tradition, ancient and modern (read a little more about him here). I have found his work a particularly helpful guide to thinking deeply and clearly about what it means to live rightly as a human being. His most famous work is Leisure: the Basis of Culture. If you want to get a sense of the breadth of his work, An Anthology, which he compiled at the end of his life, is a great place to start.

If you want to think about how to live well as a Christian in this time, Pieper’s works are full of wisdom. Pieper’s works are also concise. All of them are short volumes. The chapters are also short. You can usually read a chapter in one short sitting. They stir the heart and the mind and challenge us to be what God has called us to be. Here are 7 quotes that invite you to read Josef Pieper.

1. The key question of our time that our prosperity should make us ask: What is life for? “After we have accomplished, with an admirable amount of intelligence and hard work, all that is necessary, after we have provided for the basic needs of life, produced the essential foodstuff, protected the realm of life itself—after all this, what is the meaning of the life itself that we have made possible? How do we define a truly human life?” (Anthology, 111).

2. Prudence or wisdom is the pre-eminent virtue: “The pre-eminence of prudence means that realization of the good presupposes knowledge of reality. He alone can do good who knows what things are like and what their situation is. . . . Realization of the good presupposes that our actions are appropriate to the real situation, that is to the concrete realities which form the ‘environment’ of a concrete human action; and that we therefore take this concrete reality seriously, with clear-eyed objectivity” (The Four Cardinal Virtues, 10). Continue reading “7 Quotes that Invite You to Read Josef Pieper”

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7 Thought-Provoking Observations from Aristotle’s Politics

Aristotle’s Politics is one of the foundational political texts of Western civilization. At certain places, a modern person who reads it will no doubt feel offended or repulsed by Aristotle’s views (i.e., on slavery). On the other hand, the modern person will be surprised at how sophisticated it is in other places. It is really a collection of and reflection on the political wisdom of one of the most unique civilizations in the history of the world. In this way, Aristotle’s Politics can provoke thought, provide clarity, and produce wisdom. Here are a few of the quotes I have found most worthy of consideration.

1. “Hence some persons are led to believe that getting wealth is the object of household management, and the whole idea of their lives is that they ought either to increase their money without limit, or at any rate not lose it. The origin of this disposition in men is that they are intent upon living only, and not upon living well; and, as their desires are unlimited, they also desire that the means of gratifying them should be without limit” (Aristotle, 1.9).

2. On the common interest: “For that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Everyone thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual” (2.3). That is why “[t]he true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the common interest, but governments which rule with a view to the private interest, whether of the one or the few, or of the many, are perversions” (3.7). Continue reading “7 Thought-Provoking Observations from Aristotle’s Politics“

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How Would Adam & Abraham Commune with God?

How would Adam and Abraham commune with God? There is a difference between the two in that Adam began as a creature unfallen into sin and Abraham was a sinful man. There is a similarity, however, in that both of them had limited amounts of special revelation. In other words, they didn’t have a large book (the Bible) to serve as the basis of communion with God. So, how did they commune with God?

For the evangelical Christian, communion with God is primarily through Bible reading. I regard this as a good thing, but I wonder if we miss something. If Adam and Abraham could have communion with God without reading through a large book, then this probably tells us that communion with God is at the least not completely identifiable with reading the Bible (though it may be part of it).

In addition, Bible reading is at best one relatively small part of our day (even if we read a lot of it!). How do we live the rest of our day in communion with God? Can we live life in such a way that we are continually communing with God? Continue reading “How Would Adam & Abraham Commune with God?”

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How Shall I Live? I Can’t Solve the Issues of Our Time

That’s the question that Ralph Waldo Emerson posed in his book, The Conduct of Life. He wrote, “The question of the times resolved itself into a practical question of the conduct of life. How shall I live? We are incompetent to solve the times” (943, Note: These quotes are taken from Emerson: Essays and Lectures. You can read this book online here.). And what was his answer? That we are to do good, to make a contribution.

The Goal
Emerson believed that we all had an obligation not merely to do something good for ourselves but to do something that would make a significant difference in the world. “Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He fails to make his place good in the world, unless he not only pays his debt, but also adds something to the common wealth” (989). Each person must increase his talents not merely bury the one they have in the ground.

The Obstacles
In seeking to do good, there are numerous obstacles. There is fate. Fate is any natural limit we encounter. In includes everything from the fact that we live on earth to the fact that we have five fingers. Everything that defines us limits us. Fate inevitably brings suffering and death.

These limitations are not an unmitigated evil. “In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better” (1083). “The frost which kills the harvest of a year, saves the harvests of a century, by destroying the weevil or the locust” (1084). It is these challenges that give us opportunity to rise to greater heights. “We acquire the strength we have overcome. Without war, no soldier, without enemies, no hero” (1084). Steam always seemed to cause a problem by lifting houses and pots. Here was what Watt and Fulton saw: “Could he lift pots and roofs and houses so handily? He was the workman they were in search of” (959). Continue reading “How Shall I Live? I Can’t Solve the Issues of Our Time”

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The World Is “Full of Friends”: How to Become More Sociable

Last January, I stayed by myself for most of the month at a condo in Myrtle Beach. It was part of my sabbatical. It was a great time, but, with my family back in Tennessee, it could be lonely.

So, what do we do when we find ourselves without the people who are close to us? They may be travelling. They may have moved. They may have died. How do we process this absence?

According to the ancient philosopher Seneca, philosophy has some resources. He says, “The first thing which philosophy undertakes to give is fellow feeling with all men; in other words, sympathy and sociability” (V, 7). Philosophy trains us to be sociable.

How does philosophy teach us to be more sociable? It teaches us that humans are social beings. This means that humans are made to interact together. So, whenever we meet one, we meet with a person who has been designed to interact with us. Continue reading “The World Is “Full of Friends”: How to Become More Sociable”

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