Need to Eat

We’re all human, and we all need to eat. Unfortunately, food has become one of our most egregious luxuries. We can get by on a diet that includes no abuse of animals and no deprivation in our nutritional requirements.

I’ll Update soon.

All That Is Necessary

People can’t seem to stop complaining about how fast-paced their lives are, how busy they are, how stressed out they are. People talk about these things as if they are necessary, but they’re not. We don’t need most of what makes us nuts.

Humans have very few actual needs: air, water, sleep, and food. Those things are still fairly easy to obtain. It’s the convoluted actions we choose in order to meet these simple needs that cause us such grief. It’s the lifestyles we construct out of our wants, desires, and cravings that force us to rush. The stress comes from unnecessary waste.

That’s why the ancient Cynics embraced simplicity, willful poverty, and asceticism. We may not live in a culture that allows for the same kind of austerity Diogenes of Sinope practiced, but we can certainly do better than we are.

I can certainly do better than I am.

This blog is about philosophy, but not analytic philosophy or continental philosophy. This isn’t about trying to figure out how knowledge is acquired or whether it’s even possible to claim knowledge. This is philosophy in practice. This is the Cynic’s path toward eudaimonia.

Axiomata

These are the statements I accept as axiomatic (true without support). Most of them will seem too obvious to bother with recording them, but I find that it’s handy to keep them near the surface. This post will grow, change, and maybe even shrink as I post–and especially as others give me feedback.

1. A human will die.
2. A human will die within minutes if deprived of oxygen.
3. A human will die within days if deprived of water.
4. A human will die in about ten days if deprived of sleep.
5. A human will die in about two weeks if deprived of food.

These are the five statements I currently accept as axiomatic to the human condition. Others may follow.

Feel free to question these or suggest rewordings or refinements in the comments below. Any changes will be noted.