HAS MODERN “WESTERN CULTURE” LOST TOUCH WITH “THE TRAGIC VISION”?
Intellectual discussion on Australia’s Radio National, over a decade ago.
I think the philosoohy of Stoicism was deeply rooted in The Tragic Vision.
Much wisdom on how to live a meaningful life, when faced with suffering or death, has arisen from the writings of the Roman philosophers Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD) and Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD).
The latter - Aurelius - was also an emperor.
This Roman stoic wisdom arose we are told, in the first place, from the much earlier Greek philosophers who lived a few hundred years BC.
The famous poem DESIDERATA has been popular in modern times for millions of people. It is often seen stuck on people’s fridges or printed on gift cards. It dawned on me after reading many quotes from the stoic philosophers, that this verse is essentially expressing the wisdom of a stoic perspective.
Ditto for the famous SERENITY PRAYER
Tragic Vision: the Abandoned Vision of the West? - ABC listen
ABC
Notable contemporary Christian theologian, David Tracy, brings theology, philosophy and literature to the argument that to lose the element of tragedy would be to lose something both distinctive and deep in Western culture.
List of Stoic philosophers - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stoic_philos…
