Does a particular action or behavior only attain value AFTER it has been attempted? Hegel famously wrote that "the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only at dusk", and one begins to wonder at what point does the value of leading a good life arise? I wonder if there is somewhat of a lag between acting in a certain way and its subsequent labeling as a eudaimonic act. In that case, one's life can only really be evaluated after it is over, so one cannot participate in the evaluation! As Solon said, "Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky."
I would be interested to see a comparative study of the concepts of ataraxia in Hellenic thought and the that of dukkha in Early Buddhist thinking. Is ataraxia simply the absence of psycho-physical pain or is it the complete absence of suffering over that pain? For the Buddha, it was possible to have pain in the body and yet not suffer over it. In fact, corporeal pain cannot be avoided and is only fully dispensed with when one attains to parinibbana. Anyway, if you could point me to anything covering the idea of ataraxia in Hellenistic thought I would appreciate it. Every good blessing to you Prof.
Does a particular action or behavior only attain value AFTER it has been attempted? Hegel famously wrote that "the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only at dusk", and one begins to wonder at what point does the value of leading a good life arise? I wonder if there is somewhat of a lag between acting in a certain way and its subsequent labeling as a eudaimonic act. In that case, one's life can only really be evaluated after it is over, so one cannot participate in the evaluation! As Solon said, "Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky."
I would be interested to see a comparative study of the concepts of ataraxia in Hellenic thought and the that of dukkha in Early Buddhist thinking. Is ataraxia simply the absence of psycho-physical pain or is it the complete absence of suffering over that pain? For the Buddha, it was possible to have pain in the body and yet not suffer over it. In fact, corporeal pain cannot be avoided and is only fully dispensed with when one attains to parinibbana. Anyway, if you could point me to anything covering the idea of ataraxia in Hellenistic thought I would appreciate it. Every good blessing to you Prof.