Adulthood topics--
- when you become an adult -- Beck
- emerging adulthood -- Arnett
- adulthood as prime of life -- Aristotle
- adulthood as prime of life -- Slote
- the U-shaped curve -- Graham & Pozuelo
- "midlife crisis" -- Setiya
Next time: old age, physical and psychological changes
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Kieran Setiya, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide
- written by someone in his 40s having a crisis
- MIT philosophy professor, author of many books and articles, married with children
- written for other people at midlife
- any lessons for you?
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Highlights, then discussion
The problem of desire
Passage 1 (p. 131) READ
The problem of desire. Suppose you have some major desire or goal. There are only two possibilities:
- You haven't satisfied it yet...and that causes suffering.
- You have satisfied it... and that leads to emptiness and boredom.
Passage 2 (p. 131-132): same argument
Passage 3 (p. 132-133) READ
"your engagement with value is self-destructive"
"the way in which you relate to the activities that matter most to you is by trying to complete them and so expel them from your life"
- Knitting a sweater
- Writing a book
- Training for a marathon
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Telic vs. atelic activities
Passage 4 (p. 133-134)
- Telos = goal, end
- Telic activities: "they aim at terminal states, at which they are finished and exhausted" (p. 133-134)
- walking home, writing a book
- Atelic activities: "they do not aim at a point of termination or exhaustion, a final state in which they have been achieved" (p. 134
- going for a walk, listening to music, hanging out with friends
Passage 5 (p. 134-135) READ
Passage 6 (p. 135) -- READ
- midlife crisis comes from being overly telic
Passage 7 (p. 135-135)--READ
- why is there a MIDLIFE crisis?
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Prevention/Cure
Passage 8 (p. 140) READ
- solution: do keep your telic activities
- but for each TELIC activity, find the ATELIC counterpart
- find meaning in that too
- you'll escape the problem of desire
- no pain of unattained desire
- no boredom of completed desire
Passage 9 (p. 144)
Discussion...WORKBOOK
