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Thomas Cotterill

~ Integrating Philosophy, Creativity, Psychology, and Spirituality

Thomas Cotterill

Monthly Archives: September 2013

Experiencing Ideas as Authority or Terror

18 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Thomas Cotterill in Philosophy, Psychology

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

anxiety problems, authentic self, Charles Williams, emotionally important ideas, existential angst, false persona, loss of self, religious beliefs

Sceptre, Orb, and Imperial Crown of Austria

You must regard your own emotionally important ideas with the respect due to proper authority. To be authentic, you must live by these defining and guiding ideas. (Photo: public domain)

Charles Williams was a British polymath combining considerable skills as a poet, novelist, theologian, and literary critic. He was also a valued member of the famed Inklings writing circle and a powerful influence on Narnia creator, C. S. Lewis. Williams’ most famous biographer is Alice Mary Hadfield who, during widely spaced periods in her life, wrote two perceptive critical biographies filled with useful insights concerning his life and work. One of her most revealing penetrations has a bearing on existentialism. Continue reading →

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A Magical Book About a Magical Place

10 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Thomas Cotterill in Reviews, Spirituality

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

alternative lifestyles, chasing enchantment, free life, idealizing nature, Magic of Findhorn, mystical feeling, New Age community, personal freedom

The Magic of Findhorn cover

An enchanting look at an early New Age community in Scotland.

The Magic of Findhorn is a magical book. I first read it when it came out in paperback more years ago than I care to remember. For more than a decade, I reread it now and then to savour Hawken’s sweet distillation of the spirit of the time. Those were the heady days of pot-smoking hippies, smiling flower children, and idealistic communes. Findhorn added fairies, giant cabbages, and bushes that got out of the way when you wanted to make a path through them. It was wonderful to imagine that I might run off and join the small band of romantics building a new kind of community on what was once a garbage dump. I never did, of course. Sometimes I think I missed a great chance. Findhorn still exists, although it is now a foundation and calls itself a “New Age” community. Naturally, there is a website. Continue reading →

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Chasing Happiness Cannot Replace Personal Growth

07 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by Thomas Cotterill in Philosophy, Psychology

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell, desire to learn, meaningful self-realization, necessary self-knowledge, personal development, pursuit of happiness, three stages of learning

Alfred North Whitehead

A. N. Whitehead said learning is impossible without the desire to learn. This matters because all personal growth requires us to learn something. (Image: public domain)

Is it enough to chase happiness in life? Numerous philosophers have argued that, for a deeply satisfying experience of life, something more is required, something founded on substantial personal growth, rather than a preference for a particular ephemeral feeling that manifests in a constant effort to spend a lot of time in the desired emotional state. Is it possible that the “pursuit of happiness,” so central to American, and indeed, much of contemporary Western values, may actually get in the way of attaining life’s greater riches?

I have already argued, in “Religious Conversion Can Block Self-Discovery,” that a desire for spiritual salvation in the religious sense can seriously impede a person’s growth process. Here I will make the case that thoughtlessly chasing happiness Continue reading →

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Thomas Cotterill


I am a manic-depressive made philosophical by my long struggle with the disruptive mood disorder, during which I spent sixteen years living as a forest hermit. I write philosophical essays, fantasy, and science fiction. My attempt to integrate creativity, psychology, philosophy, and spirituality imbues everything I write. You will find hundreds of related essays and articles on my blog. I live quietly in British Columbia's scenic Fraser Valley, a beautiful place in which to wax philosophical.

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