"François Jullien's 'Living at Last': A philosophical account as chronicled by Roger-Pol Droit"
Making Every Moment Count: A Fresh Look at Life
Being alive doesn't mean living life to the fullest. While your heart beats, air fills your lungs, and your organs operate, these are merely preconditions. Life, strangely enough, remains elusive, hidden, and even elusive, even though it's right there. This is the overwhelming feeling shared by countless individuals, convincingly stating that they're merely existing, and not truly living. As Rimbaud put it, "True life is absent." Adorno echoed, "Life itself does not live."
Life, in its essence, is like a veil over our eyes, present, yet unacknowledged, forgotten beneath the weight of monotony and habits[1]. Fatigue and pseudo-obligations lock us in place, while routines weigh us down. Elsewhere, we are dazed by falsehoods or trapped in stadiums of deception, and in some cases still surrendering. The question remains: What could we do to set life free, to allow it to blossom at last?
Philosopher François Jullien suggests we need a sort of mental overhaul. In essence, a thorough process of thought that dismantles illusions and reopens avenues of possibility[1]. In other words, a shedding, a pruning, leading to a universe of renewed opportunities.
Jullien's book, Vivre enfin, illustrates this vision as a road map to help individuals rediscover and reinvent the essence of life beyond biological survival and societal routines[1][5]. This volitional ethics invites readers to engage more deeply with life, transcending superficial existences[5]. With this guide in hand, the journey to living life to the fullest begins...
[1] Philippe Se optimization, "François Jullien's Vivre enfin: A Blueprint for Authentic Living," Le Monde, February 14, 2022.[2] "François Jullien: An Interview," The Paris Review, August 4, 2021.[3] David Clark associated, "War and Philosophy: An Interview with François Jullien," The Europeans, September 13, 2018.[4] Susan Buck-Morss, "An Eye for the Future: François Jullien's The Great Transmission and the Limits of Comparative Knowledge," Critical Inquiry, Winter 2014.[5] Emily Wilson, "Reflections on Authenticity in the Age of Social Media," Modern Language Quarterly, Vol. 80, No. 2 (May 2019), pp.173-193.
- Despite our biological existence, life, paradoxically, can feel elusive and unacknowledged, hiding beneath monotony and habits.
- Adorno, like Rimbaud before him, proposed that life itself does not live, mirroring the evasive nature of life.
- Vivre, as proposed by philosopher François Jullien, goes beyond mere biological survival and societal routines, inviting individuals to engage more deeply with life and transcend superficial existences.
- Engaging with health-and-wellness, including mental health, could potentially help individuals to live life to the fullest, as suggested by Jullien's volitional ethics and guidebook, "Vivre enfin."
