Beyond Worry? On Learning Humility from the Lilies and the Birds

J. Lippitt
{"title":"Beyond Worry? On Learning Humility from the Lilies and the Birds","authors":"J. Lippitt","doi":"10.4324/9780429198571-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"How on earth do I stop worrying? In Worrying: A Literary and Cultural History, Francis O’Gorman (2015: x) suggests that worries ‘are, of nature, like a strangling weed: they can’t be eradicated even if they can be cut back. They keep growing. They smother. They are exceptionally good at spoiling the view.’ In this chapter, I shall argue that part of the answer to the problem of worry is to be found in a certain view of humility: one that can be teased out from several Kierkegaardian discourses, and which has recently been gaining increasing support—from both philosophers and psychologists— against competing views of humility. Humility is understood not in terms of self-abasement, underestimating oneself, or being ignorant of one’s good qualities, but rather in terms of being focused on others and sources of value besides oneself: thinking not less of oneself, but thinking less about oneself. In exploring the centrality of future-oriented worries to Kierkegaard’s lily and bird discourses, a central thought will be that such worries often stem from excessive self-absorption, a particular aspect of Luther’s (and the wider Lutheran tradition’s) general objection to self-centred desire, and how the motive of our heart is ‘curved in on itself’ (incurvatus in se). 1 As O’Gorman (2015: 54) suggests:","PeriodicalId":130894,"journal":{"name":"The Kierkegaardian Mind","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2019-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"The Kierkegaardian Mind","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429198571-8","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

How on earth do I stop worrying? In Worrying: A Literary and Cultural History, Francis O’Gorman (2015: x) suggests that worries ‘are, of nature, like a strangling weed: they can’t be eradicated even if they can be cut back. They keep growing. They smother. They are exceptionally good at spoiling the view.’ In this chapter, I shall argue that part of the answer to the problem of worry is to be found in a certain view of humility: one that can be teased out from several Kierkegaardian discourses, and which has recently been gaining increasing support—from both philosophers and psychologists— against competing views of humility. Humility is understood not in terms of self-abasement, underestimating oneself, or being ignorant of one’s good qualities, but rather in terms of being focused on others and sources of value besides oneself: thinking not less of oneself, but thinking less about oneself. In exploring the centrality of future-oriented worries to Kierkegaard’s lily and bird discourses, a central thought will be that such worries often stem from excessive self-absorption, a particular aspect of Luther’s (and the wider Lutheran tradition’s) general objection to self-centred desire, and how the motive of our heart is ‘curved in on itself’ (incurvatus in se). 1 As O’Gorman (2015: 54) suggests:
除了担心吗?从《百合花与鸟》中学习谦卑
我到底该如何停止担忧?弗朗西斯·奥戈尔曼(Francis O’gorman, 2015: x)在《忧虑:一部文学和文化史》一书中指出,忧虑“本质上就像一株令人窒息的杂草:即使可以减少,也无法根除。”它们在不断增长。他们窒息。他们特别擅长破坏风景。在本章中,我将论证,忧虑问题的部分答案可以在某种谦逊的观点中找到:这种观点可以从克尔凯郭尔的几篇论述中找到,而且最近得到了越来越多的支持——来自哲学家和心理学家——反对谦逊的竞争观点。谦逊不是自卑、低估自己或不知道自己的优点,而是关注他人和自己以外的价值来源:不是少想自己,而是少想自己。在探索克尔凯郭尔的百合和鸟话语中面向未来的担忧的中心地位时,一个中心思想将是,这种担忧往往源于过度的自我专注,路德(以及更广泛的路德传统)普遍反对以自我为中心的欲望的一个特殊方面,以及我们内心的动机是如何“弯曲的”(incurvatus In se)。1正如O 'Gorman(2015: 54)所指出的:
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信