Finitude, exercices spirituels et deuil : entre phénoménologie et sagesse antique

Details

Supervisors

Counet, Jean-Michel

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en philosophie, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

enA person's life has an end and it’s no secret: everyone shall die. We have this knowledge, but did we every truly learn? Between the television news counting deaths and a person being told that someone they held dear just passed away, there is a huge difference. We must realize our finitude, not only envision it with a cold logic as a faraway event: we must make this mortal nature ours. Beware those who try to flee because death shall remind them of the world’s fragility, notably through anguish. This overwhelming emotion stops us from living but we are not alone in facing anguish: the Ancients left an heirloom of spiritual exercises in order to help us in our daily life. From Socrates to the Church Fathers – and let’s not forget Marcus Aurelius and Epicureans – we shall dive into this part of philosophy that has been forgotten since. It is with this knowledge ranging from phenomenological finitude to antique spiritual exercises that we shall talk about the special case of mourning that will be at the crossroad between finitude and spiritual exercise.