To Philosophize is to Learn to Die: Notes on an Ancient Idea by Dr Kurt Borg

The Talk

This talk will explore an idea that comes down to us from ancient times: that to do philosophy is to learn to die. This characterisation considers philosophy as something to do, rather than a solely intellectual matter; philosophy is conceived as a way of life, a meditation, a spiritual exercise. Among the principal experiences that occupies the philosopher in antiquity is death. This is an idea that colours Socrates’ conversations with his friends on his death bed. It is also an idea that resurfaces in later Roman writers such as Cicero, Seneca and Boethius as they faced death or encountered the death of their loved ones. In Christian philosophy, too, the meditation on death features prominently in works such as the spiritual exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. Even Montaigne, the 16th century inventor of the modern essay, was inspired to dedicate one of his texts to the ancient…