Grief is a mystery to be acknowledged not a passing problem that be solved. I really like that.
And the attack on identity is definitely true. I think its because our identity isn't some static thing, but is created from the specific relationships we've formed with the world and the people in it. No relationship, no us. And so grief, the cutting of a relationship, is also cutting away part of ourselves.
It left me wondering about the effects of repressed grief.
I've seen people who don't acknowledge their feelings. Someone who did that soon came down with dementia and I've always wondered if there was a connection.
This is a succinct and strong article- it says a lot in a short space. Western philosophy can sometimes seem detached and distant in its outlook but by examining the crossover between philosophy and grief, you’ve given it a truly human dimension and hinted at the place of primacy grief has in actual lived experience - as something that points at a reality that is not just incidental but ontological in its reality.
“the attachments that shaped our identities are severed, forcing us to reconstruct ourselves in the aftermath. This reconfiguration is not merely psychological but ontological; we must grapple with what it means to exist in a world now marked by loss.”
Extremely pertinent in our individual lives where each of us has likely experienced loss and bereavement- but even more so where we see loss imposed on a vast scale in ongoing conflicts and entire populations who face or will have to deal with the reality of a grief dismissed or ideologically denied by the perpetrators.
Why grief? Why life? Why death? Isn't it everything about death? We trying to run away from it and feel alive or actually run towards it... feel relief, solve the mystery...
There are many interesting takes here.
Grief is a mystery to be acknowledged not a passing problem that be solved. I really like that.
And the attack on identity is definitely true. I think its because our identity isn't some static thing, but is created from the specific relationships we've formed with the world and the people in it. No relationship, no us. And so grief, the cutting of a relationship, is also cutting away part of ourselves.
Great work.
Gladyou enjoyed it Ben. Please check out my other writings on grief 🙂
Will do
Fascinating! Thanks, Andrew.
It left me wondering about the effects of repressed grief.
I've seen people who don't acknowledge their feelings. Someone who did that soon came down with dementia and I've always wondered if there was a connection.
This is a succinct and strong article- it says a lot in a short space. Western philosophy can sometimes seem detached and distant in its outlook but by examining the crossover between philosophy and grief, you’ve given it a truly human dimension and hinted at the place of primacy grief has in actual lived experience - as something that points at a reality that is not just incidental but ontological in its reality.
“the attachments that shaped our identities are severed, forcing us to reconstruct ourselves in the aftermath. This reconfiguration is not merely psychological but ontological; we must grapple with what it means to exist in a world now marked by loss.”
Extremely pertinent in our individual lives where each of us has likely experienced loss and bereavement- but even more so where we see loss imposed on a vast scale in ongoing conflicts and entire populations who face or will have to deal with the reality of a grief dismissed or ideologically denied by the perpetrators.
Love this piece of yours.
Why grief? Why life? Why death? Isn't it everything about death? We trying to run away from it and feel alive or actually run towards it... feel relief, solve the mystery...