Thanks, Brittany. I particularly liked the metaphor of each of us as an artist of our own integrity. It reminded me of the Buddhist idea that we should “water the flowers, not the weeds” ie character develops according to what we repeatedly attend to and practise.
What is striking is how well this also fits with modern ideas of habit formation. Repeated patterns of thought and behaviour become increasingly embedded through the brain’s habit systems, including the basal ganglia. In that sense, Shaftesbury’s “self-improving artist” looks surprisingly modern.
I also wondered whether Darwin adds another useful layer here. In The Descent of Man he links morality to social instinct, sympathy, reason, community approval and eventually conscience. Conscience seems an important missing word in your discussion. It may be the internal mechanism through which our social instincts, reflection and habits become a relatively stable moral character.
There is also an interesting tension here between agency and determinism. We do not choose our inherited temperament, instincts or much of our early conditioning, but we may still have some power over what we repeatedly reinforce. That actually makes the artist metaphor stronger for me. We do not choose the stone, but we can still shape the sculpture!
So perhaps Stoicism, Buddhism, Darwin and neuroscience are describing different levels of the same process. We inherit certain tendencies, reflect on them, practise particular responses, form habits, and gradually shape the kind of person we become.
I love this perspective, and I think you're right about choosing which habits we reinforce. The interplay between early environment and adult agency is quite complex and perhaps we will never fully understand everything, but I think the artist metaphor helps us get closer. I'm glad you are thinking along the same lines.
Thanks for the introduction to Shaftesbury. I enjoyed reading this. I love the part about being an architect of one's own fortune. It is a good reminder of the importance of living beautifully and imparting beauty to others. I'm reminded of the concept of "shitsuke" in Japanese style parenting meaning to "attach beauty to the body".
This may seem unrelated, but I'm reading a book on how to shape behaviour in children, animals and adults using positive reinforcement. The book describes how punishment and negative reinforcement always constitutes failure and revenge and is overall not as effective for bringing the best out in people. In other words, people and animals are more magnetized and motivated by what feels good and beautiful to achieve success!
Great points--I agree it's better to use positive reinforcement as much as possible, especially for children. And we can also teach our kids to seek beauty in their own lives, so that they eventually learn to do this on their own. Thank you for pulling in these examples!
Yes, it is really sad to see Stoicism misused in ways the ancient Stoics would never have supported. One of my main goals is to offer a more authentic and virtue-based version of modern Stoicism. Hopefully we can remind people what Stoicism is really about.
Thanks, Brittany. I particularly liked the metaphor of each of us as an artist of our own integrity. It reminded me of the Buddhist idea that we should “water the flowers, not the weeds” ie character develops according to what we repeatedly attend to and practise.
What is striking is how well this also fits with modern ideas of habit formation. Repeated patterns of thought and behaviour become increasingly embedded through the brain’s habit systems, including the basal ganglia. In that sense, Shaftesbury’s “self-improving artist” looks surprisingly modern.
I also wondered whether Darwin adds another useful layer here. In The Descent of Man he links morality to social instinct, sympathy, reason, community approval and eventually conscience. Conscience seems an important missing word in your discussion. It may be the internal mechanism through which our social instincts, reflection and habits become a relatively stable moral character.
There is also an interesting tension here between agency and determinism. We do not choose our inherited temperament, instincts or much of our early conditioning, but we may still have some power over what we repeatedly reinforce. That actually makes the artist metaphor stronger for me. We do not choose the stone, but we can still shape the sculpture!
So perhaps Stoicism, Buddhism, Darwin and neuroscience are describing different levels of the same process. We inherit certain tendencies, reflect on them, practise particular responses, form habits, and gradually shape the kind of person we become.
I love this perspective, and I think you're right about choosing which habits we reinforce. The interplay between early environment and adult agency is quite complex and perhaps we will never fully understand everything, but I think the artist metaphor helps us get closer. I'm glad you are thinking along the same lines.
Thanks a lot!
Thanks for the introduction to Shaftesbury. I enjoyed reading this. I love the part about being an architect of one's own fortune. It is a good reminder of the importance of living beautifully and imparting beauty to others. I'm reminded of the concept of "shitsuke" in Japanese style parenting meaning to "attach beauty to the body".
This may seem unrelated, but I'm reading a book on how to shape behaviour in children, animals and adults using positive reinforcement. The book describes how punishment and negative reinforcement always constitutes failure and revenge and is overall not as effective for bringing the best out in people. In other words, people and animals are more magnetized and motivated by what feels good and beautiful to achieve success!
Great points--I agree it's better to use positive reinforcement as much as possible, especially for children. And we can also teach our kids to seek beauty in their own lives, so that they eventually learn to do this on their own. Thank you for pulling in these examples!
Seeing ourselves as artists of our own lives is a much more inspiring image than seeing ourselves as judges of our own failures.
Yes, it is really sad to see Stoicism misused in ways the ancient Stoics would never have supported. One of my main goals is to offer a more authentic and virtue-based version of modern Stoicism. Hopefully we can remind people what Stoicism is really about.