In Japan, thought and action, philosophy and life, are more intimately connected than most other places. Philosophy is largely an attempt to articulate and develop insights into how to live and who we are that are embedded in practices more than they are rooted in theories. The documentaries Ramen Heads and Jiro Dreams of Sushi show what much of this philosophy means more eloquently than can be straightforwardly said.
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Does it matter whether our pleasures are spiritual or carnal, intellectual or stupid? Or are all pleasures pretty much the same?
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I intend to make the whole of September, and perhaps even the rest of the year, my “festival of 50”[…]
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Like most enduring wisdom, “everything in moderation” turns out to be nothing more than a vague rule of thumb, something to fall back on in the absence of any other information but certainly not a strict rule to be lived by.
ReadHealth advice too often follows the principle of the noble lie. Rather than being told the plain truth, we are told what the authorities believe will lead us to behave properly, when “properly” means not just in the way that is most prudent for ourselves, but what is seen to be morally appropriate. When the best current scientific evidence meets moralising paternalism, it is truth that starts to bend.
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