Monday, May 12, 2008

"Can a limited life still be a good one?"


"I don't have a choice about being ill, but I do have a choice about how I am going to live with my illness," she said.

"When you are faced with serious illness you can let it take over your life, or you can learn to co-exist with it, to make peace with how things are. [...]

"I am a philosopher and I use philosophy to make sense of my illness.

"Philosophy was traditionally a practical aid to life, a set of arguments and ideas designed to help humans improve their well-being. It is an aid for coping with issues such as death and loss and questions such as how can I make sense of a finite life? Can a limited life still be a good one?"

From this short profile of philosopher Havi Carel who's writing a book -- Illness -- that "examines how philosophy can deal with illness."

Thanks to Chris Bertram of Crooked Timber for the pointer.

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