The Necessity of Philosophy

From the time of Plato and Aristotle, astute philosophers have sought the wisdom to understand what makes people feel their best, do their best, and become their best. In our time of massive uncertainties and daunting challenges, every organization of people working together needs to put the most effective tools of such wisdom into everybody's hands and minds. That way, people become much more hopeful, more engaged, more committed, more creative, and more productive because they're truly more empowered.

Wisdom is a force multiplier. Unwise choices never lead anywhere good. Ordinary mindsets aren't optimal for extraordinary times. Only the best of wisdom can bring us the resources for transformative innovation and genuinely excellent work in all its dimensions. The best leaders understand this and do everything they can to introduce the most practical philosophy to all their associates. And I'm grateful for that understanding, because it's allowed me to have a wonderful career for decades as an independent philosopher, bringing people exactly that. The right sort of philosophy isn't after all an elective luxury, but a required necessity for that excellence consisting in and produced only by the inner happiness wisdom alone brings.

The Paradox of Our Time

There is a great paradox in the human experience right now. We've never understood leadership better and we've never had worse leaders. We're inundated with books on success and yet failure is everywhere. Never have there been as many courses, essays, and studies stressing the importance of ethics, and yet unethical conduct not only surrounds us but threatens to take us under. We've never understood better the need for unity in our world, and yet we've perhaps never been so divided in so many ways. We live in an age of medical miracles, but far too many struggle to have any access to basic healthcare. We're poisoning the air we breathe and the water we drink. Nations threaten nations at a time when there could be no winners. Knowing that we face imminent existential problems as a species, we dawdle and deny and postpone doing anything.

In every case, at the core of each of these paradoxes we see people valuing position over purpose, status over service, and money over meaning. Warring egos become warring ideologies. We need to turn that around. There's no benefit to being King of the World if the world is in ashes. And it strikes me that our fundamental attitudes are key for any likely transformation. Only the right values and commitments can pull us out of this global and cultural tailspin. And that can arise only from a worldview that values Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity above narrow considerations of self-interest. Working for a true revolution in human hearts and populations is the only way to break the paradoxes than now hold us back and threaten our existence. We can't let the human adventure come to such a sad impasse that we're surrounded with riches and resources that we're unable to use because of the turmoil in too many souls. It's my job as a practical philosopher to point this out. But it's everyone's job to help turn it all around.

The Power of Mercy

My guess is that you haven't thought much about mercy recently. And it may be quite important, to be so overlooked.

In too much of our history, power has been associated with aggression, force, and revenge. On this perspective, the good avenge their friends. They take what they want, and they celebrate their own strength.

According to this view, the strong choose to take, and the weak are forced to give. In so many of our ancient stories, across cultures, a certain warrior ethic that draws this map prevails. And for those who incline to think that business is war, the same can be thought to hold true.

But there is another ancient ethic that's very different. It finds ultimate nobility lying deep within the unexpected sphere of humility, and presents the highest power as associated with kindness and mercy. In this vision, the sovereign is a servant. The enlightened warrior is a protector of all that should be safe. And love is what finally conquers hate. Justice is important, indeed. And so is mercy. In fact, within this other tradition, justice is understood in such a way as to involve, essentially, the powerful seasoning of mercy.

I'm sure you recognize right away that these are things we don't often enough think about in the context of our work together in the modern world.

In Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice, Portia represents this second ethic, this alternative and powerful perspective, and says, quite poetically:

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; 

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes 

The throned monarch better than his crown; 

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 

The attribute to awe and majesty, 

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway; 

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 

It is an attribute to God himself; 

And earthly power doth then show likest God's

When mercy seasons justice.

Mercy seasoning justice: What can this mean for our ongoing work with other people in a corporate context, or in our individual life and business dealings?

Are we as concerned about mercy as we are about justice? Are we able to forgive whenever we can, and allow the people around us some needed room to grow? Mercy never condones or coddles, but it's meant ultimately to enable the better things that are possible. It's a realistic approach to the imperfections of life in the world, and always sees the potential in people. It's never to be unrealistic or unjust, irrational or self-defeating, indulgent or dumb. 

It's a quality, or tonality of action, that we do well to remember, as we deal with the rough and tumble of life. And then, we and others can be doubly blessed.

Oh, and by the way, I wrote on this topic in some different but harmonious ways in the Hufington Post four years ago. For the meditation, click here.

The Two Great Motivators

There are two great motivators, love and fear. Fear narrows us and holds us down. Love broadens us and lifts us up.

Which will you choose today?

Choose well.

Machiavelli, in his famous book The Prince, by the way, got it all wrong. He said that we're ruled by love or fear, and that love is too fickle, so we should motivate through fear. Fear is a Max-Minimizer: People motivated by fear figure out the least they can do in order to still avoid the feared consequence (not engaging in the very least or minimum they might do, but rather the maximal level the minimum has to rise to in order to avoid punishiment). They never do their best, or become their best. People motivated by love connect what they do to their deepest values and highest aspirations and, as a result, soar.

In another book, Machiavelli got it right, but it's a book no one reads, The Discourses. He said, "Mercenaries never make the best soldiers." Why? He doesn't explicitly spell it out. But by the context you can tell. What motivates mercenaries? Money. What motivates the very best soldiers? Love. Love of country, family, city, comrades, and even, traditionally, a love of honor.

But Machiavelli never fully understood what makes everyone, not just soldiers, their best. When we're motivated by love, we maximize our efforts to learn and grow and do well. We become more. And we accomplish what we never could have attained and sustained through fear.

So, as you can see, I recommend love. It may not be all you need, but it's the main thing, for sure.

A Philosopher's Blog

Welcome to my new website and new blog! I chose the address TomVMorris.com for several reasons. First, there are other people on the web named Tom Morris - the pretenders!. One likes philosophy and writes about it now and then. I think he's a brit. There are also several people named Thomas Morris. There might even be another Thomas V. Morris, the name I used for my academic writing years ago, abbreviating my middle name of Victor. In my various social media experiments, I've been tomvmorris. So, I thought I'd stick with that. But you can call me Tom. I hope you'll enjoy this new blog, which will be a place where I talk about what I'm thinking and reading and doing. And, at every step, I'd love your comments, your interaction, and your own thoughts.

Whenever the mood strikes, I blog for The Huffington Post. Here's my homepage there. On my other website, MorrisInstitute.com, you'll find longer essays than are normal for contemporary blogs, under the Weekly Wisdom section. I'm going to launch a new venture by blogging here at least a few times a week. Before now, I've spent most of my writing time researching or composing books. The question I have is this: Books last. Will blogs?

A new translation of the classic book Beowulf has just been published,  a project that J.R.R. Tolkein worked on in his youth, but never with the idea in mind that it would be printed, or made available to the public. He just wanted to understand our oldest and most famous Anglo Saxon epic poem, and what he accomplished in his work on that text as a young scholar laid the foundations for his own famous Hobbit adventures, along with, of course, the great trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

Will any current blogs endure like Beowulf has? Probably not. Most books don't. But positive impact doesn't depend on centuries of reading and study. If I write anything here that can give you a needed new perspective on your work or life, I'll feel like blogging is a useful thing for a philosopher like me to do. But I want this to be a two way street. So, please, give me your comments!

On, Beowulf, by the way, I wrote about the previous big translation by Seamus Heaney on my Institute website here. The story of Beowulf is one of the great inspirational and cautionary tales ever told. Beowulf himself was a great warrior, and a supremely accomplished individual, who became a leader, and in that new role, didn't realize that he needed to develop some new competencies. His position of responsibility demanded in important ways that he learn how to teach others and partner up with them, collaboratively. But his pride and habits prevented it. Though his circumstances changed, and so did his strong body, as he aged, he never changed in the way he did things, and because of that, he set himself up for his own demise, in a battle with a dragon he could not overcome alone.

Beowulf was extraordinarily strong and incredibly skilled. But one of the most important skills of all ends up being the skill to change. And one of our greatest strengths is our network of collaborative partnerships. The fearsome warrior missed out on both these important things.

For a vivid cautionary tale that's highly instructive, snag a copy of the book, Beowulf. Many good translations are available in paperback. You may be amazed at how this classic speaks to you.