Propos sur le Bonheur (essay help)
admin @ January 1, 2008
Essay help: In the Propos sur le bonheur ( 1925, 1928; Alain on Happiness), Alain contended in general that passions are the major cause of unhappiness, which affects us physically as well as emotionally. Willpower plays a central role in these propos, as in so many others, but Alain was quick to recognize that while we are not able to control our thoughts or emotions, control of the physical body and movement can modify or alleviate causes of unhappiness. It is not through accident that we are happy or unhappy, and happiness must be cultivated, since it is only through individual efforts that we can attain our own bonheur. the physical and mental faculties cannot be separated. the wise and happy person should strive for a healthy mind and body, which will serve for both reflective thought and judicious action. Happiness is equated with virtue, liberty, and justice, as revealed in the wisdom of the classical writers of antiquity, of whose work Alain was a passionate and happy admirer.
Essay help: A contemporary of Freud, Alain disagreed with the founder of psychoanalysis on the importance of sexuality in human conduct, as well as with Freud’s views concerning the composition and role of the unconscious in mental activity. the basis for Alain’s disagreement can be found in his belief that the soul, and by extension consciousness and thought, are not states of being, nor entities apart, but functions of an integrated self. For him, there can be no unconscious which exists separately, or which contains material hidden from the self. But rather than attempt to refute what he considered "Freud’s ingenious system" with logical arguments, he chose instead to refuse it, claiming that Freud’s views on psychic activity were vague and ultimately useless.
Essay help: According to Alain, consciousness, thought, judgment, and reflection are all interconnected, so that critical reasoning and examination are elementary to all conscious states. By opposition, the unconscious, including sleep, is merely an absence of functionality and rationality. Alain applied his theories on states of consciousness in his observations ( Les Arts et les dieux [ 1958; the arts and the gods]) on Paul Valéry’s La Jeune Parque ( 1917; the young fate), a poem describing the transitional states of mind.
Essay help: Consciousness is characterized as reflection and light, which allows no partial states, but either is, or is not. Alain also commented on Proust, who "speaks of the unconscious, but doesn’t need to in order to account for human actions and passions" ( Propos de littérature [ 1922; Remarks on literature]). As for thought, which reveals consciousness, it is considered to be primarily a critical, negating activity. Alain’s style of writing is aphoristic in nature; one of his better-known sayings is "Thought is saying no, and it is to itself that thought says no" ( Propos sur la religion [ 1924; Remarks on religion]). By these negations consciousness is highly moral in its workings, frequently contrasting an ideal self with the real self. It is the morality of the human will that Alain placed in opposition to Freud’s model of the unconscious.
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