01
Immanuel Kant: May you have the stars above you and the moral law in your heart
In Kant's philosophical thought, there are "three moral imperatives".
1. "Universal legislation", that is, the standard of individual behavior must be able to become a universal law; 2. "Man is the goal", that is, human behavior must treat man as an end, not as a tool; 3. "Self-discipline of will", the will of every rational person is the will to promulgate universal laws, that is, the moral subject is not constrained by external factors and prescribes laws for himself.
According to Kant, the distinction between happiness and morality is the basic premise of the existence of morality, since the former is other-lawed, while the latter requires self-discipline. Happiness or joy is a false command, and I say that the purpose of honesty is for happiness or pleasure and not for honesty itself, and therefore it is other-lawed: while virtue is a categorical command, and I obey the moral code out of morality, and have no other purpose, and therefore self-discipline. The world cannot imagine that morality is based on other laws, because then the world would not be held accountable for their actions. Therefore, happiness and virtue cannot be confused.
Kant's famous quote about the moral law is widely circulated:
"There are two things, the deeper and more persistent I think about them, the more the wonder and awe they evoke in my soul will grow with each passing day, and these are the stars above my head and the moral law in my heart. ”
So, in 2024, Kant's New Year's message to us is: May you have the stars above your head and the moral law in your heart.
02
Nietzsche: May you be a pure self
Nietzsche said that there are three realms of the human spirit: the camel, the lion, and the baby. The first realm of camels, endure humiliation and burden, passively obey the orders of others or the arrangement of fate; the second realm of lions, from "you should" to "I want", everything is up to me to take the initiative to strive for, take the initiative to take responsibility for life, and the third realm of babies, this is a state of "I am", live in the present, enjoy everything now. These are also the three changes of the spirit, and the spirit is a luxury in today's society. However, if you only focus on the necessities (or more accurately, the desires) and forget about the luxury, you are no longer you, but just a pile of material things, creating a kind of ego and self estrangement, until you create a spiritual crisis from which you cannot escape. Only when you evolve into a "baby" will you become innocent and free of impurities, and you will not be disturbed by the outside world. It's a new beginning, a divine "YES" to yourself, a pure affirmation. At this time, you are no longer struggling painfully, and you are not bothering about defeating others, but celebrating your "will to power".
"You have to figure out the script of your life – not a sequel to your parents, not a prequel to your children, not a friend's story. You might as well be bold with life, because you want to lose it. If there is a miracle in this world, it is just another name for effort."
So, in 2024, Nietzsche's New Year's message to us is: Be yourself.
03
Heidegger: May you learn to inhabit the world poetically
Our everyday understanding of things may well obscure the true workings of nature. Isn't it all too clear that the sun rises early, moves from one end of the sky to the other, and sets again in the west at night? But the truth of the matter is that our senses deceive us—it is we who revolve around the sun. A world that we understand, a world that makes sense to us, a world that connects and organizes everything we encounter in our daily lives—a world that makes it possible for us to act, think, and experience in the world.
Heidegger argues that one of the essential characteristics of being (that is, the kind of being we are) is that it is able to comprehend the world, and it is always capable of doing something about the world. When we participate in the world and manifest ourselves to each other, we are not just "anonymous", but truly live in a meaningful world.
So in 2024, Heidegger's New Year's message to us is: Poetically dwell.
04
Sartre: May you create the meaning of your own life
We came into this world by chance (and we had no choice), and at the same time, there was no meaning to cling to. The world is absurd, life is meaningless, so people have to create their own meaning of life. However, we always forget that we are the makers of the meaning of life. We are surrounded by jobs, titles, and roles, but don't forget that these external things don't define all of our possibilities. We must always remind ourselves to explore uncertain opportunities, and to move from the chaotic "self-existence" to the "self-existence".
So in 2024, Sartre's New Year's message to us is: create the meaning of your own life.
05
Hume: May you quit habitual thinking, learn to doubt and think
"The result of all philosophy is only to enable us to discover the blindness and weakness of man, and we see them at every turn—though we try to escape this observation, to avoid it. Hume does not object to the fact that knowledge is derived from experience, based on causality, and obtained through inductive reasoning. But Hume admonishes us not to trust our own inductive reasoning easily, because every epistemological reversal is like a resounding slap in the face. Everyone has a more or less stereotyped mindset that things are what they imagined, and maybe you have suffered a lot from it. Keeping your skepticism and quitting habitual thinking may be your New Year's goal.
So in 2024, Hume's New Year's message to us is: doubt, think.
06
Camus: May you have the courage to resist and gain happiness and dignity
As an existentialist philosopher, Camus was very different from other existentialists.
He thinks more about human dignity, love and happiness.
Someone said of him: "I can't think of any other modern writer other than Camus who evokes love." ”
Camus's philosophical masterpiece "The Myth of Sisyphus" is to be good at happiness. He assumed that Sisyphus, who was unfortunate in the eyes of others, was happy. The reason why Camus assumed that Sisyphus was happy was because he believed that only a happy life was in line with human dignity, and that being condemned to eternal punishment and being happy was a kind of rebellion, and the only possible form of rebellion under such conditions, and that rebellion could embody dignity.
In this human world, who has not experienced the same absurd suffering as Sisyphus? Who is not a shackle in life? But few people can resist and be happy like him.
So in 2024, Camus's New Year's message to us is: Even if life is absurd, may you have the courage to resist like Sisyphus to gain dignity and happiness.