Pensar en tiempos de crisis

Around the year 300 a. C. emerged in Athens, a few years apart, different lines of thought: Epicureanism, Stoicism, cynicism and skepticism. They were born as a courageous reaction to the profound social, economic and political crisis of the moment, as well as to the intellectual and spiritual needs that they brought with them. The cosmopolitanism and universalism of that moment left man in a situation of greater freedom, but also greater vulnerability, at a crossroads that still appeals to us today. How to find our own way? The proposals of the Hellenistic philosophy are still valid: a practical philosophy that is worth not as knowledge itself, but as a foundation to establish in it a type of free and happy life; the construction of a system of philosophy of interrelated, coherent, synthetic and organic parts; attention to the singular and subjective person, beyond the focus of belonging to the community. With Hellenistic philosophy was born the individual who wisely cares for his personal happiness and who wishes to reach his own conclusions in matters that concern him and no one else. What they sought and yearned for was to know what was necessary to satisfy what they experienced as a pressing need: to lead a happy life conforming to human nature. This revolutionary fact, which could only take place in the Greek spirit, is now discovered as an unwavering support for thinking and living in (our) times of crisis.