Definitions HQ

Asceticism (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not giving up pleasure but the work one does on oneself to become oneself — a self that, happily, one never reaches.

Asceticism (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the stage at which truth turns into ethos: you stop merely hearing true discourse and become its active subject.

Asceticism (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a wrestler's training: not every possible move or showy feat, just the few holds you need to stand up to whatever may happen.

Asceticism (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a wrestler's training: learn not every move but the few you need so events cannot throw you — and distrust the showmen of fasting and abstinence.

Asceticism (n.) as ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠monks practised it was not a longer list of forbidden acts turned inward but a technique for diagnosing thought itself — its origins, its dangers, the dark forces behind its masks.

Asceticism (n.) poses ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Weber's question in reverse: not what must I renounce to be rational, but what must I know about myself in order to be willing to renounce anything?

Asceticism (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in the broad sense, not a morality of renunciation but an exercise of the self on the self, to transform oneself and reach a certain way of being.

Asceticism (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in the broad sense, any self-forming activity: everything we do to ourselves — moderating acts, deciphering what we are, rooting out desires — in order to behave ethically.

Asceticism (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the wrong word for bourgeois sexuality: not a renunciation of pleasure but an intensification of the body — techniques for maximizing life.

Asceticism (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no Christian ladder of renunciations climbing to self-renunciation; in ancient philosophy it turned the subject of true knowledge into the subject of right action.