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Full Idea
Epochs of apogee cultivate values for their own sake: life is only a means of realising them; the individual is not aware of living - he lives.
Clarification
'apogee' is the highest point
Gist of Idea
At a civilisation's peak values are all that matters, and people unconsciously live by them
Source
E.M. Cioran (A Short History of Decay [1949], 3)
Book Ref
Cioran,E.M.: 'A Short History of Decay', ed/tr. Howard,Richard [Penguin 2010], p.115
A Reaction
This is a very Nietzschean thought. Mind you, a crazed and dangerous crowd exhibits the same absorption in simple values.
| 21380 | The only aim of our existence is to grasp that non-existence would be better [Schopenhauer] |
| 9261 | The 'Ethics' is disappointing, because it fails to try to justify our duties [Prichard] |
| 19628 | At a civilisation's peak values are all that matters, and people unconsciously live by them [Cioran] |
| 22444 | A moral system must deal with the dangers and benefits of life [Foot] |
| 8059 | The good life for man is the life spent seeking the good life for man [MacIntyre] |
| 6850 | Wittgenstein pared his life down in his search for decency [Monk] |
| 19738 | Values are an attempt to achieve well-being by bringing contingencies under control [Kekes] |
| 20145 | Values help us to control life, by connecting it to what is stable and manageable [Kekes] |