The William James Hall stands out amongst the buildings that surround it. Standing tall at 215 feet and holding 15 stories, it houses the Behavioral Science Department at Harvard University. It was named after the father of modern psychology and philosophy, William James, who taught one of Harvard's first psychology courses in 1875, and continued to teach at the University until he retired in 1907.
"Is life worth living?" Is a question that many, many people struggle with, and have struggled with for much of humanity's time. William James himself struggled with this very question. He sketched a self portrait in red crayon in a notebook, a man hunched in a chair with his head hanging down: HERE I AND SORROW SIT or, if you look closely, HERE I AM. He came to call those with similar indications, the people whose existence is "...little more than a series of zigzags" and whose "spirit wars with their flesh" the "sick souled."
James's philosophy was built towards saving lives, including his life. James’s philosophy was a sort of pragmatism, that is, truth should be judged based on how it impacts life; the consequences that it has. However, when life seems meaningless to you, that holds very little weight, and James knew this. He crafted a philosophy to combat this.
So, is life worth living? James argued that there was one answer: "Maybe." Maybe life is worth living. "it depends on the liver." Maybe life can be too terrible and unbearable to continue battling existence- but maybe not. Maybe there is still time to make it worth living or to make something of value within it. To exit life through suicide is the wrong way to go, and through William James's philosophy, you may find your way.
I love how James says that whether life is worth living or not depends on the "liver". I believe this is so true! The way you view life and how you think about your own life and yourself affects so much of our human experience. I think that life can never get to terrible to where that would justify suicide. You must keep battling regardless and fight through it. Some go through their life miserable and some amazingly happy, it is up to the "liver" to decide which life they want. And I think much of our enjoyment of life has to do with mindset and how we treat others.
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