INTELLECTUAL
We leave our school years as unfinished learners; with age we appreciate the limits of that learning and face the reality of our obsolescence as human knowledge continues its relentless advance. The solution of course is a commitment to lifelong learning. Robert Hutchins in the introductory volume to The Great Books speaks of John Dewey’s belief that continued growth is essential to intellectual life. Hutchins expresses his sublime thought: “The twin aims that have animated mankind since the dawn of history are the conquest of nature and the conquest of drudgery…It is impossible to believe that men can long be satisfied with the kind of recreations that now occupy the bulk of their free time…A man must use his mind; he must feel that he is doing something that will develop his highest powers and contribute to the development of his fellow men, or he will cease to be a man.”2 It seems to me intellectual growth requires a mixture of the great books of the past, texts on history, contemporary literature, current news (multiple sources), and study of science.
Two millennia earlier Seneca says much the same as Hutchins: “Leisure without study is death; a tomb for the living man.” But Seneca adds to reading and study a further task – writing: “We ought not confine ourselves either to writing or to reading; the one, continuous writing, will cast a gloom over our strength and exhaust it; the other will make our strength flabby and watery. It is better to have recourse to them alternately, and to blend one with the other, so that the fruits of one’s reading may be reduced to concrete form by the pen.” Full intellectual self-improvement then appears to be a blend of reading and writing. (In fact this web site is my effort to fulfill Seneca’s imperative.)
ETHICAL
Of course this entire section and the earlier one on Ethics all entail ethical self-improvement, but it seems reasonable to pause for some ancient wisdom on the process of ethical self-perfection. Aristotle thinks the goal of human life is to be ‘good at’ being human. 
The Greek term for this is arête meaning human excellence or virtue. He thinks virtue is a habit or learned capacity; as one practices virtue, it becomes easier, even pleasant, much as when learning to play an instrument. Moreover, like playing an instrument, it is a capacity we always have even when not using it.3
Seneca echoes Aristotle: ” Learning virtue means unlearning vice. We should therefore proceed to the task of freeing ourselves from faults with all the more courage because when once committed to us the good is the everlasting possession. Virtue is not unlearned.” The person who wishes to have self-mastery and excel as a human must thus continually perfect virtue.
(further continued next post)
Last time we discussed self-knowledge as the third portion of self-mastery. Of course the greater knowledge of yourself you have, the more attuned you become to opportunities for self-improvement. In his book The Time of Our Lives,1 Mortimer Adler develops a ‘common sense’ philosophy wherein he identifies five categories of activities in a human life: (1) biologically-necessary such as eating, sleeping, hygiene and the like, (2) subsistence work, meaning work essential to survive in life (not always compulsory), (3) idling or inactivity, (4) play or activities done for pure pleasure, and (5) leisure-work or activity directed at personal growth or social improvement. Since leisure time allows either play and pleasure or work-like activities, the crux of making a good life for oneself, according to Adler is the correct balance of these two categories. Thus the first issue in self-improvement is finding that balance that will lead to maximum meaning and happiness in life.
Tai Chi is a component of Chinese spiritual disciplines. In the West, Aristotle recognizes good health as contributing to human flourishing and happiness. The practical philosopher recognizes that healthy diet and regular exercise improve physical function and extend longevity, both instrumental in fulfilling one’s purpose and attaining contentment and enlightenment.
Mindful use of such skills offers tranquility of mind and new opportunities to help or enhance the lives of others especially in our proximate world. With good luck some of us may achieve an elite ability that can result in enduring benefit to others – or ‘metaphorical immortality’ – for example an unexpected invention, the creation of a great work of art or the composition of a timeless musical piece.
The internal self is the more complex private, inner personality and lifelong train of thought that overlaps with the psychological self we addressed above. It is our separate side and the seat of contemplation. However self-knowledge at this level expands beyond the psychological to the spirituality of the mystics or what Abraham Maslow calls ‘peak experiences.’ It also offers another priceless opportunity, essential to full self-knowing: the almost magical ability to be the observer of oneself, a higher level of self-consciousness. What this means is when the external or internal self experiences something or acts , the inner self can be its own observer, stepping back to witness and even interpret that experience or action, what Eckhart Tolle calls the ‘silent watcher.’
Last is the ontological self, that primal, non-egoic, non-verbal being which underlies and precedes personality and intellect. This is the most illusive of all facets of self and a source of continuing disagreement. Martin Heidegger in his deeply contemplative Being and Time, sees our inner being or dasein as the contact point for our understanding of all being. Paul Tillich seems to agree. Alternatively Buddha teaches that deep meditation reveals nothing beneath the personality, a ‘non-self,’ although there is some contradiction implicit in his other belief of reincarnation. Richard Taylor seems to agree with Buddha that underneath the layers of the self lies nothing. Only through contemplation or meditation on yourself can you hope to discern which or if both positions are correct.
