Solitude

Descrivere, seguendone le tappe principali, il percorso della "solitudine" nella cultura occidentale non è compito semplice. Lo svolge con acribia e attenzione Aurelio Musi in Storia della solitudine (Neri Pozza, 2021): libro che può tra l'altro essere, e certamente lo diventerà, perfetta compagnia per i solitari, appunto, o per coloro che non per scelta, ma per costrizione, vivono in solitudine, più o meno temperata da "compagnie" differenti, assai spesso non umane: animali, macchine, giardini, panorami, di solito. Come ben s'avvede lo storico, la nostra lingua non ha la diade illuminante, ed estremamente funzionale, propria di quella inglese, ad esempio: «solitude» e «loneliness» esprimono la differenza, fondamentale, tra la solitudine come condizione oggettiva ed "il sentirsi soli", la solitudine come esperienza esistenziale, con tutte le sfumature situazionali, per dir così, tra le due condizioni/situazioni prese nella loro forma estrema...

Psychodynamic psychotherapy for people in the second half of their lives. The article discusses the basic notions of psychodynamic psychotherapy for people in the second half of their lives, that is for people in their mid- and late adulthood. The topic is of current interest due to the rapid ageing of the society, but even so it remains neglected. The article presents the developmental perspective and discusses the reasons for which persons in the second half of their lives undergo treatment. It puts forward the conditions necessary for patients to qualify for therapy and analyses the issue of prognosis. It discusses the meaning of early childhood experiences for the psychopathology of middle and late adulthood and the related technical problems. It reflects on the problematic experience for the middle and, in particular, late adulthood. This experience is essential for the psychopathology of these periods of life and includes: death, loneliness and dependence. Finally, the article discusses the characteristics of several factors necessary for the process of psychotherapy which are also typical for people in the second half of their lives: specific regression and countertransference.

Notre recherche montre que les retraits du social posant problème à leurs protagonistes ne génèrent pas mécaniquement des compétences en solitude ou une disposition solitaire qui permet un ajustement a minima aux injonctions (potentiellement contradictoires) à l’autonomie et au lien social. Au contraire, les solitudes peuvent consolider une disposition non solitaire.

Kafka created loneliness, on one hand, to support the need of his work and, on the other hand, as an exclusion of the rule of Law. As such loneliness is a troubled and ambivalent existential phenomenon lived at times as sheltering and threatening, as a salvation and a damnation. It’s a destiny, for which Kafka feels hopelessly guilty.

Solitude may be positive or negative, depending on situational
and personal factors. From prior research, nine types of solitude
were identified. Based on data from a questionnaire study of
undergraduate participants, factor analysis suggests that these
nine types can be reduced to three dimensions, two positive and
one negative. These are, respectively, Inner-Directed Solitude
(characterized by self-discovery and inner peace), Outer-Directed
Solitude (characterized by intimacy and spirituality), and Loneliness.
Personality and value correlates, as well as situational
correlates, of the various types of solitude also were explored.

Çeviren: Murat Erşen

Çoğumuz için en büyük korku: yalnız ölmek. Yalnızlık, üzerine eğilmesi zor bir konu çünkü yoğun bir şekilde sosyal olan dünyamızda pek çok olumsuz tınıya sahip. Ama gerçek şu ki nerede insan varsa orada yalnızlık da vardır. Odanızın sessizliğinde otururken, ikindi vakti bir parkın sakinliğinde dinlenirken ya da hareketli bir sokakta insan kalabalığıyla çevriliyken yalnız olabilirsiniz. Şarkı mırıldanan birinin bize ne kadar yalnız olabileceğimizi anlattığını duymak için radyoyu açmanız yeterli. Bu ezber bozan kitapta, filozof Lars Svendsen yalnızlığın üstüne gidiyor ve bu en insani duygunun hem olumlu hem olumsuz taraflarını masaya yatırıyor.

Felsefe, psikoloji ve sosyal bilimlerde yapılan son çalışmalardan yararlanan Yalnızlığın Felsefesi farklı yalnızlık türlerini keşfe çıkıyor ve insanları bunlara yatkın kılan psikolojik ve sosyal karakteristikleri inceliyor. Svendsen dostluğun ve aşkın önemini gözden geçirirken yalnızlığın yaşam kalitemizi nasıl etkilediğini, fiziksel ve zihinsel yaşamımız üzerindeki tesirlerini araştırıyor. Kışkırtıcı bir hamleyle, modern toplumumuzun ana sorununun çok fazla yalnız olmamız değil daha ziyade yeterince tek başına kalamamamız olduğunu ileri sürüyor ve yalnızlığımızın kendimiz ve dünyadaki yerimiz hakkında bize derin şeyler söyleyebildiği anların izini sürüyor.

Ortaya çıkan sonuç ise varlığımızın karmaşık ve derinden anlam dolu bir parçası hakkında yazılmış işte bu büyüleyici kitap.

Yayınevi: Redingot
Basım Tarihi: 2/2018
Sayfa Sayısı: 216

In the dissertation, the complexity of the self is investigated as a concept that cannot be attained without an adherence to exterior sources that become manifest in varying ways. The dissertation assesses how the self cannot be seen and attained as an idea that is independent of society and temporal inflection.

The texts that are being used in such an evaluation consist of The Road (2009) by Cormac McCarthy, Reveries of the Solitary Walker (2011) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Losing Face (2014) by Kathy Torpie. The works of Carl Jung formulate the framework for which the self is explored and inform the way in which the self is presented in the texts, such as the parent and child archetype. The work of Jung, however, is also to be criticised as it cannot contend for the complexity regarding the temporality surrounding one’s notion of one’s identity in the present. The dissertation, as such, uses the works of Jung, such as The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (1980) and The Undiscovered Self (2005) to oppose or inform the depiction of the self across the literary works.

Drawing on Jung’s concepts of archetypes and the developmental and collective nature of identity, the self across the three texts cannot entirely account for such a rigid framework. This is because it fails to take into account personal attributes of one’s identity, namely their individual past and future aspirations. Jung ascribes somewhat to the social aspect of the self, such as the ‘persona’ which acts as the individual’s social face. The literary texts collectively reinforce that the self cannot be detached from the individual him or herself, and thus the self cannot be attained without it being informed through socialisation.

L’isolement relationnel concerne les personnes qui n’entretiennent qu’un nombre très faible de contacts avec autrui. Deux groupes sociaux sont particulièrement touchés : les personnes âgées et les personnes socialement défavorisées, en particulier les titulaires de faibles revenus et les non-diplômés. À l’isolement, peut s’ajouter un certain mal-être. Ainsi, une personne isolée sur quatre éprouve un
sentiment de solitude ou d’ennui, contre une personne non isolée sur dix. Ces personnes, cumulant isolement relationnel
et mal-être, sont donc particulièrement fragiles sur le plan psychologique et social. La composition sociale des zones
urbaines sensibles y augmente le risque d’isolement relationnel.

In this chapter several psychoanalytic views on the origins of beneficial solitude, its developmental course during the first years of life, and its implications for later development are discussed, evaluated, and organized around three dimensions: the solitary self, the ability to be alone, and the necessity of being alone, as well as the companionable nature of solitude. These views belong to different psychoanalytic models, such as the Freudian drive/structure and the object relations model. Conclusions are drawn and future directions are described, concerning the paradox of solitude, which is argued to be evident from the beginning of life.

This is the draft version of the first half of a chapter from my forthcoming monograph on minimalist aesthetics, A Theory of Minimalism, that will be published later in 2016, and that reframes a great deal of canonical minimalism from a transhistorical and philosophical perspective. This chapter re-examines the disputed phenomenon of "holy minimalism" across various media, and in particular in relation to transhistorical ascetic practice and some of its consequences for aesthetics. The second half of the chapter (not included here) examines the relation of minimalism to theurgy and ritual practice in greater detail. As is perhaps implicit in this provisional title, "The Other Austerity," I make only brief mention of austerity politics and economics. Although I expand on this elsewhere, my view here is that aesthetic austerity reveals, albeit indirectly, how contemporary conceptions of austerity disingenuously appropriate concepts and turn them to a strategic purpose radically different from their historical usage, or their horizons as revealed in aesthetics practice.

In this work a subject of loneliness was brought up, which is a complex phenomenon and variously defined by the authors. To order content introduced its three dimensions: social, emotional, and axionormative. Presents the results of the survey, which was conducted in 2006 and then repeated in 2013. The respondents were students aged 14-17 years and their main goal was to determine the attitudes of young people considering this phenomenon. The results showed, how often loneliness is defined, what relations is appearing in, what meaning plays in the lives of young people and what are the sources and consequences.


W pracy podjęto się zagadnienia samotności, które jest zjawiskiem złożonym i różnie definiowanym przez autorów. Dla uporządkowania treści wprowadzono jej trzy wymiary: społeczny, emocjonalny i aksjonormatywny. Przedstawiono wyniki badań ankietowych, które zostały przeprowadzone w 2006r., a później powtórzone w 2013r. Respondentami byli uczniowie w wieku 14-17 lat, a ich głównym celem stało się określenie postaw młodzieży wobec tego zjawiska. Wyniki pokazały, jak najczęściej definiowana jest samotność, w jakich relacjach występuje, jakie znaczenie odgrywa w życiu młodych ludzi, a także jakie są jej źródła i konsekwencje.

Despite the documented benefits of volitional solitude for adolescents and adults, little is known about solitude skills, a term that has been mentioned only in passing in the literature. Psychologists have neither named nor described these skills, despite claims that such skills have important clinical and educational applications. To fill this gap in the literature, this dissertation presents findings from an exploratory study that interviewed eight adult creative writers to discern what skills they employed to reap the benefits of solitude. Qualitative methodology utilizing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis yielded evidence for eight solitude skills, organized within two superordinate themes. Four skills comprised the theme Connection with Self: enjoyment of solitary activities; emotional regulation; introspection; and noticing and heeding internal signals to enter solitude; and four skills comprised the theme Proactive Approach: carving out time for solitude; negotiating with important others for time in solitude; being mindful of how time in solitude was spent; and balancing the needs for solitude and for sociability. In addition, themes from the qualitative analysis were consistent with several assertions about solitude in the psychological literature: solitude is a biological need; solitude supports identity development as well as intimacy with others; a preference for solitude reflects a pleasure in solitary activities rather than an aversion towards people; and solitude promotes happiness in the eudaimonic, rather than hedonic, sense. Finally, the two superordinate themes categorizing these solitude skills converge to support what may be the fundamental function of solitude: facilitating a relationship with the self. Identifying these solitude skills represents an important contribution to alone theory, because they reveal important processes necessary for solitude to be experienced constructively, or even experienced at all. Empirically testing this preliminary set of solitude skills with other populations paves the way for creating and adapting solitude skills curricula for educational, clinical, and individual use.

"Il presente studio indaga la relazione tra il grado di autodeterminazione al comportamento solitario, il sentimento di solitudine e l’attitudine nei confronti di tale esperienza. A 1143 adolescenti di eta compresa tra i 14 e i 20 anni (M=16.71; DS= 1.52) sono stati somministrati il Frequency of and Autonomy for Solitary and Interpersonal Behavior (FASIB; Beiswenger, 2008) e il Louvain Loneliness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LLCA; Marcoen, Goossens, e Caes, 1987). Un’indagine sulle proprieta psicometriche del FASIB ne ha mostrato l’applicabilita nel contesto italiano (Studio 1). L’analisi delle correlazioni di Pearson ha evidenziato una relazione positiva tra motivazione autonoma al comportamento solitario e l’affinita per la solitudine. Il sentimento di solitudine nei confronti dei pari e correlato con la motivazione esterna al comportamento solitario e con l’assenza di motivazione (Studio 2). I dati supportano la teoria dell’autodeterminazione, sottolineando il ruolo dell’autonomia nella messa in atto dei comportamenti solitari.

Keywords: Solitudine, autodeterminazione, adolescenza, motivazione autonoma, motivazione controllata

Abstract: This paper reflects on the political importance of the activity of thinking and suggests that Arendt’s space of politics may not be limited to its traditional abode within the public realm. Beyond the public realm of politics, Arendt’s defense of political action requires attention to the private as well. What has been overlooked amidst all the attention to Arendt’s defense of the public realm of politics over and against the rise of the social is her equally strong insistence upon a vibrant and secure private realm where active thinking is possible. Arendt’s private realm is a space of solitude that is the necessary prerequisite for the activity of thinking. Indeed, it is solitude that nurtures and fosters thoughtfulness and thus prepares individuals for the possibility of political action. To create a meaningful politics amidst the loneliness of the modern world, Arendt suggests, requires solitude, which she sees as the cradle of thinking.

What is the relationship between friendship and human flourishing? This is a central topic in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and one to which Maimonides also returned throughout his career. Despite the relative neglect of this topic in recent scholarship, I argue that friendship (philia) was an important link between moral and intellectual perfection for Maimonides. He identified Aristotle’s virtue friendship with the love between students and teachers and also interpreted many of the divine commandments as efforts to promote both family and virtue friendship among the Jewish people. Friendship was aligned thematically in Maimonides’ writings with topics like kinship and sexuality, circumcision, and the ethics of speech, all of which point in different ways to the unresolved tension between rational and sensual aspects of our human condition. This article therefore contributes to the investigation of the relationship between Maimonides’ legal and philosophical writing on social themes. While Aristotle clearly influenced his reading of biblical and rabbinic texts for example, I will also argue that Maimonides’ religious and communal commitments helped to push his reading of Aristotle in a broadly inclusive direction— both with respect to the range of different goods that are appropriate to an ideal human life as well as the potential accessibility of those goods to different classes of persons. I offer this article as a corrective to the exaggerated focus on seclusion and solitary contemplation that has characterized academic scholarship on Maimonides.

La solitude est le sujet à la fois fondamental et filigrané de l'oeuvre de Friedrich Nietzsche, Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, parce qu'elle est le destin du prophète, celui qui descend apporter sa connaissance parmi les hommes, et qui donc se trouve irrémédiablement éloigné d'eux parce qu'il apporte l'avenir avec lui, mais elle est aussi le terreau du penseur, son lieu de création et d'apprentissage, celui où fleurit la connaissance qu'il a de lui-même et de l'homme. La solitude est le destin de celui qui pense l'homme mais ne peut vivre avec lui, dans l'instant et dans la foule, elle est le destin mais aussi l'aspiration de ce que Nietzsche nomme « l'esprit libre », libre des valeurs anciennes, inertes et mortes. Quelle est donc la place de la solitude dans Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra ? Quelles sont ses caractéristiques, en quoi est-elle un fondement des discours de Zarathoustra, mais aussi une clé majeure pour comprendre l'oeuvre, et la pensée de Nietzsche qui y est sédimentée ?

This chapter explores slavery’s often unseen contributions to imperial Roman literary representations of elite men’s voluntary solitude at their villas, chiefly examining the villa-tours of Pollius Felix (Stat. Silv. 2.2) and Pliny the Younger (Ep. 2.17). The chapter argues that whether it is distanced, elided or displaced within the villa landscape, slavery helps define and facilitate the villa owner’s solitude. Even when it seems to disappear from or blend into the solitary landscape, slavery helps maintain the all-important sense of freedom and independence that he enjoys there, at the margins of a hierarchical society that threatened to render him figuratively servile. Thus, even as these accounts seek to accrue social distinction for their protagonists within Rome’s social hierarchies by lending them a solitary, independent pose ostensibly external to them, from a broader perspective, they reproduce these same hierarchies and reveal how far from external or marginal these men were to Roman society’s structures of power.

Contributors:  Angelos Chaniotis, Christian Laes, Frances Pownall, Thomas Gärtner, Sabine Müller, Aurélie Damet, Herbert Graßl, Fabio Tutrone, Florian Krüpe, Bernadette Descharmes, Stefan Feddern, Karolina Sekita, Rosalia Hatzilambrou, Andres Matlock, Darrel Janzen, Nadine Metzger, Islème Sassi, Przemyslaw Piwowarczyk, Francesca Boldrer, Monika Frass, Bruce King.

ISBN: 978-3-11-075793-4

Heidegger’s Being and Time has been criticized for ignoring the social and ethical dimensions of human existence. After discussing the possibility of an “ethics of individuation,” it is argued that Heidegger is not concerned with developing a social or moral philosophy as such but with the question of how individuation (Vereinzelung), within the horizon of the question of being (Sein), is possible given the predominance of the social and the fallenness of the public sphere. The priority of the question concerning the individuation of Dasein – and its explication through the alterity of uncanniness, facticity, and death in relation to the identity of tradition and the “they” – provides a basis for rethinking the significance of the ethical in Being and Time, particularly in light of Heidegger’s project of a hermeneutics of facticity. Insofar as Heidegger unfolds the finitude and facticity of the ethical, as a question to which ethical thinking must respond, Heidegger intimates an ethics of facticity.

What is solitude? Is it the spiritual nourishment or hunger? Is it a blessing or a curse? We need it, and yet suffer from it. At different stages of our lives we either seek or avoid it. All the contradictory facets of our need and fear of solitude make a compelling story, which can be traced on the pages of many literary works. In the quest for the answers to the intriguing question of the changing nature of solitude, my aim is to analyze the patterns of solitude and the influence it has especially on women protagonists presented in three literary works, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, Karen Blixen’s Out of Arica and Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing. All three works depict women in foreign, often hostile environment, isolated from their own culture.  Moreover, it is also an attempt at proving, by means of textual analysis methodology, that complexity of solitude in its largest sense, reaches far beyond the understanding of the term offered by everyday language. 
The solitude analyzed in the presented thesis takes different effects on the behaviors and minds of chosen heroines. It either allows for self-exploration and encourages self-development, or leads to moral degradation, madness and destruction; it is the path leading to the discovery of the true Self or the key opening the forbidden door to the darkest demons of the heart. Nevertheless, a certain pattern of behavior emerges thus proving the unusual transforming force the examined phenomenon possesses.


*The presented research paper is a masters thesis written and defended in the Institute of English Language at the Faculty of Philology , University of Lodz.

This essay considers the meaning of solitude in the spiritual life, focusing on the work of Thomas Merton, especially the writings on solitude that he produced while living as a hermit at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It argues for a vision of solitude which allows for a deep vulnerability and uncertainty as part of what it means to come to know God, and which leads to a profound resit-uating of the self in human community. Transformed, the self becomes a bearer of compassion, a healer, a witness to the mysterious presence of God in the lonely places of human existence.

The Japanese term, hikikomori, refers to a condition of severe social isolation, most often lasting several years. According to recent estimates, approximately twenty-five percent of Japanese young people, as well as young people around the world at somewhat lower rates, will experience hikikomori in their lifetimes. In spite of the global surge of clinical and scholarly interest in the phenomenon, there remains a great degree of confusion regarding hikikomori. This paper argues that apparent difficulties in understanding hikikomori derive from defensive mystifications and distortions in which both individuals in hikikomori and those who study and treat these individuals participate. First, I argue that the current scholarly and clinical practice of treating hikikomori as a Japanese “culture-bound” phenomenon obscures more than it clarifies and signifies a reticence to acknowledge a particular crisis in the child-parent relationship. Second, hikikomori, itself, may be interpreted as a repressed and distorted desire for amae, a Japanese term for loving parental indulgence. While current applications of the construct of amae to the phenomenon of hikikomori find it to be a cause of the disorder, this paper argues that amae need not be read as pathogenic nor culturally-unique. Rather, it is the absence or loss of emotional indulgence that ultimately leads individuals to the shame, confusion, self-incarceration, and family-victimization that defines hikikomori.