Sunday Firesides: Do Good Because It Is Good

Coming off the success of their first event, The Commons has decided to host a weekly fireside in order to continue conversations about life and society. They want you to join them for this happy hour where everyone is welcome!

The “art of manliness sunday firesides” is a weekly podcast that discusses the idea of doing good because it is good. The podcast has been around for a while and has had many guests over the years, including some big names in the world of self-improvement.

Did you know that being grateful for what you have helps you sleep better at night?

Is it true that meditation relieves stress?

That maintaining social connections may help you live a longer life?

That being married raises your income, that attending to church reduces your blood pressure, and that spending time in nature helps your focus?

“Cool,” “Cool,” “Cool,” “Cool But, frankly, who gives a damn?

We’ve resorted to rationalizing every habit and activity in modernity by its advantages, or usefulness. We wait for an MRI scan, a scientific research, or a just-so explanation pulled from evolutionary psychology to tell us why we should do something. “What’s in it for me?” we wonder. Even the ostensibly sacrosanct is approached as if it were a market item for which we want to receive the greatest price.

By taking this approach, we transform everything into a tool, from ethics to relationships; we reduce the ineffable into tangibles; and we instrumentalize human values.

Ancient philosophers, on the other hand, did not encourage us to pursue Beauty, Truth, and Justice because they are expedient, productive, and beneficial. These ideals, these timeless transcendentals, these qualities of being were thought to be fundamentally good. They were hunted for the purpose of being hunted. They were welcomed as goals in themselves, rather than means to an end; the “something else” was merely a fortunate result of their pursuit.

Right conduct legitimizes itself, as contemporary philosopher Svend Brinkmann puts it. Friendship, health, love, and virtue are not pursued for their practical value; you do Good just because it is Good.

The “art of manliness book” is a book that will show you how to be the best man you can be. It is a great read for those who want to improve their life and become more likeable. Reference: the art of manliness book.