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Home , Solitude

ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015

The philosophy of solitude

BALOYANNIS J. STAVROS *

Summary ticularly painful experience in senility. It is frequently associated with the physical weakness, diseases, Solitude may be a very positive and constructive socio-economic decline, mental decline, emotional experience, whenever it is a desirable choice of the due to widowhood, which are very serious way of life or otherwise it may be a distressing expe - reasons for the enforcement of the of inse - rience, inducing negative feelings, whenever it is curity and . Aged persons, who are admit - externally imposed. In order to understand the poly - ted in institutions for elderly people or nursing morphic influence of the solitude upon the inner life homes, feel isolated totally, living in condition of emo - of the soul it is essential to analyze all the causative tional starvation. The most tragic isolation happens in factors of solitude and the personality’s profile of the cases of old demented persons. That isolation has person who lives in solitude. For the majority of serious psychosomatic dimensions. In cases of human beings the solitude is a painful experience, advanced dementia the patients are imprisoned in a inducing , and , though for others “timeless time”, in a “vacuum space” and in a “func - is a chance for spiritual elevation, self-knowledge, tionless reality”. This style of life causes a rapid dete - interior peace and serenity, becoming rioration of the mental faculties due to limited input of also a way to the truth. The imposed solitude or iso - informations and lack of motives and exertions. The lation is always a painful condition inducing many voluntary solitude may be beneficial to healthy indi - psychological reactions. It is an unpleasant experi - viduals if the principal purpose is the endeavor of ence, demanding a strong personality profile to be spiritual culture, search for the existential authenticity sustained, without vulnerable consequences upon and search for the real way to the truth with the psychosomatic equilibrium of the per - and peace. Persons who may recognize the benefi - son. The of the psychological isolation is cial contribution of the solitude for meditation, self- more depressive in metropolitan areas, where the knowledge, self-control, inner peace and search of incorporation of the person in the body of the society the authentic existential selfhood, feel happiness and is practically difficult. The isolation during childhood contemplation. The real happiness occurs whenever and adolescence is a traumatic experience for the the person achieves to have the experience of real, children, which is commonly caused by the incom - profound and authentic in solitude. patibility in the family, due to many contradictions, disputes and ideological differences between the Key words: solitude, isolation, sadness, despair, family’s members. Children under isolation have self-knowledge, spiritual freedom, existential harmo - poor performances in the school, as a rule, due to ny. inadequate attention, high self-insecurity and low self-esteem. The adolescents can easily distinguish the big difference among the imposed Introduction and the beneficial, instructive effects of the voluntary solitude. Phenomena of self-rejection, which occur The solitude exerts a very individualized influence occasionally in adolescence living in isolation, are on human psychology creating a special psychologi - more frequent in females than in males and are cal atmosphere, especially whenever it is associated associated with psychosomatic phenomena, such as with the sense of isolation. Solitude may be very pos - headaches, anorexia, weakness. The solitude is par - itive and constructive experience, whenever it is desirable, associated with happiness, inner search - ing, and inner freedom, or in the contrary it *Professor Emeritus, MD, PhD, Aristotelian University, may be a deficiency state, inducing negative feel - Thessaloniki,Greece. ings, leading to social isolation, anxiety and depres - Research Institute for Alzheimer’s disease sion. ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015 15

Large number of authors, such as philosophers 1, described the solitude either under the tragic aspect socialists, historians, psychologists 2 have attempted or as a beneficial condition for the soul and as a to study the influence of solitude upon the soul even source of creativity 8. from the antiquity to our era. In addition poets 3, fic - In order to understand the polymorphic influence tions’ authors 4, painters 5, sculptures 6 composers 7 of the solitude upon the inner life of the soul it is essential the analytical study of the etiological back - ground, the emotional status, the psychosomatic conditions, the circumstances, the period of the life, the age, the duration, the social environment, the 1. See Nietzsche F: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, translated by Graham Parkes, Oxford: Oxford World's Classics, 2005 and education, the moral values, the principles, the per - Schutt O: The solitude of Nietzsche’s Zarathustra. Review of spectives and the personality’s profile of the person Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, 1980-1981; l 17(2-3): 209- who lives in solitude or has had the experience of the 222. solitude in the past. For the majority of human beings 2. According to Perlman and Peplau “ is a painful warning signal that a person's social relations are deficient in the solitude is a painful experience, though for others some important way…and loneliness occurs when there is a mis - is a state of spiritual elevation, self-knowledge, inte - match between a person's actual social relations and the person's rior peace and serenity, happiness and a real way to needs or for social contact”. In L A Peplau and S Goldston the truth. (Eds.), Preventing the harmful consequences of severe and lone - liness (pp. 13-46). U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984.DDH It is important to know the cause of the solitude. It Publication No. (ADM) 84-1312. See also Gerson AC, and is reasonable that there is big difference between the Perlman D. Loneliness and expressive communication. J choice of the solitude by the of the person Abnorm. Psychol. 1979; 88(3):258-261 and Peplau L A, and the imposed solitude by the society, the physical Perlman, D. (1982). Perspectives on loneliness. In L A. Peplau and D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current the - or mental diseases, the or the ory, research, and therapy (pp. 1−20). New York, Wiley. economic deprivation. 3. O Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822), describes the solitude The imposed solitude or isolation is always a as a terrible experience (man becomes the living sepulcher of painful or at least unpleasant condition inducing himself and what yet survives is the mere husk of what once he was) See Shelley “On ” (1818) In «The Works of Percy many psychological reactions. For many persons it is Bysshe Shelley in Verse and Prose» H. Buxton Forman. Also really painful experience, demanding a strong per - Alexander Pope 1688–1744, in a very early of his productions, sonality profile to be sustained, without vulnerable the “Ode on Solitude” written at the age twelve stated “Thus let consequences upon the psychosomatic equilibrium me live, unseen, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lye”. See also and harmony of the person. Horace, Epode 2: Beatus ille. 4. Rainer Maria Rilke wrote “Therefore, dear Sir, love your soli - tude and try to sing out with the it causes you. For those who The for solitude and the imposed isolation are near you are far away... and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.....» In Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke Edited by Ray Soulard Jr. translated by In some periods of the human life the person may Stephen Mitchell, Burning Man Books 2001.See also Albert desire the solitude and search for it, with his or her Camus Le mythe de Sisyphe, Calimard Paris 1966. The rejection free will, in an attempt to proceed to self-concentra - of the solitude is obvious in the following verses by W. Cowper (Francis T. Palgrave, ed. (1824–1897). The Golden Treasury. tion, self-control, self-evaluation, inner peace and 1875). serenity and mainly to a deep knowledge of himself. O Solitude! where are the charms The children desire the solitude rarely in contrast That sages have seen in thy face? to adolescents who frequently isolate themselves Better dwell in the midst of alarms, 9 Than reign in this horrible place. during their functional time in order to regain the 5. Edward Hopper (an American painter born in New York, in emotional stability, in the moments of the strong 1882) shaped the solitude, the loneliness, the isolation, the empti - emotional fluctuations, contradictions and despair. ness and the stagnation of town life in our era. In addition Manouchehr Motabar (born in Shiraz, Iran, in 1936) tried to shape solitude and isolation using dark and dull colors, in all periods of his career. 6. See “The Solitude of the Soul” 1914, by Lorado Taft (1860- 8. Long C R, Averill JR. Solitude: An Exploration of Benefits of 1936). Being Alone Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 2003; 33 7. The vocal composition "O, Solitude," (1617) by the English (1): 21–44. composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695) based on the poem "La 9. Larson RW. The Emergence of Solitude as a Constructive Solitude" by Marc-Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant’s is an example Domain of Experience in Early Adolescence. Child Development of the influence that solitude exercised in composers. 1997; 68 (1): 80–93. 16 ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015

In the initial stages of the adolescence, when the the knowledge and they don’t like to participate in person endeavors the self- identification 10 the soli - educational activities and the functional life of the tude may be a "driving" force 11 , facilitating greatly the class 14 . The poor records in learning and in athletics interior dialogue and the search for values and moti - decrease their self-esteem tremendously and vations, which would contribute in a deeper under - increase furthermore the distance between them and standing of the real meaning of life and in plotting a their peers. The phenomena of self-rejection, which harmonious personality’s profile. occur occasionally in adolescence, are more fre - quent in females than in males and are associated with psychosomatic phenomena, such as The isolation in childhood and adolescence headaches, anorexia, weakness, resulting in over - use of medical services, associated with depression, The isolation during childhood and adolescence despair and obvious social insecurity 15 . is a traumatic experience for the children, which is The traumatic experience of the imposed social commonly imposed by the incompatibility in the fam - isolation during childhood and adolescence exercis - ily, due to many contradictions, disputes and ideolog - es a strong influence on the later life. The majority of ical differences between the family’s members. In people retain fear for the society, feeling insecurity, addition, the separation or the divorce of the parents and seeking the solitude as a real rescue, whenever and the isolation of the children from their tutors and they face the climax of anxiety and interior turbu - classmates in the school induce strong feelings of lences 16 . The fear, the depression, the anxiety, the insecurity, anxiety and despair, which have negative insecurity, the emotional isolation lead to entrench - consequences upon the behavior and the perform - ment and defensive behavior eventually and ance in the school 12 , the family and in the social increase the psychological distance between the structures 13 motivating them sometimes to seek var - individual and the society 17 . ious ways of alleviation. In general, the emotional atmosphere of the Children, being under the imposed isolation, don’t school environment is of critical importance in shap - socialize with their peers, avoiding group games, ing the emotional background of the child and the feeling that they are not acceptable. Several times adolescent. The harmonious atmosphere, character - they invent individual games or are attached to their ized by respect, friendship, gentleness, mutual parents and elder siblings continuously, begging for understanding, lack of discriminations, care for the their friendship and protection. others, , tranquility and peace is benefi - Children under isolation have poor performances cial for the formation and amelioration of the person - in the school, as a rule, due to inadequate attention, ality’s profile of the pupils and colleagues. high self-insecurity and low self-esteem. In cases In the contrary a school atmosphere, character - that the incompatibility in the family is associated ized by contradictions, disharmony, discriminations, with the incompatibility in the school environment, irony, hard competition, and social isolation the children become indifferent for the education and of the individuals induce aggressiveness, instability,

10. See SJ Baloyannis: Psychiatry and Pastoral Psychiatry. 14. Chen X, Rubin K H, Li B. Social and school adjustment of shy Purnaras Pub. Thessaloniki 1986 and of the same author and aggressive children in China. Development and Psihologie Pastoraleă. Iaşi 2015. Psychopathology, 1995; 7: 337–349. 11. Sullivan H S. The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New 15. Hankin B L, Abramson L Y, Moffitt T E, Silva P A, McGee R, York: Norton 1953. Angell K E. Development of depression from preadolescence to 12. Boivin M, Dodge K A, Coie J D. Individual– group behavioral young adulthood: Emerging gender differences in a 10-year longi - similarity and peer status in experimental play groups of boys: The tudinal study.Journal of Abnormal Psychology,1998;107,128–140. social misfit revisited. Journal of Personality and Social 16. Coplan R J, Rubin K H, Fox N A, Calkins S D, Stewart S L. Psychology, 1995; 69: 269 –279. Being alone, playing alone, and acting alone: Distinguishing 13. Gazelle H. Class Climate Moderates Peer Relations and among reticence and passive and active solitude in young chil - Emotional Adjustment in Children with an Early History of Anxious dren. Child Development, 1994; 65: 129 –137. Solitude: A Child Environment Model. Developmental Psychology 17. Gazelle H, Ladd G W. Anxious solitude and peer exclusion: Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association 2006; A diathesis-stress model of internalizing trajectories in childhood. 42(6):1179 –1192. Child Development, 2003; 74: 257–278. ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015 17 insecurity, sadness, anxiety and fear and may result The feeling of the psychological isolation is more in psychosomatic phenomena and final escape from depressive in metropolitan areas, where the incorpo - the school 18 . ration of the person in the body of the society is prac - The adolescents can easily distinguish the big dif - tically difficult. However some persons like the ference among the imposed social isolation 19 and anonymity of the big cities 25 and avoid the limited the beneficial, instructive, voluntary solitude 20 . The environments of the towns and villages, where they elder are the adolescents the better realize the are easily exposed to criticism and comments of the importance of the solitude for the self- knowledge, others. self-understanding and self-determination. Usually, The feelings of the insecurity and fear which are they live in solitude by their free will, avoiding fre - created during childhood either due to incompatible quent communication with others, relatives, siblings environment of the family or due to multifactorial dis - and fiends, trying to keep themselves in anonymity, crimination in the school accompany the individual having a discrete and conservative behavior, they during the course of his life, playing considerable role read books 21 , listen music for many hours, write in the modulation of his social behavior. The individ - poems, diaries describing any detail of their everyday ual becomes, as a rule, very conservative, introver - life and their own 22 . In the third period of sive, hesitant, very formal, dogmatic, anxious, defen - the adolescence the solitude becomes a source of sive, excusive, friendless, lacking in assertiveness happiness and inner fulfilment 23 and it is described and self-actualization, having low self-esteem and no rarely as a very beneficial experience 24 . being psychological isolated 26 from his colleagues The current phenomenon of the isolation of the and fellows, in order to avoid any social risk-taking, young generation in the “miraculous world of the conflict and psychosocial distress 27 . computers and the Internet” signifies the desire to In general the loneness and the isolation are con - escaping from a traumatic social reality and to rescu - fronted differently by men, according to the charac - ing in the anonymous horizon of the electronic world. ter, the principles, the ethics, the age, the socioeco - nomic state and the philosophy of each one of them. In a parallel way the influence of the loneness, soli - tude and isolation is differentiated from person to person greatly, according to his own multifactorial psychological and social background 28 . For some persons the solitude is beneficial, 18. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development improving the , inducing the inner har - Early Child Care Research Network. Social functioning in first mony and peace, the tranquility, the emotional bal - grade: Associations with earlier home and child care predictors ance and the self-knowledge. For others, the solitude and with current classroom experiences. Child Development, 2003; 74: 1639 –1662. is a factor of sadness, anxiety, insecurity and they 19. Galanaki E. Are children able to distinguish among the con - could sustain it hardly. cepts of aloneness, loneliness, and solitude? International Journal of Behavioral Development 2004; 28 (5): 435-443. 20. Oh W, Rubin KH, Bowker JC, Booth-LaForce C, Rose- Krasnor L, Laursen B. Trajectories of Social Withdrawal from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2008; 36: 553–566. 21. Pedersen DM. Model for types of privacy by privacy func - tions Journal of Environmental Psychology 1999; 19 (4): 397–405. 22. Wang JM, Rubin KH, Laursen B, Booth-LaForce C, Rose- Krasnor L. Preference-for-solitude and Adjustment Difficulties in Early and Late Adolescence. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2013; 25. Arendt H. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Cleveland, Ohio: 42(6): 834-842. Meridian Books 1962. 23. Coplan RJ, Weeks M. Unsociability and the preference for 26. Coplan RJ, Armer MA. “Multitude” of Solitude: A Closer Look solitude in childhood. In: Rubin, KH. Coplan RJ. (editors). The at Social Withdrawal and Nonsocial Play in Early Childhood Child development of and social withdrawal. New York: Development Perspectives 2007; 1 (1): 26–32. Guilford Press. 2010. p. 64-83. 27. Cacioppo JT, Ernst JM, Burleson MH, McClintock MK, 24. Goossens L, Marcoen A. Adolescent loneliness, self-reflec - Malarkey WB, Hawkley LC, et al. Lonely traits and concomitant tion, and identity: From individual differences to developmental physiological processes: The MacArthur social neuroscience stud - processes. In: Rotenberg KJ. Hymel S. (editors). Loneliness in ies. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2000; 35: 143-154. childhood and adolescence. New York, Cambridge University 28. Burger JM. Individual Differences in Preference for Solitude Press 1999, pp. 225-243. Journal of Research in Personality 1995; 29 (1): 85–108. 18 ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015

The solitude in ageing without any further expectation. Such a way of life is a source of saddens and despair, a real precursor of Ageing is one of the most important period of the death for the majority of elderly people 33 . human life. It is the period of maturity, experience, The most tragic isolation occurs in cases of old wisdom, of fluffiness of most of the expectations and persons who suffer from dementia. That isolation has perspectives, of the existential identification and of serious psychosomatic dimensions. In cases of the expectation of the eternity. Through the centuries advanced dementia the patients are imprisoned in a all the civilized societies used to pay respect, estima - “timeless time”, in a “vacuum space” and in a “func - tion, , love, thanksgiving and caregiving to tionless reality”. The majority of the patients live in a elderly people 29 . complete social isolation, communicating only with In our era the medical, social, legal and econom - caregivers and few relatives 34 . This style of life caus - ical care and support to senility have a substantial es a rapid deterioration of the mental faculties due to importance in the political and social programming, in limited input of informations, motives and exertions, most of the European countries. However the care - affecting the neuronal plasticity and leading to a fur - giving to senility is offered outside the plenty of kind - ther global aggravation of the mental capacities 35 ness and compassion environment of the family. The and to serious alteration of the personality and social majority of the elderly people, in advanced age, are identity 36 ,without any perspective due to irreversible admitted to nursing homes, institutions or charitable course of the disease. establishments, where the old persons live in soli - tude and has the bitter experience of the social isola - tion. The solitude is particularly painful experience in senility. It is frequently associated with the physical weakness and inability, various diseases, socio-eco - 33. In the recent years, in an attempt for amelioration of the qual - nomic decline, mental decline, emotional isolation ity of life of elderly people, some western countries decided to organize small communities, with private homes, replacing the due to widowhood, divorce or separation from family large institutions and nursing homes. In those communities the and friends. All of them are very serious reasons for elderly people may lead a parallel way of life with the broader soci - the enforcement of the feelings of insecurity and ety. Following that system in Finland the total number of beds of depression. Therefore, the isolation and loneness in nursing homes was reduced from 27,231 in 1981 to 23,234 in 1991 (Aro et al. 1997: 139), and to 16,080 in 2010 (Suomen advanced age is reasonably a very crucial problem Virallinen Tilasto 2011: 31).The Finish ministry of health reported with serious consequences for the individual and the that the results of that model are very encouraging (Ministry of society 30 . Aged persons, who are admitted in institu - Social Affairs and Health 2003: 101). tions for elderly people or nursing homes, feel isolat - 34. Senso-sensorial perception, analysis, evaluation and regis - tration is an essential activity of the brain for the communication of ed totally, in a condition of emotional starvation, far the person with the environment and the society and the prompt from their children, relatives and friends, and are and rational interactioning with the external conditions. Visual declining gradually to a stage of institualization 31 , stimuli are very important factor for the cognitive function and the without any motivation, any purpose, any duty, any inner life. See also Steven Priker: Visual cognition. An introduc - tion. Cognition 1984; 18:66. responsibility, any meaning and any rudimental role 35. See also Donald Hebb: The Organization of Behavior (1949) 32 in the society . They participate in the same typical and Eric Kandel: Cellular Basis of Behavior. San Francisco, WH. monotonous program of everyday activities, repeat - Freeman. 1976. ing always the same identical patterns of behavior, 36. According to Kierkegaard the real identification of the person occurs inside the society, since the person is really embedded in the social and suffers interacting with the others and wishing to retain his existential freedom. Kierkegaard conceptualized that the person in the society has the experience of anxiety and despair during his self-identification. See Kierkegaard SA. The Concept of 29. See also Baloyannis SJ. The ageing through centuries. Anxiety, Kierkegaard’s Writings 8, Princeton, New Jersey1980. Encephalos 2007; 44 (3) 1-20. See also. Matthis. “The Social in Kierkegaard’s Concept of the 30. Savishinsky JS. Breaking the Watch: The Meanings of Individual”Philosophy today1979; 23 (1), 74–83. According to Retirement in America. (Ithaca): Cornell University Press. 2000. Parmenides the continuous becoming is the highest expression of 31. Delislea M-A. What does Solitude Mean to the Aged? the continuous process of identification of the person as being in Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillisse - the society and the world. Parmenides stated also that Being is ment. 1988; 7 (4): 358-371. the Truth and truth is therefore an absolute and unaltered eternal 32. Cumming E, Henry W. Growing Old: The Process of value. See Baloyannis SJ.A message from Parmenides of Elea to Disengagement. New York: Basic Books 1961. the universal man. Encephalos 2004; 41 (2):1-12. ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015 19

The functional isolation of the patient has serious phenomena of the disease 41 . consequences on the senso-sensorial perception In the Greek society the respect, the love and the which are obvious in art 37 . to parents, grandparents and senile per - In the pictures of the painters who suffer from sons is still an important task. Elderly people remain dementia the limitation of the sensorial perception in their homes living with their children and enjoying and analysis is prominent. It is expressed by an over - the of quotidian communication with grand - simplification of the shapes and colors 38 and an children, relatives and friends and being held in impressive transformation of the human faces, which and respect. In a parallel way patients who look motionless, rigid, without feelings, sentiments suffer from dementia remain at home, surrounded by and allegory 39 . However, even by the very simple their children who are also their caregivers, a condi - paintings and drawings the patients still try to tion which is very beneficial for the emotional stability express their inner life and their response to unpleas - and the psychosomatic homeostasis of the patients, ant conditions of their stagnant life 40 . On the basis contributing also in slowing the course of the dis - that art may be beneficial for the interior life of the ease. patients, art therapy is used today for the ameliora - tion of the behavior of people who suffer from dementia and the reduction of the neuropsychiatric The beneficial solitude

For the individuals who wishes the solitude and 37. See also the analysis of the paintings of Carolus Horn (1921- seek for the solitude 41 the mode of life in solitude is 1992) by Maurer K and Prvulovic D J. Paintings of an artist with very important as well as the good account of the Alzheimer's disease: visuo-constructural deficits during dementia. 43 Neural Transm. 2004; 111(3):235-245. See also Bogousslavsky J, time in solitude . The proper utilization of the time in Boller F (eds): Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists. Front solitude protects from the sadness and the tedious - Neurol Neurosci. Basel, Karger, 2005; 19: 101-111. See also the ness which may occur in the initial period of solitude. paintings of William Utermohlen, who suffered from Alzheimer’s In the solitude, the serenity and the inner harmo - disease and continued to paint to the end of his life. See also Baloyannis SJ. Neurology in pictorial arts. Encephalos 2007;44: ny are the initial feelings for persons who seek for 7-25. them. Later on they start feeling sadness, partial 38. William Utermohlen, Carolus Horn, Danae Chambers, Hilda insecurity, questioning their decision to live in soli - Gorenstein, and Willem de Kooning are artists who painted con - tude 44 . If they realize the beneficial contribution of tinuously in the course of Alzheimer’s disease. The study and the evaluation of their paintings are very valuable for a further under - the solitude for meditation, self-knowledge, self-con - standing of the inner dimension of dementia. See also Espinel C trol, inner peace and searching of the authentic exis- H. de Kooning’s late colors and forms: dementia, creativity, and the healing power of art Lancet 1996; 347:1096-1098 and Campion EW. When a mind dies. N Engl. J Med 1996; 334: 791- 792. 39. Art is an international language or a mystic science searching for the truth inside the soul of the artist. 40. According to Hegel human personality is modulated by social conditions, historical circumstances and mostly by the cultural and 41. Mimica N, Dubravka K. Art therapy may be beneficial for spiritual atmosphere of the era of the active life of the person. In reducing stress-related behaviors in people with dementia. the contrary, according to Kierkegaard human personality is mod - Psychiatr. Danub. 2011; 23: 125-128. ulated by the voluntary and conscientious choices of the person, 42. Michel de Montaigne: On Solitude claims “The wise person concerning worths, values and principles of life, which may over - will flee the crowd, endure it if necessary but given the choice, pass the social circumstances. The choice of normative ethics is choose solitude. We are not sufficiently rid of vices to have to be motivated, while the choice of metaethics is non cognitive. contending with those of others” Quotations adapted from Despair (Fortvivlelse) is an expected feeling whenever the individ - Montaigne's Complete Essays, translated by Donald M. Frame. ual is pressed to shape his life on conditions outside his free will Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1958. and conscious choice. According to Kierkegaard the main pur - 43. Nietzsche’s concept of solitude is identical to isolation, pose of the life consists of the existential elevation to authentic beyond any outside distractions having as main target the spiritual self-identity. Kierkegaard S. (1845). Stages on Life’s Way. recovery and the liberation of the Ego from the exterior impulses. Translated by Walter Lowrie. Princeton: Princeton University Nietzsche stated “I need solitude, which is to say, recovery, return Press 1940. See also Carlisle C. Kierkegaard's Philosophy of to myself, the breath of a free, light, playful air”. Nietzsche F. The Becoming: Movements and Positions, Albany, State University of Portable Nietzsche. New York: Penguin Books, 1954. See also New York Press 2005, Taylor C. Sources of the Self: The Making Hutter H, Friedland E. Nietzsche's Therapeutic Teaching For of the Modern Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Individuals and Culture. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013 1989 and Baloyannis SJ. Kierkegaard’s melancholy in his life and and Walter Kaufmann: Basic Writings of Nietzsche, New York: philosophy. Gregorius Palamas 1988; 81:303-351. Modern Library, 1968. 20 ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015 tential selfhood 45 , they start again feeling happiness experience of the truth 52 . That experience is granted and contemplation. The real happiness occurs when - in peace, self-control, discretion, simplicity, real love ever the person achieve to have the experience of and compassion for the humanity, in humble spirit 53 real, profound and authentic prayer 46,47 . and ceaseless prayer. As much as the man knows The solitude may have as principal purpose the his soul and culture the values and the the spiritual culture, the fight against the passions 48 and more feels compassion, mercy and genuine love for the negative thoughts 49 , the search for the existential the others 54 and the more participates in the pain authenticity and the search for the real way to the and suffering of the humanity 55 . truth 50 with apathy and peace 51 and the mystical At the time that the solitude gives the first spiritual flowers, the person may play a very positive and ben - eficial role involved in the society actually 56 . He may also return later on in the solitude 57 for further spiri - tual exercise, meditation and practice of the virtues, in the spirit of self-knowledge and inner peace 58 . Sometimes the solitude is a painful experience if 45. Heidegger M. The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics: the person realizes the inner darkness and the feel - World, Finitude, Solitude. Translated by William McNeill and ing of the existential insufficiency 59 .He needs to Nicholas Walker. Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press. 1995. practice the continuous prayer and to submit himself 46. Perschbacher Melia S: Solitude and Prayer in the Late Lives to God entirely in order to overcome the feeling of the of Elder Catholic Women Religious: Activity, Withdrawal, or despair and the agony of the soul. The peaceful Transcendence? Journal of Religious Gerontology 2002; 13 (1) adaptation of the solitude is efficient if the person 47-63. 47. See also Luke Dysinger, Psalmody and Prayer in the desires to discover his real existential identity and to Writings of Evagrius Ponticus, Oxford Theological Monographs fulfil the Will of God in his personal life. Then he 2005 and Sophrony Sakharov, 'The Jesus Prayer: Method', in His Life is Mine 1977, 112-120. 48. See LSO Vööbus A, History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient: A Contribution to the History of Culture in the Near East, vols. 1-3, CSCO 1958-1988. 49. Evagrius Ponticus was one of the most prominent authors on negative thoughts ( λογισμοί ), which may be generated by the 52. Philokalia. Trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and intellectual activity. He wrote “Do you, desire to embrace this life Kallistos Ware. 3 vol. London: Faber and Faber, 1979 and also of solitude, and to seek out the blessings of stillness? Then, aban - Brainard F S. Defining 'Mystical Experience. Journal of the don the cares of the world, and the principalities and powers that American Academy of Religion 1996; 64 (2): 359-393 and lie behind them; free yourself from attachment to material things, Lossky Vladimir, "Essai sur la theologie mystique de l’ Eglise d’ from domination by passions and desires, so that as a stranger to Orient" Le Cerf coll. Foi Vivante, 1990 all this you may attain true stillness. For only be raising himself 53. Saint Silouan the Athonite used to say : “Evil thoughts afflict above there things can a man achieve the life of stillness. See the soul, and until she humbles herself she knows no rest also Casiday A, Evagrius Ponticus. The Early Church Fathers, from them… Fight the enemy with the weapon of humility” and 2006. “Humility is the light in which we may behold the light which is God 50. Russell N. The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic -- in the words of the psalmist: ‘In thy light shall we see light.’ See Tradition, Oxford Early Christian Studies 2004. and Archimandrite Sakharov Sophrony. Saint Silouan the Athonite, translated by Sophrony, Ascetic practice and theory, Essex, England 1996. also Rosemary Edmonds Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, Monastery of St. Saint Silouan the Athonite, translated by Rosemary Edmonds John the Baptist, 1991. Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, Monastery of St. John the Baptist, 54. Berdyaev, Nicolas. The Destiny of Man. New York: Harper 1991 and also Pavel Florensky, The Pillar and Ground of the Troch books, 1960 Truth, translated by Boris Jakim (Princeton NJ, Princeton 55. See Sakharov, Archimandrite Sophrony. We Shall See Him University Press, 1997. As He Is. Translated from Russian by Rosemary Edmonds. 51. Saint Isaak the Syrian wrote “Do not approach the mysteri - Essex: Monastery of St. John the Baptist, 2004 ous words in the scriptures without prayer and without asking help 56. The following words of Socrates are relevant « If you wish from God, saying: Lord, grant me to perceive the power that is in to contribute positively and beneficially to your city you must be a them. Deem prayer as the key to the insight of truth in scripture” paradigm of for the citizens» (Plato, Alciviades 134 b-c) and also. “Do not reckon as a truly wise man that one whose mind 57. Werner C M, Haggard L M. Avoiding Intrusions at the Office: is subject to fear on account of temporal” and “Blessed is the man Privacy Regulation on Typical and High Solitude Days. Basic and who knows his weakness. This knowledge becomes for him the Applied Social Psychology. 1992, 13(2), 181-193. foundation and the beginning of his coming unto all good and 58. The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, translated beautiful things” See Saint Isaac the Syrian Ascetical Homilies by the HolyTransfiguration Monastery, Boston, Massachusetts, Hardcover – 2011 revised 2nd Edition Translated from the Greek 1984. Vivian, Tim, “The spiritual world of Isaac the Syrian”, in and Syriac by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Boston, Anglican Theological Review, 83 (2001), 4, pp. 908-910. Massachusetts, 1984. 59. W. Stinissen, Natten är mitt ljus, 1990. ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015 21 would feel a genuine and pure love for the humanity, In the peaceful solitude, in the silence, in the spir - including his enemies 61 , having deep compassion for itual exercise, in the pure simplicity and humility the every human being who suffers 62 irradiating also the man may understand the immense merciful and sac - light and the inner peace from his soul 63 . rificial love of God and His beneficial sanctifying The solitude as a way of life beyond the turbu - Will 66 , feeling the unique exultation of having the cor - lence of the society, the contradictions, the hard com - dial experience of His presence 67 . The love of God petitions, the hostility, the materialistic eude - may penetrate all his existence 68 and transfigure in monism 64 , the politics, the social dispute under the light and harmony all his entity 69 . various theories and dominant tendencies, the eco - nomic discrepancies and distress has been the choice of many thinkers for centuries, who wished to run an existentially genuine life in peace, plenty of spiritual and intellectual contemplation 65 .

66. “The most precious thing on earth is to know God and at least in part understand His will. The soul that has felt God must submit to his will in everything and live before Him in fear and love. In love, because the Lord is love” and “How do you know whether you are living according to the will of God? Here is a sign: if you long for something, then you have not submitted to the will of God, even though you may think that you live according to His will. Whoever lives according to the will of God does not concern him - self with anything. And if he needs something, then he submits himself and that thing to God; and if he does not receive it, then he remains content as though he had received it. The soul which has submitted to the will of God, nothing: neither storm nor bandits; nothing. And whatever should happen, it says, "It is God’s will." If the body is ill, the soul thinks, "Then I am in need of this ill - ness, otherwise God would not have given it to me." And so the 61. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that body and the soul remain at peace”. Sakharov Sophrony. Saint curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which Silouan the Athonite, translated by Rosemary Edmonds despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the chil - Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, Monastery of St. John the Baptist, dren of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to 1991. rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and 67. “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us have ye?” (Matth.5, 43-46) the scriptures?” (Luke 24, 32). 62. Powys JC. A Philosophy of Solitude, Simon and Schuster, 68. «Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribu - 1933 lation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 63. The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, translated peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Boston, Massachusetts, day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all 1984. these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved 64. Baloyannis SJ The role of economy in the philosophy of the us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, society. Encephalos 2014; 51 (3): 38-46. nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to 65. See Palladius. The Lausiac History, in Ancient Christian come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able Writers Series. Ed., Trans. Robert T. Meyer. Westminster, The to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Newman Press, 1965. And also The Pachomian Koinonia. Vol. 1, Lord». Rom8, 35-39. "The Life of Saint Pachomius and His Disciples." Trans. Armand 69. « If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: Veilleux. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1980. See also « for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: we from him. That he who loveth God love his brother also» (1 and come and follow me» (Matth.19, 21). John.4, 21). 22 ENCEPHALOS 52, 14-24 2015

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