Interesting! We seem to have come to a similar place on Hesse, starting from different ideologies and focusing on different books of his. Here's what I just wrote: https://outlandishclaims.substack.com/p/seven-glass-beads . I don't think Hesse was exactly preaching selfishness/self-absorption. I think he had internalized the (false) idea that self-actualization and service to the world were impossible to pursue at the same time. He thought he was being selfish with his chosen lifestyle, and felt bad about it, or at least conflicted. But it is possible to find yourself in service to others (you could write one heck of a bildungsroman about Greta Thunberg, I'm sure), and it is possible to serve others by finding yourself, as Hesse did.
I read your article, and I must answer you by first congratulating you for the brilliant piece of writing -- truly a eye-opening text; I had been thinking for a while about a quote (I forget the author) on how 'people do not actually believe that ideas can change the world' and that the tragedy is that they do change it, actually. Regarding Hesse, I originally planned this essay to be much more personal, more about exactly how I had 'misinterpreted' Hesse's philosophy -- his work was an object of fascination for me when I was younger than I am now. Thankfully I did not go much further into Hinduist/Buddhist thought, as I think it would make me an even more egoistical person. I also couldn't help make this essay a bit political, I used to believe that 'individualism was Humanity's greatest invention' and all that -- today, I am saddened to see how many toxic aspects of our culture are 'justified' through a proto-Buddhism (the public intellectual Slavoj Zizek has written about this I believe). Not to take a consumeristic approach towards 'philosophies of life', however it seems that I've arrived to the conclusion that Hesse's particular self-realization is 'not for me' -- I have stopped believing it. Indeed, you're absolutely right, he had some caveats on no-self etc., in this article I even cite his remark on how "No man has ever been entirely and completely himself" from Demian. German culture provides many tastes of "reflective thoroughness" and I continue engaging with Kant, Mann, Nietzsche, etc. I'm still walking that path...
Very thought-provoking! I read Hesse at a time of my life when I was very disillusioned with politics and the idea of finding fulfilment through an inward journey sounded very appealing. Since then it's been a long, painful realisation that going inward is an a sense taking the easy way out and not confronting the messiness of the external world.
Interesting! We seem to have come to a similar place on Hesse, starting from different ideologies and focusing on different books of his. Here's what I just wrote: https://outlandishclaims.substack.com/p/seven-glass-beads . I don't think Hesse was exactly preaching selfishness/self-absorption. I think he had internalized the (false) idea that self-actualization and service to the world were impossible to pursue at the same time. He thought he was being selfish with his chosen lifestyle, and felt bad about it, or at least conflicted. But it is possible to find yourself in service to others (you could write one heck of a bildungsroman about Greta Thunberg, I'm sure), and it is possible to serve others by finding yourself, as Hesse did.
I read your article, and I must answer you by first congratulating you for the brilliant piece of writing -- truly a eye-opening text; I had been thinking for a while about a quote (I forget the author) on how 'people do not actually believe that ideas can change the world' and that the tragedy is that they do change it, actually. Regarding Hesse, I originally planned this essay to be much more personal, more about exactly how I had 'misinterpreted' Hesse's philosophy -- his work was an object of fascination for me when I was younger than I am now. Thankfully I did not go much further into Hinduist/Buddhist thought, as I think it would make me an even more egoistical person. I also couldn't help make this essay a bit political, I used to believe that 'individualism was Humanity's greatest invention' and all that -- today, I am saddened to see how many toxic aspects of our culture are 'justified' through a proto-Buddhism (the public intellectual Slavoj Zizek has written about this I believe). Not to take a consumeristic approach towards 'philosophies of life', however it seems that I've arrived to the conclusion that Hesse's particular self-realization is 'not for me' -- I have stopped believing it. Indeed, you're absolutely right, he had some caveats on no-self etc., in this article I even cite his remark on how "No man has ever been entirely and completely himself" from Demian. German culture provides many tastes of "reflective thoroughness" and I continue engaging with Kant, Mann, Nietzsche, etc. I'm still walking that path...
Very thought-provoking! I read Hesse at a time of my life when I was very disillusioned with politics and the idea of finding fulfilment through an inward journey sounded very appealing. Since then it's been a long, painful realisation that going inward is an a sense taking the easy way out and not confronting the messiness of the external world.