J. Aaron Simmons is a Professor of Philosophy, a widely published author, a popular speaker, and also a trout fisherman and mountain biker. Specializing in philosophy of religion and political philosophy, Simmons is the former President of the Søren Kierkegaard Society USA. He has published hundreds of academic articles and many other books about philosophy. Simmons is an active public philosopher and hosts the YouTube channel, “Philosophy for Where We Find Ourselves.”
Below, Aaron shares five key insights from his new book, Camping with Kierkegaard: Faithfulness as a Way of Life. Listen to the audio version—read by Aaron himself—in the Next Big Idea App.
1. The human condition is defined by vulnerability and relationality.
Being human means fundamentally being vulnerable. We are limited beings. All of us, no matter how successful we are, are going to die. Moreover, we experience loss and navigate tragedy on a regular basis.
Our embodiment marks us as fragile, flawed, and finite. But the good news is that because of such embodied vulnerability, our very finitude is never something we experience in isolation. We are deeply relational. We are connected to others in bonds of affective investment and moral responsibility. Because of our shared condition, we can hurt others, but we can also care for them. Life matters because that choice is real for us in small, daily ways. Freedom is real, but so are the consequences.
2. Finitude is the condition of meaning.
It might seem that since existence is finite, despair could threaten all of our activities. What’s the point in doing anything if all of it will eventually end? Well, ancient philosophers from Socrates and Seneca to contemporary thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Maya Angelou all remind us that since we do not have an infinite amount of time, it is crucial to make the most of the time we have. The way that I express this in the book is with the guiding question: What is worthy of your finitude?
We all have to answer this question for ourselves, but our decisions profoundly impact others. So, ask yourself: What is worthy of your time, attention, investment, effort, action, belief, and devotion? What is worthy of your life itself?
“Since we do not have an infinite amount of time, it is crucial to make the most of the time we have.”
Our decisions matter because they help shape the world for those who inherit it from us. Yes, finitude can be frustrating because it means we cannot manage everything. No matter what we choose, risk remains. But, as David Kangas, my former professor and mentor, wrote in an email to me the day he was diagnosed with terminal cancer: “In the end, there is the unmanageable, but we would be trivial beings without it. So onward with my day!” Finitude is not something to escape but something to embrace. Life is not something to defer until tomorrow but something to be lived at every moment.
3. Seek faithfulness rather than success.
Once we begin asking, “What is worthy of my finitude?” we can see the importance of shifting our approach to life from Success Orientation to Faithfulness Orientation.
There is nothing wrong with being successful, but it can be a dangerous way to find meaning because it operates according to an “if only, then I’ll. . .” logic. Maybe you, like me, have found yourself saying the following: “If only I can make it to the weekend, if only I can get that promotion, if only I can find the right relationship, if only I can get that house, or that car, or that bank account, then I’ll be happy, then I’ll find joy, then I’ll have time to focus on what matters.”
If we make a habit of thinking that some external achievement, social recognition, or accomplishment is the condition of our joy, then we will live such that joy is always just around the corner but never quite here. It’s like the singer Donovan Woods says: although we keep saying that “next year” we will do the things we hope to do and be the person that we hope to be, we never stop and realize that “there ain’t no next year.” There is only ever today.
The problem with Success Orientation is that it makes us people who are defined by success and wrecked by failure. If we embrace faithfulness as a way of life, we better understand that the goal is not to catch the trophy trout (though that is cool) but to be someone who keeps fishing. It is about living a life, not just putting trophies on the wall.
Importantly, I define faith not as a religious idea but an existential one. Faith is simply “risk with direction.” It is about embracing the risk of our vulnerable existence—that is, whatever you choose to do, you could have chosen otherwise—and yet living on purpose in a direction you take to be worthy of your finitude. Like mountain bikers all know, when you drop in on a trail, you “just send it!” The same is true in life.
4. Don’t be an asshole!
A success-driven life can easily tempt us into becoming what Aaron James calls an “asshole.” The asshole thinks that their success makes them better than others, and their achievements determine their identity. They can’t handle critique because they must rest assured in their own rightness. Assholes are not just annoying people; they are fundamentally out of step with their very humanity. They both deny their vulnerability and minimize their relationality. It sucks to go camping with assholes!
“What you choose to let matter today will define what will matter tomorrow.”
Living faithfully is the best way to avoid becoming an asshole because the goal of life is not to “be” something, once and for all, but instead always ever to be “becoming” someone we are ok with having been. The problem (and exciting promise) is that we are already who we are becoming. In other words, because there “ain’t no next year,” it is crucial that we not think that achievement will make us into who we hope to be. Only by being who we hope to become right here, right now, can we ever live faithfully into the hope that defines us.
What you choose to let matter today will define what will matter tomorrow. Aristotle expresses this point by saying that our habits define our identity. Similarly, Augustine hits on the same idea when he notes that what we love determines our selfhood. In Camping with Kierkegaard, I talk about the theme song from the show Cheers and stress the importance of finding a place where “everybody knows your name.” Well, when we appreciate the importance of living faithfully, we actively “name” ourselves in ways that we want to be known. Hopefully you are known as someone others want to have with them in the mountains, at the office, and as a friend.
5. Cultivate humility, hospitality, and gratitude.
What types of behaviors mark the lives of those devoted to faithful existence? I think that there are three key virtues that we learn on the trails of life and, literally, by spending time in the mountains. The first is expressed nicely by the contemporary philosopher Kendrick Lamar: “Sit down, be humble.”
Socrates famously presents humility—the awareness of your own limitations—as the key to seeking truth. If you assume you already have everything figured out, then you have no reason to keep thinking well. Only if we are humble enough to realize that we still have lots to learn can we cultivate the appropriate awareness demanded by a commitment to truth. When in the mountains, if you are not humble, you will get injured or worse. Overconfidence on the trail will not end well.
Once we develop humility, we should also see that hospitality is required. Others might know what we do not. Showing hospitality is a way of being open to encouragement and critique. As my wife and I said to each other at our wedding, “Come, let’s walk together and talk along the way.” This invitation helps overcome the division and animosity that follow from arrogance.
When we live faithful lives marked by humility and hospitality, we can then appreciate gratitude as not an occasional emotion but a constant lens through which to see the world. Sometimes, it rains during the camping trip, you crash on the downhill run, or the fish are not biting, but you are here, where you have chosen to be. Joy is possible because, as the philosopher Nick Riggle puts it, “this beauty” of the present moment, of life itself, remains present. Ultimately, with Anne Lamott, may we all be humble enough to say “help,” hospitable enough to offer “thanks,” and grateful enough to live daily with a deep expression of “wow.”
To listen to the audio version read by author Aaron Simmons, download the Next Big Idea App today:
