How to find a strange solace in the indifference of the universe | Aeon Essays

is Bimal K Matilal Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto in Canada. His books include Inwardness: An Outsiders’ Guide (2021) and Virtual Subjects, Fugitive Selves: Fernando Pessoa and his Philosophy (2020). is a fiction writer and essayist. She teaches at Chiang Mai University, and is currently working on her second novel. Her first novel, ‘Sun Over Konocti’, is a speculative story that explores the idea of simultaneous realities. Edited bySam Dresser An elusive point sits on the horizon. A deep yearning stirs within to move closer to this point, perhaps in search of the unknown, perhaps in search of questions without answers. It is a yearning that will never be fulfilled. It is a point never reached. This yearning is the all-too-human inclination for our lives to somehow be different than they are, and for the universe not to be indifferent to our cares and concerns. In her essay ‘The Blue of Distance’ (2005), the US author Rebecca Solnit associates this p

is Bimal K Matilal Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto in Canada. His books include Inwardness: An Outsiders’ Guide (2021) and Virtual Subjects, Fugitive Selves: Fernando Pessoa and his Philosophy (2020). is a fiction writer and essayist. She teaches at Chiang Mai University, and is currently working on her second novel. Her first novel, ‘Sun Over Konocti’, is a speculative story that explores the idea of simultaneous realities. Edited bySam Dresser An elusive point sits on the horizon. A deep yearning stirs within to move closer to this point, perhaps in search