personhood & human nature

where we’re starting from

our inherited assumptions, cultural defaults, and personal biases

what’s truly worth wanting

a deeper, more critical look at desires and ultimate values

cultural default: the walgreens vision

“a long happy, healthy life”

• modern western culture often assumes this is the good life

• it shows up in advertising, wellness, industries, and popular psychology

problems with the “walgreens vision”

• reduces life to feeling good & living long

• avoids deeper questions of virtue, justice, or sacrifice

• historical and religious traditions - from Socrates to Jesus - challenge this assumption

• ex. of contradicting models: Abraham Lincoln, MLK Jr., Lady Constance Lytton

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

• assassinated at age 39, yet his legacy transformed civil rights in America

• in his final speech (i’ve been to the mountaintop) he said: “i would like to live a long life - longevity has its place. but i’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will”

Abraham Lincoln

• known for deep, persistent melancholy (today, clinical depression)

• carried immense burdens during the Civil War, confronting suffering, violence, and division

• his sadness, far form disqualifying him, may have given him gravity, compassion and endurance

Lady Constance Lytton

• aristocratic British suffragette with a weak heart and fragile health

• initially spared harsh treatment in prison because of her social status, she disguised herself as a working-class woman (“Jane Warton”) to expose injustice

• she was brutally force-fed during hunger strikes, permanently damaging her health

• she died young and frail but her courage contributed to women’s suffrage reforms in Britain

walgreens vision under pressure

• each life shows that length, health, and happiness are not sufficient measures of meaning

• show that flourishing may require sacrifice, suffering and risk, not just health or happiness

• MLK Jr.

  • chose justice over safety, knowing it might cost his life

  • his commitment shows that a “life worth living” is not measured by safety or length but by faithfulness to God’s call

autopilot

habits, routines, unexamined assumptions

self-awareness

asking “what do i want?”

self-transcendence

asking “what is worth wanting?”

truth

testing answers against broader wisdom and reality

the problem of desire

• many people achieve what they want (success, wealth, status) only to find it lacking

• the self-awareness question “what do i want?” is important but insufficient

• without probing worth, we risk climbing the wrong ladder (success but meaningless)

• self-transcendence asks us to question whether our desires align with truth, justice or flourishing

shared humanity and truth

• claims about what is worth wanting aren’t private → they affect others

• to say justice is worth pursuing” is a claim about shared humanity

• traditions across time - Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, Socrates - have wrestled with these truths

• we join a long conversation about meaning, value, and flourishing

where we start matters

cultural visions shape us, but they might be inadequate

not all desires are equal

wanting something is not the same as it being worth wanting

tradition and truth matter

the question of a good life is communal, historical, and universal

the challenge for us

to live reflectively, test our visions, and pursue what is truly worth wanting