The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety

According to Watts, what is the relationship between suffering and time? How is human consciousness affected by its openness to the future? Why?

For Watts there is a strong difference between the symbolic and the real. Compare his version of these concepts to the philosophical notion of the Platonic ideal. How do they differ? How are they the same?

What is “the great stream”? How does our awareness of this “stream” change the way we think about ourselves and our world? How does it relate to our existential “insecurity” and what “wisdom” can we draw from it?

Watts draws a distinction between “brain thinking” and “instinctual wisdom” (58), claiming that the latter has fallen into neglect. What does he mean by these terms? How does Watts’s view of embodiment differ from and echo that of Romantic philosophers such as Rousseau?

Research one to two of the Eastern philosophers whose work Watts borrows from but never directly sites, such as D.T. Suzuki, Nagarjuna, Dogen, or Sri Ramana Maharshi. What elements of their work does Watts adapt and how?

Watts wants his readers to cultivate an awareness of their unity with all of the cosmos. This includes the unseemly aspects of the natural world from which we normally strive to distance ourselves. Why does he emphasize unity with that which gives us horror?

Watts strongly criticizes traditional Western approaches to morality and disavows any regimented moral code. What does “creative morality” achieve in its stead? What consequences would adopting Watts’s moral views have?

Assess the basic components of Watts’s argument. What is his thesis? What is his evidence? Is it compelling? Why? What are some potential criticisms of Watts’s view? Assess their validity.