As I understand it there's been something of a boom in people pursuing the "trad" mindset, whatever that means - a knowing pursuit of more traditional ways of thinking and ways of being, as opposed to an embrace of the various pathologies of modernity. There's trad impulses in the dating world, faux trad diets like Paleo, a revival of (semi-ironic?) Catholicism among upwardly-striving educated progressives, something called the "Bronze Era Pervert," and many other instantiations of a desire to go back to a time that none of the people involved are old enough to remember.
Bernard Williams wrote somewhere that certain virtues of character can only be fully realized by people who are completely self-aware, and others only by people who are completely free of self-awareness. I think the trad impulse comes from a (valid) sense of loss at the unavailability of the second set of virtues. But as Freddie says, there's not much you can do about it without choosing self-delusion.
The idea that people were once *not* in the position of seeing themselves through the lens of the perceptions of others, that people were once *not* introspective seems like just another meta-narrative to me.
Setting aside the "choosing" of a religion, which seems like sort of a special case, I must respectfully but vehemently disagree with you that a "traditional" way of living necessitates the absence of introspection. Can you not *choose* to learn how to fix things, to be comfortable around firearms, to train in combat sports? These are all in the bucket of what I would call "traditional masculinity," but they don't just happen spontaneously to all the proles outside of Twitter. They require choice and discipline, and have since the days of the Greek & Roman philosophers. Isn't the discipline of mastering one's surroundings, overcoming pain and fear, sort of at the core of what people think being a "traditional" man is?
you can't choose to be trad
This is lovely.
Bernard Williams wrote somewhere that certain virtues of character can only be fully realized by people who are completely self-aware, and others only by people who are completely free of self-awareness. I think the trad impulse comes from a (valid) sense of loss at the unavailability of the second set of virtues. But as Freddie says, there's not much you can do about it without choosing self-delusion.
Embracing the Catholic faith does not, happily, demand a premodern mindset. Doesn’t rule it out, either.
The idea that people were once *not* in the position of seeing themselves through the lens of the perceptions of others, that people were once *not* introspective seems like just another meta-narrative to me.
Setting aside the "choosing" of a religion, which seems like sort of a special case, I must respectfully but vehemently disagree with you that a "traditional" way of living necessitates the absence of introspection. Can you not *choose* to learn how to fix things, to be comfortable around firearms, to train in combat sports? These are all in the bucket of what I would call "traditional masculinity," but they don't just happen spontaneously to all the proles outside of Twitter. They require choice and discipline, and have since the days of the Greek & Roman philosophers. Isn't the discipline of mastering one's surroundings, overcoming pain and fear, sort of at the core of what people think being a "traditional" man is?
This is a very under-appreciated piece.