Being at Home in the World

Abstract

Roy Holland describes the point of Platonic education as “being at home in the world”. In this paper, I defend Holland’s notion of how to live a good and happy life against the habitual conception. I first identify three typical characteristics of home in a narrow sense. I then zoom out to the existential question of being at home in the world and contrast two positions. I claim that Matthew Ratcliffe’s habitual conception of existential feelings explains why the sense of home enhances vitality but does not make space for ethical understanding and education. Then, I interpret Holland’s Platonic position in two steps. First, I consider the attitude of wondering at the existence of the world in Pablo Casals and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Second, I spell out Gaita’s concept of unconditional gratitude using Simone Weil’s conception of love of the beauty of the world.