On Amor Fati – Korea Times

I am fascinated by how thousands of years old philosophical musings still hold a central position in our daily lives. Take, for instance, the 2,000-year-old stoic principle of “amor fati,” or the “love of one’s fate.” Among more recent philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche often displayed his intense enthusiasm for amor fati in his books “The Gay Science” and “Ecce Homo” written in the 19th century. Philosophers have often prescribed amor fati as the secret for leading a happy and content life.

Like with all of philosophy, a more nuanced understanding of amor fati encompasses the enthusiastic and unwavering acceptance of the things that happen in our individual lives. A person practicing amor fati doesn’t get bothered by the events that occur in life and accepts them as they are. One shouldn’t seek to erase the past or be troubled by it. Nor should they feel anxious about the future. After all, we live in the present.

In this regard, the central stoic principle is to accept the past, the wise and the mistaken, the bad and the good, with an ecstatic and joyful attitude to move ahead resolutely in life. Can you change what has happened even a minute ago? The truth has happened, accept it, learn from it, and move on. Some philosophers go as far as to recommend to be ecstatic in practicing amor fati.

Most of the time, people do the exact opposite of amor fati. Lots of time is wasted in regretting and sulking over the adverse life events, wishing that things turned out the other way. I say, what benefit does this add to your life? I understand that the world is full of horror and despair under most circumstances. However, wouldn’t it be better to derive meaning from it, accept it, and proceed with utmost strength?

I don’t want to come across as fatalist or nihilistic. I urge the reader to be logical and see the beauty in the world using the lens of amor fati. What would make you happy? Sulking over the tragic life events and their unfairness, or accepting the truth (fate), embracing it with ecstasy, and moving ahead with a solid footing? As Nietzsche often explained, expand your mental toolkit, develop emotional toughness, and stop resisting the inevitable.

True joy and content in life come from accepting reality and working per nature. Don’t give outside events and people dominion over your mental well-being. No matter how challenging or difficult a given situation is, embrace it, and do not seek to avoid it. As the famous stoic Epictetus rightly taught, the only way to be genuinely joyous is to accept things as they come and not force your wish on nature to make them happen as you wish them to happen.

What fun would life be then if everything happened the way you wished them to occur? Learn to treat the good and bad things equally. Engineer your inner life to become “ubermensch” (superhuman). At the end of the day, what are your options? As far as I see it, embracing the truth is the only way out, the only way to attain liberation, the only way to bring about positive change in life, the only way to be indeed at peace ― the real happiness. Go out into the world, my fellow humans, every moment alive is a joy to behold. It is never too late for self-development. The flame of amor fati continues to cleanse our soul as it did thousands of years ago.
Kumar Vikrant (kvikrant071@gmail.com ; https://www.kumarvikrant.com/) is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul, Republic of Korea.