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The Inward Morning: A Philosophical Exploration in Journal Form
When first published in 1958, The Inward Morning was ahead of its time. Boldly original, it blended East and West, nature and culture, the personal and the universal. The critical establishment, confounded, largely ignored the work. Readers, however, embraced Bugbee’s lyrical philosophy of wilderness. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s this philosophical daybook enjoyed the status of an underground classic.
With this paperback reissue, The Inward Morning will be brought to the attention of a new generation. Henry Bugbee is increasingly recognized as the only truly American existentialist and an original philosopher of wilderness who is an inspiration to a growing number of contemporary philosophers.
With this paperback reissue, The Inward Morning will be brought to the attention of a new generation. Henry Bugbee is increasingly recognized as the only truly American existentialist and an original philosopher of wilderness who is an inspiration to a growing number of contemporary philosophers.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
248 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1994
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162 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 17, 2022
“philosophical exploration” in journal form? Using this chronological t approach is at the heart of Bugby’s approach to philosophy. He is concerned about the universals of reality and is comfortable talking about formal philosophical metapysics, but at the same time he insists on being rooted in everyday experiences which in the end shape our abstractions.
An introduction asks the same question. Why doesn’t Bugby work out his thought in the form of a thesis, rather than in a rambling journal form? Basically, it seems that Bugby’s thoughts are unfolding and ongoing, just as we progress through each day, and this form best suggests the process of thinking.
It’s no accident that this book is titled “The Inward Morning” as it alludes to Henry Thoreau’s poem of the same name, one in which he links the eternal constancy of the sun as it penetrates and causes the ever shifting appearance of a forest. In the same way Bugby talks about the varying circumstances of his life, from his childhood to serving on a navy ship in WW II. They are the living experiences which grow into philosophical ideas.
He writes, “Philosophy is not a making of a home for the mind out of reality. It is more like learning to leave things be: restoration in the wilderness, here and now.” By that he says he means respecting things, letting them speak. “Existence is absolute,” and for Bugby any philosophical musings must lead back to responsible actions. Otherwise philosophy becomes detached from reality and becomes empty words. In this approach, you can see the influence of William James, the architect of so-called Amerian "pragmatc" philosophy.
This general outline may make make Bugby’s work somewhat comprehensible, but he is not easy to follow. As he says, “Get down as far as possible the minute inflections of day to day thought. . . Don’t worry about what it will add up to. Don’t worry about whether it will come to something finished. Write on, let it flow.” Obviously, this can appear to be fragmentary and incoherent, but experience has to be trusted, no matter what.
That’s the issue with Bugby – experience is that constantly changing appearance that is Thoreau’s varied forest details but where is the “sun” of reality, of intelligence , of truth, that illumines the details? Here is where it is hard to follow Bugby. He seems to suggest that each person has to discover his own “way” in life, but that way is subject to corrections of experience, and in the end has to be rooted in some kind of responsible action. Otherwise, there is chaos. What that “responsible action” consists of is discussed in many words, referring both to philosophers ranging from the ancient Greeks to Kant and the beginnings of modern existentialism, with particular reference to a French writer, Gabriel Marcel.
But sentences such “I’ve been thinking of responsibility as our mode of involvement in reality, and groping for a conception of truth in terms of being true in responding,” don’t make reading Bugby easy.
Still, there are enough insights, even though often frustrating, to make Bugby intriguing. He freely draws upon insights from literature and religion (even though he was not religious in any formal sense of the word) as well as technical philosophical positions. Reading Bugby is like reading dense poetry, difficult but worth coming back to.
An introduction asks the same question. Why doesn’t Bugby work out his thought in the form of a thesis, rather than in a rambling journal form? Basically, it seems that Bugby’s thoughts are unfolding and ongoing, just as we progress through each day, and this form best suggests the process of thinking.
It’s no accident that this book is titled “The Inward Morning” as it alludes to Henry Thoreau’s poem of the same name, one in which he links the eternal constancy of the sun as it penetrates and causes the ever shifting appearance of a forest. In the same way Bugby talks about the varying circumstances of his life, from his childhood to serving on a navy ship in WW II. They are the living experiences which grow into philosophical ideas.
He writes, “Philosophy is not a making of a home for the mind out of reality. It is more like learning to leave things be: restoration in the wilderness, here and now.” By that he says he means respecting things, letting them speak. “Existence is absolute,” and for Bugby any philosophical musings must lead back to responsible actions. Otherwise philosophy becomes detached from reality and becomes empty words. In this approach, you can see the influence of William James, the architect of so-called Amerian "pragmatc" philosophy.
This general outline may make make Bugby’s work somewhat comprehensible, but he is not easy to follow. As he says, “Get down as far as possible the minute inflections of day to day thought. . . Don’t worry about what it will add up to. Don’t worry about whether it will come to something finished. Write on, let it flow.” Obviously, this can appear to be fragmentary and incoherent, but experience has to be trusted, no matter what.
That’s the issue with Bugby – experience is that constantly changing appearance that is Thoreau’s varied forest details but where is the “sun” of reality, of intelligence , of truth, that illumines the details? Here is where it is hard to follow Bugby. He seems to suggest that each person has to discover his own “way” in life, but that way is subject to corrections of experience, and in the end has to be rooted in some kind of responsible action. Otherwise, there is chaos. What that “responsible action” consists of is discussed in many words, referring both to philosophers ranging from the ancient Greeks to Kant and the beginnings of modern existentialism, with particular reference to a French writer, Gabriel Marcel.
But sentences such “I’ve been thinking of responsibility as our mode of involvement in reality, and groping for a conception of truth in terms of being true in responding,” don’t make reading Bugby easy.
Still, there are enough insights, even though often frustrating, to make Bugby intriguing. He freely draws upon insights from literature and religion (even though he was not religious in any formal sense of the word) as well as technical philosophical positions. Reading Bugby is like reading dense poetry, difficult but worth coming back to.
December 17, 2018
Bugbee offers a profound and delightful exploration of the human search for being at home in this world - which to him means the attempt to make himself at home in a spiritual and natural 'wilderness.'
October 24, 2022
Take part in a communal activity and let it inform you, rather than read this book
June 2, 2025
yea i liked it
October 17, 2014
Just marking this as read right now so I don't have to see it on my currently reading shelf for the next eight weeks. Is that weird?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews