Thank you for the great post. The idea that people think being a sports fan is a virtue is intriguing. I suspect it's true, but that it's only a small part of why it's mentioned. Perhaps such things are mentioned in obituaries and eulogies because they help a person feel they know something characteristic of the person, and humanize them. Finally, what is unusual about a person may be the most memorable thing about them, because of how our memory works. We reminisce about the idiosyncratic things about them, not the everyday things that almost everyone else also take part in. Regarding being a sports fan specifically, it may be thought of as virtuous in part because it signals a kind of community involvement, typically the community of those reading the obituary. But also it creates an image of the person acting passionately, and full of life.
The thoughts you've shared along the years have made our lives richer and more meaningful. Not only that, but also your example on how to appreciate life and live it to the fullest, your music, your stories, your courage to speak up, your kindness and humanity --especially when everything in the world, and academia itself is pushing towards disenchantment.
Dear Helen, thank you so much for this. I've been an avid reader of your posts here and I've been holding you in my loving, contemplative thoughts ever since you announced your cancer diagnosis. Like countless others, I'm inspired by your fierce love of life, authentic (Zhuangzian) playfulness, and immense wisdom. Many times, I wanted to reach out but didn't want to bother you. How silly, you might say. Now, I want to let you know how much you've meant to me since we first communicated via email in early 2023.
What you wrote in this piece resonates with me so much. I grew up poor. Whenever our more well-to-do neighbors or relatives were stingy toward us, my mother, who I often describe as someone who thoroughly embodies Buddhist wisdom without having any doctrinal knowledge about Buddhism, always said to me: 生不带来，死不带去. All worldly goods (or bad things) are like the dust on one's sleeves.
Meanwhile, the wisdom of life you've shared in this space as well as the example you've set will live on through each of your readers. I love you for that. -- Huaping
You are in hospice care now? I feel profoundly shocked by this news and find it extraordinary that you are sharing your thoughts about a good life with such calm and equanimity. Your voice is such a clear and necessary one, my friend. Sending lots of existential courage and love.
So did I, Helen. I valued our friendship greatly and hoped we would come closer and work together more, some day. You are a very special person, a female philosopher who thinks deeply but with feminine sensitivity and stubborn commitment to care, clarity and simplicity. We also have some of our background in common. I was sorry when you left to go work in the USA. My son also lives and works in the USA and I miss him and his family greatly. Your absence was an additional loss to me. I love that you play the lute and sing. I play the guitar and sing. There are many threads that weave us together in the big pattern of life. My heart and thoughts have been very much with you over the past months.
So sad to hear of the death of my friend and colleague Helen de Cruz, a well known philosopher whose most recent book Wonderstruck was written when she was already battling a very aggressive form of cancer. Her Substack was always interesting and she continued to contribute ideas there till two weeks ago. We collaborated in our fight for the rights of EU citizens in the UK, after Brexit hit us all so hard. She and I did a bit of research about the emotional impact of Brexit on EU citizens and I reported on this in my book Rising from Existential Crisis: living beyond calamity.
Helen played the lute and sang with it, so that interest in making music and singing was another thing we shared. She was born in Belgium and we were able to speak Dutch with each other. We both lived in the UK and were dismayed at finding ourselves suddenly like outsiders after years of committing our energy and lives to this country. She was so disgusted with it that she applied for jobs in other countries and earned a professorial chair in the USA. I was sad when she emigrated there, but so much sadder to know she has died at the young age of 46, leaving her family deeply bereft. Like her I am a great believer in the value of panpsychism, which describes consciousness as existing in the universe at large, rather than being produced by humans. I am sure her impact in that universe of consciousness will continue to be felt greatly. My heart goes out to her family and close friends.
This is so interesting. I recently had a goodbye party for someone and it was interesting how much people focused on his quirks, hobbies, and the like while saying their goodbyes and reminiscing. They certainly didn't talk about his major achievements! You've helped me think about this phenomenon, which the usual discussions of "the good life" overlook. (And I love the Turkish musician...and his chickens.)
Thank you very much, dear Helen. What you wrote today deeply moved and impressed me, I already know it will hold with me from now on. It's something I have always thought about, but you see much further and clearer than me. I will be thinking about your words, but I'm already convinced you -and Spinoza- are right about that... About virtue and -I guess that's the following layer- maybe also about meaning, as well, somehow. In recent years I have realized that, if my intuition is not wrong, probably we can only have a true, meaningful meaning, if we have it not just for ourselves, in front of ourselves as spectators and judges of our own life, but, of course, if we can be meaningful for each other. As you said, whatever we are, "you can't take it with you", it's only together, as a group, as a family, as community, as a society, as a civilization, I guess, that our makings in life can have a really meaningful impact in life, because it contributes into shaping the world, even in a very little way, beyond our time and reach in it.
Your words today are very wise and important and calming for a fellow mind in quest of a meaningful life. Thank you very deeply for your kindness, for your wisdom, for your caring, for the amazing human being that you must be, as it sure gets reflected, just by your generous words, in everything I have read you, thanks to technology, from the other side of the Atlantic.
All my best wishes, admired fellow human, and thank you so much for sharing so many important things with the world. I think that sharing and caring together is a great deal of what makes us meaningful... and human. And music... ah, what a joy to be the lute-playing Helen! for yourself and for everyone close to you! What a wonderful instrument it is, and what a wonderful sense of playful wonder must have interested you in it (I love the lute and theorbo myself, but I cannot play, I wish one day I could try one and be able to play it mediocrely and happily as I can do, just quite simply, with a Spanish guitar...).
Keep the way you are in every step, dear Helen, I wish you everything that can be good and sweet and beautiful for you in this moment of the journey. And I promise your words have a lasting impact on me, in fact you are gifting me and everybody else a treasured light full of goodness and wisdom, a light for us that comes from your own light, like a torch that gives fire to the other torches of the group. I'll keep and take care of these meaningful thoughts inside me and I'll share them, I'll share what Helen De Cruz helped me realize, to the people around me as well, in my own way.
Meanwhile, I hope you can get the best possible. Thank you very much for making the effort to share all this, I say it from heart. It's a treasure, like a seed that is given, and, I assure you, it has the promise of the flower and the tree in its very shape and existence in the world. Wishing you Alles Gut und Schön, and that it will give you strenght and peace and meaninfulness, as it should, very very warmly, from a grateful reader from Northern Spain :)
Thank you Helen. And we can't even take our reflections or wisdom with us. But we can, especially today on platforms like Substack, leave them for those who remain a little longer. Just watched a film about Jacqueline du Pre which connects with what you write.
Dear Helen, You are so generous to share these thoughts with us. Long ago, another philosopher who lived in MO, William Gass, reminded readers that we are not our bank accounts, our medical records, our CVs, etc. (In “The Artist and Society”). Our quirks are so important and I love that you emphasize that here. Helen, I hope that you are physically as comfortable as possible, and wish you good moments with those you love. Wishing you peace, Lynne
I love your ideas and insights. They have branched out into various aspects of my life. Some time ago, I translated your article on Espinoza and Naess into brazilian portuguese, and it also touched several people here. Thank you, and I wish you all the best.
I am not been the most regular reader, but your voice always meant something to me and you made a lasting impression merely being yourself, along with anything you wrote. So consider me one of many who are thankful for having known you, however briefly and partially. And thank you for continuing to share when it's so difficult to write!
In case you did mean me, here is the translation - sorry about the delay:
Não sou um leitor muito assíduo, mas sua voz sempre significou algo para mim, e você deixou uma impressão duradoura por ser você mesmo, em tudo o que escreveu. Portanto, considere-me um dos muitos que são gratos por tê-lo conhecido, mesmo que brevemente e parcialmente. E obrigada por continuar a compartilhar quando é tão difícil escrever!
I think you must have meant someone else and replied to me by accident, but glad to look up a translation for my comment in Portuguese if you really meant me!
Thank you for the great post. The idea that people think being a sports fan is a virtue is intriguing. I suspect it's true, but that it's only a small part of why it's mentioned. Perhaps such things are mentioned in obituaries and eulogies because they help a person feel they know something characteristic of the person, and humanize them. Finally, what is unusual about a person may be the most memorable thing about them, because of how our memory works. We reminisce about the idiosyncratic things about them, not the everyday things that almost everyone else also take part in. Regarding being a sports fan specifically, it may be thought of as virtuous in part because it signals a kind of community involvement, typically the community of those reading the obituary. But also it creates an image of the person acting passionately, and full of life.
We need hooks to hang our memories and impressions on.
The thoughts you've shared along the years have made our lives richer and more meaningful. Not only that, but also your example on how to appreciate life and live it to the fullest, your music, your stories, your courage to speak up, your kindness and humanity --especially when everything in the world, and academia itself is pushing towards disenchantment.
Thank you so much!
Dear Helen, thank you so much for this. I've been an avid reader of your posts here and I've been holding you in my loving, contemplative thoughts ever since you announced your cancer diagnosis. Like countless others, I'm inspired by your fierce love of life, authentic (Zhuangzian) playfulness, and immense wisdom. Many times, I wanted to reach out but didn't want to bother you. How silly, you might say. Now, I want to let you know how much you've meant to me since we first communicated via email in early 2023.
What you wrote in this piece resonates with me so much. I grew up poor. Whenever our more well-to-do neighbors or relatives were stingy toward us, my mother, who I often describe as someone who thoroughly embodies Buddhist wisdom without having any doctrinal knowledge about Buddhism, always said to me: 生不带来，死不带去. All worldly goods (or bad things) are like the dust on one's sleeves.
Meanwhile, the wisdom of life you've shared in this space as well as the example you've set will live on through each of your readers. I love you for that. -- Huaping
Oh, it wasn’t or would not have been. Your words move me. I love the saying and I love your Kant book
Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
You are in hospice care now? I feel profoundly shocked by this news and find it extraordinary that you are sharing your thoughts about a good life with such calm and equanimity. Your voice is such a clear and necessary one, my friend. Sending lots of existential courage and love.
I loved our work together and being Twitter friends activists on EU citizens rights
So did I, Helen. I valued our friendship greatly and hoped we would come closer and work together more, some day. You are a very special person, a female philosopher who thinks deeply but with feminine sensitivity and stubborn commitment to care, clarity and simplicity. We also have some of our background in common. I was sorry when you left to go work in the USA. My son also lives and works in the USA and I miss him and his family greatly. Your absence was an additional loss to me. I love that you play the lute and sing. I play the guitar and sing. There are many threads that weave us together in the big pattern of life. My heart and thoughts have been very much with you over the past months.
So sad to hear of the death of my friend and colleague Helen de Cruz, a well known philosopher whose most recent book Wonderstruck was written when she was already battling a very aggressive form of cancer. Her Substack was always interesting and she continued to contribute ideas there till two weeks ago. We collaborated in our fight for the rights of EU citizens in the UK, after Brexit hit us all so hard. She and I did a bit of research about the emotional impact of Brexit on EU citizens and I reported on this in my book Rising from Existential Crisis: living beyond calamity.
Helen played the lute and sang with it, so that interest in making music and singing was another thing we shared. She was born in Belgium and we were able to speak Dutch with each other. We both lived in the UK and were dismayed at finding ourselves suddenly like outsiders after years of committing our energy and lives to this country. She was so disgusted with it that she applied for jobs in other countries and earned a professorial chair in the USA. I was sad when she emigrated there, but so much sadder to know she has died at the young age of 46, leaving her family deeply bereft. Like her I am a great believer in the value of panpsychism, which describes consciousness as existing in the universe at large, rather than being produced by humans. I am sure her impact in that universe of consciousness will continue to be felt greatly. My heart goes out to her family and close friends.
This is so interesting. I recently had a goodbye party for someone and it was interesting how much people focused on his quirks, hobbies, and the like while saying their goodbyes and reminiscing. They certainly didn't talk about his major achievements! You've helped me think about this phenomenon, which the usual discussions of "the good life" overlook. (And I love the Turkish musician...and his chickens.)
We've been following each other for years on Twitter, Bsky, and here.
I'm so sorry your journey is on its present course.
Terimakasih for sharing your dreams and fears and concerns.
Virtue can denote so many things. Helping others. Helping ourselves. Facilitating connection to...anything human.
Your prose. Your art. Your philosophy. Your teaching. Your music (love the lute). All of it virtue.
Mimpi baik
A great friend I never met died today. I remember debating Leibniz and Spinoza with her during Covid when we “met” .
She loved to play the lute.
“The best of all possible worlds?”
Not today.
The world is less today.
https://dailynous.com/2025/06/20/helen-de-cruz-1978-2025/
Thank you very much, dear Helen. What you wrote today deeply moved and impressed me, I already know it will hold with me from now on. It's something I have always thought about, but you see much further and clearer than me. I will be thinking about your words, but I'm already convinced you -and Spinoza- are right about that... About virtue and -I guess that's the following layer- maybe also about meaning, as well, somehow. In recent years I have realized that, if my intuition is not wrong, probably we can only have a true, meaningful meaning, if we have it not just for ourselves, in front of ourselves as spectators and judges of our own life, but, of course, if we can be meaningful for each other. As you said, whatever we are, "you can't take it with you", it's only together, as a group, as a family, as community, as a society, as a civilization, I guess, that our makings in life can have a really meaningful impact in life, because it contributes into shaping the world, even in a very little way, beyond our time and reach in it.
Your words today are very wise and important and calming for a fellow mind in quest of a meaningful life. Thank you very deeply for your kindness, for your wisdom, for your caring, for the amazing human being that you must be, as it sure gets reflected, just by your generous words, in everything I have read you, thanks to technology, from the other side of the Atlantic.
All my best wishes, admired fellow human, and thank you so much for sharing so many important things with the world. I think that sharing and caring together is a great deal of what makes us meaningful... and human. And music... ah, what a joy to be the lute-playing Helen! for yourself and for everyone close to you! What a wonderful instrument it is, and what a wonderful sense of playful wonder must have interested you in it (I love the lute and theorbo myself, but I cannot play, I wish one day I could try one and be able to play it mediocrely and happily as I can do, just quite simply, with a Spanish guitar...).
Keep the way you are in every step, dear Helen, I wish you everything that can be good and sweet and beautiful for you in this moment of the journey. And I promise your words have a lasting impact on me, in fact you are gifting me and everybody else a treasured light full of goodness and wisdom, a light for us that comes from your own light, like a torch that gives fire to the other torches of the group. I'll keep and take care of these meaningful thoughts inside me and I'll share them, I'll share what Helen De Cruz helped me realize, to the people around me as well, in my own way.
Meanwhile, I hope you can get the best possible. Thank you very much for making the effort to share all this, I say it from heart. It's a treasure, like a seed that is given, and, I assure you, it has the promise of the flower and the tree in its very shape and existence in the world. Wishing you Alles Gut und Schön, and that it will give you strenght and peace and meaninfulness, as it should, very very warmly, from a grateful reader from Northern Spain :)
Thank you Helen. And we can't even take our reflections or wisdom with us. But we can, especially today on platforms like Substack, leave them for those who remain a little longer. Just watched a film about Jacqueline du Pre which connects with what you write.
Helen!!! I am so Sorry to hear the news about you
I have truly missed your Twitter posts
I was always inspired by your openness about doubt and your passion for all you did, art, music, scholarship, and your cheerfulness and niceness
Thank you for being you.
Steve Baughman (Banjo skeptic)
Dear Helen, You are so generous to share these thoughts with us. Long ago, another philosopher who lived in MO, William Gass, reminded readers that we are not our bank accounts, our medical records, our CVs, etc. (In “The Artist and Society”). Our quirks are so important and I love that you emphasize that here. Helen, I hope that you are physically as comfortable as possible, and wish you good moments with those you love. Wishing you peace, Lynne
Thank you for your thoughts and music, and the cat sitting nearby the musician
Yes I love this video
I love your ideas and insights. They have branched out into various aspects of my life. Some time ago, I translated your article on Espinoza and Naess into brazilian portuguese, and it also touched several people here. Thank you, and I wish you all the best.
I am not been the most regular reader, but your voice always meant something to me and you made a lasting impression merely being yourself, along with anything you wrote. So consider me one of many who are thankful for having known you, however briefly and partially. And thank you for continuing to share when it's so difficult to write!
Can you send me the Portuguese translation? Thank you!
In case you did mean me, here is the translation - sorry about the delay:
Não sou um leitor muito assíduo, mas sua voz sempre significou algo para mim, e você deixou uma impressão duradoura por ser você mesmo, em tudo o que escreveu. Portanto, considere-me um dos muitos que são gratos por tê-lo conhecido, mesmo que brevemente e parcialmente. E obrigada por continuar a compartilhar quando é tão difícil escrever!
I think you must have meant someone else and replied to me by accident, but glad to look up a translation for my comment in Portuguese if you really meant me!
Thinking about you, and praying, lovely Helen. Yes, you are an inspiration, and you evoke tender feelings in me. Au revoir.
Thinking about you, and praying, lovely Helen. Yes, you are an inspiration, and you evoke tender feelings in me. Au revoir.