The Philosophy of Physical Wellbeing: A Personal Argument

In my current role as a founder, my personal health often takes a back seat. I smoke a lot, drink, eat poorly, don't exercise - this is an effort to convince myself as to why I should start being healthier.

1. The Borrowed Vessel

Our physical form, while experienced intimately as our own, is fundamentally a gift we neither created nor earned. Through biological inheritance or divine bestowal, our bodies represent trust placed in our care. Religious traditions worldwide recognize this stewardship: Judaism considers preservation of health a supreme obligation, Christianity views the body as a sacred temple, and Islam treats physical wellbeing as an amana (trust) from the divine. This recognition establishes our first premise: we are caretakers, not absolute owners, of our physical selves.

2. Stewardship as Moral Obligation

If our bodies are entrusted to us rather than being our unlimited property, then we bear responsibility toward those who have invested in our existence. The care we provide through nutrition, exercise, rest, and abstinence from harmful substances becomes an expression of gratitude and respect toward our creators—whether biological parents, communities that nurture us, or divine beings. Our choices ripple beyond individual experience, affecting a broader social contract. This transforms physical self-care from mere preference to ethical imperative.

3. The Internal Battlefield

Despite understanding our role as stewards, we experience powerful countervailing forces. Human nature contains fundamental duality: higher-order reasoning and moral aspirations regularly clash with primal urges seeking immediate gratification. This struggle resembles what Plato described as the rational soul battling against appetitive desires. The very existence of this battlefield reveals our unique position as beings capable of abstract thought yet tethered to physical sensations and chemical rewards.

4. The Nature of Self-Destructive Urges

The temptation toward harmful behaviors—smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity—originates in our evolutionary programming. These impulses aren't aberrations but fundamental aspects of biological existence, appearing throughout nature from cellular apoptosis to animal behavior under stress. Understanding this helps frame personal destructive tendencies as natural rather than pathological, while simultaneously recognizing their potential harm when unchecked.

5. The Paradoxical Search for Control

Self-destructive behavior often emerges from a desire for control in a world where many factors remain beyond our influence. The deliberate choice to harm oneself can represent a radical assertion of agency over one's physical existence. Yet herein lies a profound irony: such actions ultimately represent a surrender of control rather than its attainment. We seek empowerment through behaviors that diminish our capacity for future choice and action.

6. Crucible for Identity Formation

This constant tension between preservation and destruction creates a complex psychological dynamic where we must negotiate opposing internal forces. The continuous effort required to navigate these impulses—whether resisting or succumbing to them—develops a unique form of psychological resilience. Perhaps most revealing is how we derive pleasure from self-destructive acts—not despite their harmful effects but sometimes because of them. This pleasure-pain dynamic creates a crucible where our identity is forged.

7. Transcendence Through Choice

The journey toward physical wellbeing thus evolves into a philosophical battleground where we define ourselves through which aspects of our nature we allow to triumph. In choosing self-care over self-destruction, we assert the primacy of our higher nature while acknowledging the powerful undercurrent of destructive impulses that remains quintessentially human. This conscious choice to honor our role as stewards—despite constant temptation to do otherwise—represents the most profound expression of human freedom and moral agency.