ABSTRACT
In this next chapter, three foundational principles are addressed that can be found both in esotericism and in classical philosophy: connection, aspiration, and questioning. Conceptions such as oneness, the Absolute, or simply God, have been foundational for philosophy and esotericism alike, and behind these conceptions there has been a similar ideal of connectedness. Both esotericism and philosophy have also emphasised aspiration, the cultivation of one’s strengths and a systematic attempt to overcome one’s weaknesses. Related to this, both idealise questioning; the truth is never ready at hand as divine revelation or as a scientific discovery, but it requires endless personal pursuit. The argument of the chapter is that, in essence, esotericism and philosophy are not fundamentally opposed to each other, and only in relatively recent philosophical practice that the classical philosophical ideals shared with esotericism have largely diminished.
