J’s Comments (group member since Jan 06, 2016)

J’s comments from the Existentialism group.

The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer. Anything by Cioran but especially The Trouble with being Born. Thomas Ligotti's The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.

I am reading Thus Spake Zarathustra currently, but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Schopenhauer expresses myriad truths through philosophy, as do others. Let's not forget, for something to be truly "literary" it is inherently philosophical, and vice versa.

Camus was not an existentialist, or so he would've said. Kafka and Dostoevsky are the greatest writers who are thought of as existentialists.

It's all really philosophical pessimism in the end, with different ways of dealing with what that means.

Dan's wrote: "LλΩ wrote: "Universality is a concept, but is anything truly universal (perfect application of the concept of universality)?"


Well now let me see Universality in a ~cosmic scale~ that is.. Surel..."


Not Babushka, but Matroyshka. Babushka is grandma

No

Camus is a "heroic pessimist", though he did proclaim to be an absurdist. Absurdism seems a euphemism for the dirty word, pessimism. Both acknowledge that life is meaningless, they just tend to focus on different things that that basic premise dictates. A pessimist will say this life is meaningless, but he may not point to the absurdity of that, yet he/she might point to the absurdity of that. An absurdist, of course, is sure to point to the absurdity of that. Camus, though, said we must consider Sisyphus happy, but a staunch pessimist will not consider him happy. That is why Camus is a "heroic pessimist." In my opinion, no better than a shallow optimist.

If it's the truth, what does it matter what type of "approach" it is?

I do not think happiness is the driving force in humanity. I think it is procreation. All is geared to perpetuate life, the "will", as Schopenhauer would say. I think if the definition on this page is what existentialism truly is, then it believes in freewill. And, if you want to see that at least free will is quite limited, if not a hoax all together, try to force yourself to become intensely interested in something you are not interested in.

Pessimism is a more "depressing" philosophy for some, though I find that liberating, as many have said of existentialism. But really I do not think existentialism is even a branch of philosophy.

I think it's California