© Roger M Tagg 2009-2011
Welcome to FROLIO – a new attempt to merge philosophy and the "semantic web" . This website is under continuing development.
This recent book is the best I have read so far about Existentialism. It tries to stay readable for those like myself who don't have a strong background in Philosophy, or who just struggle with too many words. The author is always prepared to ask questions, sometimes wondering whether or not the philosopher he is covering has necessarily got it all right. I'd have liked to see some tabular analysis of all the philosophers' comparative positions on a set of key issues - maybe that's a project for me soon.
| Chapter | Page | Highlight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Preface | 11 | Existentialism is "old hat", but it still commands interest. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | It has become assimilated into the cultural mainstream of our time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 - | 14 | It's independent of whether one is religious or not, or Marxist or not. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is it? | 15 | It's difficult to define because definition would be contrary to the spirit, i.e. of thinking for oneself.. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16-18 | It's against: 1) faith in reason alone; 2) de-personalizing forces in society (e.g. totalitarianism, consumerism, mass media, bureaucracy); 3) apathy and detachment; 4) irresponsibility (excuse making, reluctance to take personal responsibility); 5) self-deceiving modes of existence (conformism, role-playing, I'm xxxx); 6) abstract intellectualism and complete knowledge; 7) over-reliance on science and it's supposed value-neutrality; 8) organized (RT - "strong" in the Richard Holloway sense) religion; 9) political collectivism and utopianism. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19-22 | It's for: 1) inner experience (pre-rational, including imagination, emotion, feeling, mood); 2) personal dignity and individuality (for all); 3) our power of choice and engagement; 4) responsible freedom; 5) self discovery, possibility, self-honesty; 6) applied thinking from the position we are in, living with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk (and of course eventual death); 7) putting science in perspective; 8) making up one's own approach (or faith) about existence, both individual and with others); 9) involvement in social criticism. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | There is no fixed human nature. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | We emerge or become; we make of ourselves what we will be. 'Facticity' = what we can't change or control. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23-24 | We have moments of being aware of 'nothingness' or an abyss. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24a | We are what we do - we are a process, not a fixed thing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24b | There are no absolute guidelines for conduct - no big questions are ever settled once and for all. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25a | We are always engaged with the world and with others, as valuers and meaning-givers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25b | Attempted definition: "Existentialism is a philosophy that investigates and evaluates the human condition, focussing on the free, finite, self-making, responsible individual as the origin of value and meaning in the world." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26-27 | Aristotle's ethics "virtue-based morality for everyone" is probably NOT in line with existentialism; no-one has the right to dictate to others, but that may not be good enough. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 - History | 31-36 | Many of the ideas aren't new - even some ideas of Socrates are in accord. Aristotle distinguished potentiality from actuality. Also: St Augustine's confessions; Shakespeare's "to be or not to be"; some parts of Montaigne, Descartes, Pascal, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Sturm und Drang, Wollstonecraft, Fichte, Schelling - even Schopenhauer's 'voluntarism'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 36 | Hegel, despite being the antithesis in some ways, viewed humans as self-makers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 37a | Literary figures - George Eliot, Browning, Dostoevsky. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 37b | Freud's ideas, although a formalized theory, were not that different. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 38 | Bergson's ideas about the "stream of time". The phenomenologists (Brentano, Husserl). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 38-40 | More on Pascal's Pensées: we possess knowledge, yet recognize that this knowledge cannot be rationally justified. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 - Kirkegaard | 48 | Why did he use all those pseudonyms? 1) to explore different viewpoints; 2) to avoid too much concentration on the author's persona (DH Lawrence "Never trust the artist, trust the tale"); 3) for dramatic effect; 4) to appear not to be taking moral high ground. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 50 | K's aim: to plant ideas and images that might germinate in the readers' minds. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 53a | K isolates and nudges his reader into a corner, leaving just his preferred way out. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 53b | K is against grand theories, especially by philosophers that don't personally follow them. "Existence is opposed to systematic philosophy" (p54). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 54a | "Much of what passes as self-affirmation seems to revolve around identifying with pronouncements made by empty-headed celebrities, imbibing what's served up by reality TV, being absorbed by computer simulation games, following "new age" self-help gurus, and various other shallow and escapist attitudes." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 54b | A logical system can be given ... but a system of existence cannot be given - this is anxiety-provoking. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 55a | Tension between the pretender (excess of possibility) and the fatalist (attributing too much necessity to existence). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 55b | Christianity is "not a doctrine, but ... an existence-communication". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 58 | Summary table on Objective versus Subjective Truth (see Extra 1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 59a | "To write a book and revoke it is not the same as to refrain from writing it." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 59b | "The issue is not about the truth of Christianity, but about the individual's relation to Christianity." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 60 | "The deepest questions philosophy has traditionally posed - such as "How should I live?" and "What is the meaning of life?" - have to be answered in terms of what we can experience and instantiate through choices and actions in our own lives." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 65a | Christendom versus Christianity: the former is the doctrinal creed presided over by clerics; the latter is the example Jesus set for how we should live. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 65b | Professors of theology and TV evangelists alike are "town criers of inwardness". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 66-74 | 3 stages (spheres) of existence: 1) aesthetic, pleasure seeking, shunning commitments and limits; 2) ethical, obligation, welfare of others ("first ethics, religiousness A"); 3) religious ("second ethics, religiousness B", doing it on impulse from fellowship or love), faith (RT - in what? Surely not commands to murder one's own son - see below). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 71 | Zen saying - Before enlightenment: cooking dinner, washing dishes. After enlightenment: cooking dinner, washing dishes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 72 | The paradox of Abraham being prepared to sacrifice Isaac on God's command. In ethics, he should refuse. The central dilemma - how do we know it is God talking? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 75 | Making God exist by one's free decision - the leap of faith? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 76-77 | K drives the believer away from an intellectual preoccupation with Christianity, but on 'towards what' he is less clear. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 77 | But Christianity shouldn't be the only choice anyhow. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 - | 87a | Philosophy always creates the world in its own image. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nietzsche | 87b | The genuine philosopher lives unphilosophically, ... and feels the burden and duty of a hundred attempts and temptations of life - he risks himself constantly ... It is inherently subversive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 90 | "I approach deep problems like cold baths: quickly into them and quickly out again." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 91a | "What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, anthropomorphisms: in short a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical and binding. Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 91b | Perspectivism = "there are no facts, only interpretations" - this is not an argument, just a Nietzsche-style statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 92 | Perspectivism may be dodgy, but it opposes trite claims to objectivity, detached observation etc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 93a | 'Death of God': "Over the centuries and for various reasons ... the idea of God was drained of its content and transformed into a negative and inhibiting ideology." It's a cultural relic, even though it still holds some sway over us. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 93b | An inherent purpose in all things, justice in the universe, reward or punishment in the afterlife, the ability to be forgiven by a higher being, a father-figure presiding over every aspect of our lives ... all are bogus. God and all his attributes are creations of ours. Its original impulse has been co-opted by a priestly caste and distorted to suit their interests. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 93c | Christianity celebrates failure, impoverishment of the spirit, pity, self-pity and self-negation. Pity isn't the same as compassion. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 94 | We must now rise to the occasion, take charge, see this as an opportunity to free ourselves from an outmoded belief system, to re-define ourselves, and to invent new values. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 95 | The übermensch - "the Roman Caesar with Christ's soul". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 97 | N replaces Schopenhauer's unitary, amorphous, metaphysical will with a multiplicity of independent stand-alone acts or events of will. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 99 | Acts of will 1) comprise many smaller sub-events, at least some of which are subjectively experienced ... 2) involve both commanding and obeying, which 3) results in a struggle within us, both mental and physical. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 100a | Stages of willing: 1) physical stimuli; 2) biological, physiological reaction; 3) instinctual (behaviour); 4) unconscious (behaviour); 5) conscious (behaviour). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 100b | Will to power is not just megalomania, it's also "that mature freedom of spirit which is equally self-control and discipline of the heart". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 101a | Those who cannot measure up to such a standard look to others for guidance and become part of the masses. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 101b | Will to power is like pecking orders; all relations are power relations. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 102 | A table of values hangs over every people. But what is the value of value? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 103 | All moralities that are advertized as generally applicable miss the mark, and are in fact dangerous and destructive to the human spirit. Those who have talent, skill and genius should be left to chart their own life plan. The rest of us should step aside. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 104 | Dionysian (disorder, sexuality, fertility, self-abandonment, frenzied intoxication and ecstasy) versus Apollonian (harmony, order, form, calmness, transparency, rationality, stability) - (RT - sounds a bit like Shiva versus Vishnu?). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 106 | Master morality versus slave morality - the former is "value-creating", the latter a reaction to the former. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 108a | Some values, such as altruism, patience and industry may manifest considerable strength of character. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 108b | Too much reason in philosophy is a poor substitute for affirming life and facing its dilemmas head-on. Plato and Descartes thought sense-perception can be deceptive, and needs to be supplanted. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 110 | The appearance-reality division, when talking about the "real world", should be abolished. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 112 | Healthy self-love, or feeling positive about oneself, is not good for its own sake alone; it is also necessary for being able to give fully to others. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 113-6 | Criticisms: how N's new order will work is very vague, e.g. breeding übermensch deliberately, lack of guidelines, risk of collapse of societies, wars, 'eternal recurrence' (RT - sounds crazy to me), overdoing perspectivism (but we can't reject it totally). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 - Phenomen -ology | 124 | P = "a method of analytically describing different modes of experience - whether transient or enduring - in meticulous detail". This includes talking about "consciousness". Salient feature of consciousness is intentionality - i.e. what we are concerned "about". This is not the same as intention (planning to do) or intension (meaning or connotation). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 125 | What is the status of the objects of intentionality? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 126a | Reflexive self-awareness - we are aware that we are thinking about something. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 126b | Husserl's aim - avoid the temptation to offer grand theoretical accounts, instead analyze both the objects of consciousness and the structure of consciousness (intentional modalities), 'bracketing out' our ordinary engagement with things, our "natural attitude" to them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 127a | Experience is not the passive receptivity of sensations, it is "participatory construction". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 127b | There are an infinite number of perspectives; "the world" comprises both presences and absences. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 128a | Perception must have a mixture of empty and filled intentions. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 128b | Merleau-Ponty: "the world is already there before reflection begins. ... I then go on to give the world overall meaning" (p129). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 129 | M-P: "the real is a closely-woven fabric ... truth does not 'inhabit' only the inner man - there is no inner man, man is in the world, and only in the world does he know himself." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 131a | We are given to ourselves and others as a unity of body-and-consciousness within the world, and it is only the weirdness of philosophical speculation that can tear this unity apart. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 131b | Our bodies aren't 'in' space and time, they inhabit it. Lived experience and embodiment are equally fundamental. So it doesn't make sense to question the real world - that's what we all inhabit. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 132 | Phenomena should include: appearances, symbols, images, mathematical entities, illusions, presences, absences, differences etc. Many of these have been "excommunicated" by philosophical tradition. Modes of consciousness include seen, remembered, imagined (as is or might be), dreamt about, etc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 133- 141 | The 9 examples. 1) what is "home"? 2) things we see stand out from the ground of other objects, and we fill in the blanks; 3) the appearance of a face introduces a bit of future; 4) we supplement the missing arms of Venus de Milo, so it is still beautiful (also Gestalt, ambiguous trick pictures); 5) unintended consequences of actions; 6) receiving kindness; 7) a stranger striking up an including conversation by finding a common bond; 8) getting past treating other people as things; 9) it's not "to be or not to be", it's whether or not to be oneself. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 138 | One's presence in the world is more pervasive (dense) than we normally imagine; the domain one supposes oneself to be in control of is only a subset of the domain one actually and unwittingly influences. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 142a | How do we know that fictional works speak the truth? They do (RT - can?) resonate with our lives and perceptions. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 142-3 | The lived world of subjective experience provides a more immediate view of the world than any theory-derived perspective; abstract models of truth are inappropriate to at least some aspects of basic experience. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 144 | Phenomenology does not offer tidy packages, but instead testifies to the absence of closure in human experience. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 - | 148a | Philosophy helps us recover our roots in being. "Philosophy was and is ontology" (Baruzzi). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Heidegger | 148b | Shouldn't we take our situation in Being as the most vital issue of all (i.e., not "what can I know reliably"). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 149 | Metaphysical homesickness (for our place in the scheme of things): with the collapse of the Judaeo-Christian worldview, we must either rise to the challenge or be claimed as the victims of nihilism. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 150 | Heidegger - neither a theist nor an atheist. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 151 | Fundamental peculiarity of existence is thrownness - being dropped into a situation or condition and hitting the ground running. So H's Dasein (being there, human existence, who we are) reflects this. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 153 | Each of us inhabits a plurality of "worlds" that correspond to our roles and situations. However we have lapsed into metaphysical homesickness. The way out - to take charge of ourselves and become authentic. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 154a | The "they": faced with them, we lose sight of ourselves and go with the flow, resulting in "inconspicuous domination by others", "absorption in the commonplace". Avoid appeal to amorphous opinion-makers or decision-makers (the media, the average person, society, scientists, experts, bureaucrats). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 154b | Threat of idle talk, curiosity and ambiguity. Gossip does not reveal what is information and what is disinformation. Curiosity is fascination with indifference. Idle talk is chatter without clear meaning. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 155 | Fallenness = forgetting what it is to exist, lapsing into passivity (saying we can't change this or that). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 156 | Dasein is not static; existentiality means being in anticipation of one's own possibilities. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 157 | Moods of interest: joy, anxiety (dread) and boredom. Anxiety is more general than fear, but it's how we experience being humanly alive (p158). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 158a | Time is Dasein's mode of being and route to Being. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 158b | Care: we either care for or about something (concern) or takes care (solicitude); it's all close to instinctual. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 159- 166 | Death awareness is an awakening to authenticity. Dying isn't the same - we are all dying now. Inauthentic ways of thinking about death block movement towards wholeness (e.g. euphemisms, morbid fascination, the idea that it's cowardly to think about it). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 166 | H's views on death converge with those in Buddhism. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 167-8 | Conscience: we should listen to our own voice rather than that of the crowd. Guilt: move to being responsible for. Resoluteness: determination to define oneself through one's own honestly arrived at choices. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 168-9 | Truth: better to think of 'unconcealment'; so it is a discovery process. Of course we may always get it wrong. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 170 | Art "enters into the world and lets it shine forth ... should somehow convey human potential, or the fact that human activities are complex and ongoing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 171 | Technology: not just a means to an end, production of useful objects and processes. It should transform nature into a reservoir of resources. Modern technology threatens us, but it should provide the means of forging a more sustainable outlook. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 172 | Nothing: is the backdrop. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 174 | No merely logical description of language is ever adequate. Man acts as though he is the shaper and master of language, but language really speaks through us. Poetry, myths epics and oral traditions give the world its meaning and value. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 176-8 | H says there is a lot of thinking missing. Like what? He says it is the "call of Being". We can only learn how to think about Being and our relationship to it by trying to do it - and spiral in on the target. (RT - sounds a bit tautologous). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 - Sartre | 188 | As well as being responsible for ourselves, we are responsible for all men. Not quite the same as Kant's categorical imperative. Humanity should be thought of as a collective experiment in living, with each doing her or his part to fashion the world as it should be. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 189 | All acts are (RT: in the end) spontaneous and do not follow logically from a process of deliberation. Anguish is not a curtain separating us from action, but is part of action itself. "Man is condemned to be free." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 190 | No general ethics can show you what is to be done. Even if there are, I myself choose the meaning they have. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 193 | Sartre's conclusions about consciousness (C): 1) C is aware of itself without the need to make itself into an object; 2) there is no unconscious mind; 3) it doesn't require there to be a subject to have it; 4) C is free to determine and direct itself - it is a "nothingness", reborn each instant; 5) C forever flies beyond, or overflows, itself; 6) it can differentiate and negate; 7) C is "anguished", freedom is only anchored in C's volatile potentiality, vertigo of possibility. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 194 | 8) Being exists only when becoming is momentarily arrested (RT: like a snapshot?). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 195 | The ego is an inhabitant of consciousness. C1 and C2: C1 (pre-reflective) is spontaneous, engaged, positional, intentional - but also possesses a non-reflexive awareness of itself. C2 (reflective) is disengaged (it spells out or halts ongoing C1 activity), also features a reflexive awareness of C1. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 196 | Being-in-itself = brute facticity, materiality; being-for-itself = a nothing that is thrown into the world (RT: like Dasein?) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 197 | 1) you can't pin me down because what I am is always changing; 2) whatever I will be, I am not that yet, I have yet to choose and become that. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 199 | Pools of non-being, absence; ties in with change, interrogation, destruction. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 200 | To Sartre, nothingness is the active element; to Heidegger it's just the background. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 201 | Heidegger is not afraid to speak of Gods as formative cultural possibilities, and "the holy". For Sartre, atheism is a starting point. They are pretty well mutually incompatible. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 202 | Sartre's freedom is radical, not absolute. He accepts facticity. But although we do not have power over those facts, it is always up to us to determine how we will react to them. After disasters, there are those who can't move on and those that rise above them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 203 | Sartre divides the world between those who evade responsibility and those who take it. The person whose attitude is one of excuse denies her or his freedom and adopts instead the framework of being a victim. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 204 | Sartre is opposed to determinism and fatalism. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 205 | Anguish lies in the potential for choosing even before freedom activates the choice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 206 | Anguish pervades our value structures. Even if we acquire values (e.g. from parents, school) it is still up to us whether or not to accept and apply them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 208 | Bad faith is just an exaggerated form of negation that is self-targeted and that either affirms what is untrue or denies what is true of me, in a way that abrogates the freedom to choose and change. Not quite the same as lying. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 210 | Bad faith - Pre-reflective activity: 1) I deceive myself; 2) I deceive myself about deceiving myself; 3) I am nevertheless aware I am doing 1 and 2. Reflective activity: 4) I relate to myself as not deceiving myself "I'm being completely honest with you". All this happens in one consciousness (unitary but meta-stable). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 211 | The 6 scenarios: 1) woman not quite able to unlink a hand; 2) waiter acting the waiter; 3) tradesmen; 4) gay man not coming out; 5) champion of sincerity engaging the gay man; 6) a coward admitting cowardice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 214 | Persistent living in bad faith - there may be occasional awakenings, calling back from the forgetfulness of our freedom. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 215 | The presence of another alters the structure of our more or less day-dreamy immersion in my environment of the moment. I may feel shame (they are looking at me - the Look). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 216 | A subject (a person) may become objectified (e.g. by others who treat us as a stereotype). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 217 | The struggle for life is to re-establish freedom and the alternative possibilities. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 218 | Academics in Uni of Newcastle (UK) were more inclined to pay for coffee in the common room when there was a poster showing a pair of eyes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 218-220 | The struggle between individuals: in love and desire, we want to "transcend the other's transcendence" - may be thingifying them; "desire is doomed to failure". Obscene: the living body treated as immobile. Hate, torture, racism - thingification that is also effectively doomed to fail. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 221a | Sartre insists that all attempts to ground ourselves in existence derive from an "original choice", i.e. the kind of person I want to be, e.g. look after #1 or be for others; pessimist or optimist; accept the status quo or change the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 221b | Each individual expresses himself as a whole in even his most insignificant and most superficial behaviour. No taste, mannerism or act is not revealing. But many "conversions" can happen later in life (e.g. John Newton anti-slavery). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 221c | We yearn to be both for-itself and in-itself. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 222 | Chain of derivation of human behaviour: 1) the desire to be (to be God?); 2) the fundamental projects (original choice); life projects, vocations; 4) specific projects or ongoing commitments; individual actions or gestures. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 223a | Meaningful behaviour must be holistically viewed as a temporal process of before, during and after - and in the wider process. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 223b | Good intentions by themselves are not enough. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 226 | Ethics (he never published his promised book) is the goal one gives oneself when there is no goal. It is a certain way of treating others ... It can only be conceived in terms of some status quo. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 227 | Sartre dismisses sincerity as a goal - that's objectifying oneself to other people, an "I'm". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 288 | "Good faith" (Sartre doesn't mention it much) is an unending project in that although freedom directs itself towards the wholeness of being something, it can never get there. So is humanity a "glorious yet tragic experiment"? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 - De Beauvoir | 234 | Ambiguity: 1) hovers between freedom and facticity; 2) we are both subjects (agents and perceivers) and objects (of others' as well as our own perceptions and actions); 3) each of us is both an individual and belongs to a collectivity that includes all others; 4) freedom is pure possibility and nothing more; 5) existence is always open-ended; 6) existence, however glorious, ends in death; 7) there are no externally discoverable values or reference points to guide us; 8) in a godless universe we nevertheless desire to be God; 9) life is a series of experiments with only uncertain outcomes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 235 | In order to come to terms with existence, as well as to approach the task of framing an ethics appropriate to the human condition, we must try to assume our fundamental ambiguity. Past philosophies have tried to eliminate ambiguity. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 236 | We need to find a fresh perspective that will help us avert the "failure" implied by Sartre, and then open up new horizons for achievement, constructive projects that are ends in themselves. We need to find within existence values and patterns of living that are self-sufficient. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 237 | Values and principles of conduct are objective if they are 1) discoverable by observation (naturalism), 2) prescribed by divine command; 3) universal, cross-cultural; 4) utilitarian, compassionate, caring; 5) Kantian or deontological; 6) self-evident (intuitionism); or 7)dictated by society (social constructionism, convention, relativism). If we reject this, how do we pay the price of having ethics collapse into subjectivism? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 239 | De B answers: freedom is the source from which all significations and values spring. Unlike Sartre, freedom when dealing with others shouldn't be devouring their freedom; "the precept will be to treat the other ... as a freedom so that his end may be freedom". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 240 | Individual freedoms are interdependent; "to will oneself free is also to will others free". Freedom is a "joint project". "Only the freedom of others keeps each one of us from hardening in the absurdity of facticity." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 242 | We are not just solitary capsules or islands unto ourselves, but rather we are sources of freedom whose freedom is activated by mutual interaction. Healthy humans form a self-supporting edifice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 243 | Arp's 3 takes on De B's freedom: 1) natural or ontological; 2) power, or concrete freedom; 3) moral or ethical freedom. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 244 | An oppressor is one who systematically blocks the movement towards self-definition. So we should oppose oppressors; it will benefit them too. But how do we distinguish oppression from justified constraint? Can violence ever be justified? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 245 | The end can justify the means, only if it is completely disclosed for the current situation. But not for a "utopian future-myth". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 246 | There is no fixed or eternal female nature. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 247 | The traditional objectifying view of women prohibits them from self-definition - so it's oppression. It's an invalid pretext to say that happiness is "being at rest" (i.e. in the traditional view) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 249 | Sex roles are socially constructed. Stunting women's potential is detrimental to both sexes. All this doesn't mean reversing roles. And we don't want women to become less feminine. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 250 | The fact that men and women are all human beings is infinitely more important than all the peculiarities that distinguish human beings from one another. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 251a | (In WW2) "I learned the value of solidarity". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 251b | Sartre said that value choices are arbitrary and indefensible, but by talking about good and bad faith he is contradicting this. But De B grounds value choices on the outlook that individual freedoms are intertwined and either mutually reinforcing or mutually degrading. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 252 | Without failure, there are no ethics. Political choice is an ethical choice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 - Evaluation | 257 | Answering the challenge of determinism, that acts come out of nowhere and appear bizarre, chance events, rather than those of a thoughtful deliberative agent. But freedom is radical rather than absolute, and it isn't an end in itself, it's towards fulfilling one's human potential. And De B says the point of freedom is to find meaning and values in spite of the ambiguity of human existence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 258a | There's more to be gained by espousing free will than determinism. And we have freedom to ignore it and follow the crowd. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 258b | Belonging to a homogeneous group can undermine autonomy (Zimbardo experiments). People diffuse responsibility. (RT - isn't this like collective intentionality, limited companies etc?) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 259 | There may be some people so bashed down that they stand little chance of free action. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 260-3 | Criticisms of existentialism: 1) a discouraging world view (but maybe it's an answer to modern malaise); 2) too high a standard of conduct (it's an ongoing process, not a path to perfection); 3) extreme individualism (fair maybe, but De Beauvoir shows how this need not be so); 4) lack of consideration of the non-human world (fair point); 5) inadequate argumentation (more true of phenomenology-based philosophers, but arguments don't have to be only logic; and anyway, the same criticism would have to apply to art and religion - and even of induction). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 263-7 | Positive thoughts: 1) it may have lost momentum, but it still has relevance; 2) it directly confronts what life is about; 3) it challenges coercion, totalitarianism and utopias; 4) it has awakened thinking on many topics of everyday urgency; 5) it still triggers contributions from today's younger thinkers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 267-272 | Rival approaches (some overlapping, e.g. through Foucault, Derrida etc): 1) Hermeneutics (analyzing the interpreter's involvement); 2) Critical Theory (the Frankfurt School, adapted Marxism); 3) Structuralism and Semiotics (Saussure); 4) Deconstruction (no privileged vantage point from which to analyze a text); 5) Post-structuralism (death of subjectivity, de-centering authors from their texts); 6) Postmodernism (mistrust of foundational beliefs and truths, essentialism, transcendental explanations, grand narratives, political ideology, belief in progress, objectivity in knowledge, intelligibility of the world); 7) counter-culture (e.g. the 'Beat Generation', Punk, Rap); 8) recent North American miscellanea (Dreyfus, Charles Taylor, Rorty, Nagel, Korsgaard, Cornel West, Sonia Kruks). Some are strongly opposed to Existentialism, others overlap a lot. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 273a | Lehman's diagram shows a spectrum: 1) Doubt; 2) Shadow of a Doubt; 3) Secure Understanding, Certain Knowledge, Absolute Conviction (all with shadows); 4) The Abyss (where all certainties and convictions are abandoned); 5) Wisdom. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 273b | Existentialist ideas are not merely static concepts we can review and leave alone; they are instead dynamic stimuli designed to precipitate reaction from us. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 273c | Descartes said "I think, therefore I am"; instead, "what we think and how we think about it tell the story of who we are on the way to becoming". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A - Nothingness | 277-9 | 13 quotes, but I only liked "That which arouses anxiety is nothing, and it is nowhere" (Macquarrie). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B - Meaning | 280-2 | Is it human nature (not a concept existentialists like) to search for meaning in life? Maybe it's just the daily process of working out a life for ourselves with certain goals in mind is all we need. Daoism agrees. Pursuit of meaning is not an exercise in intellectual construction, but rather a response to life's questioning of us. The will to meaning is the most fundamental human drive (Viktor Frankl). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C - Alienation | 284a | Alienation (1 - Hegel): loss of a sense of creativity or productivity, passive experience of oneself in the face of larger forces, loss of identity or relatedness to things and other people, dehumanization, feelings of worthlessness etc. One experiences oneself as an object, merely acted on and controlled by external factors. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 284b | Alienation (2 - Marx): a) from the products of one's own labour; b) in the act of production itself; c) from species-life (i.e. human nature); d) from other humans; e) from nature itself (by "unnatural" work). Also the "fetishism of commodities", and money becoming an independent and powerful force. Marx also thought that religion projects an alienated or distorted form of human nature into God, which then dominates and rules over us. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 285 | Marx thought his alienation could be overcome once and for all (presumably be worldwide revolution, abolition of private property), whereas Hegel thought it is rooted in the human condition. (RT: I think I back Hegel.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D - the Absurd | 286 | Camus: the job of philosophy is to help us to find meaning in existence, and hence value in living (and not suicide). There is skepticism about many things, e.g. knowledge, afterlife etc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 287 | Kirkegaard said Christianity is paradoxical; "the absurd can only be believed (RT: presumably he meant "cannot be proved"). If one follows this, then one must take religion on despite its absurdity, or reject it as nonsensical. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| E - Angst | 289 | Olson's categorization: 1) anguish of being in the face of nothingness; 2) anguish before the here and now (having to confront things); 3) anguish of freedom (no certainties and no guarantees of success). (RT - I'm not sure which Olson this is!) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 290 | Yalom's categorization: 1) fear of death; 2) a sense of groundlessness in existence; 3) feelings of isolation; 4) a sense of life's inherent meaninglessness. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| F - Nihilism | 291 | Historical Russian version: a counter culture with a utopian vision - degenerated into anarchism and atheism. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 292a | Epistemological nihilism: nothing can be known and truth is a myth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 292b | Existential nihilism: life has no meaning, point, value or justification. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 292c | All forms offer no hope for remediation, but philosophy needs to confront it if we are to retain any optimism. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| G - Consc -iousness | 293 | Consciousness is presumably self-aware (we realize that we are thinking), but doesn't this lead to an infinite regress (i.e. I'm thinking that I'm thinking that ...). What if I am just "aware" of something, maybe pre-reflectively? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 294 | Perhaps the self-awareness component is just a background accompaniment to each act of consciousness. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| H - Self- Deception | 295 | Can a person believe and disbelieve the same thing at the same time? Freud relies on a clash between the conscious and the sub-conscious. There should be a purpose for the self-deception. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 296a | Sartre doesn't accept the sub-conscious, so bad faith disregards some things in consciousness but not others. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 296b | A possible compromise view is that self-deception results from purposive refusal to perform certain acts of self-disclosure. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extra 1 | 58 |
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| Go back | (to | main sequence) |
Index to more highlights of interesting books
Some of these links may be under construction – or re-construction.
This version updated on 21st January 2011
If you have constructive suggestions or comments, please contact the author rogertag@tpg.com.au .