DE Weekly: Identity, Plutarch, & the Ship of Theseus
Last week, I wrote about how certain stories and writings permeate the boundaries of their genres and allow us to apply an existentialist critique of them. Another such story we’ll discuss today is the “Ship of Theseus”.
Like the Allegory of the Cave from last week, you might have heard of this popular thought experiment before. Often viewed as a paradox, this story was popularized by Plutarch, a Greek philosopher in the Roman Empire who is most famous for his biographies.
DE Weekly: The Look, the Self, & the Other
In existentialism, consciousness is the key to understanding human existence. When discussing conscious beings––namely, humans––it helps to distinguish between two types of conscious beings: the Self and the Other.
In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of “Being-for-others”, and how this can open us up to accept that we need to include others in our search for meaning. In short, a meaningful life must consider and include other people. It can’t be egocentric.
DE Weekly: Ego, Busyness, & Being-For-Others
One point we encounter again and again when reading many of the existentialists is that we are solely responsible for finding and creating meaning in our own lives. The reason we are tasked with this is because, according to the existentialists, there is no central, universal meaning out there.
This is a daunting task. How do we find and create meaning where there is none? The answer for me is probably different than the answer for you.
DE Weekly: Mind, Matter, & Eliminativism
One of the great contentions posited in existentialism is that, in a world devoid of inherent meaning, we are responsible for making meaning in our own lives. Through acceptance of the absurdity of life and radical ownership of our own choices, this is possible.
Another contention of existentialism––and this one is more important, in my opinion––is that this reality is not a bad thing. This is of ultimate importance to recognize, because it’s what distinguishes the philosophy from nihilism.
DE Weekly: Schrödinger’s Cat, Nausea, & Reality
Across philosophy and other mediums such as science, people have invented and relied on thought experiments to explain certain concepts and demonstrate different layers to a problem.
In quantum mechanics, one such thought experiment is “Schrödinger’s cat”.
DE Weekly: Phenomenology, Experience, & Seinfeld
Each week over the past few months, I’ve written about the “big questions” posed by the existentialists. These questions concern our existence, the essence of what makes us human, why our lives have meaning, and why these questions cause us a great deal of anxiety.
But, downstream of all these questions is what I consider “the big one”: How do we live each and every day in accordance with living a life of meaning?
DE Weekly: Hancock, Mortality, & Mystery
The old adage goes, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” That phrase was written by American founding father Benjamin Franklin.
I view only half of these certainties as truly legitimate, and that is death.
DE Weekly: Choices, Freedom, & Authenticity
“You will never be able to experience everything. So, please, do poetical justice to your soul and simply experience yourself.”
This is a quote from Albert Camus. Like much of what Camus writes, I like it because of its simplicity. Its meaning is also twofold.
DE Weekly: Negativity, Uncertainty, & Hope
Fear and negativity are in abundance today. Uncertainty is everywhere. It seems like it’s just one thing after another. Right? That’s what we’re led to believe, at least.
Take one minute to scroll through social media, flip on the news, pick up the local paper at the newsstand (do they still have those?), and, yes, you’d think the sky is going to come crashing down tomorrow.
DE Weekly: Sartre, Hell, & No Exit
“There’s no more hope–but it’s still ‘before.’ We haven’t yet began to suffer” (Sartre 10). There have been countless memorable depictions of Hell over the millennia, but Jean-Paul Sartre’s unforgettable depiction of Hell in his play No Exit remains one of the best.