.
."Existentialism is an attempt to map and explore human complexity;
its chief 'bete noire' [ie. something especially hated or dreaded] is
oversimplification (or abstraction)."
- the almost definitive one - cybrwurm ;>
Moderator: Super Moderators
."Existentialism is an attempt to map and explore human complexity;
its chief 'bete noire' [ie. something especially hated or dreaded] is
oversimplification (or abstraction)."
cybrwurm wrote: "Existentialism is an attempt to map and explore human complexity;
its chief 'bete noire' [ie. something especially hated or dreaded] is
oversimplification (or abstraction)."
.On 4Oct Fan say: The answer is 42, but the problem is we have never known what the question is.
.HB3 say: Oh, I think that's a very bad definition. Surely Wilson wasn't putting that forward as a "definition," was he?
.HB3: Sounds like a description of one of its characteristics following a definition.
.HB3: How does this definition distinguish it from Christianity or any other theology or philosophy?
.Diogenes say: Honestly Cyberwrm is too smart for me - don't even know how to respond to anything.
Yeah, I don't think so. I think you'd have to contextualize "Existentialism" as having to do with the concept of "existence before essence" as defined by Jean-Paul Sartre.Most theologies and philosophies tend to focus more on other things, external things mostly, so even if they agree that there is complexity both inside and out, they're just not that interested in exploring human complexity when there are other (more interesting or productive?) areas to investigate.
.HB3 say: Yeah, I don't think so. I think you'd have to contextualize "Existentialism" as having to do with the concept of "existence before essence" as defined by Jean-Paul Sartre.
.Here's a good book on the subject ... just released on Kindle! William Barrett's Irrational Man
.S.Guha say: ... This is the problematic of existentialism, which Barrett (correctly) identifies as the "homelessness" of man in a world bereft of religion, hitherto his only sure ladder to the transcendent. Existentialism might succinctly be defined as the attempt to continue living philosophically in the deafening, intolerable silence that follows the collapse of that ladder. <snip>
.HB3 say: Your last paragraph sums up why I don't like it, and why Bennett's book ended up bugging me. But it'd be hard for me to explain why in detail. I didn't like his defense of the modern (particularly modern art) as simply, "that's the way it is, there's no going back," particularly when it comes to the denial of the transcendent.
wurm say: I know what you mean. I feel the same way about 'Atlas Shrugged'.HB3 previously say: ... and why Barrett's book ended up bugging
me. But it'd be hard for me to explain why in detail.
If you think that's impressive, you should see my little library: two bookcases of nine racks stuffed to the gills with a wide variety of different books; almost half of which are philosophy type books (450 or so, maybe?) ... Including such greats as Santayana's 'Life of Reason' (the one volume version) and Croce's 'History as the Story of Liberty'. Neither of which treasures I have as yet finished reading; as these are tough books with hard to chew pages.HB3 say: Yeah, Barrett. Don't get me wrong -- he's brilliant
and that book's a classic. I'm impressed that you know it.
And future generations will pay an even stiffer penalty for our collective 'mismanagement'.HB3: But yeah, there were quite a few things about it that bugged me. Generally it struck me that the post-war group of scholars Barrett was a part of could still luxuriate in Western Civilization even as they critiqued it without really living with the consequences of that critique -- but we're sure as hell living with it now.
"anarchist philosophy of meaning" - I never thought of it quite that way before; but eye do rather like the sound of it.HB3: I also have some reservations about statements like "truth is based on what is." If that's meant to signify something more than a redundancy, it appears to be some sort of animist/anarchist philosophy of meaning being immanent in the "present moment"
I totally agree to disagee with this latter clause.HB3: and morality proceeding from this and only this. I totally disagree.
The Congo? Well I don't know about that place, but limited or not, truth has to be based on something that everyone has immediate access to; namely, reality as we know it: an ongoing social construction of considerable age and size.HB3: Go spend some time in the Congo to understand the limitations of this philosophy.