Existentialism's topics - tribe.net

Franks, Sartre, Nietzsche...

2008-07-04T07:11:42Z

What's the difference?

posted in Existentialism - 3 replies

Do we choose to fail?

2008-06-25T14:42:48Z

I've got this wacky theory that our failures are a direct result of our decision to do so to the extent that true failure does not exist only the decision to do so. We miss on purpose, anyone can ski, etc.

posted in Existentialism - 52 replies

New Moderator?

2008-06-21T01:28:01Z

Our moderator appears to be MIA. Shall we pick a new one? I'll throw my hat in the ring...

posted in Existentialism - 35 replies

Existential poetry

2008-06-18T19:53:06Z

You wanted something to talk about, you think you need a moderator her's a war:

http://www.web-designer.oneuk.com/mageworld/exit/napoleon.html

Divorced From Freedom
-----------------------------------------
This grimy Victorian red brick heap
Stands as mute witness
To the infinite frailties of men
Transfigured into numbers
And also to their strengths
Rearranged in a hierarchal
Array of crimes
We scuttle like termites in a mound
Counting our pounds and days spent
In this panoptic layer cake
I crumble like a pauper into that state
Of graceless humility owned by the guilty
Fixated by the fickle nature of fate
It's a game of doubts, swings and roundabouts
And in accordence with its paradoxical nature
We reclaim the sun of our enfeebled humanity
For a precious hour of cards and comraderie
Queens are slags, they take any card
My crime is awful, in the eyes of the lawful
And criminal alike
It's alledged I held up a brothel
Drunk, blind and armed with love,
kisses, cuddles and a cudgel
That, as an intoxicated thug,
I rode it like a stolen motorbike,
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
I wouldn't wed thus to this place I'm fed
As each day dawns I awake
From the peaceful sleep of the pawned
And in troubled waking thought
I imagine the cost
Of vision, freedoms, chattels and battles lost.

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

the way to Christ is simple

2008-05-21T04:25:35Z

God's Blessings often benefit all people. But many of His promises are only for His own children. If you're not sure that you're a part of God's family, He offers you this invitation. The way to Christ is simple:

1. Admit that you have a need.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

2. Believe that Jesus is God, the Son, who paid the wages of your sin.

For the wages of sin is death [eternal separation from God]; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23

3. Call upon God.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:9

King James Version

The Holy Bible

ISBN 978-1-58660-198-0

Barbour Publishing

www.barbourbooks.com

posted in Existentialism - 9 replies

existential solution to existential anxiety

2008-04-30T01:12:31Z

In wikipedia I found a suggestion to a so-called existential anxiety:
"The rejection of reason as the source of meaning is a common theme of existentialist thought, as is the focus on the feelings of anxiety and dread that we feel in the face of our own radical freedom and our awareness of death."

I could not find what existentialism offered as a solution to this anxiety. Does existentialism offer one? if so, would the solution be in defining one's own meaning in life, by any means necessary irrespective of reason, belief or faith?

thanks in advance for your thoughts..

posted in Existentialism - 14 replies

New Hunter S. Thompson Documentary

2008-01-24T07:28:21Z

Dear Friends,
This is a VERY funny and poignant film director Blue Kraning made about Hunter S. Thompson. You can follow this link to where the trailer is posted up on Tribe:

http://people.tribe.net/ef16dbc2-...e40916ff6d

or you can follow the other links to his website www.gonzopatriots.com to see the trailer and buy the film.

I went ahead and copied the text from the tribe page below so you get a better idea of the work.

Please support the spirit of independence in which this film was made AND BUY THIS FILM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Much Love To All,
Lisa Ferguson (aka Petunia Maple Cake)

New Hunter S. Thompson Documentary
This is the trailer for the fun-loving but poignant film that is a tribute to Gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson, and a document of how his legacy continues to live on in the hearts and minds of his fans. Blasted!!! follows the many "Gonzo Patriots" across America that volunteered their personally owned artillery to fulfill the good doctor's last wish to have his ashes fired from a cannon. Before Johnny Depp became involved with the ceremony, and paid over 2 million dollars for a professional fireworks company to blast his friend's ashes from a 200 foot tall 'Gonzo fist,' an essay contest was held by the Aspen Daily News (at the request of Hunter's family) to see who would be available to provide the service of firing his ashes. Over 50 private cannon owners applied and though these letters were published in Harper's magazine, these brave men and women, who had come forward to fulfill the dying wish of their hero...were eventually forgotten.

DVD's for this film can be purchased at www.gonzopatriots.com

Blue Kraning, Los Angeles based documentary director and Emmy Award winning writer, has just released the DVD of his film, Blasted, The Gonzo Patriots of Hunter S. Thompson, which recently premiered at the Starz Denver International Film Festival and the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Three years in the making, this film is a tribute to a great journalist and renowned physician. Kraning says the film, “is intended for any fan of Hunter S. Thompson or just anyone who likes to see large stuffed animals blown to bits by a homemade Bowling Ball Cannon fired by a man in a purple polyester suit, or see transgender Civil War re-enactors blast their aptly named mountain howitzer...’Lucrecia,’ while reciting Hunter’s wisdom. I made this film entirely as a one-man-band, in the tradition of Gonzo individuality and artistic freedom, so I will be distributing the film entirely by myself by selling the film off my website at www.gonzopatriots.com”

"Hunter S. Thompson embodied the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Blue Kraning's Blasted!!! is a twisted, anarchic, fun, and funny tribute to Hunter, those ideals, and Americans who don't merely mouth the Declaration of Independence, but live it." - Michael Simmons, The Huffington Post

“These are not the famous actors, politicians or even journalists. These are Hunter's readers who are “his people” in the purest sense, an army of thoughtful citizens who are inspired by Hunter's work and who do a fine job of carrying on his legacy.” –Anita Thompson, wife of the late author, Hunter S. Thompson

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

What is happiness?

2008-01-13T04:00:02Z

That's it.

posted in Existentialism - 4 replies

One question.

2007-10-02T01:24:07Z

Do you think that people have a core to them, like a core personality? Or perhaps I could describe it more as something they feel confident in and can hang on to, something that is always there? Or do you think that people are merely whatever they feel/think and do from moment to moment?

posted in Existentialism - 45 replies

Existentialism and Negativity

2007-08-28T17:18:10Z

I find it interesting that when I start talking to people and sometimes the fact that I am an existentialist comes up, they take two steps back, waiting for me to grow two heads and eat their babies.
Existentialism, certainly in the US seems to have a very negative connotation, and is not viewed positively at all.
In Europe and Australia, it is more accepted, whereas in the US it is viewed as some gloomy and alienating disease that people will catch if they come too close.

posted in Existentialism - 11 replies

Kierkegaardian Moment without a divine Christ?

2007-06-13T03:55:32Z

An essential element of my understanding of existentialism is Kierkegaard's understanding of the Moment, of the eternal diving intersecting temporal humanity in the person of Christ. Lately, I've been struggling with Trinitarian theology. So, I'm wondering if it's possible to maintain the idea of the Kierkegaardian Moment outside a Trinitarian framework.

Thanks
Clint

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

A psychological test

2007-03-23T06:55:03Z

http://extremehonesty.tribe.net/thread/b46a3fde-6299-47ab-b19c-3f3c11b52862

Post your answers in this thread not the above thread. I want to compare answers from different tribes.

posted in Existentialism - 9 replies

Existentialism per Wikipedia

2006-11-22T15:41:00Z

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism

I havent studied that much about it but I guess I'm an existentialist. Hmm. I just came across this tribe. I was watching the History Channel. A story about a notorious drug dealer. The last thing they said about him was that he didnt feel guilt about anything. Selling drugs to people that wanted them wasnt wrong to him. They said he thought of himself as an existentialist & when asked what that mean he said you live your life and do what you want to do. Sounds good to me.

posted in Existentialism - 24 replies

CRUISE THE MED...DOCUMENTARY FILM MAKING

2006-11-17T01:16:17Z

Beginning in March next year, we are inviting 9 people to cruise from Bodrum, Turkey along the Turkish coast, Cyprus, Athens, Alexandria on a share expenses basis (very, very inexpensive). We began a documentary in Paris and Turkey last year, and now as it gets warmer in Turkey we are going to complete it. We have a US distributor, and everyone involved will share in profits. It could be quite profitable for you and a real life changer. We are in pre-production of three others...one on black jazz in Paris after WWII until now. We have a Turkish captain/crew/cook on our 70' Gulet, 6 double staterooms still available, all with their own head (toilet and shower). Qualifications? Simply to be able to get along with people. Age? Our producer is 60, our editor is 25. Age inmaterial if you are young in spirit. If you have video experience (HD MiniDV PAL and Final Cut Pro, writing) all the better, but we are doing this to perhaps expand the focus of our documentary which is based on the mystical aspects of Alexander the Great - Title: Force of Evidence. Creative people get free reign as long as they don't sink the ship or the project. We are interested to add some human interest...profound, provocative, funny...to the program, so film making experience in not a requirement. Come for a week or two months. Email me for details.

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

Evangelion

2006-10-22T20:42:41Z

I just wanted to share this Sartre inspired clip with the tribe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp3fmAYbiO0&mode=related&search=

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

INTENTIONALITY INFORMS THE EXISTENTIAL FIELD by Sasha Lessin, Ph.D.

2006-09-02T18:43:38Z

Intentionality Informs the Existential Field.

We're a part of an interactive field that includes everyone and
everything. All we think, say and do affects it all. Whatever happens
anywhere, anytime, any-dimension affects us.

FIELD THEORY-INTENTIONALITY

We're are "a continuous consciousness-body-world field .... Whatever
affects other people and the world" affects us, too; whatever happens
to us "affects other people and the world around" us. [Koestenbaum,
P. The New Image of The Person, 1974, page 40]

We're are distinct, as individual consciousnesses, from our bodies,
from other people, from our environment and from the rest of the
universe. Yet our consciousness and its objects--body, other people
and our environment--are interdependent, reciprocally and continuous.
Existential field theory recognizes our inclusion in larger entities
with our body, others and the world.

This connection between us and the objects of our consciousness is
intentionality.

To understand the existential field that All-Chakra Tantra provides:
* Take ourselves and others as we exist--living, acting, feeling
phenomena, at this moment--in an organic relationship with each
other.

* Appreciate the shifting constellations of meanings constituting our
own and other people's bodily experienced reality.

* Contact phenomena as we live them out and experience them.

* Focus on people in their concrete, meaningful, everyday experiences.

* Recognize the interdependence of our lived-bodies, space around us,
actions, experiences and the organization of our personal worlds.

* Find the meaning of life in our own limited and finite life on this
earth in our current embodiments.

* Take into equal and simultaneous consideration (for us and for all
humanity) what we relate to and how we and our objects relate.

* Explicate the essence, form and structure of human experience and
behavior through disciplined reflection and description as well as
tantric experiences.

* Simultaneously ask ourselves, "Who am I?" and "What kind of world
do I live in?" as inseparably bound aspects of our unified
personality, body and environment.

[* Definitions from Valle, R., & King, M.,1978, Existential-
Phenomenological Alternatives for Psychology, Oxford University Press]

LEARN FROM OUR SUBJECTIVE, OBJECTIVE, INDIVIDUAL AND UNIVERSAL
ASPECTS

Koestenbaum says we find peace when we learn our existence is like a
field with two dimensions, subjective-objective and individual-
universal.

The subjective-objective dimension has two poles.

The subjective pole is our mind, consciousness or awareness. The
objective is the environment. The environment can include our body
and other people.

Existence connects us with our body, other people and the rest of the
world. We and our environment define each other.

We know our individual-universal options when we realize we'll die to
life in our present embodyment. This life, we choose how we use ourtime, energy, life, realizing we have a finite life span. Knowing our
body, intellect and unique personality as constellated in their
present time/space context won't survive makes we aware of our
individuality options.

Humanity and nature, of which our consciousness is part, will survive
us; knowing this makes our outlook more universal. We're aware that
universal, infinite, eternal loving consciousness runs though us.

We can, at will, change our way of experiencing situations by
experiencing ourselves from different positions between the
subjective-objective and individual-universal dimensions of the
field. We have subjective, objective, individual and universal
aspects and can emphasize whichever aspects best serve us.
[Koestenbaum, P. The New Image of The Person, 1974, Pages 108- 141]

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

Biographical Studies on Camus

2006-08-21T12:49:21Z

Has anyone read any of the biographies on Camus? Any interesting finds or book suggestions?

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

Camus said it best

2006-08-20T19:55:56Z

http://bunnyhop.tribe.net

posted in Existentialism - 16 replies

Values

2006-07-02T20:04:04Z

I always end up coming back to the idea that my values are arbitrarily contrived which seems to invalidate most of the meaning. How do you create meaning or motivation/reasons for doing anything?
-b

posted in Existentialism - 19 replies

Sartre Cookbook

2006-07-01T20:32:05Z

The Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook

We have recently been lucky enough to discover several previously lost diaries of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stuck in between the cushions of our office sofa. These diaries reveal a young Sartre obsessed not with the void, but with food. Apparently Sartre, before discovering philosophy, had hoped to write "a cookbook that will put to rest all notions of flavour forever." The diaries are excerpted here for your perusal.

October 3
Spoke with Camus today about my cookbook. Though he has never actually eaten, he gave me much encouragement. I rushed home immediately to begin work. How excited I am! I have begun my formula for a Denver omelet.

October 4
Still working on the omelet. There have been stumbling blocks. I keep creating omelets one after another, like soldiers marching into the sea, but each one seems empty, hollow, like stone. I want to create an omelet that expresses the meaninglessness of existence, and instead they taste like cheese. I look at them on the plate, but they do not look back. I tried eating them with the lights off. It did not help. Malraux suggested paprika.

October 6
I have realized that the traditional omelet form (eggs and cheese) is bourgeois. Today I tried making one out of a cigarette, some coffee, and four tiny stones. I fed it to Malraux, who puked. I am encouraged, but my journey is still long.

October 7
Today I again modified my omelet recipe. While my previous attempts had expressed my own bitterness, they communicated only illness to the eater. In an attempt to reach the bourgeoisie, I taped two fried eggs over my eyes and walked the streets of Paris for an hour. I ran into Camus at the Select. He called me a pathetic dork; and told me to go home and wash my face. Angered, I poured a bowl of bouillabaisse into his lap. He became enraged, and, seizing a straw wrapped in paper, tore off one end of the wrapper and blew through the straw propelling the wrapper into my eye. "Ow! You lung sucking dog anus!" I cried. I leaped up, cursing and holding my eye, and fled.

October 10
I find myself trying ever more radical interpretations of traditional dishes, in an effort to somehow express the void I feel so acutely. Today I tried this recipe: Tuna Casserole.

Ingredients: 1 large casserole dish.
Directions: Place the casserole dish in a cold oven. Place a chair facing the oven and sit in it forever. Think about how hungry you are. When night falls, do not turn on the light.

While a void is expressed in this recipe, I am struck by its inapplicability to the bourgeois lifestyle. How can the eater recognize that the food denied him is a tuna casserole and not some other dish? I am becoming more and more frustrated.

October 12
My eye has become inflamed. I hate Camus.

October 25
I have been forced to abandon the project of producing an entire cookbook. Rather, I now seek a single recipe which will, by itself, embody the plight of man in a world ruled by an unfeeling God, as well as providing the eater with at least one ingredient from each of the four basic food groups. To this end, I purchased six hundred pounds of foodstuffs from the corner grocery and locked myself in the kitchen, refusing to admit anyone. After several weeks of work, I produced a recipe calling for two eggs, half a cup of flour, four tons of beef, and a leek. While this is a start, I am afraid I still have much work ahead.

November 15
I feel that I may be very close to a great breakthrough. I had been creating meal after meal, but none seemed to express the futility of existence any better than would ordering a pizza. I left the house this morning in a most depressed state, and wandered aimlessly through the streets. Suddenly, it was as if the heavens had opened. My brain was electrified with an influx of new ideas. "Juice, toast, milk" I muttered aloud. I realized with a start that I was one ingredient away from creating the nutritious breakfast. Loathsome, true, but filled with existential authenticity I rushed home to begin work anew.

November 18
Today I tried yet another variation: Juice, toast, milk and Cheetos. Again, a dismal failure. I have tried everything. Juice, toast, milk and whiskey, juice, toast, milk and chicken fat, juice, toast, milk and someone else's spit. Nothing helps. I am in agony. Juice, toast, milk, they race about my fevered brain like fire, like an unholy trinity of cruel denial. And the fourth ingredient! What could it be? It eludes me like the lost chord, the Holy Grail. I must see the completion of my task, but I have no more money to spend on food. Perhaps man is not meant to know...

November 21
Camus came into the restaurant today. He did not know I was in the kitchen and before I sent out his meal I loogied in his soup. Sic semper tyrannis.

November 23
Ran into some opposition at the restaurant. Some of the patrons complained that my breakfast special (a page out of Remembrance of Things Past and a blowtorch with which to set it on fire) did not satisfy their hunger. As if their hunger was of any consequence! But we're starving, they say. So what? They're going to die eventually anyway. They make me want to puke. I have quit the job. It is stupid for Jean- Paul Sartre to sling hash. I have enough money to continue my work for a little while.

November 24
Last night I had a dream. In it, I am standing, alone, on a beach. A great storm is raging all about me. It begins to rain. Night falls. I am struck by how small and insignificant I am, how the entire race of Man is but a speck in the eye of God, and I am but a speck of humanity. Suddenly, a red Cadillac convertible pulls up beside me. In it are these two beautiful girls named Jojo and Wendy. I get in and they take me to their mansion in Hollywood and give me a pound of cocaine and make mad, passionate love to me for the rest of my life.

November 26
Today I made a Black Forest cake out of five pounds of cherries and a live beaver, challenging the very definition of the word cake. I was very pleased. Malraux said he admired it greatly, but could not stay for dessert. Still, I feel that this may be my most profound achievement yet, and have resolved to enter it in the Betty Crocker Bake-Off.

November 30
Today was the day of the Bake-Off. Alas, things did not go as I had hoped. During the judging, the beaver became agitated and bit Betty Crocker on the wrist. The beaver's powerful jaws are capable of felling blue spruce in less than ten minutes and proved, needless to say, more than a match for the tender limbs of America's favorite homemaker. I only got third place. Moreover, I am now the subject of a rather nasty lawsuit.

December 1
I have been gaining twenty-five pounds a week for two months, and I am now experiencing light tides. It is stupid to be so fat. My pain and ultimate solitude are still as authentic as they were when I was thin, but seem to impress girls far less. From now on, I will live on cigarettes and black coffee.

posted in Existentialism - 7 replies

keanu reeve's acting

2006-06-22T18:32:28Z

always brings out the existentialist in me...

posted in Existentialism - 19 replies

just funny

2006-06-18T07:02:13Z

The Situation in Hell

The following is supposedly an actual question given
on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term.
The answer by one student was so "profound" that
the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet,
which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure
of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat)
or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using
Boyle's Law
(gas cools when it expands and heats when it is
compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is
changing in time. So
we need to know the rate at which souls are moving
into Hell and the
rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can
safely assume
that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave.
Therefore, no souls
are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look
at the different religions that exist in the world today.
Most of these religions state that if you are not a member
of their religion, you will go to Hell.

Since there is more than one of these religions and
since people do not belong to more than one religion,
we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect
the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell
because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature
and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume
of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate
at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure
in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase
of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will
drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during
my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before
I go out with you", and take into account the fact that I went
out with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus
I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over,
it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is
therefore, extinct . . . leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the
existence of a divine being which explains why, last night,
Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A."

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

Semiotics and visual art

2006-05-31T04:25:25Z

Hi,

just joined this tribe not long ago, havn't had much time to post a whole lot, however.
I noticed that there was no art and semiotics tribe and started my own.
There isn't much there yet, but the more join the bettter, fell free to drop by, an dspread the word, wwe need members.

thanks

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

Truth and understanding?

2006-05-21T12:37:51Z

Hi there. I would like to learn about truth and understanding. Excuse my clumsy language, I have little knowledge of existentialism's jargon. I tried to consult the dictionary for definitions of the words themselves but was swamped by metaphorical explanations which didn't clarify anything for me.

In trying to make sense of things, I feel like I am working against that goal with the attempt itself. Concepts and other mental products seem to be deviations from reality's true nature, useful to us because they break and pervert incomprehensible reality into information we can work with, create theories and make predictions. However, these same mental products are a part of the reality they distort in order to make it comprehensible. It seems like a paradox, another deviation. It seems the closer I get to truth, whatever it is (besides seemingly unknowable due to consciousness itself?), the more theories break down, or the less things make sense. So what is truth and what is understanding and what is the relationship between the two?
-b

posted in Existentialism - 21 replies

What is honor?

2006-05-20T08:52:50Z

What is honor?

posted in Existentialism - 12 replies

Questioning. A Thought.

2006-05-18T20:49:52Z

I spotted a bumper sticker this weekend that read: 'Someone who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.'
While on some levels this rang true, I couldn't help but think, 'Is it not absurd to invest too much of your faith in other human minds? Do people make you believe things, or do we give away our faith? Aren't we all responsible for determining where we invest our thoughts and faith? In my opinion, denying this responsibility WOULD be the absurdity.

My fellow existentialist, what are your thoughts on faith?

posted in Existentialism - 17 replies

The Myth of Sisyphus

2006-05-05T12:49:34Z

So I'm reading this book for a class and while the first 40 pages were alright the 20 after that have left me rather rattled, wondering what the hell this guy is getting at. Please tell me, does it continue to drone or does Camus start to get interesting?

And if you've read this book before, mind helping me out a bit on some of the main points?

What I'm getting so far is this notion of the "absurd man" and how suicide would be reconciling oneself to absurdity instead of revolting against it. So to live is to revolt against absurdity...hence a lifelong struggle so as not to succom.

What I am now finding especially confusing is this notion of freedom. Camus, as far as I perceive it, states that freedom is non-existent to the absurd man because to have a conception of freedom is to at once be a slave. But then he goes on to talk about the ultimate freedom for the absurd man. Is he purposefully being contradictory or am I not reading this accurately?

Lastly, are there any other points that people have picked up from this book that you think might be pertinent?

Thanks in advance!

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

Is Existentialism a philosophy (and can I even be an "existentialist")?

2006-03-13T03:48:31Z

The discussion on Kierkegaard made me go back to Kaufmann's Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre (in which he refers to K as the "first existentialist").

Is existentialism really like Platonism where I believe in specific things like the idea of Forms? I've always thought it was more eclectic or rather the placeholder for "I'm a little of this, NOT that, opposed to that over there, . . ." But I wondered what folks thought about these opening comments from Kaufmann:

"Existentialism is not a philosophy but a label for several widely different revolts against traditional philosophy. . . . Certainly, existentialism is not a school of thought nor reducible to any set of tenets. . . . The refusal to belong to any school of thought, the repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs whatever, and especially of systems, and a marked dissatisfaction with traditional philosophy as superficial, academic, and remote from life -- that is the heart of existentialism."

posted in Existentialism - 23 replies

existentialism reading group

2006-02-27T20:50:37Z

Hello Everybody,
I am starting an existentialism reading group in San Francisco. I was thinking that we'd start with Kirkegaard (either fear and trembling or a sickness unto death), and then kind of work our way through Existentialism as a Humanism and finally wade into Being and Nothingness. Please let me know if any of you are interested in joining,

Nick

posted in Existentialism - 7 replies

15 EXISTENTIAL IDEALS by Sasha Lessin, Ph.D.

2006-02-27T12:41:50Z

15 EXISTENTIAL IDEALS by Sasha Lessin, Ph.D.

Peter Koestenbaum organizes existential-phenomenological findings into propositions or ideals. [Koestenbaum, P., 1974, pages 39--45.] When you live these ideals, he writes, your existence is authentic, compassionate, happy and meaningful. Examine your own and your clients' knowledge and existence, Koestenbaum suggests, in light of these ideals. He provides reflective devices, which I augment for you, to personalize the following ideals.

Realize the reciprocal INTERPLAY between you and what you experience; learn of field theory, intentionality.

Experience yourself at several LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

Acknowledge that you are responsible; CHOOSE your attitudes and reactions.

Consciously experience your ever-developing sense of yourself as an individual and as humanity (phenomenologically SELF-DISCLOSE.)

Value PAIN and ANXIETY as opportunities to learn.

Use limits to make your life meaningful; reflect upon NEGATION, FINITUDE and DEATH.

Live and reflect using phenomenological bracketing (EPOCHE).

Be INDEPENDENT, SELF-RELIANT and SUBJECTIVE (to balance out love and commitment).

Realize your own unique, creative INDIVIDUALITY.

Experience TRANSCENDENTAL SUBJECTIVITY; revere this core self of each and all consciousness.

Realize you are free to CHOOSE your own values and self-concepts.

Accept GUILT for your choices as signals to do better.

Say YES to life. COMMIT yourself. Be REALISTIC.

LOVE and encounter others. Be FLEXIBLE and adaptable.

Experience time living now, using the past, focused on your future.

GROW; expand and transcend your self-definition.

Use contradictions, polarities, paradoxes and ambiguities as opportuni-
ties to establish dialogues and DIALECTICS. leading to further growth.

Exercise for Confluent Understanding and Retention of the Existential Ideals:
Read each of the existential ideals (jbelow) aloud three times in the first person singular (“I”) using the present tense. As you read each, rephrase it (with no further study) in your own words.
I consciously experience the reciprocal interplay between myself and
what I experience as I understand and intentionally live with existential field theory.
I experience myself at several levels of consciousness.
I am responsible for choosing my attitudes and reactions.
I consciously experience my ever-developing sense of myself as an
individual and an illuminatory channel for humanity and higher unity; I tell myself the truth about myself as I come to know it.
I value my pain and anxiety as my opportunities to learn.
I use my limits to make my life meaningful; I use the fact of my inevit- able physical death to vitalize my life.
I both live and reflect on my life.
I am independent, self-reliant and subjective as a balance to my love and commitment.
I am a unique, creative individual.
I revere the consciousness that flows through me and others.
I freely choose my values and accept healthy guilt so I can choose
better.
I cherish and affirm my existence; I say "Yes" to life.,"
I commit myself to people, principles, goals and a lifestyle.
I am realistic. I authentically encounter and love others. I am flexible and adaptable.
I experience my life at this very moment; I am one in this moment with
what I have learned in the past as well as my hopes for the future.
I am continually growing and expanding what I consider myself to be.
I welcome contradictions, opposites, paradoxes and ambiguities as oppor-
tunities to establish MY broader understandings and growth.

posted in Existentialism - 2 replies

The Mystification of Experience in The Politics of Experience by R.D. Laing

2006-01-24T02:17:49Z

I just extracted some concepts from this key text of Laing's. Also working on Reason & Violence, a short, dense, and faithful account of 3 of Sarte's major works. Highly recommended for you phiolsophs on a time budget.

Segments on Love and Violence--selectively spliced to highlight the author's message:

Love and violence, properly speaking, are polar opposites. Love lets the other be, but with affection and concern. Violence attempts to constrain the other's freedom, to force him to act in the way we desire, but with ultimate lack of concern, with indifference to the other's own existence of destiny.

We are effectively destroying ourselves by violence masquerading as love...

Human beings relate to each other not simply externally, like two billiard balls, but by the relations of the two worlds of experience that come into play when two people meet...

What one is supposed to want, to live for is 'gaining pleasure from the esteem and affection of others'; if not one is a psychopath. Such statements are in a sense true. They describe the frightened, cowed, abject creature that we are admonished to be, if we are meant to be normal--offering each other mutual protection from our own violence. The family as 'protection racket'.

Behind this language lurks the terror that is behind all this mutual back-scratching, this esteem-, status-, support-, protection-, security-giving and getting. Through it's bland urbanity the cracks still show...

The family's function is to repress Eros: to induce a false consciousness of security: to deny death by avoiding life: to cut off transcendence: to believe in God, not to experience the Void: to create, in short, one-dimensional man: to promote respect, conformity, obedience: to con children out of play: to induce a fear of failure: to promote a respect for work: to promote a respect for respectability...

The double action of destroying ourselves with one hand, and calling this love with the other, is a sleight of hand one can marvel at. Human beings seem to have an almost unlimited capacity to deceive themselves, and to deceive themselves into taking their own lies for truth. By such mystification, we achieve and sustain our adjustment, adaptation, socialization. But the result of such adjustment to our society is that having been tricked and having tricked ourselves out of our minds, that is to say, out of our personal worlds of experience, out of that unique meaning with which potentially we may endow the external world, simultaneously we have been conned into the illusion that we are separate 'skin-encapsulated egos.' Having at one and the same time lost our selves, and developed the illusion that we are autonomous egos, we are expected to comply by inner consent with external constraints, to an almost unspeakable extent.

Human beings have become so self-brutalized, banalized stultified, that they are unaware of their own debasement...

We have all been processed on Procrustean beds. At least some of us have managed to hate what they have made of us. Inevitably we see the other as the reflection of the occasion of our own self-division.

The others have become installed in our hearts and we call them ourselves. Each person, not being himself either to himself or the other, just as the other is not himself to himself or to us, in being another for another neither recognizes himself in the other, nor the other in himself. Hence being at least a double absence, haunted by the ghost of his own murdered self, no wonder modern man is addicted to other persons, and the more addicted, the less satisfied, the more lonely.

Once more there is a further turn of the spiral, another twist of the tourniquet. For now love becomes a further alienation, a further act of violence. My need is a need to be needed, my longing a longing to be longed for. I act now to install what I take to be myself in what I take to be the other person's heart...

The violence we perpetuate and have done to us, the recriminations, reconciliations, the ecstasies and the agonies of a love affair, are based on the socially conditioned illusion that two actual persons are in relationship. Under the circumstances, this is a dangerous state of hallucination and delusion, a mishmash of phantasy, exploding and imploding, of broken hearts, reparation and revenge.

Yet within all this, I do not preclude the occasions when most lost, lovers may discover each other, moments when recognition does occur, when hell can turn to heaven and come down to earth, when this crazy distraction can become joy and celebration.

And, at the very least, it befits Babes in the Wood to be kinder to eachother, to show some sympathy and compassion, if there is any pathos and passion left to spend.

But when violence masquerades as love, once the fissure into self and ego, inner and outer, good and bad occurs, all else is an infernal dance of false dualities. It has always been recognized that if you split Being down the middle, if you insist on grabbing this without that, if you cling to the good without the bad, denying the one for the other, what happens is that the dissoviated evil impulse, now evil in a double sense, returns to permeate and possess the good and turn it into itself.

When the great Tao is lost, spring forth benevolence and righteousness.
When wisdom and sagacity arise, there are great hypocrites.
When family relations are no longer harmonious, we have filial children and devoted parents.
When a nation is in confusion and disorder, patriots are recognized...

Perhaps men and women were born to love one another, simply and genuinely, rather than to this travesty that we can call love. If we can stop destroying ourselves, we may stop destroying others. We have to begin by admitting and even accepting our violence, rather than blindly destroying ourselves with it, and therewith we have to realize that we are as deeply afraid to live and to love as we are to die.

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

Jean-Paul Sartre said

2005-12-21T02:45:14Z

"Smoking is the symbolic equivalent of destructively appropriating the entire world."

However, governments are going to extremes to take this act out of our lungs and out history.

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/11/lame_history_revisio.html

posted in Existentialism - 10 replies

A bit of Comfort

2005-11-29T23:00:57Z

The following is a paper I wrote for my high school world lit. class. The assignment was to be for or agaisnt a philosophy, and so I chose Existentialism. Please feel free to critize, agree, pick apart!

A Bit of Comfort.
Existentialism is a valuable spiritual tool to one who wishes to achieve a greater understanding about themselves and existence. From careful research such as personally exercising the philosophy, and largely because the objectives of the philosophy were easy for me to comprehend, I found practicing Existentialism can lead to a greater satisfaction of ones spiritual well being in regards to the turbulent and awkward emotions one can harbor concerning their existence.
"Existence Precedes Essence"-Satuire. One must realize they exist before they began to define their existence. This can be a hard concept to grasp, or to become fully consciously aware of. Obviously, one is was aware of their physical existence, however one usually does not know how to comprehend, much less even begin to fathom a solution to the dreams they dreamt or their conscious which most chose to view as a constant mockery ringing through their mind. Some, including myself, once numbed these foreign and rather intruding feelings by altering the chemistry of the body, but eventually reality slaps one in the face as it did to me, thus now I feel as if reality is trying to hold my hand, as if I was its antidote. The interim between reality's slap and our alienation was rather lonely, however fortunately during this lonely stretch of time, I made the choice of paying attention to Paul Forester's lecture on Existentialism.
Choices and consequences define existence, and to make these choices, one must truly listen to what lies within. I am not quite sure if that bizarre feeling one usually calls a conscious, comes from chemical imbalances, environmental conditions, or the mysterious effects of global warming; however, nevertheless I have found if one listens to their conscious, there are less harsh consequences.
After researching Existentialism, I feel very fortunate to be female, because many wise people have told I me that females are much more in tuned with the forces of nature than males, and I feel that a have been able to achieve greater levels of intuition through Existentialism. Basically, Existentialism fabricated a new realm of understanding in my mind, in which I was finally able to comprehend my existence with a greater level of satisfaction and comfort. I believe Existentialism a valid philosophy.

posted in Existentialism - 27 replies

Sartre in the kitchen

2005-04-07T18:51:54Z

I don't know if this has come up before, but if you are hungry and also feeling anguish or despair at the absurd nature of your hunger or kitchen this may offer you an exit:

http://www-berkeley.ansys.com/wayne/sartre-cookbook.html

posted in Existentialism - 4 replies

Is being nothingness?

2005-03-09T19:33:54Z

If so, is there never a post or any ongoing thread on "Existentialism"?

Is "Existentialism" subsumed under:

http://pittsburgh.tribe.net/tribe/d8f35de3-a2cf-4226-a3da-e95e46a83f29?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5Bd8f35de3-a2cf-4226-a3da-e95e46a83f29%5D&r=10653

posted in Existentialism - 9 replies

16 principles of human existence : Source ?

2005-03-06T07:33:36Z

Can anyone tell me the origin, author, and source of this work ?

"The Sixteen Principles of Authentic Human Existence"

1) Pain : I choose to value my pains.

2) Death : I choose to value my limitations.

3) Reflection : I am able to both live my life and reflect upon my life.

4) Self-Reliance : I am an adult consciousness who exists alone. I choose to be independent and self reliant.

5) Individuality : It is right and normal for me to seem different from other human beings.

6) Eternity : There exists a consciousness within me which I am, and which is eternal.

6A) Reverence : Each individual human inward subjectivity is the divine consciousness in mankind.

7) Freedom : I always choose because I am always free.

8) Life : My first and last choice is to say yes to life.

9) Commitment : I am free to make commitments.

9B) Reality : I clearly distinguish reality from fantasies, dreams rationalizations, and wishful thinking.

10) Love : As an adult I can choose to meet, confront, witness, understand and be mirrored by another.

11) Adaptability and Flexibility : I can choose myself as one who is realistically flexible.

12) Time & Futures : I experience time as living in a present which utilizes the past and connects directly and primarily into my future.

13) Growth & Self-Transcedence : My life is an endless process of growing, emerging, and reaching out.

14) Contradiction : The inescapable amibiguities, contradictions, and paradoxes of life are my powerful allies.

~ Please post a response if you know the author & origin of this work which I have just summarized here. ~ Marcus

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

authenticity

2005-03-04T19:51:37Z

On the German Philosophy tribe I've been considering the Frankfurt school critique Heidegger, and the Existentialists in general, for their project of authenticity.

This has gotten me thinking, because in my view authenticity is extremely important. When I consider that idea critically, I see that to some degree my focus on authenticity is pre-reflective. I have a visceral response to discourse of authenticity and an innate impulse to move in that direction.

I think it's high time I put it on the table, and this seems like a good forum to start.

My basic position is that authenticity is of fundamental importance to treating human problems, both on an individual and societal level. It is my belief that often when people behave in destructive ways, they are often not being honest with themselves about what they are doing. To put it another way, when people understand the truth of what they want in the world, they are less likely to cause suffering for themselves or others.

I realize there is a core optimism at the heart of this belief, which is a little funny because I am something of a cynic and a misanthrope. However, one can draw systematic empricial support for this view. The foundation of psychoanalysis, for example, is that when people understand the truth of what is going on in their lives it has an immensely therapeutic effect.

I would also add that when people act in coarsely destructive ways, such as certain American politicians I could name, it is often accompanied by coarse and obvious instances of dishonesty. On the contrary, the rare politicians I have seen who seem highly ethical, like Senator Russ Feingold from Wisconsin, exhibit a deep commitment to truthfulness.

Of course, it is not necessarily the case that more ethical behavior will lead to less suffering, but I believe that by definition ethical behavior at least works TOWARDS less suffering.

So there it is - the short version of my conviction that authenticity is the ground of ethical and therapeutic human action. I'd love to debate it on an ideas level.

PS I have cross-posted this idea to a couple different tribes, but I don't think that is inappropriate because I'm willing to carry on the discussion independently in each Tribe.

posted in Existentialism - 2 replies

REAL WORLD ISSUES!

2005-02-28T15:11:41Z

oh boy oh boy...
I was watching the news this afternoon... and yeah..........
Channel 10 outta Syracuse. they cover the Ny news it's pretty neat .. i enjoy it.
But anyway, A middle aged man was found in Nyc with a NEW STRAIN of HIV.. this is a more severe strain and is very dangerous,
Unlike the one we are all most commonly familiar with which takes a few Years to develope, this new strain developes in only 2 to 3 months!

All i ask is that you be safe , choose your partners wisely and get tested.

(sry i'm done feeling all responsible now)
Thanks for your time
Caylin

posted in Existentialism - 22 replies

Soren Kierkegaard

2005-01-20T08:32:22Z

So...is he or is he not an existentialist? Like Nietzche, he technically predates the actual coining of the term. But, like Nietzche, I have heard some folk classify his writings as some of the earliest existentialist works.

posted in Existentialism - 22 replies

Fascination~

2004-12-23T01:23:53Z

Hey guys, my name is Nate. I'm a 19 year old male. (Not that it matters, but some of you might like to know.)

Recently- I had seen the movie I heart huckabees. (which was hilarious by the way) After i saw it, i just kind of dismissed it in my mind. But yesterday as i was sitting down, contemplating my beleifs (I'm ALWAYS thinking) the word 'Existential' popped back into my conscious consciousness.

I started looking it up online, and was reading until my eyes hurt. I couldn't beleive how passionate and alive i felt suddenly reading this philosophy. It made SO much sense to me i couldn't beleive it. I've studied alot, especially spirituality and religion, and although i have been very interested in philosophy- I've never really dug too deep.

But now it's like i am obsessed.

Can someone please help me with some information? Suggested books, etc, or even some good webpages? I have a feeling this is the beginning of a new and long journey for me with this.

Nate

posted in Existentialism - 3 replies

how does an existentialist deal?

2004-12-07T20:04:47Z

i TRY to live my life as much existentialistic as i am able.

sometimes, it's damn hard.

how do you deal? the angst, the being surrounded by the innane and the unenlightened?

posted in Existentialism - 23 replies

Existence... I am very glad to be here.

2004-11-29T02:49:21Z

I haven't been around Tribe.net for around a month now since I got into a nearly fatal car accident. I just wanted to say... I am doing okay,. Oh yeah... EVERYTHING faded to absolute white.

posted in Existentialism - 6 replies

Life Weary.

2004-09-12T00:40:21Z

In the paradigm of Existentialism, what really prevents one from just choosing to end the suffering of a pointless existance?

Angst and ennui are too much. The arrogance and immorallity of this culture (WhiteDominated/Capitalistic/Patriarchal) is intolerable. TV and clubs suck. Drugs and Alchohol are no thrill.

Now what?

posted in Existentialism - 17 replies

The real thing

2004-09-11T11:59:09Z

Situation: You have a headache that goes beyond the average headache. You are diagnosed with a brain tumor that is in a difficult spot to remove and your faculties may be hindered greatly or you may die....what book would you refer to to find insight on your decision for or against surgery.
I'll go first.
Answer: None...existentialist thought is about as effective as cold baking.

posted in Existentialism - 6 replies

Bored existentialists?

2004-09-08T21:22:51Z

I know I am!

posted in Existentialism - 12 replies

being is doing

2004-08-18T23:47:19Z

I was feeling very fragmented into various projects(?)and identities, roles, and was looking for something grounding I suppose or true, and then in my searching remembered this idea that "being is doing" which i had lost or forgot or questioned or just assumed without really applying it to my life. It has been very helpful, not to see myself as an aggregate of identities, selves, fragmented self, but as a unified being of action. And reading de Man, lately, re language in somewhat existentialist terms, but advanced, has been helpful.

posted in Existentialism - 0 replies

The cover for the group

2004-08-10T01:57:24Z

"I am separated from myself by my essence, and from my essence by the nothing that I am." -Sartre in Being and Nothingness...cant remember the page its like 478. Does this internet help us move into that essence and end the nothingness or does it just play into that nothingness, making us think we are expressing that essence to something real.

posted in Existentialism - 4 replies

Quote by Camus...

2004-08-08T22:26:37Z

...re-reading "The Plague"...In discussing the plague and the subsequent quarantine...

..." Oh, I know it's and absurd situation, but we're all involved in it, and we've got to accept it as it is..."

posted in Existentialism - 1 reply

existentialism and hedonism

2004-07-07T02:31:41Z

compatible?

posted in Existentialism - 4 replies

What's the point?

2004-04-30T21:13:31Z

Well?

posted in Existentialism - 4 replies

i dunno if people check this but

2004-04-13T03:46:25Z

i havent read too much philosophy, but i picked up some nietzsche and everything he says is what i've thought since the 7th grade :) i love that guy

posted in Existentialism - 7 replies