Nietzsche states in Beyond Good and Evil: “I would really allow myself to order the ranks of philosophers according to the rank of their laughter – right up to those who are capable of golden laughter. And assuming that the gods also practise philosophy, a fact which many conclusions have already driven me to –Continue reading “NIETZSCHE: The Comedy of Existence: Superhuman Laughter”
Category Archives: Existentialism
The Absurd – Camus, Kierkegaard & Dostoevsky | Existentialism
Albert Camus’ views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as Absurdism, he defines the Absurd “as the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life, and the human inability to find any meaning in a purposeless, meaningless, and irrational universe, with the ‘unreasonable silence’ of the universe inContinue reading “The Absurd – Camus, Kierkegaard & Dostoevsky | Existentialism”
Nietzsche and Eastern Philosophy (Hinduism)
Both Hinduism and Buddhism (see Nietzsche and Buddhism) are of interest to Nietzsche not in themselves, but as alternative positions from which to continue his attack on Christianity. He declared that “the critic of Christianity is profoundly grateful to the students of India” for making Buddhism available as a religion to compare with Christianity. InContinue reading “Nietzsche and Eastern Philosophy (Hinduism)”
Nietzsche and Eastern Philosophy (Buddhism)
There are some good reasons to believe that Nietzsche was interested in Eastern philosophy during his lifetime. In the Antichrist he states: “Buddhism, I repeat, is a hundred times more austere, more honest, more objective. It no longer has to justify its pains, its susceptibility to suffering, by interpreting these things in terms of sin—itContinue reading “Nietzsche and Eastern Philosophy (Buddhism)”
Book Review: The Myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus
One of Albert Camus’ most famous and important works is the philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus. It starts off with a powerful and thought-provoking statement: “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.”Continue reading “Book Review: The Myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus”
The Absurd, Revolt and Rebellion – Camus
“Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason.” – Albert Camus 1. The Absurd For Camus, the Absurd is the “conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life, and the human inability to find any meaning in a purposeless,Continue reading “The Absurd, Revolt and Rebellion – Camus”
An Introduction to Albert Camus
Albert Camus was born in Algeria in 1913, a French colony at the time. He studied philosophy at the University of Algiers, then became a journalist. He was born in a poor working-class family, his mother was an illiterate cleaning lady, and there were no books in his house, he lost his father when heContinue reading “An Introduction to Albert Camus”
The Look and Hell is Other People – Sartre
The Look is a central concept in Sartre’s phenomenology. It is the exploration of the experience of being seen. You are a subject, but if someone gazes into you for a long time, you start becoming hyper aware of yourself as an object in other people’s views. What we think of self-consciousness is actually ourContinue reading “The Look and Hell is Other People – Sartre”
Being and Nothingness – Sartre
Sartre´s masterwork and major philosophical work of his life is Being and Nothingness, which became the core of Existentialism. He speaks of consciousness, bad faith, the existence of “nothingness”, free will and authenticity. The idea that individuals can always choose their own actions, even in situations which appear to enslave them. He begins with theContinue reading “Being and Nothingness – Sartre”
Bad Faith – Sartre
A common trap that people fall into is what Sartre calls Bad Faith, a dominant theme of his work. Bad faith is a way of denying the fundamental nature of our freedom and responsibility, it is a way of making excuses for ourselves. We accept something as true that really isn’t that convincing to us,Continue reading “Bad Faith – Sartre”