Existentialism

A review of the Cannes Grand Prix winning film All We Imagine as Light (dir: Payal Kapadia; 2024). I explore some feminist and existentialist themes in the film, particularly stressing its connection to a praxis oriented strand of Indian feminism.

The philosophy of superdeterminism is based on a single scientific fact about the universe, namely that cause and effect in physics are not real. In 2020, accomplished Swedish theoretical physicist, Dr. Johan Hansson published a physics proof using Albert Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity that our universe is superdeterministic meaning a predetermined static block universe without cause and effect in physics. The philosophy of superdeterminism is the greatest philosophy of all-time based on the metric of providing accurate answers to the (...) three greatest philosophical question of all-time, namely: 1) What is the meaning of life?, 2) Why is there something rather than nothing?, and 3) What is consciousness? The other eleven philosophies (Aristotelianism, Panpsychism, Platonism, Humanism, Physicalism, Nihilism, Hedonism, Stoicism, Existentialism, Utilitarianism and Absurdism) assuming they even attempt an answer do a tremendously poor job at answering these three questions in light of Dr. Hansson’s physics proof that we live in a predetermined static block universe without cause and effect in physics. (shrink)

The paper explores the dialectic of human nature in the age of digital technologies. To this end, the paper contrasts the classical model of Homo Economicus, a rational agent for whom existence is reduced to a set of factors of economic nature, and the concept of Homo Cyberneticus. This concept arises from the symbiosis between humans and algorithms, in which the products of technology turn from external tools into a component of cognitive processes. The author proves that neurointerfaces, AI and (...) blockchain, contrary to the opinion of technophobes, actualise the issues of freedom and meaning, turning man into a ‘process’ of self-determination. A key paradox: algorithms, while threatening autonomy, simultaneously enhance humanity. The author's conclusion is that technologies do not replace but redefine the human, and in this sense Homo Cyberneticus is presented as a ‘process’ of redefining goals and values. In such a context, technology does not replace but rather enhances the human, turning challenges into tools of self-discovery and development. // В статье исследуется диалектика человеческой природы в эпоху цифровых технологий. С этой целью в работе противопоставляются классическая модель Homo Economicus, рационального агента, для которого существование сведено к комплексу факторов экономической природы, и концепт Homo Cyberneticus. Данный концепт возникает из симбиоза человека с алгоритмами, в рамках которого продукты технологий из внешних инструментов превращаются в составляющую когнитивных процессов. Автор доказывает, что нейроинтерфейсы, ИИ и блокчейн, вопреки мнению технофобов, актуализируют вопросы свободы и смысла, превращая человека в «процесс» самоопределения. Ключевой парадокс: алгоритмы, угрожая автономии, одновременно усиливают человечность. Вывод, который делает автор, заключается в том, что технологии не заменяют, а переопределяют человеческое, и в этом смысле Homo Cyberneticus представлен как «процесс» переосмысления целей и ценностей. В таком контексте технологии не заменяют, а напротив, усиливают человеческое, превращая вызовы в инструменты самопознания и развития. (shrink)

Originally delivered as a lecture in Paris in 1945, 'Existentialism and Humanism' is Sartre's seminal defence of his original doctrine of existentialism and a plan for its practical application to everyday human life.

Nuestro propósito es dilucidar la posibilidad de un planteamiento de lo político en el pensamiento de Heidegger. Es sabido que éste estuvo vinculado biográficamente al nazismo, pero creemos que en su filosofía hay conexiones con lo político más allá de la adhesión a la política del NSDAP. Es por eso que hemos de rastrear la posibilidad de una ontología de lo político, que exponga la preocupación por la vida en colectividad, y es en Heidegger donde encontramos una serie de pautas (...) a partir de las que desarrollar esa ontología, no desde la óptica de una filosofía política o una politología, sino desde el pensamiento acerca de los otros, de los demás con los que compartimos mundo, de la mera convivencia del uno con el otro. Siguiendo esto, usando las herramientas legadas por Heidegger, desmontaremos la política contemporánea, que creemos que no ha comprendido el sentido ontológico de lo político mismo, e iniciaremos el desarrollo de una ontología de lo político que nos permita elucubrar la construcción fáctica de una nueva política dentro de un nuevo marco ontológico existencial. ---- Our purpose is to elucidate the possibility of a political approach in Heidegger's thinking. It is known that he was biographically linked to Nazism, but we believe that in his philosophy there are connections with the political beyond adherence to NSDAP policy. That is why we have to trace the possibility of an ontology of the political, which exposes the concern for life in collectivity, and it is in Heidegger where we find a series of guidelines from which to develop that ontology, not from the perspective of a political philosophy or a politology, but from the thought about others, about the others with whom we share the world, about the mere coexistence of one with the other. Following this, using the tools bequeathed by Heidegger, we will dismantle contemporary politics, which we believe has not understood the ontological sense of the political itself, and we will initiate the development of an ontology of the political that allows us to elucidate the factual construction of a new policy within a new existential ontological framework. (shrink)

In a world of suffering, alienation, materialism and hedonism (pleasure as the aim of life), the struggle to avoid the pull toward egoism and worldly desires becomes challenging. It is also difficult to recognise the existence of eudaimonia ('ultimate happiness'): or can there possibly be a eudaimonic life? The debate regarding how to live a meaningful life and attain 'ultimate happiness' is ongoing since happiness is constantly being constructed and is hence, not established. Although some believe otherwise, the Islamic framework (...) argues that suffering and struggling against one’s ‘self’ can lead to serenity and a meaningful life. Interestingly, one would envisage that psychoanalysis draws away from 'ultimate happiness', as the self is always conflicted. However, Freud (1856-1939 CE.) seems to portray a similar but failed paradigm to the Islamic self and suffering; it can be questioned whether Freud attributes a ‘final stage’ of human fulfilment beyond the superego stage. Using conceptual, applied and comparative analysis through a psychosocial approach, this theoretical dissertation uses primary and secondary sources to critically compare and analyse Freud’s personality and drive theories with the Islamic philosophical conceptions of the self, illustrating whether both frameworks contribute isomorphic theoretical implications. Secondly, I rethink and reconstruct the idea of happiness and a meaningful eudaimonic life, and whether overcoming the self and suffering can guide towards it. Finally, after critically comparing the 'final stages' of the self, that is, jihād al-nafs (the struggle against oneself) and Freud’s superego stage, the dissertation is among the first to propose whether the serene self leads towards eudaimonia and whether Freud’s idea of unhappiness and pleasure principles lead towards hedonism and the possibility of eudaimonia. Throughout this analysis, the question of whether philosophy and psychoanalysis can account for the possibility of an 'ultimate happiness', or 'final human fulfilment' beyond the post-superego stage is promising; therefore, it would be significant to contribute and propose this theory to enhance the study’s academic originality for philosophy and psychosocial studies. -/- . (shrink)

El objetivo del siguiente trabajo es la exposición de la posibilidad de una política a partir de la obra del filósofo alemán Martin Heidegger. Es conocida su adhesión al nacionalsocialismo cuando Hitler accede al poder en 1933. La pregunta que surge es si esta adhesión tiene que ver con el anhelo de una revolución y en que consiste ésta. La idea que aquí se desarrolla es que la existencia en cuanto tal denota lo político y es desde ahí desde donde (...) emerge la posibilidad de un cuestionarse acerca de los fundamentos de la estructura organizativa de la sociedad, posibilitando la posibilidad de un reinicio político, con la mirada puesta en el origen mismo: en la πὀλις griega. ----- The aim of the following work is to expose the possibility of a politics based on the work of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. His adherence to National Socialism when Hitler came to power in 1933 is well known. The question that arises is whether this adherence has anything to do with the desire for revolution and what it consists of. The idea that is developed here is that existence as such denotes the political, and it is from there that the possibility of questioning the foundations of the organizational structure of society emerges, making possible the possibility of a political restart, with a view to the very origin: in the Greek πὀλις. (shrink)

A Meßkirch llegan los peregrinos. Forma parte del periplo de quien se encamina a este santuario de la filosofía, casi un ritual anual desaparecido el misterio de la primera vez, el transbordo entre diversos medios de locomoción y la incertidumbre ante los retrasos y la posibilidad de perder alguna de las conexiones, lo que implica quedarse en tierra de nadie, en un no man's land en medio de la Schwartzwald. Heidegger nace bajo el cielo de Meßkirch y bajo el cielo (...) de Meßkirch es enterrado. Su tumba, en el cementerio local, la preside una estrella, no la usual cruz: «Dirigirse hacia una estrella, sólo eso...». Hacia el cielo estrellado y desde la tierra de hierro se encaminan los pasos de los mortales buscando la inmortalidad de los divinos. Esa contra-oscilación, que es también ese camino que se recorre, constituye la cuaternidad (Geviert). ---- Pilgrims arrive at Meßkirch. The mystery of the first time, the transfer between different means of transport and the uncertainty of delays and the possibility of missing one of the connections, which means staying in no man's land in the middle of the Schwartzwald, is part of the journey of those who make their way to this sanctuary of philosophy, almost an annual ritual. Heidegger was born under the Meßkirch sky and buried under the Meßkirch sky. His grave in the local cemetery is presided over by a star, not the usual cross: ‘To turn towards a star, that's all...’. Towards the starry sky and from the iron earth the steps of mortals are directed in search of the immortality of the divine. This counter-oscillation, which is also the path that is travelled, constitutes the quaternity (Geviert). (shrink)

Imagine a soccer dominated society and life-world. No damn military and stupid land disputes. Sustainable Economy. Radical reconciliation with nature. Adopting to natural structures. Singular global acutely politically concentrated free market least exploitative and disruptive to nature beyond that only soccer-related. ------ As an emissary from political unconscious, I speak directly to political power eye-to-eye universally: legalize assisted suicide (I so much rather be dead than be dependent on others) AND self-destruction via artificial narcotics AND consumption of natural narcotics as (...) long as at any case no harm is inflicted on other people. -/- . (shrink)

This volume proposes a novel approach to engaging philosophically with disability studies, providing insight into situated, lived experiences of disability in articulation with prominent existential philosophers in addition to historical and theoretical perspectives.

Introduction : what is existentialism? -- Kierkegaard -- Nietzsche -- Heidegger -- Sartre -- Camus -- Being and self -- Phenomenology and consciousness -- God and nothingness -- Freedom, ethics and commitment -- And now-- ?

Is this the right book for me? Understand Existentialism breaks down a complex mode of thought into more manageable sections, enabling you to get to grips with the key concepts within the movement. Chart the origins and development of existentialism in a variety of disciplines and learn about significant thinkers from Sartre and De Beauvoir to Beckett and Camus. Whether you are a newcomer or more experienced student, this book will enhance your understanding of a brand of philosophy designed to (...) give meaning and direction amongst the uncertainties of modern life. Understand Existentialism includes: Chapter 1: Introduction to existentialism Chapter 2: Living dangerously: the roots of existentialism Chapter 3: Between birth and death Chapter 4: Existence precedes essence Chapter 5: The authentic life Chapter 6: Freedom, choice and responsibility Chapter 7: The individual, art and society Chapter 8: Existentialism and religion Chapter 9: Authenticity and the absurd: the fiction of Sartre and Camus Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features: Not got much time? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. Author insights Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. Test yourself Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. Extend your knowledge Extra online articles to give you a richer understanding of the subject. Five things to remember Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. Try this Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it. (shrink)

The Existentialist's Guide to Death, the Universe and Nothingness is an entertaining philosophical guide to life, love, hate, freedom, sex, anxiety, God and death; a guide to everything and nothing. Gary Cox, bestselling author of How to Be an Existentialist and How to Be a Philosopher, takes us on an exciting journey through the central themes of existentialism, a philosophy of the human condition. The Existentialist's Guide fascinates, informs, provokes and inspires as it explores existentialism's uncompromising view of human reality. (...) It leaves the reader with no illusions about how hard it is to live honestly and achieve authenticity. It has, however, a redeeming humour that sets the wisdom of the great existentialist philosophers alongside the wit of great musicians and comedians. A realistic self-help book for anyone interested in personal empowerment, The Existentialist's Guide offers a wealth of profound philosophical insight into life, the universe and everything. (shrink)

This paper explores the phenomenon of being ill (in cases of serious, chronic and terminal illnesses) both in its subjective and intersubjective dimensions. My main contention is that the philosophical tools of phenomenology uncover the framework for understanding the lived experience of the ill person as they privilege the first-person account of illness. It is through this that the essence of things and phenomena surrounding the body-in-illness are unveiled, as opposed to the medical world’s perspective, a third-person account of diseases. (...) A phenomenology of illness underscores that illness is a substantial parcel of human existence that alters the ill person’s experience of the body, intersubjective relations with the other, and relation with the world entirely. This essay is constituted of four major sections dabbling with a phenomenological account of the experience of the lived body, the body-in-illness, the intersubjective dimension of the body-in-illness, and a note on health. (shrink)

Der Band fragt nach geistigen Phänomenen, die von überindividueller Art sind oder sich in Hervorbringungen menschlichen Handelns manifestieren. Auf je verschiedene Weise thematisieren die Autor:innen, wie ein so verstandener objektiver Geist zu denken ist. Im Anschluss an klassische Autoren wie Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Georg Simmel oder Nicolai Hartmann sowie in Bezug auf aktuelle Debatten der "philosophy of mind" und Sozialphilosophie wird erläutert, dass objektiv Geistiges in einem nicht-metaphysischen Sinn verstanden werden kann. In Auseinandersetzung mit Vorstellungen wie "institutional reality" (John (...) Searle) oder "mental commons" (Annette Baier) sollen streng individualistische Konzeptionen des Geistes korrigiert werden. Behandelt werden Fragen zu Hegels Begriff des objektiven Geistes, zur Kulturphilosophie, zur Sozialtheorie, zur analytischen Sozialontologie und zur Philosophie der Kognition. (shrink)

In contemporary debates in philosophy of medicine medical humanities are gaining ground in a discipline that was for many years dominated by bioethics. Phenomenology, with its focus on human experience, and a long history of interest in illness as boundary cases of human existence, turns up as a tradition with a lot to offer in this context. In their introduction to the Edinburgh Companion in Critical Medical Humanities Whitehead & Woods thus mention phenomenology as one of two key traditions within (...) what can be called second wave medical humanities (Whitehead & Woods 2016, 11). In this spirit, the collection of essays in Kevin Aho’s inspiring publication is an invitation to join the exploration of phenomenology and existential medicine and find new potentials for philosophy of medicine within these traditions. (shrink)

My paper proposes a tentative framework of bio-existential semiotics based on a reading of Peirce, Darwin, Heidegger, Tarasti, and others. According to this view, there is an evolutionary continuum to life. Human beings are natural organisms and they exhibit many similar bio-existential phenomena. Natural evolution also produces the anthropological, societal and global semiotic processes that constitute cultural evolution as an outgrowth. In the bio-existential perspective, the world is composed of imperfect systems and imperfect consciousnesses where every lifeform must struggle for (...) its existence. Every “Dasein” must face the fact that it must die because it cannot comprehend or control the universe in its totality. This is why life and existence are “tragic” phenomena. Every bio-existential Dasein is a partial comprehension of the universe, and the only way the universe can comprehend itself is through these partial perspectives, which are born to imperfection and die in imperfection, but whose imperfection is of the essence of the universe. This is why bio-existentialism makes for a “tragic” perspective: we are mortals, and all mortals must die. Nonetheless, there is also hope and optimism in this view of life. In conceiving of existence as having certain universal principles that extend from biology to sociology, semioticians and philosophers can formulate new ways of looking at the world. Together with scientists and artists, they can hopefully work towards a better – or at least more refined – ethical attitude towards science, nature and society. (shrink)

Liberal-minded basic income scholars often argue that UBI has two key properties that work together to justify it. Let us call these the freedom justification and the narrative justification. On the one hand, UBI is defended because it gives people more freedom to do what they want to do. (Stigler, 1946, Friedman, 1962; Van Parijs, 1995; Widerquist, 2013) They exhibit primary concern for the purely formal properties of the regime of liberal neutrality. On the other hand, many scholars, including many (...) of the same liberal scholars, argue that UBI also pushes society substantively towards desirable social outcomes. They combine the freedom justification with substantive predictions and expectations. (Rifkin, 1995; Murray, 2016; Weeks, 2020) However, I show that both existentialist philosophy (Sartre) and complexity theory (Knight, Hayek, Schumpeter) suggest that a liberal social order is compatible, at best, with rough pattern prediction about a multiply realizable future that remains narratively open to multiple possible trajectories. Liberal neutrality, to the extent that it nourishes radical freedom, is incompatible with strong, stable narrative predictions. As Nozick put, it “liberty upsets patterns”. This is true of all liberal UBI models, and liberal institutions in general. (shrink)

This article analyses the phenomenology and ontology of videogames through the lens of semiotics. The difference between games and more traditional narrative models (such as those found in books and movies) lies on the structural level. The game narrative needs to be ‘written’ (played) before it can be ‘read’ (interpreted). Games provide fluidity of interactive immersion: the interface as the place of the merger between the player and the game. A connection, without delay, is established between the movement of the (...) player’s hands and the virtual movement across virtual space-times of the virtual characters/events on the screen. The connection is cybernetic, of course, and real. The actuality of the virtual is established as the action of the finger movements of the player. Games require at least a minimum degree of interaction. The player has a role as the master of the code, as the last string of code attached to complete the sequence. Such is the definition of the Cinematic under the formal demands of the Ludic: the defining-delimiting-restricting background which nonetheless, by its very (fixed) presence, provides the nurturing ground for the appearance and presence of (fluid) malleability as the ‘gap’ or ‘lack’ in the structure to be filled – in whatever manner – by the player in the act of his or her (world-constitutive) existential engagement. (shrink)

This article examines the form and language of Simone de Beauvoir’s novella “The Woman Destroyed” to argue that the story is a philosophical work in two ways. First, it contributes to scholarship on narrative self-understanding: it moves beyond Anthony Rudd’s and Peter Goldie’s theories by revealing how the instability of language complicates self-understanding. Second, it invites philosophical introspection by representing life as it is and generating questions about self-understanding for readers to ponder instead of giving them ready-made answers.

Filosofia plectica è una filosofia che pensa il rapporto che le cose, intese come entità complesse, intrattengono con l’intorno. È un’esigenza che nasce dal pensiero che le cose siano sempre un po’ intrecciate, non così semplici ma neanche così complesse. A partire dal rapporto con il mondo, animali, microbi, funghi, piante, foreste, pietre, cose, oggetti e materiali vengono visti come membri di un rapporto attivo con l’intorno attraverso la forma sinallagmatica di un mutuo scambio. Secondo questa proposta ogni ente è (...) un dimorante, accoglie e rilascia le tracce intense del suo esistere. -/- . (shrink)

This paper delves into often-unspoken realms of human suffering – tragedy and psychosis – to uncover the role that art can play in understanding and overcoming experiences that defy conventional language. Dovetailing from Heidegger's aesthetics, I explore the unique qualities that make the artistic process such a powerful medium for existential restoration, connecting otherwise disparate individuals to the wider tapestry of humanity. Ultimately, I argue for a new understanding of 'artistic literacy,' emphasizing the benefits that unconventional modes of expression hold (...) for the expresser, listener and humanity at large. (shrink)

A new trade edition of Sartre's magnum opus. First published in 1943, this masterpiece defines the modern condition and still holds relevance for today's readers.

The anticipated second edition of the most lively and comprehensive introduction to Existentialism.

Study on the concept of existentialism as reflected in the views of Mahāprajña, Ācārya, 1920-2010, Jaina saint scholar and philosopher and Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905-1980, French philosopher, author, political activist, biographer, and literary critic.

This dialogue introduces type nihilism and token realism about the meaning of life.