Anyone Else Like Existentialism?

[4588686]

Existentialism starts off with some excellent observations and conclusions. Like phenomenology, however, it sometimes degenerates into babbling.

Both are certainly worth studying and some of the giants of the movements are truly great. It's just that many of the disciples are vapid. In fact many of the greats descended into babbling as well. I think Sartre can be fairly accused of this.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1323362302' post='2347354']
I don't mind Kierkegaard, but most existentialism tends to depress me or something. Nietszche was a pompous jerk, although I don't regret studying him because I can now see his influence in a lot of contemporary strains of thought. His ubermensch theory was interesting.
I've got a kind of big initial interest in phenomenology, although I don't know if that would hold if I studied it in greater depth.
[/quote]

Wonderful i like that you mentioned phenomenology,coz i was going to mention it. St teresa benedicta of the cross(edith stein[stien]) started out a family jew,than became an athiest,than studied phenomenology and out of the 10 people in her class 8 became protestants and 2 catholic, i wouldn't suggest studying all phenomenology just the originator whom she studied under,i can't remember his name sorry you will have to web search it. Phenomonology under that guy whom st teresa benedicta of the cross studied may be a ok grounds to start dialogue with athiest,the guy converted 10 of his class peoples and that was like a 100% though only 2 became catholics,this may be one of the few things outside of the church that can be catholicised without even mentioning church stuff at 1st. But than i know nothing of it only the biography or bibliography i read on st teresa benedicta of the cross/edith stein(stien).

God bless you all.
Onward christian souls.

God bless you all.
Onward christian souls.

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Hasan' timestamp='1324956338' post='2357919']
Existentialism starts off with some excellent observations and conclusions. Like phenomenology, however, it sometimes degenerates into babbling.

Both are certainly worth studying and some of the giants of the movements are truly great. It's just that many of the disciples are vapid. In fact many of the greats descended into babbling as well. I think Sartre can be fairly accused of this.
[/quote]

Existentialism is a product of the times, so the fact that these men ended up babbling in the end could be concluded neutrally. And in my opinion most philosophy in any school ends up babbling ....

[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1324957841' post='2357938']
Wonderful i like that you mentioned phenomenology,coz i was going to mention it. St teresa benedicta of the cross(edith stein[stien]) started out a family jew,than became an athiest,than studied phenomenology and out of the 10 people in her class 8 became protestants and 2 catholic, i wouldn't suggest studying all phenomenology just the originator whom she studied under,i can't remember his name sorry you will have to web search it. Phenomonology under that guy whom st teresa benedicta of the cross studied may be a ok grounds to start dialogue with athiest,the guy converted 10 of his class peoples and that was like a 100% though only 2 became catholics,this may be one of the few things outside of the church that can be catholicised without even mentioning church stuff at 1st. But than i know nothing of it only the biography or bibliography i read on st teresa benedicta of the cross/edith stein(stien).

God bless you all.
Onward christian souls.

God bless you all.
Onward christian souls.
[/quote]

She studied under Edmund Husserl.

Scheler and Heidegger studied under him as well.

[4588686]

[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1324957841' post='2357938']
Wonderful i like that you mentioned phenomenology,coz i was going to mention it. St teresa benedicta of the cross(edith stein[stien]) started out a family jew,than became an athiest,than studied phenomenology and out of the 10 people in her class 8 became protestants and 2 catholic, i wouldn't suggest studying all phenomenology just the originator whom she studied under,i can't remember his name sorry you will have to web search it. Phenomonology under that guy whom st teresa benedicta of the cross studied may be a ok grounds to start dialogue with athiest,the guy converted 10 of his class peoples and that was like a 100% though only 2 became catholics,this may be one of the few things outside of the church that can be catholicised without even mentioning church stuff at 1st. But than i know nothing of it only the biography or bibliography i read on st teresa benedicta of the cross/edith stein(stien).

God bless you all.
Onward christian souls.

God bless you all.
Onward christian souls.
[/quote]

That was Husserl who was also born a Jew and became a Lutheran. His ethnicity allowed his prized student Heidegger to purge him from the University. Husserl also helped convert Heidegger from Catholicism and generally viewed Catholicism as an anachronistic, vestigial ideology of the middle ages. Husserl believed in 'Enlightened' Protestantism.

I wouldn't say that Husserl's phenomenology was explicitly pro-Christian, from what I've gathered. It did have some anti-materialistic tendencies which would, in the context in which it arose, be pro-Christian by default, in that liberal Protestantism was seen as the only intellectually viable religious path at the time so any ideology that is anti-materialistic would be pro-Christian.

[4588686]

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' timestamp='1324959566' post='2357977']
Existentialism is a product of the times, so the fact that these men ended up babbling in the end could be concluded neutrally. And in my opinion most philosophy in any school ends up babbling ....
[/quote]

I sort of agree. I'm not as well versed in Continental Philosophy as I believe you are so I am somewhat biased towards Anglo-Analytic philosophy but I believe that, while AA philosophy can run into absurdities, hence men like Daniel Dennett denying that qualitative experiences exist, it is still coherent. While it seems that some Continental philosophy, like Derrida and some critical theorists, descend into real incoherence.

That's just may casual observation. But I think there is some merit to it. Hence the Sokal Affair.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair[/url]

Edited December 27, 2011 by Hasan

[Luigi]

[quote name='Kia ora' timestamp='1323353697' post='2347284']
I lurve existentialism. ... Does anyone else feel the same way?
[/quote]

Nope.

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Hasan' timestamp='1324960110' post='2357985']
I sort of agree. I'm not as well versed in Continental Philosophy as I believe you are so I am somewhat biased towards Anglo-Analytic philosophy but I believe that, while AA philosophy can run into absurdities, hence men like Daniel Dennett denying that qualitative experiences exist, it is still coherent. While it seems that some Continental philosophy, like Derrida and some critical theorists, descend into real incoherence.

That's just may casual observation. But I think there is some merit to it. Hence the Sokal Affair.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair"]http://en.wikipedia....ki/Sokal_affair[/url]
[/quote]

Continental Phil. is where my interest primarily is. I'm not the biggest fan of Analytic, but then haven't read much into it.

Deconstructionism will always descend into incoherence haha, but that's my opinion again.

[Kia ora]

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' timestamp='1324884732' post='2357609']
I'm heavily influenced by this school of thought, I love them! Philosophy is one of my majors at FUS, and I'm planning on going doctoral with it, hoping to teach Continental, with these guys of course included. What they have to say is vital, since personalism was outgrown of this movement as well. And most of the religious existentialists Kierkegaard and Buber are two of the most brilliant men. Though don't get me wrong, I love Nietzsche a ton as well. And since its an off shoot of phenomenology, I love the fact that Scheler has his stamp on it in a sense as well.[/quote] I don't know Buber, but I [i]love[/i] Kierkegaard. He's actually done more for me than anyone else I've read, which is funny because he's a Christian (that is, becoming a Christian) and I'm not. He's made me...religious I guess, a religious atheist.

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Kia ora' timestamp='1324966717' post='2358031']
I don't know Buber, but I [i]love[/i] Kierkegaard. He's actually done more for me than anyone else I've read, which is funny because he's a Christian (that is, becoming a Christian) and I'm not. He's made me...religious I guess, a religious atheist.
[/quote]

If you like Kierkegaard, you should read Buber, he's a Jewish philosopher/theologian. Best work he ever wrote was "I-Thou" influenced numerous people including Bl. John Paul II and Dietrich Von Hildebrand.

Kierkegaard is a great read. Have you read "Works of Love" by chance?

[Kia ora]

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' timestamp='1325014475' post='2358173']
If you like Kierkegaard, you should read Buber, he's a Jewish philosopher/theologian. Best work he ever wrote was "I-Thou" influenced numerous people including Bl. John Paul II and Dietrich Von Hildebrand.[/quote] Okay I will. The only other theist with existentialist tendencies I know is Dostoyevsky, do you like him?

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' timestamp='1325014475' post='2358173']
Kierkegaard is a great read. Have you read "Works of Love" by chance?
[/quote]I've read portions of it, but not the whole thing. K's ideas on love have definitely had an impact on me this year, which has been rather freakish.

You know the merman story in Fear and Trembling? Well I got chills when I read it. Not only do I identify strongly with his situation and his demonic character, Agnes shares the same name as a person who has changed my life this year. I almost think K. wrote it just for me, heh.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Kia ora

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Kia ora' timestamp='1325084058' post='2358503']
Okay I will. The only other theist with existentialist tendencies I know is Dostoyevsky, do you like him?
[/quote]

I love him! haha He's another one of my favorites, because he is in a sense very close to Nietzsche, yet he believed God was very much alive.

[quote]
I've read portions of it, but not the whole thing. K's ideas on love have definitely had an impact on me this year, which has been rather freakish.

You know the merman story in Fear and Trembling? Well I got chills when I read it. Not only do I identify strongly with his situation and his demonic character, Agnes shares the same name as a person who has changed my life this year. I almost think K. wrote it just for me, heh.
[/quote]

I haven't actually read 'Fear in Trembling', I read parts of 'Sickness Onto Death' in a class on the Early to Late Moderns Philosophers though.

[Kia ora]

I think it doesn't matter what The Truth is. There may be an ultimate truth out there, and it may even be accessible to human beings. But it misses the point. There must be a truth for me, a truth for which I am willing to live for. If the ultimate truth doesn't serve as a subjective truth for the individual, it's irrelevant.

So I don't think it really matters if God exists or not, unless that matters [i]to a person[/i]. What we do with our beliefs, how we life with that info...that's the most important thing of all. I love the 'fundamentalist', I recognise him/her as a fellow traveller on a different road from me. But maybe that's just me.

I've been reading Nietzsche again. I don't know why they miss the jubilation overflowing from his works. To be fair, there's a lot of stinky bovine excrement overflowing in there, mixed with unabashed megalomania as well. He loves life. He affirms it with all his heart. Be brave, be courageous, love life. Reading him makes me happy.

[Spem in alium]

High school made me hate existentialism. University made me like it, at least a little - I haven't yet read enough existentialist work to form a love for it as a theory.

However, Camus' [i]The Outsider [/i]is and will always be one of the best books I've ever read. I can read it and never lose interest.

[Groo the Wanderer]

the glass is neither half full nor half empty. there is simply too much glass....

Edited May 8, 2012 by Groo the Wanderer

[fides' Jack]

Existentialism, in my opinion, is an idea started by the devil in order to help people get to hell faster. Anything that places, or seems to place, the source of goodness or truth in ourselves, should be avoided like the plague.