Sunday, August 21, 2011

Existentialism?

Been a while since I posted, I guess. Reading Essays on Existentialism now, by Jean-Paul Sartre. Just as depressing as Nietzsche, but a little more useful. The central tenet so far is that life is what we make it. Existence precedes essence. Man lives his life without anything being decided a priori, so we are free to do whatever we like. In doing things, we implicitly value them, and not only for ourselves but for all of humanity. This is the cause of anguish and despair. That's the real short summary of existentialism.

I think this is a more optimistic and useful philosophy than that of Nietzsche's. True, there are no rigid a priori rules or values. I don't agree with this, and despite Sartre's claim that existentialism can be fully reconciled with religion, I don't see how. There are not even any existentialist reasonings that attempt to persuade man to be kind  to others. It's a useful personal philosophy, in that man is defined by what he does and not what he is merely capable of, but further than that it's downright dangerous. But the insistence on personal responsibility is certainly positive.

Apart from philosophy, I'm now 95 episodes or so into the History of Rome podcast. With each of the 170 or so podcasts being 20-25 minutes long, I figure the whole series is roughly equivalent to a 3 or 4 credit hour class in college. Pretty interesting, though. I'm up through the 12th emperor, Antoninus. Might re-listen after I finish, or perhaps find a different historical podcast. It fits in well with my commute.