Pessimism vs. Existentialism
February 10, 2007
As Sartre constantly reminds us, we are what we do.
In short, existentialism is not a philosophy that allows us to feel sorry for ourselves in the midst of our malaise. It is a philosophy with which we can come to grips with these terrible times and actually change them. The recent midterm election was encouraging. What it suggests is that America is collectively recouping its existentialist roots, not because of national pessimism but because of what I hope is the beginning of a cooperative optimism and the sense that things as they are cannot stand.
Read the rest of Robert Solomon’s essay.
Tags:
history, Philosophy, politics
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February 11th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I would agree with Solomon that life is meaningless and filled with anxiety, yet through this it is possible to make meaning in life. If life is meaningless it is because we are too negative and pessimistic to do anythi9ng about it.
February 14th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Well, I’m convinced *something* needs to happen. We can’t continue flabbily lumbering forward as though nothing were wrong, as a country. The buying power of the dollar has not been as weak since the Depression. And we are due for an awakening. But we need Solomon’s arguments magnified by about 100, the way things are. His is too mild a tone in this article, and we need more and more persistent calls for a reassessment. The humanist may be too mild as an antagonist for the nihilist. In my view, nihilism is at the root of the culture of duplicity, speciousness and throttling greed that rules us now. And what is the antithesis of a black hole, when black holes swallow everything in their paths?
Anyway, yeah, I’m not sure existentialism needs an apology in this day and age. I’m not sure Solomon is right in saying America is at heart existentialist. I see a lot of pretense in America, a lot of willingness to cover up the truth. Those are not existential impulses. But I hope that Solomon is somehow right and that we are on a reconstructive path.
March 26th, 2007 at 10:20 am
The problem with expecting modern America to fulfill its existentialist roots is the same as hoping for it to happen instead of acting. The change with the last midterm election shows only that people have become bitter at the current war; a war that is not on American soil, that does not involve the everyday citizen, thus does not implicitly involve the every day man. There isn’t a group existentialist movement, because so many fail to authenticate themselves as an individual amongst a million other men. Too many feel worthless, let alone in light of politics. Only after a man reconstructs his own roots can such genuine sentiment manifest into society. One of the hindrances is that society pressures people this way or that, so we have to have honestly evaluated it individually before we can speak as one.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:48 am
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