Existentialism is messed up. In a lot of ways. Specifically the part about making choices independent of morals, laws, ethics, etc. Maybe a little more than that. The part about considering the negative consequences on the society around you and accepting responsibility for your actions. You all read it, here's my question. If our choices are free from any outside influence, tangible or in-, then by what standards do we judge an adequate punishment for our actions? That is, every choice is free. But if every choice were truly free, why consider the negative consequences on society? Is that really a free choice if the weight of taking responsibility is on the shoulders of the chooser? If existentialists are supposedly making decisions without influence of law or morals, then by what guidelines are they assuming responsibility for their actions? There is no right or wrong affecting their choice. Why is there suddenly right and wrong when the decision has been made? Isn't right and wrong decided on the effect these choices make on society? How can the chooser ignore the fact that he will be punished (perfectly reasonably by death) for whatever choice he makes?
I don't know. Maybe I'm too far in. I won't agree with everything and not all of it will ever make sense to me. Now I've checked my email and the Literary Cat (look it up on Tumblr, it's not what you think) too many times on the last few minutes to continue writing anything of note except this- According to our reading, a claim of existentialism is that some things are simply absurd or irrational, without possible explanation. Well, one of those things is existentialism. Welcome to philosophy.
I really enjoyed reading this post. Instead of just summarizing class material, you brought up some very good questions and points on an interesting subject. I don't think you are as wrong or misinformed as you suggested, it is just a very challenging subject. I agree that existentialism is kind of messed up, or at least really confusing.
ReplyDeleteYour point of choices maybe not being completely free because of ones own responsibility is interesting, I had never thought about it like that. Sure, people may or may not be free from outside influence, but from your own responsibility? That is a whole different matter. I think some of the things existentialists say, about being responsible and having free will makes sense, but there are definitely some things I am not sure about, like the stuff about right vs wrong and societal expectations.
By the way, you didn't turn off your CAPTCHA.
Jason, before we begin, I'd just like to say, if you want to talk about anything...anything, do not hesitate, just talk to me. You mentioned how you wanted to DI. yes that is a good pun, but if it is true, you need to get help and talk to someone ASAP.
ReplyDeleteBut anyways, I liked this post. You talked about how you really felt about what we are learning.
I 100% agree with you on the Existentialism part. It does sound crazy of the idea of disregarding any kind of morality and laws for the idea of independence. However I feel as though that is the extreme thinking of it. We need a firm balance between freedom and laws. Yes we should be allowed to act freely, but we also need to be responsible for it by others.
I also like how you went on a question rampage questioning everything. I think you would be a addition to our team. Check us out.
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Jason, I love this post. The voice of this piece is outstanding. The humor you bring to this actually makes reading your blog posts fun. Not that the others in our group weren't good, just that they were more 'here-are-the-facts-and-here-is-my-analysis' kind of thing (including mine). So A+ for that.
ReplyDeleteAnd the analysis on existentialism? That was insane, in a good way of course. The questions you brought up make a good point: Shouldn't our actions be judged based on the results it has on society? Not every action has a negative impact.
I will admit though, I had to read through those series of questions a few times to make sense of it all.
Also, I thought the way you ended this post was clever. Especially since after reading all of those questions you had brought up on existentialism made me feel like I was indeed in a philosophy class. Good job.