Stumble It!
Oct 18 2008
Weekend Philosophy: Waking Life on Existentialism
The following clip is from the 2001 film Waking Life and explains Existentialism in one characters “Your life is yours to create.” philosophy. But in case you’re unfamiliar, there’s a more thorough definition at the bottom of the page.
Thanks to prokofiev for this video. Click the video for more.
Defining Existentialists
# They are obsessed with how to live one’s life and believe that philosophical and psychological inquiry can help.
# They believe there are certain questions that everyone must deal with (if they are to take human life seriously), and that these are special — existential — questions. Questions such as death, the meaning of human existence, the place of God in human existence, the meaning of value, interpersonal relationship, the place of self-reflective conscious knowledge of one’s self in existing.
Note that the existentialists on this characterization don’t pay much attention to “social” questions such as the politics of life and what “social” responsibility the society or state has. They focus almost exclusively on the individual.
# By and large Existentialists believe that life is very difficult and that it doesn’t have an “objective” or universally known value, but that the individual must create value by affirming it and living it, not by talking about it.
# Existential choices and values are primarily demonstrated in ACT not in words.
# Given that one is focusing on individual existence and the “existential” struggles (that is, in making decisions that are meaningful in everyday life), they often find that literary characterizations rather than more abstract philosophical thinking, are the best ways to elucidate existential struggles.
# They tend to take freedom of the will, the human power to do or not do, as absolutely obvious. Now and again there are arguments for free will in Existentialist literature, but even in these arguments, one gets the distinct sense that the arguments are not for themselves, but for “outsiders.” Inside the movement, free will is axiomatic, it is intuitively obvious, it is the backdrop of all else that goes on.
There are certainly exceptions to each of these things, but this is sort of a placing of the existentialist-like positions
. - Bob Corbett
I’ll be back next week with more essay-style posts. Right now I’m off to enjoy my weekend. 
Keep waxin’!
You know what’s crazy? I tried doing a bit of graphic design under a d/b/a license in the late 90s. I think I called it Ambition Graphics, but if I’m not mistaken the slogan, verbatim, was “versatility in motion.”
I’d be interested in helping out, though I’m not sure what a blogroll is. I’m about to add a “Friends of the Show” page on my blog where other VIPers addresses can go, to help blend traffic.
I reason that anyone who’s fated to end up on my invisible blog must be of a similar enough mindset to possibly appeal to the handful of viewers I get.
Consider yourself added!
I loved the clip from “Waking Life” and must thank you for reminding me of it, as I have to present something on Tuesday and maybe this is a way to do it… So thanks!
As for Bob Corbett’s “definitions”, I must object… Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre’s theories are not present in Corbett.
Buzzed you anyway… smile. Have a great weekend! ~k
This is one of my favorite movies of all time!
This really does wake you up after looking at it. Great post.
@green: How can it not be a favorite?!