Philosophy, the Sartre blend: uncovering the birth of existentialism | Hacker News Reader

Philosophy, the Sartre blend: uncovering the birth of existentialism

newstatesman.com

37 pointslermontov14 comments

Also not for nothing, but Kiregaard is really the father of existentialism

I didn't realize he was considered an existentialist, actually. I thought he was considered more of a godfather type figure, like Iggy Pop and punk music. Thanks for the comment, enjoyed reading through Kierkegaard's Wikipedia page.

"...What is shown by the crowds that lined the Boulevard du Montparnasse to catch a glimpse of Sartre’s hearse is not something about France, but something about Sartre in his own right, something that demands explanation. Why were so many people drawn to him? Why did he matter to so many?

"For Sarah Bakewell, the answer lies in the peculiar appeal, and the timeliness, of the philosophy that he espoused: existentialism. "

I have to disagree. Not that Existentialism is unimportant but I would assert that it was "something about France" in the sense that philosophers are highly respected and that they essentially are public figures akin to celebrities.

You could even say it shows "something about America" (or England) that other countries respecting philosophers as much as we respect reality TV show stars is considered strange and needing of explanation.

Existialism, obviously, has been around long before Sartre in Eastern (originally Indian) philosophy and partially in the philosophy of Schopenhauer.

Actually, what Sartre called existentialism is the Asian way of life, at least in societies influenced by the original Hindu philosophy (Upanishads) and its Buddhist derivatives and finally the Gita.

Sartre did not consider himself an existentialist, in the same sense as Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Kierkegaarde. He considered himself an absurdist, whatever that means. Also, Nietzsche was explicitly opposed to bhuddism, although this was most likely based on a flawed understanding of bhuddism, as was common at the time.

I'm basing all of this on memory of something I've read long ago, but with enough google fu you might be able to find the references for these claims.

I thought Sartre considered himself an existentialist and Camus was an absurdist.

William Barrett, in his classic book on existentialism, Irrational Man, says that existentialism is the attempt to respond to the loss of universal religious faith in the modern era.

no you're right, I was thinking of Camus. The lineage is Schopenhauer -> Nietzsche -> Heidegger -> Sartre, with Camus and Kierkegaarde by themselves.

Some criticism: Sartre isn't as respected as the others in academic philosophy (in popular culture, it's another story). Heidegger was an unrepentant Nazi who turned on his Jewish mentor after Hitler came to power, and Schopenhauer was considered a hypocrite by Bertrand Russell.

Nietzsche is clean, and pretty much practiced what he preached.

Schopenhauer is considered to be a pessimist, not an existentialist (though he did influence Nietzsche, who was an early existentialist, but Nietzsche's thought is significantly different from Schopenhauer's).

What evidence is there that the Asian philosophies you mention were anything like Sartre's existentialism?

I am not sure that classification of philosophies and philosophers is of any use. What's more important is the principles formulated and less wrong generalizations about certain aspects of reality being made. It should be called Ideas, but idealism (the notion that there is nothing exist but Ideas) is as wrong as a disconnected from reality metaphysics.

So, the seers of Upanishads and non-lamaist sects of Buddhism (Hinayana), being seekers after truth with emphasis on seeing things as they are have described most significant principles of philosophy of the mind and moral philosophy something about 6 century BC, if we consider philosophy of the Buddha as culmination of that epoch.

There is the famous two volume work by Radhakrishnan which gives obviously a Hindu centered overview of the philosophy of Indian civilization. All the fundamental ideas are there, including the notion that all phenomena are devoid of any absolute essence, are mere appearances to the senses of different aspects of what they call the whole - Brahman.

Some later Buddhist sects have rejected the notion of Brahman and maintain that the real nature of all phenomena is void.

To put it simple - Hindus got the fundamental principles right few thousand years before West.

I don't think "getting it right" is a good way of phrasing it.

The aspects of Eastern philosophy you mention seem more relevant to Western ideas like phenomenology, monism or pantheism. The identifying feature of existentialism, as distinct from phenomenology, is the focus on the inescapable responsibility that our individual freedom places on us to create our own meaning in life and accept our own ethical behaviour and value system. It is an individualistic and atheistic perspective. The phenomenological aspects are more psychological than the Eastern works you mention, which are more metaphysical.

You say "I am not sure that classification of philosophies and philosophers is of any use", but you raised the issue of the classification and its origin.

Don't worry, everybody, I have a super-soaker.

...I have nothing to apologize for.

Good obscure xkcd reference

Obscure? That's easily one of the most famous strips ever, right behind sudo.

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