PHIL 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: False Consciousness, Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism
Document Summary
Two streams of philosophy: practical and theoretical. Theoretical: questions of metaphysics and the theory of knowledge. Existenitalism: believed philosophers of both types neglect most important question of existence. Why is this freedom a burden: no matter what you do you have a choice to do otherwise, every moment you are choosing to do one thing and choosing not to do other things. We are free and alone: there is no god and no meaning except what we ourselves create. Secular version of existentialism: can be a crisis or opportunity. Anguish: freedom is not pleasant, one thing we cannot choose is not to be free. Possible reason why existentialism has reputation for being depressing. Mauvais foi: concept of bad faith or self deception. To lie to yourself about your true state. Don"t pretend you have no choice, or go along with majority: maybe admit you need to lie to yourself, comparisons (not on exam) Workers convinced capitalism in their best interest.
