PHIL 1033 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism, Vincent Van Gogh
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10 Sep 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Meaning of Life!
“The Humanism of Existentialism”!
Jean-Paul Sartre!
Everyday Examples, chapter seven, !
sects. 1, 5-6, 23, 27-32, 38-41, 44.!
David Cunning!
Lecture 4 Notes!
9.2.2015 !
!
“The Humanism of Existentialism”!
Everyday Examples, chapter seven, sects. 1, 5-6, 23, 27-32, 38-41, 44.
!
-Sartre’s responses to Cavendish and Beauvoir!
•We are free to move to a new situation, where the world doesn’t get in our way!
•People shouldn’t be forced to hire someone if they are uncomfortable !
-Alternative to force is that they would be placing on imposition on their freedoms!
-Their freedom would be too inhibited if they chose to hire someone they didn’t want!
-So if people can’t be forced, then some people would be unable to reach the true
essence that they want, thus Sartre concedes!
•We should keep working to pursue our dream, even if the world stops us!
-Sartre’s two personalities, extreme and moderate:!
•1) Extreme Sartre!
-We should always act on our freedom!
-We decide what we are - almost completely!
-If we don’t succeed, just keep trying; it’s on us!
-If we don’t succeed, we can choose to not care about success as conventionally defined!
•2) Moderte Sartre!
-The world often gets in our way so it’s harder for some people than others!
-A retreat from the more extreme position!
-Perhaps we can’t choose what we desire or what we value, but we are free to try to
pursue what we already desire and value!
-Our freedom depends on the freedom of others and vice versa!
-The world often gets in our way, but freedom is important: find an outlet for it!
•Star Trek Convention!
-Vincent Van Gogh, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi!
•more mundane examples of eccentricity - Emmett Brown, Sandy Komito, Stan Dibben!
-If we value freedom, we should work toward the freedom of all!