#EXISTENTIALIST PHILOSOPHY

[13thpythagoras]

"...I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be engulfed, every hill shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!”

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that, let freedom, ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

[imaginationstimulation]

"Either/Or" : Existentialism, Poetry, Elliott Smith and Søren Kierkegaard.

Either/Or is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, released on February 25, 1997.

The title of the album derives from the Søren Kierkegaard book of the same name (Either/Or), reflecting Smith’s interest in philosophy, which he studied at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Smith has long been associated with the Danish philosopher, and was once introduced as him at a concert in 1996.

Smith propelled into the international spotlight after three of the songs from this album were incorporated into the Good Will Hunting soundtrack.

*

from the album's 2nd track, Alameda:

Walk down Alameda Brushing off the nightmares you wish could plague me when I'm awake So now you see your first mistake was thinking that you could relate

The lyrics imply that whoever he is addressing here wishes that he keep suffering, so that he can keep creating art. This sentiment is found in a Kierkegaard quote from Either/Or:

“What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed that when the sigh and cry pass through them, it sounds like lovely music…. And people flock around the poet and say: ‘Sing again soon’ – that is, ‘May new sufferings torment your soul but your lips be fashioned as before, for the cry would only frighten us, but the music, that is blissful.”

Alameda's lyric goes on to address that problems arise when a person thinks of themselves as the same as everyone else. This emphasis on subjectivity is a common existentialist trope beginning with Kierkegaard’s Truth is Subjectivity.

*

Søren Kierkegaard was a Christian existentialist philosopher living in the 1800s in Denmark. What is existentialism? It’s the idea that individuals are ultimately free to make their own choices, and are therefore responsible for their own life in this strange world.

People who believe in the sovereignty of the individual are one step away from also being a poet. What individualists and poets have in common is their care for and focus on the subjective, personal experience of life.

[Recalling] Kierkegaard’s words on what it means to be a poet:

“What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed that when the sigh and cry pass through them, it sounds like lovely music…. And people flock around the poet and say: ‘Sing again soon’ — that is, ‘May new sufferings torment your soul but your lips be fashioned as before, for the cry would only frighten us, but the music, that is blissful.”

Existentialism presents reality as the individual versus the universe — you and your free choices against the infinite strangeness of existing. Very often this comes across as a negative experience. The world is so big, and we individuals are so small. This leads us to anguish.

Most people stay stuck there, in anguish. But the poet... has the power to channel that pain into poetry, music. In other words, the poet takes the raw and painful experience of existing, and reshapes it into something beautiful for himself and to share with others.

What is a poet? Someone who bears the cross of their suffering, and then transmutes that suffering into blissful music. What a skill to learn.

[mj1982mjha]

EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY OF NIETZSCHE

Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century German philosopher, stands as a towering figure in existential philosophy. His ideas are both provocative and profound, challenging conventional thought and urging individuals to confront life’s complexities with vigor and authenticity. At the centre Nietzsche’s existential philosophy lies the concept of the “Übermensch” or “Overman.” This ideal represents the…

[thepursuitofunderstanding]

You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame; how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes?

Friedrich Nietzsche

[iwantflyingpigs]

There Are Two Wolf Inside Me~

"overthinks" "doesn't think"

Karasu 'never shows his true nature because he doesn't believe he is interesting' Tabito 🤝 Otoya 'goes with the flow, his fundamental approach was to not worry' Eita

(me choosing which side is the one to act like on a daily basis)

[ophelias-rue]

Need to start a book club for people who like Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Kafka, Rilke, Nietzsche. Also just to hang out on a discord server or something and be friends. I would like a close little group of friends, God knows it’s a lonely world, but I don’t think it has to be.

I’ve been reading The Idiot and I’m desperate to share my outpouring of feelings with someone. :^)

[psykopathy]

Me vs me

[jeanclamence]

La Femme Impeccable

The Impeccable Woman by Jean- Clamence (me)

You are wonderfully angelic.

Your touch is irresistibly surreal.

Whenever we are alone together, I feel intensely hedonistic.

I feel myself renewed; loving you endlessly, never resisting or submitting an appeal, willingly walking away from what is real.

In a way, you are the tangible soul of a full life and everything in it's pursuit;

Both in sadness and in madness, in dysphoria and euphoria, your very fingertips hold fine life—the sick and healthy present of this vast, meaningless human existence.

I sometimes even question myself; 'Why is it her I make my muse?'

I sometimes even find myself answering 'no' to the question 'Is this life of no use?'

There is a gentile, sensible, exquisitely distinct atmosphere which floats about your being and draws me as a deserted nightlight attracts a sole moth.

I run to you mindlessly, mechanically, following a fluttering beauty so full of life as a cat does, seeking the delightful enrichment of my soul which I have only ever found in you.

[philosophors]

“If anyone on the verge of action should judge himself according to the outcome, he would never begin.”

— Søren Kierkegaard, “Fear and Trembling”

[theartofperishingslowly]

Ended up underlining more than half of the last chapter of The Stranger by Albert Camus.

RIP Albert Camus, you would've loved tumblr girlies who are questioning their relationship with God and have an unhealthy attachment to the concept of death.

[chwoyaz]

how i perceive skk and their philosophical beliefs, particularly existentialism and absurdism

in my opinion, dazai's an existentialist. his character explores around the concept of finding meaning in life bcs he has no idea what's the point of it all. is there even value in the act of living? or is it just a foolish desire human beings have?

we all know dazai struggles with human emotions and has a constant conflict with his own identity

and yet, dazai constantly makes his choices in order to seek meaning (ex. staying in the mafia for a period of time, joining the ada, saving people, etc.)

the thing is, he WANTS to learn what it means to be human; wants to understand and find the value of life

as for chuuya, i believe he's an absurdist.

chuuya's journey is simply—for lack of a better word—ridiculous.

he has faced many absurd challenges in his life, yet managed to turn his life around through sheer force of will (mind you), and continues to live through it all with a devoted passion towards maintaining his relationship with humanity

like dazai, chuuya also struggles feeling human. at his worse moments, he feels like a weapon only wielded for war

despite that, chuuya continues living and commits himself to the people around him as an act of defiance in my opinion

yes, the conditions of his life is inane. laughable. maybe even pointless. but does it matter?

he doesn't particularly care abt the greater value of life or actively search for the meaning behind it, since he has already lived his entire life accepting its madness

he does and will constantly choose to live in spite of his conditions bcs he refuses to give in to the notion that he's not human and therefore shouldn't even cease to exist

in the end, chuuya rejects the promise of death and the power of destruction he's clearly capable of in order to stay in touch with his humanity—no matter how absurd his life is

[aosdatc-s]

Riddle me this:

Why am I now an absurdist while I'm reading Sartre and De Beauvoir but a year ago, was an existentialist while reading Camus?

[mj1982mjha]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMUEL BECKETT !

Beckett brooding over nothingness…. Samuel Beckett, an Irish-born playwright, novelist, and poet, stands as a towering figure in 20th-century literature. Born on April 13, 1906, Beckett’s works delve into themes of existentialism, absurdism, and the human condition, earning him acclaim and a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. Beckett’s most famous work, “Waiting for Godot,” epitomizes his…

[thepursuitofunderstanding]

When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.

Friedrich Nietzsche

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

obsessed with their different reactions to being called starcrossed lovers

[ssontag]

"If nothing sensuous is present no art is present."

Iris Murdoch, "Literature and Philosophy: a Conversation with Brian Magee", in Existentialists and Mystics (1999)