1. Can we ever know how another person senses the world?
Absolute Individuals

2. What do you see?

7. Contemplate your butt.
How do I know that the blue I see is the same blue you see?
Even if you and I may perceive the same blue, is that blue REAL?
Where does sensation leave off and perception begin?
How may we TRUST ourselves as we try to compare them?

8. Misdirection…
o_robbins_the_art_of_misdirecti on

9. As we delve into Existentialism…
Don’t forget that your opinion and what you think really, really matters.
This is not just about THE meaning of life but rather about YOUR meaning of life.
Ready? Get ready to take a lot of notes and do a lot of thinking…

10. Albert Camus & Existentialism
“man as the nauseated victim of the absurd orthodoxy of habit…”

11. Existentialism – A Definition
Existentialism is a collection of “doctrines” or beliefs that humans create meaning in their lives by living, by choosing to exist in a certain way. Opposite of Greek Mythology

12. In simpler terms…
Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility.
The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook.
An existentialist believes that a person should be forced to choose their own path and be responsible for themselves without the help of laws, religious or cultural rules, or traditions.

13. Existentialism – What It IS
Human free will (you have a choice)
Human nature is chosen through life choices
A person is best when struggling against their individual nature, fighting for life
Decisions are not without stress and consequences
There are things that are not rational (sane)
Personal responsibility and discipline is crucial (important)
Society is unnatural and its traditional religious and secular (school, government, parents) rules are subjective (random)

14. Which are existential ideas?
Wealth, pleasure, or honor make the good life
Life is stupid
science can and will make everything better
People are basically good but ruined by society or external forces
People are ruled by their selfish notions

15. http://www.ted.com/talks/robin_ince_science_versus _wonder

16. Existentialism – Impact on Society
Existentialistic ideas flourished primarily during the two decades after World War II.
Based on what you learned about world history, name a tragedy or disaster that took place after WWI that affected this mindset and made people begin to question their way of thinking.
Discuss this with your group and come up with 2 things that changed society’s way of thinking.
Stop here

17. Existentialism believes religion is crap.
Existentialism stresses that a persons judgment is the determining factor for what is to be believed, rather than by subjective and uninformed religious world values.

18. Absurdism
A philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find natural meaning in the universe ultimately fail (and therefore are absurd), because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual.

19. "The Absurd"
Its commonly used in philosophical discourse to refer to the clash between the human search for meaning and the human inability to find any.
In this context absurd does not mean "logically impossible," but rather "humanly impossible.“
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

20. NIHILISM and ABSURDISM
Sometimes used to explain the general mood of despair at a “perceived pointlessness of existence” that one may develop upon realizing there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws.
Indifference
Apathy
Whatever-ness
It just doesn’t matter because life will just go on.

21. QUESTION: How can you find a positive solution to absurdism?
Camus wrote about alienation and moral responsibility.
Camus described himself as PESSIMIST (negative attitude)
Yet he sought a positive solution to the "absurdist" position that life is meaningless.

22. Who is an Existentialist?
An existentialist could be A Feminist, Pragmatist, Hedonist, Humanist, Agnostic, or an Atheist.
Each group will do a short research project and summarize the term and find a person from history that represents that term. (see assignment)

23. Who are the Top 5?
Kierkegaard, a religious philosopher, Nietzsche, an anti-Christian, Sartre, an atheist, and Camus, an atheist, and Rilke, a Nihilist poet are credited for their writings about existentialism.
Sartre is noted for bringing the most international attention to existentialism in the 20th century.

24. Collectivism
The practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it.
The theory and practice of the ownership of land and the means of production by the people or the state.
Society first, individual second.
ALTRUISTIC – belief in acting for others; the greater good
What are some examples?

25. Individualism
The habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant.
Self-centered feeling or conduct; egoism.
A social theory favoring freedom of choice or action for individuals over society control.
Me first, you second
ANARCHY
a state of disorder due to absence or non-recognition of authority.
lawlessness, nihilism,, revolution, insurrection, disorder, chaos, absolute freedom of the individual - regarded as a political ideal.

26. Which is right or better?
In your groups, decide which society would be better in which to live: COLLECTIVE or INDIVIDUAL
Three PRO side reasons for your decision

27. Paradox
A statement or proposition that, despite sound reasoning, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or contradictory.
A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.
Synonyms: contradiction, contradiction in terms, self- contradiction, inconsistency, incongruity.

28. In other words…
At the most basic level, a paradox is a statement that is self contradictory because it often contains two statements that are both true, but in general, cannot both be true at the same time.
Examples?

30. Can god make a rock he/she can’t lift?

31. The Paradox of Value: Why is water cheaper than diamonds, since humans need water, not diamonds, to survive?

32. The Grandfather Paradox: If you traveled back in time and killed your grandfather, it could prevent you from ever being born, which means there is no way you can go back in time to kill your grandfather…

33. Which came first?

34. The Absolute Paradox Kierkegaard
Paradox is “the passion of thought.”
Kierkegaard thought it foolish to try to prove that God exists, since the very attempt to do so presupposes that God exists: We would not try to construct a proof that something exists if we thought it might not exist.
Kierkegaard argues that the existence of something is never the conclusion of a proof; rather, it is the starting point.

35. In LITERATURE, what’s another word for this?
In Wordsworth’s poem, the meaning unfolds:
“My heart leaps up when I behold / A rainbow in the sky: / So was it when my life began; / So is it now I am a man; / So be it when I shall grow old, / Or let me die! / The Child is father of the Man.”

36. In other words
William Wordsworth's paradox “the child is the father of the man” may seem nonsense out of context, but upon closer reflection, the reader can conclude that childhood experiences become the basis for the shaping of who we are as adults, so the child, in a sense, fathers the man who he will become.

37. Your turn!
Based on what you have learned thus far about all of the isms, write a PARADOXICAL POEM.
Any questions?

38. Descartes Philosophy I think, therefore I am.

39. Plato’s Cave
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