Existentialism: Questions SEP 24

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Questions SEP 24

Presentations-

Erick Martinez-master and slave moralities. cooper-Decadence and Disgust. Anon-__

Kaag 120-155

Spending time as a teenager under a rock: this seems an apt metaphor for the delusions of youth,. Do you think Kaag intends this? What might he expect to learn, by retracing the steps of his own teenage years? 121
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child," so if Cicero was right I find most of my 1st year students still arrested in their development: they're familiar with almost none of the historical highlights I mention before class each day. Why is this, do you think?
If "the 'good' for the master is the power to advance, to assert oneself" etc., aren't his students right: Augustus and his ilk are jerks? Are they jerks because of their strength, or their cruelty? Is it the "docility" of the herd that condemns them, or the decency? 123-5 Is it not obvious that those who define good in narrowly self-serving terms have failed to grasp the concept? Did Romans venerate "an emaciated Jew hung unceremoniously on a cross," or what he preached about kindness, love, mutual solicitude, et al?
If perfectionism makes life with others difficult, does that not suggest its undesirability? 127-9 Is obsessive-compulsive behavior sometimes mistaken for perfectionism? Can you relate to Kaag's fasting compulsion? Is it pathological to seek self-mastery in ways that subvert health? Are you interested in the relation between food and thought? 130 Was Feuerbach right?
"I wanted only to walk. I was beyond unhealthy..." And yet, walking is generally touted as a positive addiction. Do you agree?
Six months before his daughter was born, Kaag started taking anti-depressants. 131 Six months before my first daughter was born, I was elated. High on life, as it were. Any comment?
Schopenhauer thought we were suffering creatures "at base"... 132 But aren't we experiencing creatures at base, alternately suffering, soaring, and everything in-between? Isn't it excessive pessimism to emphasize suffering?
"The average person takes ten thousand steps a day..." 132-4 That's extremely inflated, isn't it, especially for college students who own electric scooters? And for philosophers these days, who mostly no longer subscribe to the Peripatetic school? But isn't it true that walking is "one of the most sustaining and refreshing" activities?
Is going home, and feeling at home in the world, the ultimate form of salvation-at least for a secular naturalist? 138
Is ours a decadent age? If so, how much is that due to our being a consumer culture?

RECOMMENDED: Wept Ch14-17

Do you share any of Breuer's complaints? 155-6, passim. Is there a better name for "despair therapy"? 157
"Melancholics starve themselves or may commit suicide." So much for Kaag's "ascetic ideal," no? Do you agree that that's often a euphemism for a form of self-destructive mental illness?
Any comment on "hysteria" as a tool, historically, for repressing women? 158, 161, 165
"For one can never really be helped by another..." 160 That's false, isn't it?
Are you ever invaded by "alien thoughts"? Do you make them occur? 167, 169
Is Nietzsche a great philosopher except when he discusses human beings? 168
Are your dreams "a glorious mystery"? 173 Do you analyze them?
Are all relationships a "struggle for power"? 175
"Those who wish to pursue the truth must forsake peace of mind..." 178 Any comment?
Are all the great philosophers "gloomy"? 179
Are you already forty (in spirit)? 185 Do you entertain visions of "infinite promise"? Do you choose your own goals? 187
"...thank God, God is dead..." 190 Any comment?
What do you think of academics who "write solely for the academic community"? 196

3 comments:

MarissaSeptember 23, 2026 at 1:06 PM
3. Regarding the first part of the question on Augustus: I think the cruelty of exerting one’s power over others is what makes Augustus seem like a jerk. I don’t agree that it has much to do with the weakness or slave mentality Nietzsche sees as something born out of Judaic suffering, but rather the human desire to have power over oneself which he valued so much.

5. Obviously walking is a healthy activity, particularly in our sedentary age, but anything carried to an extreme can become unhealthy, even walking.

6. I can understand both positions. It makes sense to be elated about the coming birth of a child, and for some people, their brain chemistry makes happiness much more difficult, whether that is born of earlier circumstances or by heredity (usually a combination of both). I see it as a sign of maturity for Kaag to realize and accept a need for chemical support so that he could more easily care for his child—a way of taking responsibility. It is kind of a rejection of the enduring suffering mentality he mentions regarding people on a pilgrimage. Rather than try to endure his suffering for the sake of endurance, he realized it was more responsible to have the extra support of a medication so that he could prepare to take care of his child.
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PhilSeptember 23, 2026 at 3:39 PM
6. Indeed, self-knowledge is crucial for everyone and maybe especially for prospective parents. In his case, it may also have had something to do with the ambivalence he expressed about having children at all. Nobody should become a parent without being "all in," and in chemical assistance is required, so be it.
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Natalie MorenoSeptember 23, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Is ours a decadent age? If so, how much is that due to our being a consumer culture? I’d say our age is a decadent one, demonstrated by a decline in basic life skills and over-reliance on sparkly technology. Elementary students aren’t taught foundational literacy and library skills, and creativity is hampered by generative ai. I’m absolutely guilty of scrolling on social media for hours, neglecting to educate myself on current news or exercising my mind. Consumer culture only intensifies the steady decline by providing distractions. It’s exhilarating to buy and collect things with little practical purpose, and we fill our time trying to fund the habit. So much time is spent trying to attain; little is left to understand or to reflect. That’s not to say that we are a lost cause, but instead that we have a responsibility to counteract the decline.

"I wanted only to walk. I was beyond unhealthy..." And yet, walking is generally touted as a positive addiction. Do you agree? While walking is generally a healthy activity for most, Kaag demonstrates an extreme that should also be cautioned against. It had far less to do with the action itself, and much more to do with the mental implications. This chapter makes it quite clear that Kaag’s relationship with exercise and food were strained, and that his obsessive walking was a form of self-deprivation. Where walking usually brings joy and reflection, he sought pain and overexertion. While the physical effects may not compare to drugs, I don’t agree with the concept of positive addiction. There is a distinction to be made between adopting positive habits and developing obsessive behaviors in activities we generally regard as good.

“No price is too high for the privilege of owning yourself” We discussed this attitude at length on Tuesday, and I think this quote really captures the issue with Nietzsche’s hyper-individualism. I disagree, and I think it was ultimately the greatest price that Nietzsche paid to ‘own’ himself. He forfeited community, love, pleasure, and even his sanity to prove his individualism. He left behind brilliant passages and is recognized as a great thinker, although his melancholic reputation often precedes his philosophical work.
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Screens down. Engage!

In other words, ATTEND class in more than just the literal sense of the word. Please always direct your attention to whoever is speaking, whether Prof or student, and be prepared to participate--above all by listening thoughtfully, and contributing appropriately to discussion. That, along with presence and posted comments/questions, counts as PARTICIPATION (which can be a difference-maker in terms of the final grade... and far more importantly in the long run, in terms of the quality of your education).

COURSE GOALS (I refuse to use the cliche "Learning Outcomes" lingo favored by academic bureaucrats)

Many self-avowed Existentialists have a not-entirely-undeserved reputation for being sad, solemn, pessimistic, cynical, despairing, and world-weary (and this goes for both the Atheistic and Theistic branches, from Nietzsche to Sartre and Kierkegaard to Jaspers et al). But we must recall what Camus said about Sisyphus: we must imagine him HAPPY. I usually teach a course called The Philosophy of Happiness in the Fall. This is the first time I'm teaching Existentialism instead. But a personal GOAL is to say many of the same things I would have said in that class. To wit: A philosophy that takes human freedom and responsibility seriously really SHOULD pursue and value happiness. On my reading, this is what Existentialists and Pragmatists share: a commitment to free and intelligent action in service of human flourishing. So a primary GOAL of our course is to show that Existentialists can and should be happy. Another GOAL is to show that the best of Existentialism is also the best of Pragmatism. (I call myself, when pressed to produce labels, a pragmatic-stoic/naturalistic/humanistic/democratic and pluralistic epicurean .) More broadly, one of our GOALS is to survey the roots and branches of a philosophy that has long historical antecedents going back centuries, that got its wings from Nietzsche and Kierkegaard (and Emerson and Thoreau, in the space of intersection between it and Pragmatism) in the 19th century, and that gained a name and a following in the 20th century and beyond with Sarte, de Beauvoir, Camus, Husserl, Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, Merleau-Ponty and others... while finding common ground with the likes of William James and John Dewey and (later) Richard Rorty. And of course, our constant GOAL is to love learning about all this, and consequently to live better lives. jpo

Texts Fall '26

We'll read surveys and commentaries. But I urge you all to dip into primary sources when presenting and posting your reports. The projected "outcome": you'll learn a lot about Existentialism, you'll come to understand some of the Existentialists' salient connections with other philosophies and traditions, and you'll be motivated to apply the insights thus gained in pursuit of your own and others' well-being. You'll find that philosophy again has enhanced your life. It makes sense that we begin with Nietzsche, and specifically with John Kaag's book: he will be our invited Fall Lyceum speaker on October 2. I'm giving us a day off in early September; I expect you all to repay that by attending the Lyceum and meeting our author at the after-party. That's October 2, 5 PM in COE 164 and at a reception site tba... OUR REQUIRED TEXTS: 1) Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction... 2) John Kaag, Hiking With Nietzsche: Becoming Who You Are... 3) Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger,... 4) Mariana Allesandri, Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moods... RECOMMENDED: 5) Irvin Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept...6) The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction... ALSO RECOMMENDED (& on library reserve): Todd May, A Significant Life: Human Meaning in a Silent Universe... Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters... Samuel Scheffler, Death and the Afterlife... Soren Kierkegaard, tba... William James, What Makes a Life Significant; Is Life Worth Living; On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings; tba...

Understood backwards, lived forwards

"Poor Nietzsche's antipathy"

For Nietzsche the saint represents little but sneakingness and slavishness. He is the sophisticated invalid, the degenerate par excellence, the man of insufficient vitality. His prevalence would put the human type in danger. “The sick are the greatest danger for the well. The weaker, not the stronger, are the strong's undoing..." Poor Nietzsche's antipathy is itself sickly enough, but we all know what he means, and he expresses well the clash between the two ideals. The carnivorous-minded “strong man,” the adult male and cannibal, can see nothing but mouldiness and morbidness in the saint's gentleness and self-severity, and regards him with pure loathing. The whole feud revolves essentially upon two pivots: Shall the seen world or the unseen world be our chief sphere of adaptation? and must our means of adaptation in this seen world be aggressiveness or non-resistance? The debate is serious. In some sense and to some degree both worlds must be acknowledged and taken account of; and in the seen world both aggressiveness and non-resistance are needful. It is a question of emphasis, of more or less. Is the saint's type or the strong-man's type the more ideal?" --William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture XV

Spinoza and James on true slave morality: to be free, don't just negate the bad; affirm the good

Spinoza long ago wrote in his Ethics that anything that a man can avoid under the notion that it is bad he may also avoid under the notion that something else is good. He who habitually acts sub specie mali, under the negative notion, the notion of the bad, is called a slave by Spinoza. To him who acts habitually under the notion of good he gives the name of freeman. See to it now, I beg you, that you make freemen of your pupils by habituating them to act, whenever possible, under the notion of a good. Get them habitually to tell the truth, not so much through showing them the wickedness of lying as by arousing their enthusiasm for honor and veracity. Wean them from their native cruelty by imparting to them some of your own positive sympathy with an animal's inner springs of joy. And, in the lessons which you may be legally obliged to conduct upon the bad effects of alcohol, lay less stress than the books do on the drunkard's stomach, kidneys, nerves, and social miseries, and more on the blessings of having an organism kept in lifelong possession of its full youthful elasticity by a sweet, sound blood, to which stimulants and narcotics are unknown, and to which the morning sun and air and dew will daily come as sufficiently powerful intoxicants... And if, in addition, you can also see him sub specie boni, and love him as well, you will be in the best possible position for becoming perfect teachers. --William James, Talks to Teachers XV

The Essence of Humanism (1905)

Humanism is a ferment that has ’come to stay.’ It is not a single hypothesis or theorem, and it dwells on no new facts. It is rather a slow shifting in the philosophic perspective, making things appear as from a new centre of interest or point of sight. Some writers are strongly conscious of the shifting, others half unconscious, even though their own vision may have undergone much change. The result is no small confusion in debate, the half-conscious humanists often taking part against the radical ones, as if they wished to count upon the other side... William James, continues: https://www.authorama.com/meaning-of-truth-6.html

Existentialism is a Humanism (1946)

My purpose here is to offer a defence of existentialism against several reproaches that have been laid against it. First, it has been reproached as an invitation to people to dwell in quietism of despair. For if every way to a solution is barred, one would have to regard any action in this world as entirely ineffective, and one would arrive finally at a contemplative philosophy. Moreover, since contemplation is a luxury, this would be only another bourgeois philosophy. This is, especially, the reproach made by the Communists... J-P Sartre, continues: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm

Essentially everything? Bad Faith!

"Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us. According to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and more, the only good future for humanity is one powered by technology: trillions of humans living in space, functionally immortal, served by superintelligent AIs. In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow—and shows why, in reality, there is no good evidence that they will, or should, come to pass."

Simone and Henry

“Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day.” ― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex ///// "By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon, what should be man’s morning work in this world? I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and I threw them out the window in disgust. How, then, could I have a furnished house? I would rather sit in the open air, for no dust gathers on the grass, unless where man has broken ground." --Henry David Thoreau, Walden

HDT

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.”...I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.”

Revel and Ricard

"Jean Francois-Revel, a pillar of French intellectual life in our time, became world famous for his challenges to both Communism and Christianity. Twenty-seven years ago, his son, Matthieu Ricard, gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism -- not as a detached observer but by immersing himself in its practice under the guidance of its greatest living masters. Meeting in an inn overlooking Katmandu, these two profoundly thoughtful men explored the questions that have occupied humankind throughout its history. Does life have meaning? What is consciousness? Is man free? What is the value of scientific and material progress? Why is there suffering, war, and hatred? They ask each other questions about ethics, rights, and responsibilities, about knowledge and belief, and they discuss frankly the differences in the way each has tried to make sense of his life..." g'r

Existentialism

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Questions SEP 24

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Jensen Huang vs. the A.I. Doomers

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