Friday, October 30, 2026

Questions NOV 3

Night Vision by Mariana Allesandri (Dark) Intro-Ch1. RECOMMENDED: A Very Short Introduction to the Meaning of Life by Terry Eagleton (MoL) preface

Did any of you happen to attend Mariana Allesandri's Lyceum lecture in 2024? (see below*) If so, thoughts? Or any thoughts on the Sidelines account? Or the videos?**
Do you also feel as though you’ve been raised on “a diet of light” associated with “everything good”? Has that diet been palatable? Do you share Mariana’s temperament and frustration, and her wish to “see in the dark”? Or do you find light an appropriate symbol of enlightenment, reason, and good temper?
Are you thinking differently about Plato’s cave, after reading Mariana’s version? What does the sun in that allegory mean to you? 4 Or the puppeteers?
Mariana says she’s angry “genetically” (when she was here she said anger is her “jam”) and “sad most of the time” 5… Can you relate? If so, is that something you want to change about yourself? Or are you comfortable with it, reconciled to it, or aggressively committed to it? More broadly, do you want to be happy? Can a chronically angry and sad person even be happy?
Are you an Eeyore, a Tigger, a Rabbit, a Pooh, …? Do you recoil from positivity?
One may resent a sol-centric worldview, but in fact the sun IS (to quote Eric Idle) “the source of all our power” etc. And as we noted the other day, Carl Sagan was right: we ARE “starstuff contemplating the stars... a way for the cosmos to know itself,” products of the cosmic light show. Light IS “our savior,” no? So why isn’t Allesandri’s attraction to the dark side perverse and nihilistic? Why isn’t her attitude “ungrateful” and “self-indulgent”? 7-8 [Let me note: I spent a lot of time with Mariana when she visited. She was pleasant, amiable, delightful, in no way presenting as an Eeyore. So we’re talking mostly about an internal mood, not in most instances a demonstratively uncongenial and anti-social demeanor.]
Should positively-tempered people just concede that darkness is a (not THE) human condition for some of us? 9 Haven't the existentialists taught us not to make sweeping generalizations about human nature and the human condition? Should they not then make alliance with the pragmatic pluralists who acknowledge a wide variety of legitimate ways of being human?
Is it stigmatizing to name anxiety an “epidemic” or view it as symptomatic of mental illness or affliction?
How would you distinguish “toxic positivity” from healthy-mindedness (or healthy-mindedness from reasonable cheerfulness)? 10 If you’re not anxious, does that imply that you’re not “paying attention”?
Mariana found “love at first sight” with Existentialism. Do you share her characterization of existentialists on p.12?
Have you read Ehrenreich or Burkeman? 13* If you ever contract a terminal illness, will you resent being told to “chin-up” and “look on the bright side”? How about Wendell Berry? 14 Do you keep a gratitude journal? Or do you ever say to yourself, as the often-sad Kurt Vonnegut did, “if this isn’t nice I don’t know what is?”
Should women study philosophy, precisely because their numbers are low and their male counterparts so often are jerks? Should anyone ever have to justify their approach to philosophy as “real”? 17
Is Plato’s “charioteer” unhelpful? Based on Mariana’s intra-familial self-disclosure, does she have an anger-management problem? 21
Are the Stoics unhelpful, with respect to managing anger? Or Aristotle? Or the “view from above”? Or Mr. Rogers? 22f. What do you think of “Broicism”? 26
Was Lorde right about anger, progress, and change? 29
Can repressed anger manifest in physical symptoms? 32
What would have happened to the Jan. 6 rioters if they’d been Black, or immigrants? 34
Would you add anything to the taxonomy of the varieties of anger? 37
Have you ever suffered epistemic injustice? How’d you respond? 43
[MoL] When he was here, John Kaag agreed with my characterization of Terry Eagleton as "clever" (not necessarily in a good way). What do you think?
Regarding the dedication to "Oliver": Why would the question of life's meaning be "embarrassing"?
What do you think of the story of Bertrand Russell and the taxi driver? Why shouldn't philosophers be expected to have something to say concerning "what it's all about"? 28
Is the question of meaning, or of Being, just a ponderous way of saying 'Wow!'? If it's a valid question for poets and mystics, why not for (non-poet/mystic) philosophers? 3
If we knew the meaning of life, would life then be devoid of meaning? 9 Would we cease to "meditate on our being in the world"? 13 Do those who seek meaning already possess it? 29
Are Americans still "chronically up-beat," compared at least to Brits? 11
Have religion, culture, and sexuality really become "less central to public life"? 20
What are "chiropractors of the psyche"? 24 Why is the quest to find oneself "tiresome"?
Is sport (or gambling on it) "now the opium of the people"? 26
Eagleton can't remember Monty Python's meaning. Check the sidebar, it's there. What do you think?

*MTSU Philosophy Department hosts annual Lyceum lecture series with Mariana Alessandri

DeAsia Powell, Contributing writer • September 29, 2024

The MTSU Philosophy Department held their annual Applied Philosophy Lyceum lecture series

on Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo by DeAsia Powell)

The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies hosted Mariana Alessandri Friday at its annual lecture series lyceum, “The Upside of Anxiety: Kierkegaard on Feeling Better About Feeling Bad.”

Since 1992, the Philosophy Department held a lecture series devoted to lectures on Applied Philosophy. Lyceum pays tribute to Aristotle’s school of philosophy, founded in 334 B.C. The department intends to bring philosophical insight to all students interested in the concepts. They achieve this by stimulating private reflection and the human practice of thinking broadly on an array of applied philosophical topics.

“We’re thrilled with the variety of speakers and topics we’ve been able to sponsor,” said Mary Magada-Ward, the philosophy department chair. “Students come out just to hear the topics. Topics covered in this lecture have ranged from topics of love and relationship to environmental ethics.”

This year, the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies hosted Alessandri, an author and associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Motivated by educating others on feeling better about their bad feelings, Alessandri came to MTSU to share her perspective on “anxiety,” a mental illness 1-of-3 college students battle.

In the lecture, she discussed redeeming humans from always feeling broken due to dark moods of anxiety, anger, depression and sadness. She mentioned shame and feeling bad for having anxiety or depression.

Alessandri aimed to encourage others to look at society in the dark, from a dimmer light, to actually see it for what it is. She felt that when people look at anxiety from a light–everyone is supposed to be happy all the time–perspective, it makes the world look terrible.

She suggested the concept of existentialism. Alessandri said the human condition is holding hands through rough moments and human suffering, not shaming oneself and others for having moods and feeling emotions.

Phil Oliver, Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, like other department officials, feels the lecture helped students understand sadness.

“This helped students think they’re not broken because they have anxiety, that it’s human, and if you can see that you’re not broken, you can learn from being anxious and being human,” said Oliver.

In addition to her perspective, Alessandri drew from her book, “Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through the Dark Moods,” and used the findings of philosopher Seren Kierkegaard to defend her perspective. In her book, she cited philosophers in every chapter and countered it with existentialist philosophers to help her see the mood in the dark.

Alessandri said she was inspired to write this book after struggling to stay positive and wanting to live, to help others live. After an abundance of demands her peers had for hearing her speak about this unusual topic, she decided to lecture on it at MTSU to college students.

Her interest in philosophy grew from finding others in the field who were willing to think the way she did without ridiculing her.

“It felt welcome to be able to think deeply,” said Alessandri.

She said she liked talking to others about dark moods because it felt emotionally honest, and gave advice to everyone who battles anxiety and other dark moods.

“We’re not broken, just human,” said Alessandri.

Students and faculty attended the annual Applied Philosophy Lyceum on Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo by DeAsia Powell)

Teachers and students engaged in deep questioning of the philosopher’s perspectives and concepts. The audience generally enjoyed the lyceum and discussion.

“In the most profound sense, the absurdist in me is happy to learn about a speaker in philosophy who embraces the thought of Kierkegaard,” said Sneh Gandhi, a junior philosophy and English major.

The lyceum audience included philosophy students, professors, the College of Liberal Arts Dean Leah Lyons and Magada-Ward, eager to hear Alessandri’s perspective. Lyons was especially delighted with the event turnout.

“The Philosophy Lyceum offered our campus the opportunity to see a common issue in our society–anxiety–through a clearer lens, a lens that invites us to think more deeply about the human condition,” said Lyons. “This is at the heart of a Humanities education–thinking critically about our world and our place in it, so I am pleased that our Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies invited Dr. Alessandri to our campus. I am equally pleased that this Philosophy Lyceum was so well-attended.”

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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

Friday, October 30, 2026

Questions NOV 3

*MTSU Philosophy Department hosts annual Lyceum lecture series with Mariana Alessandri

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