Originally published at Three Quarks Daily. If we are to believe the most prominent of the writers we now lump under the category of “existentialism,” human suffering in the modern world is rooted in nihilism. But I wonder whether this is the best lens through which to view human suffering. According to existentialism, as theContinue reading “Is Human Suffering Metaphysical or Mundane?”
Tag Archives: Existentialism
Existentialism’s Mistake
Existentialism produced a lot of interesting philosophy and it had much to say about philosophy as a way of life. But it seems to me the core insight of existentialism is mistaken. Existentialism got its purchase from the insight that the death of God (Nietzsche, Heidegger) or the loss of metaphysical foundations for human existenceContinue reading “Existentialism’s Mistake”
How Not to Solve an Existential Crisis
How should we deal with an existential crisis (otherwise known as the feeling that one’s life is an endlessly tedious, worthless slog through a muddy salt marsh on the coast of Maine)? Heidegger was one of the few philosophers to write about this. (Although he never visited the coast of Maine.) According to him, mostContinue reading “How Not to Solve an Existential Crisis”
Philosophy: A Way of Life 