Existentialism: Are We Missing The Point?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ค. 2024
- Existentialism: Why It Still Matters
Existentialism is well known as a philosophy of freedom. But does it lean so hard into freedom that it misses out on larger social and political issues? Let's find out in this video on Existentialism: Why It Changed.
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=== Watch More Episodes! ===
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What the Internet Gets Wrong About Philosophy ► • What The Internet Gets...
Written by Michael Burns
Hosted by Michael Burns
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Brian M Kim
Produced by Olivia Redden
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#existentialism #philosophy #wisecrack
© 2023 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming
Debating whether or not Existentialism is even relevant is the ultimate existential expression.
But what if (and that if is undoubtedly true) our existential causes came from a robust profit making industry that infiltrated its interests into every function of our society?
@@toyotaprius79hat? No seriously, what are you trying to say?
@MrGamelover23 Probably some conspiracy theory bullshit.
@@toyotaprius79 But what if (and that if us undoubtedly true) our existential causes are varied and can't be reduced to a single pleasing enemy?
@@toyotaprius79What was the pure existence before this capitalist takeover then? Feudalism..?
I like it when Michael tells us to commit crimes
I'm frustrated that I ca't seem to find it.
If someone has a orking link to download the book, I'd be eternally grateful.
This would be a tort, not a crime.
@@skatchina I've heard libgen has a lot of books
While the existing power structures often feel overwhelmingly powerful and unchangeable, nihilism and existentialism have a key blessing to share: these systems were built by humans and can, therefore, be unbuilt by them.
Fate, luck, astrology, and divine watchmakers didn't make systemic racism, housing inequity, or wealth disparities. Our ancestors left us with that bag. If we organize ourselves with the intention to unpack it and make it better, we can.
That’s definitely something I needed to hear at this time. I’m genuinely afraid of where the world, especially the US, is going.
@@Reed5016Same
Maybe your grand children's children will be the ones to get it right.
💖🌏🌎🌍💖
Burn it all, return to monke
I hope the world explodes
Hi Michael. Your comments made me realize something. I think we, as fans of the channel, would be really interested in how YOU changed your mind over the years. We watch this channel for its content, but we trust it because we trust you. If I could watch 10 or 20 minutes about where you started, how you evolved, which views you had that changed, where you realized you were young dumb and ... I would really be enthrawled. Maybe post it on another channel, but to actually better understand the mind (as well as your team's) that's feeding offering me all these great ideas, I'd be even more captivated than I already am. Thanks for the great work. Good luck in the future.
Cool idea for sure - I've done this a bit on the philosophy videos I've made on our patreon, but would be good to have something like this for everyone.
I'll aim to do it on an upcoming stream for sure.
@@WisecrackEDU MY take on all this: One definitely needs precisely 11 lines of Adderal to get s*** done in this day and age!
I am close to finishing Ethics of Ambiguity and I feel like de Beauvoir does an excellent job of grounding Sartre's Existentialism and giving the philosophy a solid ethical framework. As mentioned in this video, she brings social and political dimensions that feel so real even (especially?) now. It's also not as dense as other existential works that draw heavily from the phenomenology tradition, making it a must-read!
Good review!
Marginal disagreement here. I’ll start by saying that also love this work but I think it’s worth mentioning that it’s somewhat of an answer or a correction to In Search of a Method wherein Sartre was trying to do the same thing: 1) marry existentialism to Marxism and 2) come up with an ethics.
@@seannamei Ethics of Ambiguity couldn't have been an answer or correction to Search of a Method; Ethics of Ambiguity came out ten years prior (in 1947) to Sartres's Search (1957). If anything, it's the Ethics that made Sartres reconsider his position.
@@MCSorry holy shit you are right. This is the second time I’m being corrected on this point. I did a video on the first chapter, introducing it as a work released in the 80s and my friend had to remind me that it came out 40 years before. I think it’s the brilliance of the work that keeps throwing me off. Same with the complete translation of second sex. Genius and way ahead of its time.
What are we doing? Brings to mind Daniel Johnston’s line “we know what we’re doing, we’re marching to hell.” There’s hope in that realization, I suppose.
I want the shirt though
I'm impressed with your restraint, Wisecrack. A whole video on existentialism and not a single Rick and Morty reference.
Rewatch the opening.
Did you even watch the video? it's in the first minute.
Found the dude that’s listening and not watching 😂
shhh don't tell! They were impressed! We need this!
@@WisecrackEDUWhoops, sorry. Sorry that this community is full of narcs!
Simone de Beauvoir says she is living in a material world and she is a material girl
I would love to hear more about Camus and absurdism. I struggle to imagine Sisyphus happy and would like to know how one embraces and simultaneously revolts against absurdity?
Read his books
@@samuelcharles7642 after 3 rereadings I'm looking for another perspective on it.
I am unwritten
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh, oh
I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes
But I can't live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, yeah, yeah
This is one of your best videos. So great to see more context and show how philosophers have amended their thinking over time.
Chef’s kiss.
appreciate it!
I'd love to see you break down James Baldwin and W. E. B. Du Bois concept of "double consciousness".
This would be fascinating to hear some thoughts on. I believe double consciousness extends to all people who try to square citizenship with the existential reality of being a human in a social environment
I love deep dives like this. breaks it down so I can incorporate it into my own thoughts.
Good luck and congratulations with the baby Michael! I’m sad I missed the last stream yesterday ❤
Thank you for this. It's been almost 20 years of my life searching for something to concisely describe existentialism as effectively as my philosophy course in uni. This really did it.
Happy to see Fanon get some attention in the conversation of existentialism!
I would get the "Wisecrack: What are we doing here?" shirt 🤷♂️
Same. I would also buy a 1000 Raw Dome hat.
we'd have to make sure the hat maker didn't accidentally leave the top of the hat open.
I second this
Thank you for making this video! Anyone watching likely has access to online versions of all of these fantastic philosophers. I recently finished Black Skin, White Masks. As far as personal actions, getting organized in a minority rights/libreration movement, mutual aid network or socialist org is the most effecting thing a person can do.
I hope you get your publishing money you are owed
But I would hate to be the intern working at ROman and Littlefield Internation Publishing on monday, receiving 99 new emails with the subject 'WHERE IS BURNS' MONEY"
True - hopefully only 3-5 people actually do that.
Finally!!! I am sure that Michale has been excited about this one since he's fascinated with Kierkegaard. Sometimes Sartre seems to be almost consciously ignored... Super happy for the video!!!
Wisecrack really helped inspire my first book.
Even skimming over it now, I see the themes this channel brought up and codifed for me.
Cosmic existentialism. Wabi-sabi.
Much love from a fellow thinker!
Did not know about Satre’s later work. That’s awesome to hear about.
Thank you so much.
I genuinely enjoy all of the information and viewpoints this channel delivers and expresses. Although I am not qualified to comment articulately on several of the philosopher’s exclamations covered, I thoroughly enjoy learning and absorbing the information everyone brings. I will always have a deep appreciation and admiration for the time and execution this team delivers with every submission this team uploads for the masses. From the bottom of a naive, more than casual viewer, Thank you very much.
Message sent to you publicist. Good luck! Terrific video xx
As much as I like philosophy, it's really easy to get depressed and miss the better meaning.
Very, very true.
Holy freaking moly. What ever my TH-cam algorithm is it keeps taking me to better and better places. This is the best place yet and I’ve been at it almost a year. W wow do you do terrific stuff! I’ll spend actual money, which I don’t really have to listen to more of this
Man just loved this video I've gotta come back to take some notes.
your videos are great guys. thank you so much for the knowledge. wish i had the means to support yall more
you are supporting us by watching the videos! we appreciate it.
Loved this, also nice to finally get a clear explanation on wtf a dialectic really is, nice touch!
(Isn't it pronounced 'Camus' though?')
Another great upload video guys!
Really 💙 your philosophy videos! Would you ever consider doing a video on the utility and limits of Stoicism. Particularly the tension between its classical notions of 'deterministic pantheism' and practical applications of the dichotomy of control.. 👍🏼
What a great video! I really enjoyed this one! Thanks guys
Another phenomenal (one might even say... phenomenological) video! Thank you, Wisecrack team, for your awesome work.
Some topics to explore for the channel:
- Object Oriented Ontology (see: Graham Harman and Timothy Morton)
- Family Abolitionism (see: Sophie Lewis)
- Peter Turuchin's cliodynamics
- the phenomenological Animism of David Abram
- the Analytic-Continental Divide
- a deep dive into the philosophical foundations of conservatism (a truly wild ride)
- Syl & Af Ko's anti-colonial veganism
- utopianism as an aspect of political ideology and strategy
- democratic socialism vs wokeist progressivism
dope comment - thanks for the ideas!
Amazing work wisecrack =)
Since Zizek is an avowed Hegelist, I think there need to be more Hegel videos. And then maybe something somehow that might explain the general mindset of those in Slavic or Balkan countries. (Yugopnik)
Excellent review. Thank you
I liked the "4th wall break"-like elements in this video... it makes it more personal, and they were placed when I was about to loose interest and braught me back in... with a good balance of this... it gives the video a pretty good structure
Love the video. Would also love to hear you talk about Serial Experiments Lain.
This was a really good one!!
You should do a video about Camus' absurdist philosophy, which is similar but also kinda different from mainline existentialism. Also thanks for shouting out Sartre's later works, I'll def check those out soon.
Sometimes I feel like I just watch Wisecrack for the vibes. I got lost somewhere in the first half of this video, but you know.. it's nice over here..
Great video! Would love an in depth video on Albert Camus and Absurdism and how it specifically challenges Existentialism.
Hooray for referencing Fanon, Wretched of The Earth is a life changing book
I like the shirt idea.
Please add a confused smile face to it.
It'd be great if you guys did a video (or videos) of modern day philosophers (IE still alive) and how different philosophical concepts may (or may not) have changed with some of these philosophers.
I dig this channel. I loved Donald Palmer's Sarte 4 Beginners. I have had the park made unavailable to me. I have made the park unavailable to others.
I have felt the absence of Paul. Paul was a waiter but the Cafe is gone. Great Channel.
So nobody's gon talk about how Micheal's publisher isn't giving his due share
In fairness academic publishing pays ALMOST nothing . . . but they did just kinda ghost me.
Excellent video on Existentialism.
Are you able to do one on Gabriel Marcel's idea of hope & despair (in his Homo Viator: Introduction to a Metaphysic of Hope)
The part about how little sense it makes to stick to the same ideas is something I wish more analysis of philosophers would include. I've heard it mentioned that Wittgenstein was very different between his younger and older writings, but not much any other great philosophers. While he didn't live long, I wouldn't be surprised if changing his mind is part of why no one is good at interpreting Nietzche.
Michael, I would be thrilled if you did a video about Absurdism, comparing the differences and similarities between Camus and Nagel.
After I converted to Catholicism, I went to college intending to become a philosopher. After a while they cut off my financial aid and I had to drop out. And in a few years I realized Catholicism was a mistaken detour for me. But that experience has left me with a lot of questions about the philosophers I just got a taste of when I was in school. That philosophy department had a thing for early Husserl - I even dipped my toe into Logical Investigations - and Max Scheler. I think they saw them as providing adequate answers to what were otherwise dead ends in some major trends in late 19th & early 20th century philosophy. A few of them had a thing for Gadamer and Ricoeur.
I'm saying all this, of course, because I think it would be cool for Wisecrack to do videos on these guys.
Oh, and Eric Voegelin too. And maybe a video on the use of "gnosticism" in the 20th century, whether as an epithet much loved by conservative Catholics, or as a serious system of thought. That would be interesting.
Please do more on Camus! Love your videos :)
I just signed up for patreon, I'm in for the beer helmet prop jokes. . .but more for what that says about us philosophically.
I'd love to learn more about the Situationist International and Guy Debord. I feel like that would be a good way to build off this video.
"WHAT ARE WE DOING?" has been my go-to caption when sharing political items/anything related to climate change.
Good video! I wanted to see _The Rebel_ by Camus mentioned.
This video finally unlocked an understanding of the relationship between Existentialism, platonism, and rationalism. I've been reading a lot of Giordano Bruno and this helped me figure out some of the underlying philosophy I was grappling with. Honestly, another problem with existentialism I have is the belief in an unknowable universe as science has been shown to provide methods for predicting the universe, with particular regard to physics and chemistry which can get really precise about the natural laws of the universe. Perhaps there are things science will never be able to predict fully, but the reality is clearly ordered in a predictable way for much of the known universe, and as far as I can tell there's no reason to believe that it can't all be predicted.
So I always associated existentialism in my head always with the question of what happens after death and like the big question of why are we here? I feel like I'd love to see a deep dive of various afterlife theories and schools of thought. That would be super cool!
So glad Michael is at Wisecrack. That opening line 😂
I've been reading a lot of Stirner lately and I feel like he has the most correct assessment of the interaction of the "freedom" of the individual but also the limits placed on them by spectres
Such a dense video but it succinctly caotures a lot of amazing topics around one theme. Very wekl written guys!
Hi Michael, can you please do a fireside chat with Alain de Botton for about an hour or 1.5 hours?
I love the ideas you both present, and would love to see the discussion ❤
I mean, I don't know him, but would be happy to chat.
I feel the absurdism video coming and I'm so here for it.
Hey guys, great video. I actuality read the Ethics of Ambiguity and the Second Sex from de Beauvoir, and my opinion is that Existentialism is still relevant today (more than ever now I'd argue). America especially seems to have narrowed their social discussion around justice (for good reasons), but I think people certainly need to be reminded to take responsibility for the greater good (the definition of what that is can be argued).
I'd like to see what your take is on the philosophy of minimalism. I recently came across a Netflix documentary uploaded to TH-cam.
10/10 would buy a "What are we doing" T-shirt from you guys. Reflects my political views very accurately
That T-shirt idea sounds good. (Ace vid btw, not often existentialism is put in the dock.)
Thanks! And hopefully we can make the shirt.
My two favourite topics, Marx and Existentialism in the same video? This made my day ❤
An idea for another video: There was a more modern philosopher (I forget his name as it was at the end of my Critical Theory class) who was talking about everything being connected, down to us being connected to rocks even. Maybe you can talk about that?
Signing up for Patreon now to get Michael that beer helmet.
I think that there is one aspect of the dialectic between freedom and constraint that deserves more attention. Freedom and constraint are paradoxically linked, and so cannot easily be divided into a good/bad binary.
To explain what I mean, consider what is required to master a skill, drawing, for example from a state of absolute ignorance. The first stage of learning is the first discovery of a potential capacity- that a pencil makes graphic marks, and that graphic marks can be used to produce an image. The second stage is the stage of creative play- the exploration of the relationship between your actions, the the results,they produce, and the way those reults feel- scribbling and doodling. After some time, one may find that the absolute freedom to make any mark is also a constraint, because they can't direct the outcome in any meaningful way. The third stage, deliberate practice, is the deliberate imposition of constraint in the form of disciple, which narrows ones options from a potentially infinite of actions to a very narrow set of those that yield the results you want, in drawing, these are the skills of form, composition, perspective, value, etc. After that is another round of creative play, exploring the full potential of the skills won through deliberate practice. This cycle repeats back and forth, occasionally punctuated the the unexpected discovery of new degrees of freedom and constrained more broadly by wider context of need (ie, you can't just sit around and draw all day forever, you have to make a living for yourself more comprehensively).
Given the liberatory direction of philosophy as a project, it is understandable why freedom is usually held in higher regard than constant- philosophy is intended to free the thinker from the restraints of convention after all- but I think this is a misreading of the situation. After all, the billionaire tycoon is an extraordinary free individual, largely unconstrained by physical or social resistance, and billionaires also fucking such and make things harder for everyone else to support that freedom. Rather than attempt to assign absolute moral value freedom and constraint (freedom=good, constraint=bad), we should recognize them as moral qualities insofar as the dynamic relationship of freedom and constraint within a material system yields ethically charged outcomes, good or bad. We humans, as autonomous beings within the system, have the freedom to choose how to respond to our circumstances and shape the world, and we humans are also social animals living within a material ecosystem, constrained by the laws of physics and our biological needs and the conventions of the communities on which we depend. It's a far more complex relationship with freedom and constraint than simple moral absolutes, but it's also more grounded and useful approach to the matter
4:44 you better double check that...
In an interview in Les Nouvelles Littéraires, 15 November, 1945, Camus said point-blank: “I am not an existentialist.” He went on to say, “Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked. We have even thought of publishing a short statement in which the undersigned declare that they have nothing in common with each other and refuse to be held responsible for the debts they might respectively incur. It’s a joke actually. Sartre and I published our books without exception before we had ever met. When we did get to know each other, it was to realize how much we differed. Sartre is an existentialist, and the only book of ideas that I have published, The Myth of Sisyphus, was directed against the so-called existentialist philosophers.”
Please make a vid on the basic necessary psychological conditions of a hypothetical dialogue which would enable absolute/global societal consensus.
Youre channel is gold for our minds.
Wisecrack asking the real questions
Very good videos mien
Thanks!
You guys gonna do another deep dive into a band like when you were held hostage for with Smash Mouth? I really enjoyed that one, and honestly some good points were made and i did learn and think differently about them, plus have some interesting convos about it later.
Like this breakdown of philosophy.
I have been loving the exploration of these theories through my studies in Gestalt. Would love to hear from you about your opinions in the gestalt psychotherapy realm 😊
I would buy that shirt but there should be one with and without the wisecrack title/logo.
Thanks for bringing this! ❤
Franz Fanon Writer of the Wretched of the Earth!
Just emailed the publisher. hope that helps.
Enjoyed this one. Delve deeper into ambiguity plz.
Please make a video on the philosophy of The Little Prince (the book, not the movie). It's one of my favorites.
The capacity to resist, and the choice to resist, are the key common threads of both Existentialism and Absurdism. It is in that choice, to accept things as they are or to resist and attempt to change how things are, where we find radical free will.
Critique of Dialectical Reason mentioned! Mega W
Yes to shirts! "What are we doing"
This is very well done. I love existentialism and simone de beuvoir. She is the bedrock of existential therapy.
Whenever I think about the milieu of existentialism debate, I'm reminded of the little old ladies hoarding possessions in the movie labyrinth. They piled mountains of worthless items onto their backs. There is no need for endless debate about the various breeds or iterations of existentialism. And maybe it's the word, itself, that seems to beg for expansive analysis. Instead of endless "points of view" and classical versus modern approaches all combining to obfuscate rather than reveal, you only need the root definition. Like a smooth little stone in your pocket. Existentialism is simply one of many words used to express an acknowledgment that you now understand and concede that there is no objective or imposed purpose to existence. And, maybe also that you are free to fabricate one for yourself, if you choose.
In response to your request for video suggestions at the end of this video; I've recently come across a philosophy professor on TH-cam by the name of Hans-Georg Moeller, who has an interesting new theory on identity formation which he calls "Profilicity". I would appreciate it if Wisecrack did a break down of it. I want to know whether Wisecrack thinks Professor Moeller is actually onto something or not. Thank you for your consideration.
I remember hearing about structuralism or something like that. Basically analyzed the world in terms of systems. I wonder how existentialism interacted with that school of thought
Thus creating nothing but choas in the natural order of thing while also taking free will into account but also renouncement of it as well
I think a video on the Japanese historian and moral philosopher Watsuji Tetsurō would be fun. In my class at college, we briefly talked about how he tried to blend many of the Asian philosophies into one, but we didn’t have much time to get into the details :/
No discussion on Husserl and phenomenology? Feels important when looking at existentialism and especially early existentialism. Maybe a separate video on Husserl?
Totally - honestly cut some of the historical context from this one as we only had so much time.
Make a video on Decoloniality! I'd love to see your take on that!!
There are moments when i find it pointless going to work or wake up at all because yesterday was tough.
Sounds like burn out
@Wisecrack any chance you could cover superdeterminism? It's a little science-heavy, but I think it's a pretty cool subscription. I'd also like to see more on metamodernism, it's a hard one to wrap my head around as a weird synthesis of modernism and post-modernism but also neither but also both
As a Hossenfelder enjoyer, I'd like to see this, but it requires waayy too much theoretical physics for a popular philosophy video.
@@vauchomarx6733 I didn't think it was that wild a concept haha. Just like "if you have all this free will, where tf did you get it?" kind of logic. I've just always found free will folks a little... idk egocentric to think the uni/multiverse, or what have you, would find time for giving us unseen power over both physics and fate 🤷♂
As someone who has/had bad teeth it's comforting that some great thinkers also forgot to brush their teeth.
I've been waiting for this video for a long time you guys.
I think early existentialism is popular for the same reason that CBT, Stoicism, yoga and manifesting are popular right now, because you can do it all by yourself. And I'm not so sure that's politically radical. Declaring yourself or other people to be a priori free might be a good pep talk but that just seems like another form of idealism, just another essence to cling to. I think that Frank Herbert did it better. We are born unfree as animals, but we must train ourselves to be free in the only the ways that humans can. You are born unfree, but you have to fight for your mental freedom. This is a much more gradual process than Sartre just declaring that you are free.
When I was 17 I had a bit of a libertarian phase where I mirrored a lot of Sartre's early writings. The belief in a radical freedom in which anyone can do anything they so choose is something I based a lot of my early politics on before I had a good understanding of socialism and the limitations material realities put on that supposed radical freedom. Seeing the way Sartre worked through his understanding of Marxism combined with his belief in the choices we make for ourselves mirrors how I've evolved in my own politics. I look at it similar to the way we teach something like physics. In physics we start with airless, frictionless, spaces then slowly put those understandings into context to see the world isn't s simple, but can still be understood, one piece at a time.