Existentialism - Waking Life excerpt
Back"The reason why I refuse to take existentialism as just another French fashion or historical curiosity is that I think it has something very important to offer us for the new century. I'm afraid we're losing the real virtues of living life passionately, sense of taking responsibility for who you are, the ability to make something of yourself and feeling good about life. Existentialism is often discussed as if it's a philosophy of despair. But I think the truth is just the opposite. Sartre once interviewed said he never really felt a day of despair in his life. But one thing that comes out from reading these guys is not a sense of anguish about life so much as a real kind of exuberance of feeling on top of it. It's like your life is yours to create. I've read the postmodernists with some interest, even admiration. But when I read them, I always have this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out. The more that you talk about a person as a social construction or as a confluence of forces or as fragmented or marginalized, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses. And when Sartre talks about responsibility, he's not talking about something abstract. He's not talking about the kind of self or soul that theologians would argue about. It's something very concrete. It's you and me talking. Making decisions. Doing things and taking the consequences. It might be true that there are six billion people in the world and counting. Nevertheless, what you do makes a difference. It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms. Makes a difference to other people and it sets an example. In short, I think the message here is that we should never simply write ourselves off and see ourselves as the victim of various forces. It's always our decision who we are."
Channel: Film & Animation
Uploaded: August 28, 2006 at 11:13 pm
Author: prokofiev678
Length: 00:01:59
Rating: 4.83
Views: 168928
Tags: Robert Solomon Existentialism Responsibility Philosophy Waking Life
Video Comments:
joezep37 (December 3, 2008 at 12:15 pm)
sure... *blinkers to REATILY*
TsarNick77 (November 29, 2008 at 11:06 am)
waking life is my favourite movie of all time
coffeefish (November 28, 2008 at 1:05 pm)
Why the cartoons?
wlpac (November 28, 2008 at 3:14 pm)
Actually it was filmed. They made it cartoon like using computer programs.
omilosavljevic (November 23, 2008 at 7:33 pm)
this movie expresses almost exactly the things that preoccupy my mind and it's like the characters speak my thoughts,.this is fucking unnerving !!,.I want to meet the person who wrote the monologues and embrace him as my soulmate haha...really I'm impressed !
chanuttah (November 19, 2008 at 6:44 pm)
what is the point of life? is this the only life? who knows
RebelWithoutAFlaw (November 18, 2008 at 7:46 pm)
It is his freedom of choice and will that
he can pronounce 'Sartre' like that. Just like many pronounce Nietzsche as Neachy or Goethe as Gowth. Besides, his pronunciation isn't that off...most get hung up on titles and labels, what matters is if he actually understands the man's philosophy.
he can pronounce 'Sartre' like that. Just like many pronounce Nietzsche as Neachy or Goethe as Gowth. Besides, his pronunciation isn't that off...most get hung up on titles and labels, what matters is if he actually understands the man's philosophy.
PunkCabaretFTW (November 14, 2008 at 6:15 pm)
Americanized French ... sigh ... ;)
Kurtyoungblood (November 15, 2008 at 1:09 am)
Sahhrrrttrrhhhuuuuhhhhh. :)
dennis5777 (November 13, 2008 at 1:38 pm)
I like this video. In a way, it reminds me of boring college classrooms! Hahahahaha!