Sooo, I've been reading about EXISTENTIAL philosophy--and my mind is swarming. I actually feel dizzy with ideas and confusion.
Trying to distill info for the blog, a few things stand out in my mind.
(1) One is that in order to convey ideas, it is very necessary to be careful about the use of vocabulary to convey the ideas intended. This makes reading philosophy an experience in patience, pondering, weighing concepts against each other and against your own, and, in many cases, just plain frustration for many reasons!
(2) Once you delve into philosophy, you realize that angst is not just an existential concept, it can be used as a potentially life-altering endeavor. This process often happens when someone investigates a religion and tries to understand or face concepts foreign to his own conditioning. Or when a new political regime takes over (especially a fascist one).
(3) Another thing I noticed is that so many philosophers were either children of ministers, theologians, or became theologians themselves! Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Tillich, to name a few. Interesting. That fact demonstrates evidence of the close connection between religion, or to put it more succinctly, theology, and philosophical ideas.
Also, those philosophers who stayed with or turned to Christianity, created ideas that appeared so foreign to the every-day understanding of Christianity, they were called borderline-atheists, or atheists. Interesting.
(4) Many of the ideas of philosophers adopted ideas from the ancients and added their own ideas and perspectives onto them. Through time, ideas built on ideas, that built on ideas. I can't think of any philosopher who was not influenced by a number of preceding or contemporary philosophers. And that is how things work.
(5) So many things to consider in philosophy; especially interesting to me, because it has influenced heavily psychology, religion, literature, cinema and art, especially in the last century, with existentialists at the fore. Very worth looking into. But beware: unless you have a strong sense of yourself, you may inadvertently thrust yourself into a whirlwind!
BELOW ARE PICTURES OF EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHERS OVER THE LAST 200 YRS
BELOW ARE PICTURES OF EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHERS OVER THE LAST 200 YRS
KIERKEGAARD
HEIDEGGER
CAMUS
PAUL TILLICH
ROLLO MAY
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
SARTRE
NIETZSCHE
MARTIN BUBER
(I felt a little guilty putting Nietzsche so close to Buber, so I left a little space.)
I get excited thinking about exploring and discussing ideas, because there are so many bridges between so many disciplines that create those "AHA" moments! It is a beautiful sensation...
*I LOVE BUILDING BRIDGES*
REFER TO POST: LITERATURE IS, PSYCHOLOGY IS, SOCIAL SCIENCE IS, PHILOSOPHY IS...???
2 comments:
I don't know much about philosophy, but from reading about artificial intelligence, I get the impression that very recent philosophers are also mathematicians, and are applying math to philosophy in an effort to make it more rigorous. Those at the forefront of this effort have coined the term 'Bayesian Reasoning' after Reverend Thomas Bayes, (1702–1761), the Presbyterian minister, Nonconformist and mathematician.
The result of applying Bayes' theorem to human logic is the discovery that humans reason rather poorly, and that a better reasoning system is needed, especially in matters of extreme importance such as international relations, climate,
poverty, etc. So, I guess that becoming "Bayesian", as these forward-thinkers term it, would constitute a purposeful fundamental improvement in humans, and the human condition in general.
I wanna be 'Bayesian' too, but I don't understand the math!
As I understand it, Existential philosophy deals with artificial intelligence in a very close relationship.
Because math requires logic, it makes sense that philosophy can gain by honing skills in this discipline. I hadn't hear of Thomas Bayes (interesting that he is a reverend!), but as you put it, I agree with his statement.
As I too, do not understand the math, as most other people do not, what is the solution? Do we reply on those few who claim to figure out the mathematical solutions to life's questions?
Awesome comment...very thought inspiring!
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