PHI 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Cogito Ergo Sum, Pineal Gland, Existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialists believe that as humans we only have ONE right which is the right to die
Suicide is permissible only as a conscious decision free from depression or despair
An unexamined life is not worth living
The opposite of death is love
Every act is potentially an act of murder
I am directly responsible for my every action
Any belief that takes your eyes off the moment is bad
To be truly human, we have to live without focus on the concept of an “after life”
Question:
What does having the “right” to die mean to you? What is being human?
Camus
“To love is to die twice.”
“I rebel, therefore we are and we are alone.”
“I am, and I am alone.” (Solipcism)
“Whatever is done from love always occurs beyond good and evil.
“Love creates beauty, hate creates ugly. If I regret what I did, I’m ugly.”
“The more one loves, the stronger the absurd becomes.”
“Suicide is tantamount to admitting that life isn’t worth it.”
Descartes
“Of what can I be certain? Nothing??? Absurd!”
Believed that the pineal gland translated what the mind WANTED
into what the body could DO
He sought a world with purpose and order
God is in the center of the universe
Cogito ergo sum
: I think, therefore I am!
Finite thoughts
Humans Infinite thoughts
God
Author of ‘Meditations’
The Age of Denial is why we can’t solve most moral and ethical
problems
Emotional intelligence MUST have logic and it CAN be found
Mental Geometry: No system can justify its own existence
Marx
Document Summary
Existentialists believe that as humans we only have one right which is the right to die. Suicide is permissible only as a conscious decision free from depression or despair. Every act is potentially an act of murder. I am directly responsible for my every action. Any belief that takes your eyes off the moment is bad. To be truly human, we have to live without focus on the concept of an after life . I rebel, therefore we are and we are alone. Whatever is done from love always occurs beyond good and evil. If i regret what i did, i"m ugly. The more one loves, the stronger the absurd becomes. Suicide is tantamount to admitting that life isn"t worth it. Believed that the pineal gland translated what the mind wanted into what the body could do. He sought a world with purpose and order. God is in the center of the universe.
