1. Friedrich Nietzsche’s Naturalism 1844-1900 Beyond Good and Evil

2. Nietzsche saw 2 impulses Apollonian –Reason –Optimistic –Light Dionysian –Passion –Realistic –Dark What really impelled the ancients was not reason but passion! –Willfullness! –Eros – “life-drive”

3. Society seeks to tame Eros – bad! Hellenism Enlightenment Darwinism Judeo-Christian history Liberal democracy These present pictures of progress, but…..really Western Civ is doomed if it ignores man’s nature History is not a clean story of progress –Seasons of brutality interrupted by periods of creative energy –Find an alternative to rational Hellenism… –And Christian ethics! Jesus weakened society

4. The Will to Power Instinctive force Value-less No absolutes morally Each person seeks to expand their world: however you do it is good for you.. Traditional morality hinders the process, limits people

5. Slave Morality and Master Morality Who is a slave? The Herd…?Are you a member? Who is the master? Or do you live for yourself authentically?

6. Albert Camus and the 20 th Century: The Myth of Sisyphus Three characteristics of the absurd life: Revolt –( we must not accept any answer or reconciliation in our struggle) Freedom –(we are absolutely free to think and behave as we choose) Passion –(we must pursue a life of rich and diverse experiences) Classics of Western Philosophy, Andreas Tueber, ed. 2010 http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/sisyphus1.html

7. Jean Paul Sartre “Man is condemned to be free.” 1905-1980 Atheistic Existentialism

8. Existence precedes essence. Form Substance Essence Matter Existence Plato Aristotle Sartre

9. Two types of “Being” “Being in-itself” – what things factually are, passive, inert, solid - as phenomena –unconscious Man also has consciousness – “Being for-itself” – Man’s transcendent situation, fluid, interactive, dynamic, not stationary –Consciousness is, in a way, “no-thing”

10. Man is a unique animal: he lives in an absurd state The being for-itself negates the being in- itself … But being for-itself also depends on the “being in-itself” Symbiotic sides that are in perpetual conflict…

11. “Existence precedes essence” In one sense, real essence doesn’t really exist anyway…it is no- thing…. Man creates his own fluid essence, his own intangible values, qualities, his form…

13. Freedom is man’s fundamental condition. Man is free by a lack of design “condemned to be free.” –No excuses –Creativity Frightening! –That one has 100% responsibility in an unstructured, absurd world…

14. Sartre’s Ethical Problem Humanism as his solution –One’s responsibility for creating reality is a social one as well –“Nothing can be good for us without being good for all.”………..huh? WHY? –We do share the situation of our humanness: Freedom Absurdity of human condition –In a world of no excuses each person will know full well when he/she is acting irresponsibly toward others

15. Neglecting Responsibility The weight of it can lead to “bad faith” –We neglect our subjectivity, creativity –We default to seeing ourselves as an object being acted upon Heredity Social forces –Leads to Self deception = and Conformity

16. So, Life is absurd… There is no direction, no absolutes Freedom makes this so: –MAN wants to be something other than a no- thing, but this is impossible… –We face a useless search for outside meaning Only we when we really face the frustration – the dread of absurdity - do we manifest authentic freedom……..

17. Existentialism is positive, Sartre says, because it: Lauds man’s actions & abilities Elevates man to creator of values Helps us find self-fulfillment in this life Asserts that we have the desire and ability to be god.