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Albert Camus. Albert Camus (French: [albɛʁ kamy] ( Camus did not consider himself to be an existentialist despite usually being classified as one, even during his own lifetime.[1] In an interview in 1945, Camus rejected any ideological associations: "No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked... ".[2] Camus was born in French Algeria to a Pied-Noir family, and studied at the University of Algiers.

In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement after his split with Garry Davis's Citizens of the World movement.[3] The formation of this group, according to Camus, was intended to "denounce two ideologies found in both the USSR and the USA" regarding their idolatry of technology.[4] Camus was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times".[5] Early years[edit] Marriages[edit] Jean-Paul Sartre. His work has also influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies, and continues to influence these disciplines. Sartre has also been noted for his open relationship with the prominent feminist theorist Simone de Beauvoir.

He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature but refused it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution".[2] Biography[edit] Early life[edit] Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris as the only child of Jean-Baptiste Sartre, an officer of the French Navy, and Anne-Marie Schweitzer.[3] His mother was of Alsatian origin and the first cousin of Nobel Prize laureate Albert Schweitzer.

(Her father, Charles Schweitzer, was the older brother of Albert Schweitzer's father, Louis Théophile.)[4] When Sartre was two years old, his father died of a fever. World War II[edit] French journalists visit General George C. Cold War politics and anticolonialism[edit] The Problems of Philosophers. Kant: The categorical imperative says that actions must be logically consistent if they were to be universalized, in order for them to be moral. Zeno: Zeno's Paradox says that motion is impossible, because in order to get to something, we would have to traverse an infinite amount of space, since we can keep dividing that space into infinite halves. Hume: Hume's is/ought gap says that we cannot derive an 'ought' from an 'is'. That is, a moral command from a fact in the world. Russell: Bertrand Russell's main project was the derive mathematics, and perhaps even language and meaning, entirely from logic.

He largely failed in this project. Descarte: In Meditations Descarte claimed we couldn't believe any of our observations, because it was possible an evil daemon was decieving us with false perceptions. Sartre: Sartre's radical freedom said that one was always free to do otherwise. Ancient Philosophy | Linguistics and Philosophy. Allegory of the Cave. Plato realizes that the general run of humankind can think, and speak, etc., without (so far as they acknowledge) any awareness of his realm of Forms. The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain this.

In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. From Great Dialogues of Plato (Warmington and Rouse, eds.) Here are some students’ illustrations of Plato’s Cave Go back to lecture on the Phaedo Go back to lecture on the “One Over Many” Argument Go to next lecture on Criticism of Forms Need a quick review of the Theory of Forms? Return to the PHIL 320 Home Page.

40 Belief-Shaking Remarks From a Ruthless Nonconformist. If there’s one thing Friedrich Nietzsche did well, it’s obliterate feel-good beliefs people have about themselves. He has been criticized for being a misanthrope, a subvert, a cynic and a pessimist, but I think these assessments are off the mark. I believe he only wanted human beings to be more honest with themselves. He did have a remarkable gift for aphorism — he once declared, “It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.” A hundred years after his death, Nietzsche retains his disturbing talent for turning a person’s worldview upside-down with one jarring remark. Even today his words remain controversial. Here are 40 unsympathetic statements from the man himself. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

More of Nietzsche’s genius here. Have a lot on your mind? Everyday mindfulness has transformed my life, and the lives of many others.