Caius is a man, men are mortal, and therefore Caius is a mortal.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
100th, From the Underground
“To love is to suffer and there can be no love otherwise.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
La Peste
The Plague, a novel published by Albert Camus in 1947, was my first introduction to a subset of existentialist thought popularized by Camus known as absurdism. While much of the content of absurdism was covered in the earlier post on The Stranger, I did want to begin this post by familiarizing the reader with a... Continue Reading →
L’Étranger
"I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world."
Or
N.B. The first section of Kierkegaard’s 1843 publication, Either/Or, is covered in a prior post titled “A Fragment of Life”, dated 01/20/2023. We move now to the second, and by far more uplifting, portion of Kierkegaard’s first great work. The scene is set to progress from the aesthetic to the ethical stage when our pseudonymous... Continue Reading →
Apricot Cocktails
"Once a human becomes aware of his existence, he must then define his essence through a series of choices that he makes throughout his life of which he is personally responsible. These choices are neither right nor wrong, they simply are, and a man is free to choose whatsoever he wishes. Any meaning or purpose that comes along the way is that which the individual assigns to his choices, and he is free to assign or not assign meaning to the limitless options available to him daily. The only thing that cannot be shirked is responsibility for the choices made, as it is the choice itself that is the essence of existing."
The Paradox of Choice
Since reading Soren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, the philosophical school of existentialism has had a growing influence on my thinking. While my understanding of existentialism is far from adequate to speak on it broadly, I can humbly attempt to convince the casual reader why this masterpiece of Kierkegaard’s is worth a week of your time... Continue Reading →
Brains and Brawn 