The Lonely Tree – Caspar David Friedrich, 1822
3,832 words
The Lonely Tree – Caspar David Friedrich, 1822
The Platonic Ideas
So far we have discussed extensively how Schopenhauer frames his argument in The World as Will and Representation in terms of Kantian philosophy, and how he misunderstands Kant. The other major influence he acknowledged was Plato, and it is now time to explore the Platonic direction taken by Schopenhauer’s account of the will. (more…)
Walter Kaufmann
Walter Kaufmann
1,649 words
What, then, is this that we call existentialism? –– Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism
Sartre formulates the basic formula of existentialism in these words: existence precedes essence. — Martin Heidegger, “What Is Humanism?”
Schools of philosophical thought are usually quite clear in their lines of demarcation. (more…)
4,221 words
Abstract
Previously, I have established the importance of essences in defining an identity and also introduced genes as essentialist particles. (more…)
New American citizens on their way to becoming like us.
New American citizens on their way to becoming like us.
3,161 words
In a series of articles that will follow I will examine the defining issue of our cause, which is essentialism, and in particular, essentialist identities. In this first instalment, I will consider how Modernity substitutes genuine essences with counterfeit ones and examine how this relates to Plato’s theory of forms. (more…)