/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2035289]

hey /lit/, usually i ignore all philosophical conversations here. i didn't study that shit in university and never read any philosophers. ive read some existentialist fiction i guess.

anyway, my position is that nothing anybody knows can be proven and really nothing of what we know matters. but since that is not at all conducive to my living a life that would be happy, i basically choose to function in a way that i feel is right (i don't adhere to any overarching ethical guidelines).

is that existentialism? or should i not bother to call it anything? someone brushed me aside as an existentialist today and i was just wondering.

[Anonymous No.2035292]

that's basically akin to existentialism, yeah

[Anonymous No.2035302]

It's called teenage angst.

[GhostBitch !7H7AES8gfg No.2035304]

Yeah thats existentialism bro.

[Anonymous No.2035314]

>>2035302
I'm not the OP, but I don't really understand why existentialism always correlates to depression and teenage angst. Can someone please enlighten me? Because I don't really understand what's going to happen when I turn twenty next year that will change how I see life.

Honestly, I see existentialism as one of the most empowering and (potentially) happiest philosophies one could "adhere" to. (admittedly, I had felt the feels of existentialism before I knew it had a name. It's not like some code I adhere to.) And I'm happy. I'm extremely happy and content and I see no reason to feel angst or anything at all.

[Anonymous No.2035329]

>>2035302
No it isn't.

[Anonymous No.2035331]

>>2035314
Hell yeah motherfucker. I hate dumbfucks that hear I'm an existentialist and don't believe we have any innate purpose and assume I'm angsty or whatever because they are Christfags that believe in fate. Honestly, I do not see how it can be reassuring to think that none of your choices are yours and that no matter what you are destined for, it was decided at birth and you can't change it, unless you're already just a total fuckup that needs an excuse to continue being a fuckup.

I don't think anything can be proven beyond doubt; That's simply common sense. You cannot logically eliminate every doubt; "The wizard did it" almost always applies. And most of the time, there's reasonable doubts you can't eliminate, too. I do not believe the world does not exist; But I believe it might not, and that's fine, because frankly, from my point of view whether it exists or not actually has no impact on me. Either way I observe it through my eyes and apply meaningfulness and make choices. And every awesome thing that happens to me, I come by directly or indirectly of my own virtue and perseverance, not through some predefined divine plan.

Meaninglessness just means freedom, not listlessness.

[Anonymous No.2035504]

>>2035331
yea OP here. that's pretty much it. the person who brushed me aside, refused to think that you could reconcile believing nothing can be proven absolutely and living a normal life.

he seemed to think that if you you believed nothing ultimately mattered/could be proven that you should act on that in your day to day and thus affect your societal life negatively. i didn't really know what to say other than i didn't think there was such a connection.

thanks for letting me know that i'm not an idiot.

[emoisntdeadiguess No.2035523]

im a happu existentialist, ive come to terms with myself and am ready just to live this goddamn life.

[Anonymous No.2035597]

>>2035314
>I don't really understand why existentialism always correlates to depression and teenage angst
First I didn't say it was existentialism.
OP says:
>nothing anybody knows can be proven
>nothing of what we know matters
The first thing I notice is that, more than a "philosophy", it's a pretty handy way not to care about your life, to discharge yourself of responsibility. Inb4 "but I have responsibility", I know, everyone does. But when it comes to private matters or your career you can tell yourself you don't really care. Feels pretty contrived. Even more since OP reached this conclusion "intuitively", without studying philosophy.
The 2nd thing is, in the endless sea of things to prove, like "humanity exists", or things that are either axioms or science theorems, one of these things to be wrong would rely on either the Matrix (we'll notice OP is done with uni so he's old enough for the movie) or some plot to fill the mind with lies. But why would anyone do that? Why bother putting you in a false world filled with animals where nothing interesting happen? The probability is very low. So basically, you intuitively happen to accept a philosophy that has a very low probability of being true in most cases, yet use it to dismiss everything. It's a bit overblown.
When I compare that to the fact that he browses 4chan, doesn't capitalize, uses sentences like "hell yeah motherfucker", "i hate dumbfucks", then I don't think it's some kind of genius conclusion of lifelong reflexion, but teenage angst calling for a way not to care about anything and to allow yourself to keep drinking beer at 3AM when it's time to go to bed. And yeah, it's not sad to be able to do anything and discard what you don't like. But the root is still in angst.
Anyway, it doesn't even matter if the philosophy is true or not, only the underlying justification.