Why the chaos of 2020 is turning us all into philosophers

[Laird]

Why the chaos of 2020 is turning us all into philosophers

Friedrich Nietzsche once observed that when things are going well, we tend not to bother ourselves too much with the how or the why of our delight.

Pain, on the other hand, makes philosophers of us all.

And right now, there seems to be more than enough pain to go around.

Stoicism gets a good mention in this article. One for malf, perhaps (if he's still around?).

Why the chaos of 2020 is turning us all into philosophers


Stoicism gets a good mention in this article. One for malf, perhaps (if he's still around?).

A somewhat insightful commentary on the dark Zeitgeist and angst that is overcoming our current world. Indeed, pain likely makes many people with any intellectual bent at all to sometimes ponder areas that could be termed philosophy. But I would strongly differ with the author's endorsement and featuring of existentialism as being uniquely fitted for the present plight of mankind. It is evidently the opinion of a person of the typical current intellectual elite having no particular spiritual belief system. I think such nihilism only adds to the pain.

[Laird]

I guess that's a fair comment, nbtruthman, although I have studied neither existentialism nor Stoicism, and grasp only the bare basics of each. To voice my own musings, I do think that the question of meaning is quite a deep one, which perhaps persists to some extent even when one does have a particular spiritual belief system - perhaps depending on exactly what that system is. Just what is it that supplies meaning, and how, and what is that meaning? I don't think that these are simple questions, although they perhaps have a simple answer to those who have had certain spiritual experiences.

Regarding meaning. In my view, there are plenty of beliefs which can reduce or destroy meaning completely. For example pessimism seems to me to subtract from meaning. Which beliefs provide meaning? I'm not sure. I have an intuitive sense sometimes of meaning, but that doesn't necessarily mean I can rationalise it.

I guess that's a fair comment, nbtruthman, although I have studied neither existentialism nor Stoicism, and grasp only the bare basics of each. To voice my own musings, I do think that the question of meaning is quite a deep one, which perhaps persists to some extent even when one does have a particular spiritual belief system - perhaps depending on exactly what that system is. Just what is it that supplies meaning, and how, and what is that meaning? I don't think that these are simple questions, although they perhaps have a simple answer to those who have had certain spiritual experiences.

I think it's not just about meaning, but also about fear of annihilation in death. It is part of the toxic modern Western world intellectual Zeitgeist, which includes nihilism, despair over the supposed impending annihilation of death, and the denial of meaning to life.
In a previous thread I posted a representative list of the features of this modern intellectual mindset, the result of pervasive scientism (from https://psiencequest.net/forums/thread-w...=scientism ):

For those who are stressed/ feel anguish in these difficult times, I have found some words of encouragement from our leading elite intellectuals. This is what science (or scientism) and atheism say about mankind, meaning, purpose and spirit:

“The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet, orbiting around a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. We are so insignificant…”
Stephen Hawking

The universe and life are pointless…
In a YouTube video he states that evolution “says that there is no special purpose for your life, because it is a naturalistic philosophy. We have no more extrinsic purpose than a squirrel or an armadillo.”
Jerry Coyne, biologist

Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life…life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival of DNA…life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.
Richard Dawkins

That Man is the product of causes that had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve individual life beyond the grave. . . Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.
Bertrand Russell

“Man is a useless passion. It is meaningless that we live and it is meaningless that we die.”
Jean-Paul Sartre

Enjoy.