Existentialism
Posted by gio23 on April 2, 2007
A philosophical movement is often named not by the philosophers who are taken to be its representatives, but rather by its opponents, by those who observe from the outside a community of thought amongst certain thinkers, and who give the name to what they regard as a trend in order to be able to refute or attack it.
Why would anybody want to attack such a movement? Is it because it is depressing, or is it because the glass is always half empty. Either way this movement reminded me of some old standards, “Is that all there is?” by Peggy Lee and “What’s it all about Alfie?” Dione
Warwick.
Sartre and others were quick to criticize and make us wonder about life in general, a good thing. However, they never suggested any solutions to bring forth the human spirit. That spirit in the Man of La Mancha song “The Impossible Dream”, which makes you want to go out and do something positive and believe in life again.
Wars in the twentieth century, had a way of depressing the human spirit, people always became more religious during these difficult times, reflecting of where we stood as a species. As the decades rolled on, we questioned everything, from government to music. We now find ourselves, at the crossroads of opportunity, the richest country on earth, however we are divided as a nation once again by war. There are no easy answers in today’s situation; however I will always side with optimism.
The Italian angle to Existentialism is Luigi Pirandello, playwright, author of “Six characters in search of an author”, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1932. This plays deals with the interplay of actors getting lost in the play itself, a lot like two of the characters in “Endgame”.
Ciao a tutti.
