AAfter watching the YouTube Tedx video of Stephen Robert Morse (a good perspective of modern-day existentialism), choose one of the options below and discuss whether or not it is consistent with the Existentialism found in the book or whether it is nihilistic. Be sure to explain both nihilism and existentialism. Steven Robert Morse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YDygRClCRc Option #1- Jiminy Cricket: When You Wish Upon A Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q13XS_R2mU&feature=youtu.be Option #2- Waiting For Godot: Lucky Speechhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFZatmOFpns&feature=youtu.be
28 Comments
Aydan R
2/22/2018 07:42:29 pm
In both Existentialism and nihilism, there is no inherit meaning in the universe. However, in existentialism, meaning can be created by individuals, while nihilism says that not only is there not a purpose in life, individuals cannot come up with their own purposes. The song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' definitely embraces a nihilistic view of the world. This is especially apparent with the lines "Sometimes I wish I wasn't born at all" and "Nothing really matters to me."
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Jessica A.
2/23/2018 06:57:17 am
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Jessica A.
2/28/2018 10:13:43 am
Existentialism goes hand and hand with nihilistic but I do not think it is the same. When dealing with existentialism they believe that you are nothing better than a particle in the dust. In the book of Sire, The Universe Next Door, it states :"Matter exists eternally: God does not exist." (page 119). However they also believe that you can make something of yourself and you have the power to change how you are. This is where existentialism and nihilism differ, nihilism believes that life is meaningless. Since nihilism perceives this to be true they truly have no motivation to be great at things. When watching the video, “When You Wish Upon a Star” what I got out of the video was that there are miracles in life or some type of nature making things happen.
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Torrey H.
2/23/2018 09:53:48 am
Nihilism is the belief that everything is meaningless. "If it proceeds to the absolute denial of everything, it even denies the reality of existence itself" (sire, 2009, pp. 94). Existentialism is, simply put, the belief that the individual has the ability to find meaning in a yet meaningless world. I watch option #1 and it definitely goes hand and hand with what existentialism stands for. The song is about wishing upon a start and your wish coming true. How it relates to Existentialism is that there is meaning and purpose being put into a star that possibly could just be there at the end of the day.
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Madyson R
2/23/2018 11:40:47 pm
The difference between existentialism and Nihilism, Nihilism is a belief that not only is there no actual meaning in the universe, but that its pointless to try to construct our own as a substitute. Existentialism is having free will, and personal responsibility and that one can construct their own meaning within the world. Source: F. (2009, February 23). When You Wish Upon A Star. Retrieved February 23, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q13XS_R2mU&feature=youtu.be
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Facundo.L
2/24/2018 06:52:21 pm
I'm going to choose option 3, which is Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen. For me, the song speaks of existentialism and nihilism because, as the book says, existentialism is the experience of one's existence and nihilism can be considered sexual, political and cultural criticism of the values, customs and beliefs of a society, insofar as they participate in the meaning of life, denied by this philosophical current. the song was written by Freddy Mercury, the lead singer of the band. The song reflects the difficulties he went through during his childhood. Some of the characteristics of existentialism that are seen in the song are fear and the sensation of nothingness. On the other hand, some of the characteristics that we can see of nihilism in the song are that Freddy Mercury wrote the song based on his harsh childhood of growing up homosexual and had to deal with the unacceptability in his life.
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Ismael V
2/24/2018 07:37:50 pm
I chose option 3 (Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen). The song speaks of existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophical current that pursues knowledge of reality through the immediate experience of one's existence. It highlights the individual human being as creator of the meaning of his life. The temporality of the subject, his concrete existence in the world, is what constitutes the being and not a supposed more abstract essence. The very existence of a person is what defines its essence and not a general human condition. The song reflects the difficulties I go through during my childhood. We can observe characteristics of existentialism such as fear. On the other the song speaks of nihilism. Nihilism can be considered a sexual criticism, customs and beliefs of a society. We can see an example of nihilism in the song based on his hard childhood of growing up homosexual.
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Mario R
2/24/2018 09:07:37 pm
Existentialism and nihilism have some similarities like there is no such thing as a higher being. On the other hand existentialism believes that a person has free will and each person is responsible for their own future or purpose, but nihilism believes that everything has been written, it does not matter what they do in life because it has been predestinated. The song Queen Bohemian rhapsody take the part of nihilism, they imply that really nothing matters.
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Travis Barker
2/24/2018 09:16:07 pm
According to Sire, Nihilism is a "denial of the possibility of knowledge, a denial that anything is valuable." Basically just that the universe has no meaning and that our lives have no meaning. Existentialism holds many of these same beliefs about the universe but says that individuals can seek out their own meaning in a "meaningless universe." I feel like option number five: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, reflects a Nihilistic point of view. I tried to analyze the lyrics and look at what other people had to say about it, but everyone was basically saying different things. In my opinion, Smells Like Teen Spirit is just a very sarcastic song about teen rebellion but phrased in a way that shows the negative side of youth and culture, and might not make sense on purpose. Although every individual phrase might not be clear, you can definitely see some hints at hopelessness with phrases like, "It's fun to lose and to pretend," and "I'm worse at what I do best."
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Travis Barker
2/24/2018 09:18:10 pm
According to Sire, Nihilism is a "denial of the possibility of knowledge, a denial that anything is valuable." Basically just that the universe has no meaning and that our lives have no meaning. Existentialism holds many of these same beliefs about the universe but says that individuals can seek out their own meaning in a "meaningless universe." I feel like option number five: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, reflects a Nihilistic point of view. I tried to analyze the lyrics and look at what other people had to say about it, but everyone was basically saying different things. In my opinion, Smells Like Teen Spirit is just a very sarcastic song about teen rebellion but phrased in a way that shows the negative side of youth and culture, and might not make sense on purpose. Although every individual phrase might not be clear, you can definitely see some hints at hopelessness with phrases like, "It's fun to lose and to pretend," and "I'm worse at what I do best."
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Vestiney C.
2/24/2018 09:20:52 pm
The difference between nihilism and existentialism is the beliefs. According to the website, Daniel Missler, “Existentialism is the belief that through a combination of awareness, free will, ad personal responsibility, one can construct their own meaning within a world that intrinsically has none of its own.” While, the website also defines nihilism, “is the belief that not only is there no intrinsic meaning in the universe, but that it’s pointless to try to construct our own as a substitute.” Option 6, Taylor Swift “Look what you made me do” I would most definitely consider it as existentialism. She talks about all the stuff she wen t through and with her “free will” she grew from it.
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Jonathan R
2/24/2018 09:39:59 pm
Light My Fire - The Doors
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Jonathan R
2/24/2018 09:42:25 pm
Sire, James W. The Universe next Door: a Guidebook to the World Views. InterVarsity Press, 1998.
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Jonathan R
2/28/2018 12:47:47 am
Light My Fire - The Doors
Hibiki T
2/24/2018 10:07:12 pm
Nihilism deny philosophy, a denial of knowledge, denial that anything has value. Nihilism does not have meaning, everything is just there (Sire, 2009, p.94). On the other hand, externalism has two basic forms which are atheistic existentialism and theistic existentialism. These forms existentialism are based on nihilism except of the human purpose. People who believe existentialism think that humans can have a purpose. Even so the rest of the world cannot (Sire, 2009, p.117)
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Hibiki T
2/24/2018 10:08:18 pm
References
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Altavia.H
2/24/2018 11:17:47 pm
Option #1- Jimmy Cricket : When You Wish Upon A Star
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Karina F
2/25/2018 04:09:57 pm
Nihilism and Existentialism are very similar, for example the universe has no meaning to the them. The difference is that is that Nihilism is believing that existence is senseless. Existentialism is believing in science rather than a God and death is basically extinction of personality and individuality. I chose Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift. I think this song leads more towards existentialism since her past reputation is dead and trying to become better.
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Karina F
2/27/2018 10:56:46 pm
Nihilism and Existentialism are very similar, for example the universe has no meaning to the them (Sire p.94). The difference is that is that Nihilism is believing that existence is senseless (Sire, p.97). Existentialism is believing in science rather than a God and death is basically extinction of personality and individuality (Sire, p. 119). I chose Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift ( Swift, 2017). I think this song leads more towards existentialism since her past reputation is dead and trying to become better.
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Lenae F.
2/26/2018 10:24:46 am
Taylor Swift is a music writter that is very existentialism because she believes that she controls whatever she does. This song is a great representation of this belief because she doesn't allow the other people that screwed up her life to a degree define her identity. Rather she rose above it because she is able to control her thoughts and thus her self worth.
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Lenae F.
2/26/2018 10:27:38 am
T. (2017, August 27). Retrieved February 26, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tmd-ClpJxA
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Lenae F.
2/27/2018 08:38:02 pm
In the song Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift (Swift, 2017), the worldview idea that is presented would be Existentialism. The reason that this is the worldview that I would say was presented was because of the lyrics of “the world moves on, another day, another drama, drama but not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma and then the world moves on (Taylor, 2017)”. This brings up the worldview questions of 3 and 5 with the book, The Universe Next Door (Sire, 2009) which are stated within the Existentialism being that each person controls their freedom based on their nature or destiny, and that because the world is subjective each person is responsible for creating their own value (Sire, page 122-123). Swift is creating her value it appears based on her karma which is her good deeds basically, and the world has no influence on her actions.
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Chloe M
2/26/2018 02:27:18 pm
Nihilism is the belief that nothing is valuable, everything is meaningless, and it even denies the reality of existence entirely; whereas existentialism is the belief that life is absurd and human beings exist and then spend their entire lives finding meaning and a purpose in their life through free will. Taylor Swift's song Look What You Made Me Do leans more toward existentialism because she has changed the way the world views her multiple times. She went from a country singer, to a pop singer, to a singer with a "bad reputation". She created that reality for herself using her free will and allowed others to define her.
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David Taylor
2/27/2018 04:39:33 pm
according to Sire Nihilism is the dinial of everything, in a sense pretty much hopelessness,(Sire, 2009, p. 94). Existentialism is having your own purpose. I chose option 5 which is Smells like teen spirit which incorporates nihilism in the lyrics as well in the video with everything blowing up at the end along with the cheerleaders having the red A on their chest to symbolize narchy. I personally chose this option because i knew nirvana as a band incorporates nihilism beliefs, an example is their singer Kurt Cobain who always fit the sense of hopelessness and eventually committed suicide.
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Landon S
2/27/2018 07:20:12 pm
In Existentialism and nihilism, they believe that there is no purpose in the universe, we are just here. However, in existentialism, meaning can be created by individuals, while nihilism says that not only is there not a purpose in life, individuals cannot come up with their own purposes. This nihilism belief can be very dangerous and leads people to not having a reason to live and ultimately leading to suicide. I chose the song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and I think it definitely embraces a nihilistic view of the world. This is especially apparent with the lines "Sometimes I wish I wasn't born at all" and "Nothing really matters to me." Showing that they believe they don’t belong here on earth and can’t find a purpose for themselves here on earth.
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Lea D
2/28/2018 09:19:30 am
I do not think Existentialism and Nihilism are not the same. Nihilism is the belief that everything in life doesn't have meaning (Sire, 2009, pp. 94). Existentialism is a person who is free and has the ability to determine their own life. The song is about a miracle happening when they wish upon a star.
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Matt Taylor
2/28/2018 10:07:45 am
Nihilism and Existentialism are not the same thing. nihilism is the rejection of modern morals and believe that life has no point to it."If it proceeds to the absolute denial of everything, it even denies the reality of existence itself" (sire, 2009, pp. 94). Existentialism describes a person that is free and lives their life according to how they want to live it, by no specific principles. These are similar yet different theories because one is the point of view that life is meaningless and the other focusus on living life to a persons extent, whatever that may be.
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Dr. K
2/28/2018 03:25:04 pm
2.28.18 Completed
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