What a wonderful combination of one of my favorite directors and a female philosopher I greatly admire. Jean-Luc Godard reads Hannah Arendt’s “On the Nature of Totalitarianism.”
Enjoy it here!
Category Archives: Philosophy
Coincidences
0How exactly do coincidences work? What if you think that something is a coincidence, but it’s not? How would you even know whether or not it really is a coincidence? The conundrum between fate and coincidence is long-standing and everyone has their opinion in support of one or the other as being the way that the world works. I think oftentimes we hope that fate plays a role in our lives and so when things happen, when random coincidences occur, we so badly want to say, “Ohhh, it’s fate!” But what if it’s not? What if we’re lying to ourselves? I can’t say one way or the other – if things happen by coincidence or fate. Although I’m amazed by people who can feel so certain one way or the other. But I can keep wondering and speculating as to what the nature of occurrences really is, because I don’t think we can ever know for certain. And that’s just what I’ll do.
Can’t, don’t
0There are things that I can’t do and don’t do because I know I can’t do them, and there are things that I can’t do and don’t do simply because I don’t want to. This distinction came to me last night as I was falling asleep and I’m honestly surprised that I remembered it this morning. I’m not sure what the significance of this is, but it seems to bear some weight that I simply don’t yet understand. But perhaps it will be made clear, one night as I’m falling asleep again…
Worlds created
0I think we create worlds and ideas for ourselves that are not always real and connected to reality, but what does it matter if they are real to us? Why can’t we create our own ideas for what the world is and means to us? I mean, I don’t see anything wrong with that, and whether or not our ideas bear meaning in the real world is irrelevant if they are real to us. Some may call this delusional, and perhaps it is, but it can also mean that the world is simply perceived uniquely by each individual and one can place an original lens on the world that gives it meaning to that person.
Experiences as works of art
0John Dewey believes that certain extraordinary experiences can be works of art – the kinds of experiences that make us feel completely in the moment and that are really memorable. I have to agree with him because there are certain experiences that stand apart from others because there is a certain feeling of genuineness about them – things like a Sunday drive or an outing to a place you’ve never been before that you end up thoroughly enjoying even though you had no expectations.
Many of the experiences that we have on a day-to-day basis do not possess an extraordinary quality. However, some experiences seem to evolve in a way that is very satisfying to us and perhaps we learn something from the experience that helps us makes sense of our lives or enlightens us in some way, giving us direction.
Likewise, many things in life are constantly evolving, which is why it is so important for us to fully immerse ourselves in an experience so that we do not miss the evolution of the experience. Dewey argues that it is when we are fully immersed in an experience that we are living most artfully. If one focuses on an experience and becomes part of the experience and directly involved with it, rather than standing outside the experience looking in on it, one can have a truly magnificent experience. On the other hand, if one goes through life not paying much attention to his experiences, therefore preventing the possibility of an extraordinary experience, this would be an indifferent stance toward life and not recommended by Dewey, or myself. Clearly, the former attempt of truly immersing oneself in an experience in order to have a unique, extraordinary experience is the better path through life, as it is richer and more fulfilling.
Filling the void
0One of the hardest things in life is recognizing that although we build up our lives around certain ideals and follow a path that we create for ourselves, at the end of the day, we’re alone. We can fill our lives with people, activities, work, pleasure, etc. all we want to, but they are not going to fill the void. They might cover it up the and help us not feel so alone, but we are still fundamentally lonely by nature. This is something that is hard to come to terms with and learn how to cope with rather than let it destroy us, and I imagine people spend a lifetime trying to reconcile it. But we must find a way to make ourselves happy, or at least content.
“To sustain ardor, one must be in love not only with the thing itself, but also with the idea of the thing itself.”
0“Moral: To sustain ardor, one must be in love not only with the thing itself, but also with the idea of the thing itself.”
I recently read this quote by Stephen Dankner in a newspaper article in The Advocate, which is based in New England, and I read it at just the perfect moment as I am trying to decide what I want to do with my future; more precisely, what I want to pursue graduate studies in and this quote sums it all up. So what do I love in essence and in thought? At the moment I am trying to make up my mind between Art History and Film. Submitting applications for both is a bit confusing and it’s hard to imagine which I would enjoy more. But reading this quote brought up a very basic, fundamental notion that I hadn’t thought of but makes all the sense in the world. Do most people have the luxury of loving what they do as well as the idea of it? Probably not. I think it’s a hard to achieve because it’s hard to even figure out what you love in essence AND in thought.
Life is absurd
0When you think about it, life is completely absurd. There is so much sadness in the world, but also so much joy, and the clash between the two is a difficult thing to come to terms with sometimes. I get sad around the holidays when I think about people who spend them alone because they have no one to spend them with. I also get sad during the winter when I think about homeless people that have to stay outside in the unbearable, freezing weather. I am sad for animals in shelters who have no home, and I am sad for families who do not have money to buy Christmas presents for their children. Amidst all this sadness, we sometimes catch a glimpse of something so extraordinary and pure that brings us joy and happiness practically to the point of tears. Such events occur to me when I visit my grandfather in the nursing home and see his face light up when I walk into the room. Or when I’m at the symphony and I hear a beautiful, perfect melody. This happened to me recently, at the nursing home actually. I was visiting my grandpa and they had a concert for the residents. The concert was put on by a group of children, and although they were still learning and not fantastic, their harmony and unity was so beautiful I had tears in my eyes. It was also nice to share that moment with my grandpa. Moments like these overwhelm us with joy and beauty, while others overwhelm us with sadness. Although this clash seems absurd and is difficult to understand, we get through life experiencing a combination of both.
The peculiarity of place
0A sense of place is a strange thing. We never seem to be happy where we are because we’re thinking of another place we’d rather be, or not necessarily rather be but be as well. On the rare occasion when we’re content in the moment with where we are, we must soak it in because it doesn’t come by too often. We always think about what we could be enjoying somewhere else, and fail to realize what we could be enjoying right where we are. But I guess this applies to other things in life besides just place. We always want what we can’t have…
gooollysandra 