class: center, middle, inverse, title-slide .title[ # Suffering and the meaning of life ] .subtitle[ ## Arthur Schopenhauer ] .date[ ### PHIL 2350 The Meaning of Life - FS23 ] --- # Agenda for this week 1. Video Lecture 1: Arthur Schopenhauer: Suffering and the meaning of life 2. Video Lecture 2: Albert Camus: The absurd and the meaning of life 3. Quiz --- # Questions for this week 1. What points do Schopenhauer and Camus' readings have in common? 2. If life has no meaning, what do Schopenhauer and Camus propose we should do? 3. According to Schopenhauer, why is suffering a a fundamental aspect of life? 4. According to Schopenhauer, why are animals better suited to find happiness in life? 5. According to Schopenhauer, if life has no meaning, what should we do? 6. According to Camus, what does it mean to say that human existence is inherently absurd? Why is life absurd, according to Camus? 7. In the context of Camus' view of the absurd, what does it mean to say that life is futile? 8. According to Camus, if life has no meaning, what options do we have? 9. What is the Myth of Sisyphus, and what does it have to do with the absurdity of life? 10. According to Camus' interpretation of Sisyphus' attitude, what should we do in regards to the absurdity of life? --- # Pessimistic naturalism - Naturalism: There are no spiritual realities. - Pessimistic: Life has no meaning. ### Argument from Suffering and the Absurd 1. If life has meaning, then either: (i) its fundamental condition cannot be suffering, or (ii) there must be a reason for all the suffering of life. 2. Suffering is a fundamental aspect of life. (Schopenhauer) 3. There is no reason for life's suffering. (Camus) 4. Therefore, life has no meaning. --- # If life has no meaning, what follows? Both authors will emphasize the importance of radically accepting the meaninglessness of life. - Schopenhauer: Discovering that life is fundamentally suffering allows a more realistic perspective on us and on our fellows, leading to compassion, empathy, and inner peace. - Camus: Instead of avoiding the absurdity of life (through false hopes or suicide), we can live in an act of revolt and defiance. --- # Arthur Schopenhauer .pull-left.w30[ <img src="assets/schopenhauer.jpg" alt="" width="400"/> ] .pull-right.w60[ 1788-1860. A German philosopher. Main themes: - _Critical of reason_: The universe is essentially devoid of reason. - _The World as Will and Representation_ (1818): The essence of human life is the _Will_: an aimless striving which can never be fully satisfied. - _Pessimism_: Suffering is the direct and immediate object of life. - _Aesthetic perception_: It is possible to achieve a better, more peaceful and rich life through aesthetic perception. The purest form of the world is found in the form of _music_. ] --- # On the sufferings of the world (1851) Main theses: 1. Suffering is a fundamental aspect of life itself. 2. Animals are better suited to find happiness, compared to humans. 3. We should accept this reality, adjusting our expectations accordingly. --- class: medium-font ## Why suffering is a a fundamental aspect of life? 1. Pleasure is not so pleasant as we expected, and pain much more painful. - Thought experiment: "Compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other." (p. 43) The one who is eating the other experiences mild pleasure from eating their meal; but the one who is being eaten: extreme suffering from dying. 2. Evil is positive, the good is negative. - Happiness is "substractive," so to speak, as it always involve some desire fulfillled, some state of pain brought to an end. 3. Suffering is necessary (perhaps unavoidable) - If all of people's needs were met, they would become arrogant, bored, and prone to destructive behavior. 4. Life often disappoints us - In early life, people develop many hopes and expectations that, for the most part, will not be satisfied. --- # Animals are better suited to find happiness If true happiness is freedom from suffering, then lower animals are better suited to find it (compared to humans). .pull-left[ Humans: - Remember and anticipate suffering - Care about others' opinions - Fear death and experience anxiety about the future ] .pull-right[ Animals: - Live in the present - Don't care about others' opinions - Escape death instinctively, without comprehension ] This all reduces to humans' superior cognitive capacity. --- # Accepting reality and adjusting expectations If life is suffering, what should we do? - Adopt a more realistic perspective - Recognizing that suffering is an integral part of existence - This recognition enable us to understand ourselves and others' conditions - The world can be seen as a kind of _penitentiary_. "A world in which each of us pays the _penalty of existence_ in their own peculiar way." (p. 48) - We should show compassion and kindness, due to the fact that everyone suffers. - One must exercise the denial of our own will - This doesn't mean suicide, as suicide is a powerful act of willing. - Self-control, compassion, empathy towards others. - Self-denial as striving towards detaching from the will. This will lead to a better, more peaceful life.