Heidegger and Chris McCandless

        There are three central components that make up Heidegger's philosophy: the need to be alive, the need for true human connection, and the need for more personal freedom. The need to be alive means people must to come to terms with our existence and our questions about a seemingly inevitable nothingness. The need for true human connection means that all forms of life (both animated and inanimate) are connected and once we become less focused on ourselves, only then can we become one with other beings. The need for more personal freedom means that one must realize the restrictions that are placed on us, by ourselves and society; when we do we can overcome these limitations and transform into a more authentic being. 

In an English class we've finished reading Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild". This journalistic novel covers the life and death of Chris McCandless, who traveled all over the the U.S. and parts of Mexico before finishing his journey in Alaska. During the McCandless odyssey Chris had a few near death experiences, most notably an incident in Baja California where he almost drowned. Yet he continued with such seemingly reckless behavior because he felt truly alive when he survived these challenges. This is much like Heidegger's need to be in touch with our true inner being, much more than simply living. For Chris, by completing such daunting tasks, he gave himself a thrill he wouldn't have had by living on the path set by others for him. This is also what led him to a more extreme sense of personal freedoms. By creating his own path, he gave way to what would become his beautifully tragic journey and fulfilled his intense desire for freedom from what he saw as an artificial world. Then towards the end of his life, it seemed that he began to crave more of a shared experience in which he could connect with others. In one of the books he had in his possession, he noted that "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED" and began to use more inclusive language when writing in his books ("...MAY GOD BLESS ALL!"). 

        Being an educated person, it can be hypothesized that maybe he read something of Heidegger's at some point; it's also equally probable that he didn't. In any case, much of Heidegger's philosophy can be found in the journey of Chris McCandless.  

Martin Heidegger

I chose to write my blog post on Martin Heidegger because his philosophy rang true with my own beliefs. The simplistic way he explains his philosophy made it easy for me to understand the points he made.

Heidegger's philosophy is primarily to 1. stay true to yourself through "authenticity", and 2. love life - don't let it control you until it's too late to do anything about it. With that being said, I think the most valuable piece of advice from Heidegger's philosophy is that we're called human beings for a reason. We're not called human do-ers because we're supposed to be, not do. We do too much and, knowingly or unknowingly, let ourselves get caught up in society and the unrealistic standards that humans are expected to reach. As we continue to do, we stop being ourselves and start to morph into a whole "themselves" vs "ourselves."

Another point I really like about Heidegger's philosophy is that he reminds us to think about our life. If we want to have a more profound appreciation for life, we should spend more time in a graveyard because one day that's where we'll all end up and it's up to ourselves to decide what we want to be before our time is up. We have to chose what part of the structure we are capable of being in this web of interconnectedness and solidarity because all beings are connected.

Heidegger also reminds us to be free. So often we find ourselves slaves to society and we stop being ourselves. When we give in to what we believe others expect of us, we no longer make our own decisions and therefore are no longer free. Heidegger wants us to understand that we can't live for anyone else, we must live for ourselves and stop trying to impress others because in the end, they really don't care.

Nietzsche

 “Examine the lives of the best and most fruitful people and peoples and ask yourselves whether a tree that is supposed to grow to a proud height can dispense with bad weather and storms; whether misfortune and external resistance, some kinds of hatred, jealousy, stubbornness, mistrust, hardness, avarice, and violence do not belong among the favorable conditions without which any great growth even of virtue is scarcely possible.”- Nietzsche'

            I agree with his Philosophy and how there will always be difficulties in your life that will try to stop you from doing what you want to do. It’s up to the individual to find a way to accept or adopt it as part of their life in order to move on. I also think that in certain cases you could change your perspective from being negative to positive. In my lifetime I have been through many difficulties, personal or inclusive, and each one was difficult for me in some way shape or form, and the more I thought about these situations, the more they festered and slowed me down, preventing me for doing what I love and hoped to do. But because I knew that some of them weren’t going to go away, I began to slowly accept them one by one, and I saw myself becoming stronger and more able to move past them in order to move forward with my life. One example would be when I broke my elbow, I had to learn how to do things with one hand and more than once I gave up trying, but as I got used to it and learnt to accept it, they became a second nature for me and I worked hard to get things to go back to the way they used to. And even though it won’t be perfect I accepted it in order to move on and prepare myself for the next difficulty to come my way.

Nietzsche’s philosophy

Nietzsche’s philosophy

"Fulfillment was to be reached not by avoiding pain, but by recognizing its role as a natural, inevitable step on the way to reaching anything good.” Many people today wants to achieved a perfect and successful life. However, with every fulfillment in our life there are also difficulties. Just like climbing the mountain, if you want to reach to the top to get fulfillment, you must go through the displeasuring climbing process. But when people get to the success they want, they tend to forget the difficulties they had faced in the past. Nietzsche’s philosophy is that one should accept the depression and pain in life, rather than ignoring or dwelling on it. People tend to try very hard to forget their failures and mistakes because they didn't want to get hurt again, when in fact these things can actually teach us the most valuable lessons in our lives. For example, a person who had lost many things will cherish everything he got, even that is just little thing. Compare to a person who own everything, he will probably think he deserved it. Moreover, many people do believe that joy and pain may appear to be just a result of a decision made on the spur of the moment. It all depends on how we look at the problem. Some people think difficulties  might cause us to hurt, while others might think difficulties are actually good, because it can make us to think. In conclusion, I do believe that nothing is always perfect, so as our life. And difficulty or joy is what you want it to be.

Seneca apply to Shakespeare's Roman Tragedies

    "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ear."

    Shakespeare, the greatest playwright in Renaissance England, had many times wrote plays on Roman tragedy. As most of the Renaissance writers do, Shakespeare's work is greatly influenced by Greek and Roman philosophies. 

    Often times, Shakespeare's Greek and Roman plays are tragedies, full of violence and psychological drama. Why is tragedies so important for Greek and Roman theatre? Because many Greek and Roman philosophers finds philosophical means in tragic emotions.

  Seneca, the great Roman philosopher taught us that "in so far as we can ever attain wisdom, it is by learning not to aggravate the world's obstinacy through our own response", thus applying to the arc of story telling (which is also an idea from Ancient Greece), "spams of rage, self-pity, anxiety, bitterness, self-righteousness and paranoia" is always the chaos that destroy order. 

    The tragedy in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar is a great example to apply Seneca's philosophy.   Convinced by Cassius, Brutus betrayed Ceasar for the "greater good" and stubbed a knife into Ceasar's chest and thus created the tragedy of Julius Ceasar "Et tu, Brutus?". In the play, Cassius and his congregation of assassins against Ceasar because :"I was born free as Caesar; so were you...And this man is now become a god, and Cassius is a wretched creature and must bend his body, If Caesar carelessly but nod on him". Cassius' idea is driven by his self-righteousness, bitterness and anger that created out of his frustration: Cassius' wish landed badly on the wall of reality. Seneca  taught people not to rise up our expectancy too high, because "We will cease to be so angry once we ceases to be so hopeful." If Cassius did not rise up his hopefulness so high, the entire plot of assassinate Caesar will not happen, and therefore Anthony will not make his speech on Caesar's funeral that kindle Roman citizen's love for Caesar, and at last, Cassius and his rebel will not be killed so tragically. 

        

    Many Greek and Roman character had a tragic ending because of their anxiety. Seneca once said :"True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future", but it is hard to live the way according to Seneca's ideal- the chaos of Titus Andronicus starts when the jealous Emperor of Rome, Saturninus, married the Queen of Goths Tamora because he is angry about Titus's daughter Lavinia would not take his hand. Like wise, in Anthony and Cleopatra, Anthony committed suicide because Cleopatra wanted to test his love for her. 

    Humanity is based on all the frustration of unsatisfactory, without the power of frustration, we would not have Shakespeare's great works of art.

Money vs. Happiness [Epicurus]

Can the simple things in life bring us pleasure and happiness, or do we need more? Epicurus teaches us that with the essential things in life – friendship, freedom, and thought – people are able to achieve happiness. Social media convinces people that happiness has to be purchased, and that money is an important piece to the puzzle called happiness. The happiness that people get from the items they buy is temporary. Pleasure and happiness don’t need to be expensive, however people want them to be. 

Some people believe that no amount of money will make you happy, while others will say, “Money makes you happy. You just have to know what to do with it.” Others may not agree with the concept of money bringing happiness and rather prefer the company of family and friends. Depending upon the person and the circumstances within their life, money could bring them happiness or just be another object in their lives that they take for granted. For people who struggle to pay bills, buy food for their families, or pay their college tuition money will absolutely bring them happiness because with the money they are able to have essential things in life. However, people like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton are consumed by money and have “money sufficient to allow one to live on the interest of the interest (48).”  

Money can be positive by giving choices and freedom. Also through allowing people to live a life free of financial concern. The moment money is viewed as negative is when people let it dominate their lives. “Happiness may be difficult to attain. The obstacles are not primarily financial. (71)”

Epicurus

I really like Epicurus' quote, "Nothing satisfies the man who is not satisfied with a little" (62). It is a simple quote but it can be applied in so many instances and be relevant to any topic. Epicurus states very clearly that if a person can't be satisfied with something minor, they won't be satisfied with any amount, great or small.

Unfortunately, this is the case all too often in today's world. We're told by both big businesses and the government that you (the consumer) won't be happy unless you buy more and more things. We're told that the more we buy, the happier we'll be, essentially meaning that money can buy us happiness.

As parents participate in the act of constantly buying things in order to quench their thirst for this illusion of happiness, those actions become habits, and those habits become a way of life. Soon, their way of life is passed on to their children. If children are taught something at a very young age, the chances of them breaking those habits and contradicting everything that they were taught from their parents is highly unlikely.

I also really like Epicurus' quote, "The possession of the greatest riches does not resolve the agitation of the soul, nor give birth to remarkable joy" (64), because I don't believe that expensive and luxurious items will bring me happiness, just as I don't believe that materialistic possessions will mend a broken heart or a sad memory. I think that Epicurus' philosophy is fairly straight forward and simple. He clearly states that the only things one really needs in order to be truly happy are friends, freedom, and thought.