DE Weekly: Augustine, Sartre, & Ex Nihilo
Creatio ex nihilo is a Latin phrase which means “creation out of nothing.” In a religious context, it infers that God created the universe and everything in it out of absolutely nothing: no pre-existing materials. It differentiates the act of creation in the human sense (say, me creating this newsletter) from God’s creation.
St. Augustine of Hippo, one of my favorite writers, once said that in light of this creatio ex nihilo, every creature on the earth carries with it the heritage of nonbeing. In other words, there is a palpable sense of true nothingness that haunts us and every other finite thing in this world.
DE Weekly: Monism, Dualism, & Phenomenological Ontology
Like any philosophy, Existentialism boasts a wide array of philosophical thought, owing to the varying worldviews of its most prolific authors; Albert Camus is not the same as Jean-Paul Sartre is not the same as Martin Heidegger is not the same as Søren Kierkegaard. However, there are consistent through points that can be traced in the writings of all of the above.
That being said, we might ask ourselves: is there a common ontology that underpins the whole of existential thought (or at least much of it)?
DE Weekly: Sartre, Being-for-Others, & the Invisible Guest Theory
Every now and then, interesting conversations arise on social media, allowing for philosophical perspectives to interject and offer insight into the topic. I came across just such a conversation this past week when I saw people discussing the “Invisible Guest Theory.” As I tend to do, I immediately thought about how existential philosophy applies to this theory.
The Invisible Guest Theory suggests that people in social situations, such as a party, are too preoccupied with themselves and their own insecurities to pay any attention to anyone else; in effect, they are thinking entirely of themselves and have no time or attention to focus on or judge you.
DE Weekly: The Look, the Self, & the Other
In existentialism, consciousness is the key to understanding human existence. When discussing conscious beings––namely, humans––it helps to distinguish between two types of conscious beings: the Self and the Other.
In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of “Being-for-others”, and how this can open us up to accept that we need to include others in our search for meaning. In short, a meaningful life must consider and include other people. It can’t be egocentric.