What we’re about
This group is for anyone interested in exploring literature, philosophy, and cinema through occasional film viewings and reading discussions that will be centered around classic and contemporary works of (primarily) Western Philosophy, Fiction, and Cinema. We will not only look at the traditional cast of existential characters (Sartre, de Beauvoir, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Camus, Kafka), but will also be very open to other work within the European philosophical tradition that is derivative of, influential to, or critical towards "existential" philosophy. Special consideration will also be given to works within the "phenomenological" tradition. Join us in this exciting intellectual endeavor! Get ready for fun, riveting, and thoughtful discussions about society, values, faith, spirituality, truth, experience, subjectivity, and existence (of course).
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExistentialismPhenomenologyLiterature/
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Martin Heidegger, "Letter on Humanism"Axelrad Beer Garden, Houston, TX
For our final meeting of the year, we will explore Heidegger's response to the Sartre and the existentialist movement: his "Letter on Humanism"
Below is a link to a PDF of the reading followed by a brief description of the work:
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD READING
"The relation of philosophy to political practice has been a burning issue (at least) since the time of Marx. Jean Beaufret, a French colleague of Heidegger's, addressed a number of questions to which Heidegger responded with the 'Letter on Humanism.' Both Beaufret's written inquiries and Heidegger's response refer to a brief essay by Jean-Paul Sartre, originally a public address, with the title Existentialism is a Humanism. There Sartre defends the conviction that 'existence precedes essence, or...that one must take subjectivity as one's point of departure.'
Heidegger responds by strongly criticizing the tradition of subjectivity, which celebrates the "I think" as the font of liberty. But any opposition to humanism sounds like a rejection of humanity and humane values. Heidegger therefore discusses the meaning of 'values' and of the 'nihilism' that ostensibly results when such things are put into question. He finds that not the denial of values but their instantiation in the first place is the source of nihilism. For establishment of values anticipates eventual disestablishment, both actions amounting to a willful self-congratulation of the representing subject."
