This post is basically "Mental Health and the Existentialists" reborn anew. With that I hope that you are not turning away right now! I am here to describe for you all, with an out-look from afar. I wish that my intentions are based upon philosophical truths, so I can know for sure that I am on the right track.... What that means, though, is that my state is clarified to the best of all extents. I ask you all to be careful in your posts about this issue. I am hoping to print the thread out. Clarify my state. I should by that like to start out. I believe myself to have somewhat or something of a problem. It is certain that I struggle in the least. I would like to clarify this for you, and you in return. I need help out the butloads. MH&TEx.(mental health and the existentialists) thread has failed as far as goes clarity. We should like to continue the exact same thing in this thread. The reason I say that it has failed, is because it has reached no clarity whatsoever as far as goes the truth of my being. It has got a good way, though. I am sitting in this chair typing this right now. Right? Well. My life is a mess and I don't know what will happen when I stand up. What in the 'world' is going to happen when I return to my parents house and am living in a large family. What in the world will happen when my grandmother will come in to talk to me, or what in the world will happen if someone else where to pop up somewhere along the way. What I am saying, is that this is my being; this is my state, and I am wondering what I am doing wrong, I am wondering what is wrong with me, and I am wondering if there is anything that i can do.... More clarifying: I believe part of it is stupid, but how can I come to learn that I am being stupid? What is my being, and what am I trying to do? I am trying to be myself and do what I have to do or to do what is right. To act ethically, instead of a sort of a devil. To be a regular human being without these thoughts. I will stop there. If any of you have questions, I would love to answer them and talk about these things. It would help me more than you think. Brent
Existentialist thought is very much centered towards life itself. The leading existentialist made such statements as we are condemend to be free, hell is other people. He thought for us to be scum if we make our existence necessary. He wanted to remove all stupid preconceptions and see reality for what it really is. Which is.... You decide, hell I don't know. This dude was J. P. Sartre. Heideggar tried to work on showing what "being" really is. They used phenomonology of ontology. And tried to show us what it is to be being. "Mental health" on the other hand, was used in my thread to designate everything else, in a way.... there's a lot of websites out there that talk about existentialism. go to google...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Ever watch the documentary movie "What the Bleep do we know?" The movie basically argued that our own personal perceptions, if we choose, can actually allow us all to live in whatever type of world we would like to live in. Kind of a "make your own universe for yourself" theory. It was interesting, I wasn't fully convinced, but they did a good job explaining how the human's brain functions biologically, and shows how this biological process actually forces us to behave without thinking entirely about everything we do. Some processes are completely automatic. I don't know if that helps, hope it does.
A nice contribution i'd say. Never seen it. Interesting how it argued that. I think that myself, sort of, but am confused as to how to go about getting away from myself in the way .. where I can't help this anymore, I need to get away from this bullship! Some things may be automatic, but i think myself that I am controlled and I can't quit being.. controlled to act this way I need to quit I need to quitttttt...... lol No I liked what you said. And I would like to be able to have the freedom to live in life, or something. To live so that these thoughts are not bothering me. ....
Don't existentialists believe there is no such thing as human nature? Don't they also believe in free will? Personally, I think existentialists are nearly as naive as stoics.
Seroius. Perhaps I should tell more then, James.... Mental Health and the Existentialists is the thread where we tried to talk about my problems. Mental health, being the obvious words. Different than "existentialism" and it's hard ness IMO. What i am basically saying, is that I am struggling. And in my life I am having difficulties being normal around anybody. I am trying to clarify my being and return to myself, so that I can be normally with people and normally with myself and mylife. I hope that helps at all....
How old are you existabrent? I think the problem you're having is common. Sounds like a combination of anxiety and/or perhaps depression. Talk to a therapist. Seek help. Let people in your life know how you're feeling. The worst thing you can do is nothing. It may be weird or awkward, but just do your best to get past it. Uh, so there ya have it! It's normal to feel depressed or anxious at times, but not a lot.
I think I might know this feeling you have. The existentialist theory is a bleak one. We get into habits to stop ourselves from thinking-boredom is the breakdown of habit, which causes the individual to think seriously about his existence. Time is an illusion, a poison, time makes a mockery of the human endeavour. We are all waiting, waiting, waiting for death. For the unknown. Only, there is no hope for us to reach the unknown. We spend our lives waiting for nothing. That is the root of the existentialist theory. "Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time!? … one day I went blind … one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you? (Calmer.) They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more." -Pozzo, <i>Waiting for Godot</i> But truly, my friend, pondering your existence CAN drive you insane. " What am I, what is this, why is this? " Seemingly important, but depressingly rhetorical questions. It is best to focus on what you CAN wrap your head around, tangible life, what you see before you. You will indeed NEVER know the meaning of your existence while you are here(unless you're able to find it for yourself in religion), and you are doing yourself a disservice by steeping yourself in this feeling of dread, anxiety you have about living. Yes, it is fucking weird, it is fucking unlikely, but it's happening, and it's as real as anything you can ever know. So...get out into the world. Involve yourself. Live because you can concieve yourself living. If I'm understanding you correctly, you need to get out of this existentialist funk. It is not reality...and because you are surrounded by this reality, real life, by people who go about their day to day lives and haven't given much thought to their strange existences, this different level of consciousness you are experiencing will isolate you. From others, but most profoundly from yourself, from the reality you're ignoring. We all have those times of questioning(some more than others), hell, they seem like pretty important questions, right? But you need to realize that we can't know, for whatever reason, we won't know. It is a mistake to immerse yourself in vague ideas that leave you foggy and depressed.
