Discussion PHILOSOPHY - Albert Camus - “There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide”

[DreamEnd]

Enjoy

 

[Ambivalent1]

Camus was an idiot. Read Schopenhauer

 

[DreamEnd]

Camus was an idiot. Read Schopenhauer

I liked Nietzsche more haha

 

[Ambivalent1]

I liked Nietzsche more haha

I can't understand Nietzsche. Reads like gibberish

 

[DreamEnd]

I can't understand Nietzsche. Reads like gibberish

Lol it's actually how I feel about Schopenhauer. There is a portable Nietzsche book by the way that is pretty digestible

 

[Ambivalent1]

Lol it's actually how I feel about Schopenhauer. There is a portable Nietzsche book by the way that is pretty digestible

Schopenhauer's essays are easy. His book is hard.

 

[DreamEnd]

Schopenhauer's essays are easy. His book is hard.

I read some of his writings on suicide they were very interesting

 

[Ambivalent1]

I read some of his writings on suicide they were very interesting

Yet he never took his own advice. A hypocrite living a lavish life despite saying such a life is meaningless

 

[DreamEnd]

Yet he never took his own advice. A hypocrite living a lavish life despite saying such a life is meaningless

Most philosophers didn't. I think despite of what they thought, they still considered it a mission to provide something of value for future generations

 

[Ambivalent1]

Most philosophers didn't. I think despite of what they thought, they still considered it a mission to provide something of value for future generations

The modern world doesn't care about that stuff anymore. The modern world feels so empty

 

[Malaria]

Camus was an idiot. Read Schopenhauer

His essay on women turns me off from him tbh... but maybe I might give his other works a read.

 

[DreamEnd]

The modern world doesn't care about that stuff anymore. The modern world feels so empty

Yeah. Materialism and consumption became the new religion. Celebrities became the idols worshipped, just look at Taylor swift or "swifties", the kardashians etc. internet addiction, TikTok etc. do kids even read books nowadays? the theatre behind politics, elections. Wah wah it's all just a one big spectacle and we aren't in it. Philosophy and speculation on the nature of our life isn't profitable. Put up or shut up. More technology, more comfort, more control, more pills, less criticism of government, fake wars, fake leaders, fake elections. Infinite entertainment to distract from important issues. This is the apocalypse and we are slowly living in it

 

[vadim]

Yet he never took his own advice. A hypocrite living a lavish life despite saying such a life is meaningless

Schopenhauer actually did not recommend suicide because according to him, it's affirmation of the Will rather than denial of it. Denial of the Will is to be achieved through denying life's pleasures rather than trying to escape suffering, which is actually assertion of the will to live. I suppose that doesn't really matter if suicide ends your existence, but Schopenhauer believed in reincarnation of a sort. The essay "On Suicide" was mostly a defence of Hume's position on suicide and condemnation of how christians at the time punished people who attempted suicide and their families.

You're totally right in calling him a hypocrite though, he didn't exactly practice what he preached in regard to asceticism. Or empathy, since he was a often shithead to the people in his life. That being said, I find "On Suicide" to be very touching and sensitive, it's one of my favourite essays of his.