The above was a joke of a sort. What happens when a Fatelist and an Extentialist walk into a bar..I'm guessing they'll share a bottle of scotch, and debate the odds of the universe ending tomorrow.
Difficult day. But beautiful. So there's that. Even if it was spent inside a cubicle.
The following meta - you can blame or thank![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
atp_omn (aptomn) who wrote a meta on the latest Whedon Buffy comic - from an existentialist/athesist perspective (which by the way is Whedon's). I'd link to it, but his journal is locked. But he did inspire this - so I'm giving credit where it is due.
Existentialism as defined by wiki, because the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's definition was so couched in academic speak, it gave me a head-ache. But you are free to go there if you wish. This is the Modern view - established in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences,generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts. The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism, maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving his or her own life meaning and for living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism
Presdestination also known as pre-determinism, although slightly more religious in aspect, is a 18th Century concept. It's religious connotation separates it from free will and determinism.
Predestination is the Divine foreordaining or foreknowledge of all that will happen; with regard to the salvation of some and not others. It has been particularly associated with the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo and of John Calvin. Predestination may sometimes be used to refer to other, materialistic, spiritualist, non-theistic or polytheistic ideas of determinism, destiny, fate, doom, or adrsta. Such beliefs or philosophical systems may hold that any outcome is finally determined by the complex interaction of multiple, possibly immanent, possibly impersonal, possibly equal forces, rather than the issue of a Creator's conscious choice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination
Joss Whedon is an interesting writer, I do not always like him, but I will grant that he is interesting - because he melds his philosophical beliefs into the fabric of his writing. In an interview - he stated that he first realized he was an existentialist when he read Sartre's Nausea.(Firefly DVD commentary) He also said when asked if there was a God: "no," but "I don't believe that's the end of the story - it's an important and necessary thing to learn." (The AV Club Interview) And in one of the Buffy DVD commentaries, Whedon comments: "I don't believe in the sky bully" referring to God. And with fans in Sydney, Australia - he identified himself as an atheist and an absurdist. Whedon also identifies himself as a humanist. In April 2009, the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard presented Whedon with the 2009 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism.
In the Buffy and Angel series, Whedon does something interesting he creates two male vampires - with the same name - William. But one goes by the full name William or Willy and as a nickname "Spike", while the other is called Liam, until he becomes a vampire then never anything other than "Angel" or "Angelus" unless he's talking to Spike, who calls him "Liam" in Angel S5, Hellbound.( Read more... )
(No time to proof-read, must make dinner, then veg, then sleep. So lots of typos and I'm certain errors. Also spoilers for all of BTVS and ATS, as well as the comics.)
Difficult day. But beautiful. So there's that. Even if it was spent inside a cubicle.
The following meta - you can blame or thank
atp_omn (aptomn) who wrote a meta on the latest Whedon Buffy comic - from an existentialist/athesist perspective (which by the way is Whedon's). I'd link to it, but his journal is locked. But he did inspire this - so I'm giving credit where it is due.Existentialism as defined by wiki, because the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's definition was so couched in academic speak, it gave me a head-ache. But you are free to go there if you wish. This is the Modern view - established in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences,generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts. The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism, maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving his or her own life meaning and for living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism
Presdestination also known as pre-determinism, although slightly more religious in aspect, is a 18th Century concept. It's religious connotation separates it from free will and determinism.
Predestination is the Divine foreordaining or foreknowledge of all that will happen; with regard to the salvation of some and not others. It has been particularly associated with the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo and of John Calvin. Predestination may sometimes be used to refer to other, materialistic, spiritualist, non-theistic or polytheistic ideas of determinism, destiny, fate, doom, or adrsta. Such beliefs or philosophical systems may hold that any outcome is finally determined by the complex interaction of multiple, possibly immanent, possibly impersonal, possibly equal forces, rather than the issue of a Creator's conscious choice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination
Joss Whedon is an interesting writer, I do not always like him, but I will grant that he is interesting - because he melds his philosophical beliefs into the fabric of his writing. In an interview - he stated that he first realized he was an existentialist when he read Sartre's Nausea.(Firefly DVD commentary) He also said when asked if there was a God: "no," but "I don't believe that's the end of the story - it's an important and necessary thing to learn." (The AV Club Interview) And in one of the Buffy DVD commentaries, Whedon comments: "I don't believe in the sky bully" referring to God. And with fans in Sydney, Australia - he identified himself as an atheist and an absurdist. Whedon also identifies himself as a humanist. In April 2009, the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard presented Whedon with the 2009 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism.
In the Buffy and Angel series, Whedon does something interesting he creates two male vampires - with the same name - William. But one goes by the full name William or Willy and as a nickname "Spike", while the other is called Liam, until he becomes a vampire then never anything other than "Angel" or "Angelus" unless he's talking to Spike, who calls him "Liam" in Angel S5, Hellbound.( Read more... )
(No time to proof-read, must make dinner, then veg, then sleep. So lots of typos and I'm certain errors. Also spoilers for all of BTVS and ATS, as well as the comics.)