Posts Tagged ‘Sartre’
Who is man again? As defined by philosophers
Posted by: adonis49 on: October 12, 2017
Philosophie : Qu est-ce que l’homme ?
Du latin humanitas, le terme se traduit par nature humaine, culture générale de l’esprit.
L’Humanitas est le caractère de ce qui est humain. Elle désigne aussi « les hommes » en général, le genre humain considéré dans son unité.
La plupart des philosophes définissent comme humain tout être doué de raison. Qu’est-ce que l’homme ? est la question métaphysique par excellence. A noter également que la définition de l’homme préoccupe les scientifiques.
Chez les Grecs, le but de la philosophie était d’enseigner aux hommes comment devenir humain, c’est-à-dire comment “coller” à la nature humaine (et à ses vertus) alors que les modernes, depuis Nietzsche, ont déplacé la question de la manière suivante : Comment l’homme, en dehors de toute nature humaine, peut-il devenir lui-même, s’inventer en toute liberté ?
Définitions de l’homme par les Philosophes :
– Simone de Beauvoir:
« L’humanité est une suite discontinue d’hommes libres qu’isole irrémédiablement leur subjectivité. »
– Husserl sur l’homme :
« Chaque figure spirituelle se situe par nature dans l’espace de l’histoire universelle […]. Ce procès fait apparaître l’humanité comme une unique vie embrassant hommes et peuples et liée seulement par des traits spirituels : elle enveloppe une multitude de type d’humanité et de culture, mais qui, par transitions insensibles, se fondent les uns dans les autres. »
– Nietzsche sur la notion d’homme et d’humanité :
« L’humanité ! Fut-il jamais entre toutes les vieilles, une vieille plus horrible (si ce n’est peut-être la vérité ; un problème à l’usage des philosophes ? »
“L’homme est une corde tendue entre l’animal et le Surhomme, une corde au-dessus d’un abîme” (Deja une vieille corde qui va se cassee’)
– Merleau-Ponty sur l’historicité de l’homme :
“L’homme est une idée historique et non pas une espèce naturelle”
– Sartre :
“L’homme n’est rien d’autre que son projet, il n’existe que dans la mesure où il se réalise, il n’est donc rien d’autre que l’ensemble” (extrait de l’existentialisme est un humanisme)
– Heidegger :
“L’homme est un être des lointains”
– Pascal :
“L’homme n’est qu’un roseau, le plus faible de la nature; mais c’est un roseau pensant. Il ne faut pas que l’univers entier s’arme pour l’écraser : une vapeur, une goutte d’eau suffit pour le tuer.
Mais quand l’univers l’écraserait , l’homme serait encore plus noble que ce qui le tue, parce qu’il sait qu’il meurt, et l’avantage que l’univers a sur lui, l’univers n’en sait rien” (explication du roseau pensant)
Many philosophical schools differ on the meaning of desire. One line of thinking such as Platon, Sartre, Schopenhauer, Proust, and Freud… define desire as what we lack in object and subject and want to owning; this include missing past events and pleasurable memories. For example, Proust suffers terribly when Albertine is away and then, he feels bored as Albertine returns and he talks to her. We are excited making love and then, we feel this sensation of void after the exercise.
Schopenhauer wrote: “Our life oscillate between suffering and boredom: Suffering for not having what we desire and boredom for having what we no longer desire.” It is as if the object or subject of desire is superior to all other desires as long as it is out of reach. Is it we want to live because there are a few desires we still hope to satisfy? Woody Allen said it well: “How happy I would be if I were happy”
The other line of thinking and represented by Epicure, Spinoza and Nietzsche defines desire as being happy of what we already have such as feeling happy chewing leisurely on our food, happy of our company, happy of the foreplay, happy of letting orgasm be delayed, happy of the present moment, happy of enjoying good health, owning a home… This is the desire of action or power desire.
The two major kinds of desires are real; desires of lacking is predominant simply because desire of action is a learning process in our civilization and requires investing efforts.
A few people prefer the language to having vacuum in detailed meaning of words in order to generating interpretations and “enriching” our imagination; such as constructing philosophical structures based on confusion in the meaning of desire. Suppose we research taxonomy for each word (classification of possible meaning of a word or systematic detailed meaning of synonyms) then, could we not write long essays on each kinds of desires with the added bonus of being clear, transparent, and focused? In the case of the verb desire we may specify mis-desire (desiring what we lack) and act-desire (desiring what we have).
Anyway, there can be no happiness as long as we keep desiring what we miss or lack in objects and subjects: We are then is constant desire mood of longing and expectancy. Action desires, these acquired kind of desires, transform expectancy into joy that keeps giving; we can then eat with relish and pleasure and enjoy the company of the spouse and friends.
Famous Manuscripts Banned by the Vatican: (Part 2, April 19, 2009)
Thousands of literary works were indexed by the Vatican from around 1200 to 1966.
Virtually no author was spared indexing. Pascal, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Rousseau, Kant, Diderot, Stendhal, Lamartine, Hugo, Flaubert, Balzac, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, Zola, Sartre, and even Gide were indexed for part of their work.
Voltaire was the most indexed: each of his manuscripts was automatically indexed before reading it. Voltaire would occasionally sign Ecralinf meaning (Let us crush the despicable infamous Church of Rome).
Ironically, Darwin, Karl Marx, and Hitler were spared INDEXING.
“The Defender of Peace” by Marsile of Padua (Rector of the University of Paris) is published in 1324 and banned by the Church. The manuscript said that the function of governance does not suit the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) because this urge for domination of the Church is the bane of all discords. Communities should be governed by their own councils.
Baruch Spinoza published “Treaty on Theological-Politics” in 1670. He is excommunicated (herem) by the Jewish Wise Men of the synagogue of Amsterdam and later indexed by the Vatican. Spinoza claimed that the Torah is false, that soul dies with the body, and that God exist only philosophically. Religions instituted a God with 7 main characteristics so that their logical scaffold can hold: God should be One, Unique, Omnipresent, has absolute authority and rights over everything, that obeisance to God consist in justice and charity, that Heaven and Hell are the consequences of our behaviors, and finally that God is forgiving because everyone is a sinner. Faith does not dwell on whether God is fire, spirit, light, or thought.
Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais published “The Wedding of Figaro” in 1781. This manuscript said of the aristocrats “You were given the pain of being born, and nothing else”; and thus was blamed for disturbing the social construct. Beaumarchais published also “The Barber of Seville”
“Praise of Folly” (L’Eloge de la Folie) by Erasmus of Rotterdam was indexed in 1511. Under the mask of irony, Erasmus creates a Foul dominating the World and supported by ignorant idiots with humongous Ego; he attacks the theologians and scholastic specialties whom thrive in adding subtlety over subtlety in order to obscure any kind of comprehension. In just the same century, the manuscript is re-edited 600 times.
“The Prince” of Nicolas Machiavelli is published in 1513 in Florence. The book explains how a Prince should behave to acquire and then retain power and would be one of the founders of modern political thinking.
“The Third Book” of Francois Rabelais was published in 1532. The previous publications “Pantagruel” and “Gargantua” were not spared indexing too. The art of mockery far exceed that of Erasmus and his farces scorch all the princes. Moliere would rely on Rabelais’ works for his comedies.
The Essays” of about 107 of essays by Michel Montaigne are published as of 1580 and was censured by the Church Inquisition. The Church didn’t like the offhandedness of mixing sacred topics with profane subjects and the manuscript was judged morally too permissive.
“The new Stories” succeeds the famous fables of Jean de la Fontaine and are published as of 1674 and mocks the clerics and was indexed for “corrupting the moral and inspiring libertine behaviors”. Before he dies, his confessor forced him to recant, and he did so that he may die in peace of that pest of cleric.
“The Spirit of Laws” by Charles-Louis of Montesquieu was published in Switzerland in 1748 to avoid censuring. The author demanded that the three branches of executive, legislative, and justice enjoy independent powers for check and balance in governance.
“Therese the Philosopher” by Jean-Baptiste Boyer was published in 1748, in the same year that “Fanny Hill” of John Cleland was published. This manuscript described in details the bacchant sacrilegious ceremonies that a Pope relished. The Marquis of Sade would imitate that genre of pornography. It is rumored that these kinds of books influenced the French Revolution more than any other manuscripts. The French National Library cataloged this book under “Hell” section.
“Emile” by Jean-Jacques Rousseau was published in 1762. Rousseau offered a new educational system for kids so that the natural kindness of humankind is preserved; that kids enjoy their lives as kids and refrain from reading before the age of 12; that they wear loose garments to play leisurely. The manuscript was indexed and publicly burned in Paris for inciting man to follow his instincts. Rousseau will publish “The Social Contract” in 1766 and Geneva Council banished it. In reaction, Rousseau abandoned his Switzerland nationality.
Adonis Diaries 