Existentialism is a philosophy that explores the problem of human existence, with an emphasis on the individual who starts in an apparently meaningless world, and who seeks to create meaning in a world without inherent meaning.   Existentialism is most commonly associated with several 19th and 20th century philosophers: Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus.   Many of these thinkers never used the term “existentialist” to describe themselves, some of them even rejected the label, while others accepted it. What they did share is a common template. Many of them regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies too abstract and remote from concrete human experience and focused on the authenticity of the individual.  Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is regarded as the father of existentialism, who along with Nietzsche, provided the basic foundations of 19th century Existentialism.    Core ideas to Existentialism include authenticity, individuality, subjectivity, freedom, and responsibility, in order to understand and pursue the meaning of your life. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon

Sigmund Freud was a neurologist most popularly known as the founding father of psychoanalysis. He popularised and structured the concept of “the unconscious”.  Some of his most popular concepts include: id, ego and super ego, Oedipus complex, free association, repression, libido and the psychosexual stages of development. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (0:50) Dream interpretation (1:32) Id, ego and super-ego (3:32) Free association and transference (4:13) Psychosexual development (5:10) 1. Oral Stage (6:10) 2. Anal Stage (7:20) 3. Phallic Stage (8:26) 4. Latent Stage (9:03) 5. Genital Stage (9:31) Why You Should Read Freud

French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan discusses his notable ideas including the Imaginary, the Symbolic, the Real, and the Mirror Stage, exploring the significance of Freud's discovery of the unconscious and proposing a return to Freud.

Martin Heidegger, influential philosopher known for his work in existentialism and phenomenology, discusses key terms from his philosophy such as Being-in-the-world, ready to hand, existentiality, fallenness, and being-toward-death. He also explores his perspective on everyday objects and the pursuit of authenticity in the face of inauthentic existence. Additionally, he delves into the significance of death, time, and historicity in human existence.

Exploring the decline of religious belief, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche criticize organized religion and societal conformity. They share similarities in their views, but have contrasting perspectives on living a fulfilled human life. Kierkegaard emphasizes subjective truth and the transformative power of Christian theism, while Nietzsche challenges the concept of a divine being and advocates for the creation of new meaning. The concept of the ubermensch and the importance of power and growth are also examined in relation to their philosophies.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book For All and None was Nietzsche’s favourite of his creations. It is indeed one of the most fascinating and creative pieces of work in western philosophy.    It presents the journey of Persian prophet Zarathustra, who spends his time in solitude in the mountains for ten years and grows weary of his wisdom, beginning his down-going to humanity to teach them what he has learned.   Zarathustra's principal teachings are: the Übermensch (Overman), the Eternal Recurrence and the Will to Power.    The God is dead theme is most famously expressed in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, although it first appeared in The Gay Science. It is commonly misinterpreted. It refers to a historical event in response to the decline of Christianity with the Enlightenment bringing about scientific rationality, representing a crisis in the existing moral values opening the possibility for nihilism. The death of god theme is prevalent throughout the book. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (0:20) Part I. Zarathustra’s Prologue (3:42) Part I. Zarathustra’s discourses (6:50) Part II (8:35) Part III (9:09) Part IV

H.P. Lovecraft was an American writer who is known for his creation of what became the Cthulhu Mythos and the creator of the literary philosophy known as Cosmicism, emphasising the Cosmic Horror of the unknown and the insignificance of human beings in the vast realms of space and time.  This episode explores the peculiar philosophy of Cosmicism and its similarities with absurdism, existentialism, and nihilism, three movements that arose from the human experience of anguish and confusion stemming from the Absurd, ultimately diverging to different perspectives on life.   Channel of Nihilist Enigma ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction Lovecraft & Cosmicism (1:08) Nihilist Engima: Existentialism, Absurdism, Nihilism (2:09) Absurdism (3:26) Existentialism (4:34) Nihilism (6:00) Cosmicism (12:29) Cosmicism Vs God

Soren Kierkegaard wrote one of the most remarkable theistic existentialist works of the 19th century, The Sickness unto Death is famed for the depth and acuity of its psychological insights.   Writing under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus, Kierkegaard explores the concept of ‘despair’. Despair is a deeper expression for anxiety which is a not-wanting-to-be-oneself. It is a "misrelation" that arises in the self when once cannot balance the eternal (God).  The book is a psychological exposition with Christianity as its background and as intended for “edification and awakening”.   The sickness which is the topic of Kierkegaard’s work is mental, he describes it as a “sickness of the spirit”.  The book presents a step-by-step progression towards this crisis from a state in which the sufferer is not even aware of this sickness. The principal focus is the raising of the level of a person’s awareness of the urgency of the choice.   This despair, however, is not something that should be rooted out. From the point of spiritual development, there is actually something healthy about it. Spiritual development is bound to progress through a state of sickness.   The only way out of escaping despair, therefore, seems to be to go through with it. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Background (0:47) Preface (1:12) Introduction (2:46) Part I. The Sickness unto Death is Despair (8:34) Part II. Despair is Sin

Albert Camus, known for his works on existentialism and absurdism, discusses the concept of the absurd and the conflict between human desire for meaning and the irrationality of existence. He explores the link between absurdity and the belief that life is meaningless, the importance of revolt in an unfree world, and the concept of embracing the absurdity of life through the myth of Sisyphus.

Notes from the Underground is a novel published by Dostoevsky in 1864. It remains as one of the most important works of existentialist literature. In this work Dostoevsky attempts to justify the existence of individual freedom as a necessary part of humankind.   The novel consists of two parts. The first one, titled simply “Underground” is told through an unnamed narrator, known as the Underground Man. This part serves as an introduction into the mind of the Underground Man. The second part of the novel is called "Apropos of the Wet Snow”, where he begins to recount his troubled past experiences when he was 24 years old. His inability to interact with other people causes his attempts to form relationships and participate in life to end in disaster and drives him deeper underground.   Notes from the Underground launches an attack on all ideologies of social progress which aspire to the elimination of suffering (which cannot be eradicated), solving one problem and directing our nature to become unhappy in other ways. It is a novel against Utilitarianism, Utopianism & Rational Egoism. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (1:18) Part I. Underground (6:14) Part II. Apropos of the Wet Snow