Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Saying Yes To Being: Sartre's Amor Fati, Ann Taylor

Ann Connolly

In The Gay Science, Friedrich Nietzsche introduces the idea of amor fati, or “love of fate,” an idea that he further explores in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Ecce Homo. This idea of amor fati seems in some ways another formulation of eternal recurrence: how can one will that which already is, that over which we have no control, that which is necessary? On one level, it addresses the literal possibility of eternal recurrence, as well as commonly held ideas about fate and destiny. On another level, however, it addresses the bare fact of being human- that being …

Always More Than One Art: Jean-Luc Nancy's The Muses, Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor

Jean-Luc Nancy begins The Muses with an essay entitled, “Why Are There Several Arts And Not Just One?” It is an ambitious essay, one which calls into question not only the specific aesthetic theories of Hegel and Heidegger, but essentially the entire Western aesthetic tradition. While Nancy provides some interesting discussions of the problem as he considers some of the more prominent aesthetic theories in Western philosophy, to what extent does it matter that we know (or do not know) whether art is singular or plural in essence, or what “art” is at all? What is the purpose of philosophizing …

Fate, Freedom, And Flies: A Consideration Of The Flies And The Oresteia, Ann Taylor

Ann Connolly

Jean-Paul Sartre, as an existentialist, puts at the center of his works the question of freedom and responsibility. Existentialism posits the idea that “existence precedes essence,” thus leading to the conclusion that one is only what one makes him or herself to be through his or her actions; no purpose or meaning is pre-given to individuals. Sartre seems to be completely rejecting any ideas of determinism or fate as factors influencing one’s life. The Greeks, on the other hand, speak constantly of the impact of fate and the actions of the gods on the lives of individuals. Perhaps the most …

Friendship Through Literature: Camus, Beauvoir, And Sartre, Ann Taylor

Ann Connolly

In his book entitled, What is Literature?, Jean-Paul Sartre says of literature that, “If you name the behaviour of an individual, you reveal it to him; he sees himself. And since you are at the same time naming it to all others, he knows that he is seen at the moment he sees himself.” It seems that literature, according to Sartre, was a medium in which the writer could expose the subject to himself in a way impossible for him to see on his own-- perhaps a reflection allowing the subject to see himself as others saw him. We know …

Albert Camus And Friedrich Nietzsche: At The Crossroads Of Philosophy And Literature, Ann Taylor

Ann Connolly

Western philosophy essentially began as a dramatic form in the dialogues of Plato, but quickly was converted to a subject for study, something analyzed, systematized, and to a large extent removed from everyday experience. Indeed, most think of philosophy as a subject that has no relevance to common existence, even though it undoubtedly always begins there. Attempt at dialogue, or dramatic form of any kind, in philosophy since Plato has generally been either ignored or ineffective. However, with Friedrich Nietzsche, literary forms other than the treatise were re-introduced to Western philosophy in such a way that they no longer could …

(Im)Material Devils: The Question Of Responsibility In The Holocaust In Thomas Mann’S Doctor Faustus, Ann Taylor

Ann Connolly