The Human Condition

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness." —Vladimir Nabokov Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: Mortality salience 2:59 The dilemma of the human condition 6:11 Terror management theory 8:35 The root cause of evil? 11:14 Conclusion: Born to die References: - William James: The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature - Ernest Becker: The Denial of Death - Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski: The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life Image: Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin

"If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, would the human race continue to exist?" —Arthur Schopenhauer Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: optimism vs pessimism 1:17 The emptiness of existence 4:40 The asymmetry of pleasure and pain 6:21 The human predicament 9:37 Conclusion: pragmatic pessimism References: - Arthur Schopenhauer: Studies in Pessimism - David Benatar: Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence - David Benatar: The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions Image: The Stages of Life by Caspar David Friedrich

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." —Orson Welles Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: The loneliness epidemic 1:50 The problem of other minds 3:57 Loneliness as social pain 5:44 Ontological insecurity 7:38 Relationships as cosmology of two 10:09 Conclusion: Logotherapy References: - John Cacioppo and William Patrick: Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection - Ingrid Bolmsjö et al: Existential loneliness: An attempt at an analysis of the concept and the phenomenon - R. D. Laing: The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness - Erich Fromm: The Art of Loving - Victor Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning Image: The Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich

"I am a sick man... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man." —Notes from Underground Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: Without God, everything is permitted 2:12 The Underground Man 5:16 Ressentiment and slave morality 9:10 Conclusion: Ideologies of ressentiment? References: - Walter Kaufmann: Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre - Fyodor Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground - Friedrich Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morality Image: The Prisoner by Mykola Yaroshenko

"My formula for human greatness is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not in the future, not in the past, not for all eternity. Not only to endure what is necessary, still less to conceal it, but to love it." —Friedrich Nietzsche Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: The absurd 1:44 The last man 3:40 The absurd man 7:10 The overman 10:23 Conclusion: Self-overcoming References: - Albert Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus - Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy Image: Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." —Philippians 2:12-13 Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: God is dead 1:09 Reason vs faith 6:06 The knight of faith 9:49 Conclusion: Work out your own salvation References: - Leo Tolstoy: A Confession - Søren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling Image: The Abbey in the Oakwood by Caspar David Friedrich

"The pure reactionary is not a dreamer of abolished pasts, but a hunter of sacred shades on the eternal hills." ―Nicolás Gómez Dávila Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: Temporal landmarks 2:41 The abdication of memory 4:28 The disenchantment of the world 6:58 Cultural domicide 10:14 Conclusion: No place to call home References: - Michael S. Shum: The Role of Temporal Landmarks in Autobiographical Memory Processes - Christopher Lasch: The True and Only Heaven: Progress and Its Critics - Max Weber: The Sociology of Religion - John Vervaeke et al: Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis - Sebastian Junger: Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging Image: Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole