Meaning and Nihilism

1
Meaning and Nihilism

• Questions about the Meaning of Life
• Is meaning purely subjective?
• Is meaning just happiness?
• Is happiness purely subjective?
• Is (human) life meaningful?
• What is sufficient for lifes meaning?
• What is necessary?
• Does lifes meaning transcend our earthly
  existence?
• Is our own eternal existence essential to lifes
  meaning?
• Is Gods existence essential to lifes meaning?

2

• Subjectivity and Meaning Are the following true
  or false?
• If you believe that your life is meaningful, then
  it is meaningful.
• You can believe that something is essential to
  the meaningfulness of your life and be just plain
  wrong about it.
• You can be wrong about whether or not you are
  happy (in the long-term, way-of-being sense).
• Happiness is whatever you think it is.
• I thought that I was happy when I was 22, but I
  was wrong about that.
• There are lots of people who have money, and sex,
  and fame, and power, who think they are happy but
  are not.

3

• Three Kinds of Philosophical Theories
• Nihilistic Theories
• There is no knowledge.
• There is no self.
• There is no meaning.
• Transcendent Theories
• Knowledge is infallible certainty.
• The self is distinct from the body.
• Meaning transcends our earthly existence.
• World-bound Theories
• Knowledge is fallible and uncertain.
• The self supervenes on the body.
• There is no end beyond human activity.

4

• Theories of Meaning
• Nihilism df.
• There is no meaning to life.
• Transcendent Theism df.
• Necessary conditions Life is meaningful only if
• God exists
• AND
• The soul is immortal
• World-bound Theories
• Necessary and sufficient conditions Life is
  meaningful iff
• We have happiness Hellenism
• We have creativity Taylor
• We react to the human condition with scorn
  Camus
• OR
• We have freedom Taylor and Camus

5

• The Myth of Sisyphus
• What is the myth of Sisyphus?
• Is Sisyphuss life meaningful?
• Is the myth of Sisyphus an allegory for human
  existence?

6

• Taylors Myth of Sisyphus (cf. Camus)
• Stage 0 No forms of life exist no rational
  beings.
• Stage 1 The Myth of Sisyphus
• a world of endless, pointless repetition the
  absurd
• Stage 2 Sisyphus builds a great temple, by
  chance.
• Stage 3 Sisyphus is aware of building a temple.
• Stage 4 Sisyphus creates a temple.
• Sisyphus plans the temple, and then implements
  the plan.

7

• Camus Self-Conscious Awareness, Freedom and
  Scorn
• Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and
  rebellious, knows the whole extent of his
  wretched condition it is what he thinks during
  his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute
  his torture at the same time crowns his victory.
  There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by
  scorn.
• His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing.
  Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates
  his torment, silences all the idols . If there
  is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny,
  or at least there is but one which he concludes
  is inevitable and despicable. At that subtle
  moment when man glances backward over his life,
  Sisyphus returning toward his rock, in that
  slight pivoting he contemplates that series of
  unrelated actions which becomes his fate, created
  by him, combined under his memorys eye and soon
  sealed by his death.
• If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero
  is conscious . The workman of today works every
  day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate
  is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the
  rare moments when it becomes conscious.

8

• Ezekiel 25, from The Old Testament
• 1 The word of the LORD came again unto me,
  saying,
• 2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites,
  and prophesy against them
• 3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of
  the Lord GOD Thus saith the Lord GOD Because
  thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it
  was profaned and against the land of Israel,
  when it was desolate and against the house of
  Judah, when they went into captivity
• 4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the
  men of the east for a possession, and they shall
  set their palaces in thee, and make their
  dwellings in thee they shall eat thy fruit, and
  they shall drink thy milk.
• 5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and
  the Ammonites a couching place for flocks and ye
  shall know that I am the LORD.
• 6 For thus saith the Lord GOD Because thou hast
  clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet,
  and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite
  against the land of Israel
• 7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand
  upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to
  the heathen and I will cut thee off from the
  people, and I will cause thee to perish out of
  the countries I will destroy thee and thou
  shalt know that I am the LORD.
• 8 Thus saith the Lord GOD Because that Moab and
  Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like
  unto all the heathen
• 9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab
  from the cities, from his cities which are on his
  frontiers, the glory of the country,
  Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,
• 10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites,
  and will give them in possession, that the
  Ammonites may not be remembered among the
  nations.
• 11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab and
  they shall know that I am the LORD.
• 12 Thus saith the Lord GOD Because that Edom
  hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking
  vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and
  revenged himself upon them
• 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD I will also
  stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off
  man and beast from it and I will make it
  desolate from Teman and they of Dedan shall fall
  by the sword.
• 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the
  hand of my people Israel and they shall do in
  Edom according to mine anger and according to my
  fury and they shall know my vengeance, saith the
  Lord GOD.
• 15 Thus saith the Lord GOD Because the
  Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken
  vengeance with a despiteful heart, to
• destroy it for the old hatred
• 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I
  will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines,
  and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy
  the remnant of the sea coast.
• 17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them
  with furious rebukes and they shall know that I
  am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon
  them.

9

• JULESS Ezekiel 2517
• The path of the righteous man is beset
• on all sides by the
  inequities of the
• selfish and the tyranny of
  evil
• men. Blessed is he who,
  in the
• name of charity and good
  will,
• shepherds the weak through
  the
• valley of darkness, for he
  is truly
• his brothers keeper and
  the finder
• of lost children. And I
  will
• strike down upon thee with
  great
• vengeance and furious
  anger those
• who attempt to poison and
  destroy
• my brothers. And you will
  know my
• name is the Lord when I
  lay my
• vengeance upon you.
• The REAL Ezekiel 2517

10

• What is the significance of
• the lack of policemen?
• the bandage on Marselluss head?
• Butchs watch?
• Butchs choosing the sword?
• the transformation of Jules and Butch?
• Is PF a film about American nihilism?
• Is it nihilistic or cynical?
• Is nihilism true?

11

• Happiness is . . .
• Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey)
• Making lots of money!
• Smoking pot and having sex with Angela!
• Having a complete relationship with my family!
  (cf. Sexual Perversion)
• Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening)
• Buddy Kane (Peter Gallagher)
• Selling houses and making lots of money!
• Jane Burnham (Thora Birch)
• Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari)
• Having a body that men find attractive!
• Colonel Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper)
• Order and discipline!
• Having a body that men find attractive! Or
  repressing this urge see above.
• Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley)

12

• American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
• Kevin Spacey .... Lester Burnham
• Annette Bening .... Carolyn Burnham
• Thora Birch .... Jane Burnham
• Wes Bentley .... Ricky Fitts
• Mena Suvari .... Angela Hayes
• Peter Gallagher .... Buddy Kane
• Allison Janney .... Barbara Fitts
• Chris Cooper (I) .... Colonel Frank Fitts
• Scott Bakula .... Jim Olmeyer
• Sam Robards .... Jim 'JB' Berkley
• Barry Del Sherman .... Brad Dupree
• Ara Celi .... Sale House Woman 1
• John Cho .... Sale House Man 1
• Fort Atkinson .... Sale House Man 2
• Sue Casey .... Sale House Woman 2

13

• Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
• John Travolta .... Vincent Vega
• Samuel L. Jackson .... Jules Winnfield
• Uma Thurman .... Mrs. Mia Wallace
• Harvey Keitel .... Winston Wolf/The Wolf
• Tim Roth .... Pumpkin/Ringo
• Amanda Plummer .... Honey Bunny/Yolanda
• Maria de Medeiros .... Fabienne
• Ving Rhames .... Marsellus Wallace
• Eric Stoltz .... Lance
• Rosanna Arquette .... Jody
• Christopher Walken .... Captain Koons
• Bruce Willis .... Butch Coolidge
• Paul Calderon .... Paul
• Bronagh Gallagher .... Trudi
• Peter Greene (I) .... Zed