In The Sickness unto Death, Anti-Climacus begins by defining the self as “a relation which relates itself to its own self” (Kierkegaard, Sickness 78). That is, a self is that mediating activity that exists within opposite tensions (“infinite v finite,” “eternal v temporal,” or “possibility v necessity”). Man, as Anti-Climacus defines, is a synthesis of these opposites but since man still lives in the tensions created by the opposites, man is not yet a self (Kierkegaard, Sickness 78). The self’s quality is either created by itself or created by God. It retains the ability to relate to itself and to God. So, the human self (ideally) properly relates its internal factors to each other while also relating to the external power that constituted …show more content…
To be able to despair, theoretically is a sign of superior existence, as beasts do not despair. However, to be in despair is terrible and so, it is not necessary for existence, but it may be helpful in directing one towards finding meaning in their life. The absence of despair, as Anti-Climacus formulated, is the self relating to itself, is willing to be oneself; and rests in the Power that established it (Kierkegaard, Sickness 79). It would seem by this formula for the absence of despair that the mind and body are equally as essential—one should not over-emphasize the body or over-emphasize the soul. To Kierkegaard, the ultimate form of despair is denying this human predicament and denying this demand that although we are constituted of two sets of essential but incompatible factors (body and soul), we should find a way to live that fully expresses the tension between them, in a way that enables them to be strengthened by one another (Dreyfus, Cambridge 102). To do this, according to Kierkegaard, one needs an “infinite passion for something finite” (Dreyfus, Cambridge 106). This is a defining commitment that an individual devotes his/her entire life to because it defines the content of one’s life and gives one an identity (a self). And by responding to such a calling, it is then possible to get the opposites into equilibrium because it is now clear to the person who he/she is, and what is important in his/her
In the Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls analyzed her mother’s emotional breakdowns. In one instance, she notices “... the positive thoughts would give way to negative thoughts, and the negative thoughts seemed to swoop into her mind the way a big flock of black crows takes over the landscape, sitting thick in the trees and on the fence rails and lawns, staring at you in ominous silence” (Walls 418). Negative thoughts can consume one’s mind, whereas the positive thoughts are nugatory. The negative thoughts keep a person agonizing and stressing over it. This quote emphasizes how a negative mindset can make a person depressed or ill to be around.
With this stuff in mind, it is our choice to choose what exactly we worship. Whether we go against our natural selves or stay “unconscious.” David breaks this theory down into sections. Such as how, we as humans, perceive things. Our self-absorption and the negative consequences of living in our natural state.
Throughout Survival of the sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem, a scientific story telling form of writing takes place. Dr. Moalem puts well thought out scientific phenomenons supported by a history of evolutionary evidence that we see in our world today. Perhaps its largely due to his background studies in the emerging fields of neurogenetics and evolutionary medicine. Dr.Moalem has a very distinct way of attracting his readers to change the fundamental understanding and development of diseases, he also has this uniqueness in keeping us curious and excited to know more about a particular topic. a selection what he discusses in Survival of the sickest is the importance of iron in our bodies, he began with a case study presenting an individual with a mysterious symptoms that attract the reader’s attention, then
THEMBEKILE TSAOANE BL2015-0178 SSIT311 TAKE HOME TEST INTRODUCTION “Between us and heaven or hell, there is only life, which is the frailest thing in the world" 1.1 Existentialism and death. The problems we face of death seem somewhat natural with the connection it has to existentialism.
In Fear and Trembling, essay of Preliminary Expectoration, Kierkegaard writes about those who carry the treasure of faith resembling a bourgeois philistinism. Kierkegaard talks about the knight of infinite resignation and how one is easily recognizable. He argues that infinite resignation is the final stage before faith and if someone has not made this movement, he or she does not have faith. It is only in infinite resignation that one becomes conscious of eternal validity. Kierkegaard sees the knight of infinite resignation as carrying out all the motions and suffering a lot of pain and anxiety.
There are diseases today that people caught and spread from certain countries, animals, insects and other people. One example is Ebola. It was discovered in 1976 in Sudan and Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Then it reappeared in West Africa in 2014. It started to spread from West Africa and then to other countries like the USA and Nigeria.
Despair is life without hope. This is what occurred during the Holocaust
Kevin Yuan Professor Ananda PHIL 101 16 July 2023 Chapter 3 Paper Who am I? What is the connection between our spirit and our body? What becomes of our souls after we die? These questions are important to human minds because they help people understand themselves better and develop their own meaning in life.
This allows us to complete the picture of God’s creation as manifested in a human soul which is incarnated. Here is the complete definition of spirit and matter as incarnated in a human form. As you can see, the Vedic thought has a complex definition of the statement, “God created man in His own image.” It explains it in detail.
He argues that the body and soul are two elements that have the same underlying substance. He maintains that a person’s soul is the same as his nature of body; however, he argues that the mind differed from other parts of the body as it lacked a physical feature. In this case, he maintains that the intellect lacks a physical form, and this allows it to receive every form. It allows a person to think about anything, including the material object. In this case, he argues that if the intellect were in a material form, it could be sensitive to only some physical objects.
The Bundle Theory explains how there is no self underlining through, that the self is an illusion. In this Theory the self is an idea as it is continuous through time, unchanging. The self is perfectly identical from one time to the next, strictly numerically. The self is perfectly simple as the soul has no parts thus a person cannot lose part of self. Heraclitus once stated, "upon those who step into the same rivers flow different and again different waters."
Hamlet’s memories of his father’s death and his mother’s remarriage to his uncle have traumatized him which resulted in depression. Some of the symptoms of depression are to doubt one’s self and inability to make decisions thus; it affects his cognitive thinking process without his own knowledge. Ultimately the unconscious mind of hamlet influences his conscious mind on contemplating life and death where he is not entirely firm with making a decision. His memories were traumatizing which led to a negative effect on his cognitive thinking but if one has to have a happy memory it will have a positive effect on their cognitive thinking such as being an optimistic and a confident thinker. This explains and reflects that people’s actions and decisions are influenced by their unconscious mind because most humans are able to have repressed
In other words, by recognizing the “I” of the foreign living body as the zero point of orientation of the spatial world, we have consequently categorized the foreign living body as an “object-constituting consciousness and have made it relative to the outer world (Stein, 92). It then follows that the “I” of a foreign living body has already been interpreted as a spiritual subject. Therefore, we have already entered the realm of the spirit when we undertake every literal act of empathy. Moreover, feelings and expressions have further constituted the “world of values” just like the physical nature is constituted in perceptual acts (Stein, 92).
Scanning through his past several years, he returns to his mother’s death and analyzes her choice to seek a lover at the end of her life. While before he thought it was strange and even somewhat aggravating, he realizes now, being so close to death, that people will enter a desperate search for meaning when their time left is fleeting. But at the same time, he reasons potentially as a coping mechanism, there is no difference whether he dies by execution later that day or in 40 years because he will be dying all the same. Together, these two realizations, though somewhat contradictory, create his bridge to Existentialism. By establishing these two points, he can allow himself to, “open up to the gentle indifference of the world - finding it so much like himself”(122), and apply whatever meaning he wants to life in order to make it as rich and enjoyable as desired, rather than drifting along as a pitiful being waiting for some greater power to guide him along.
Our Self, our conscious mind, is unity and harmony; the understanding of our psyche. Le Guin argues anyone who confronts these ideas is very creative and successful. She also states that we need to balance our conscious Self with our unconscious self, for our human bodies to be physically balanced. Her essay is concluded that if anyone disagrees with any of these philosophical thoughts, then they practice escapism. Denying what we humans are and the trials and tribulations we endure throughout life.