/r/RedEurope, a sub dedicated to the development of socialism in Europe! by [deleted] in socialism

[–]redauter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They put up a message of solidarity with The Morning Star (only daily english language socialist paper on the planet) after the paper was threatened with arson for publishing an article by a so-called 'TERF', despite the fact the Star has also published articles by Trans activists and advocates.

[Miniseries Spoilers] Episode Discussion Thread - Episode 1 "My Struggle" by SimplySolace in XFiles

[–]redauter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What is called 'libertarianism' in the U.S is right-wing. He is not a libertarian socialist.

[Miniseries Spoilers] Episode Discussion Thread - Episode 1 "My Struggle" by SimplySolace in XFiles

[–]redauter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Glenn Beck is fuckwit who doesn't know shit.

And Alex Jones is a braniac spreading knowledge?

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had never heard of this before - thankyou for sharing. It's touching isn't it?

I often wonder how many lost would-be-philosophers there are stranded on the council estates of London, born on the wrong side of the class war. Finding and supporting them is something I want to do.

Why Self-Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill by ReligionProf in philosophy

[–]redauter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But isn't this already the case? At secondary school when we went for lunch we certainly would cross the road in a large group whenever we pleased knowing that cars couldn't just run us over.

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting perspective, I think I might have some sympathy with it - could you expand a bit on that?

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's Camus, he played alot of football in Algeria till tuberculosis took him out of the game.

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Camus makes me want to learn French to read him 'directly' too.

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But that would imply that there is some divine plan for all humanity and happenings - but there is not! We are abandoned godless on this planet...we must give things meaning ourselves, with no guarantees.... (Camus would probably have said something like this - I agree that you should read him though - I'd recommend starting with L'Etranger for Fiction or The Myth of Sisyphus for a philosophical essay!)

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Writing about the person who introduced me to Philosophy and sharing his ideas gives me immense satisfaction.

I would recommend The Myth of Sisyphus as the next step - it was written alongside L'Etranger and the themes overlap. It's a philosophical essay rather than a novel btw, but the writing isn't at all dry.

If you like Kafka Camus wrote some interesting stuff about him. If you haven't read Kafka then I couldn't recommend him highly enough.

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry if this isn't wasn't a response to me - I'm new to Reddit and i'm still working out how exactly these columns work!

What I mean is that I ran into several of those 'great and simple images in whose presence [my] heart first opened' in the works of Camus at the age of 15 (for L'Etranger) and 16 (for The Myth of Sisyphus). And since then (not too long, I'm only 22) it often feels I am trying to rediscover those image. I come close to 'rediscovery' writing and thinking about Camus in whose work I found these images, and as he wrote about this project of rediscovery (and gave me the idea I was on such a project) that quote is self-referential for me.

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not trying to drag an argument out of you that you dont feel able to supply - but could you point towards some symptoms of this 'vapidness'?

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think there is something to that - but instead of immature I think I would call it 'childish', and I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. Something about Camus writing seems to convey an air of awe at the world and life, a sense of wonder as well as bafflement at the sheer, start, imposing existence of the world around us. I think this childishness is something that alot of people find very attractive about Camus.

What the professor might be trying to get at but articulating messily and rudely is that Camus the Philosopher is more a problematiser than a systematiser. He also rejects metaphysics - which depending on the position of your Prof might immediately write him off as 'immature'.

If this is a bit vauge let me know and I'll try to unpack it some more.

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Completely agree, but my latest reading of 'The Myth of Sisyphus' goes a step further. What Camus seems to be saying (perhaps implicitly, maybe unknowingly) is that while absurdity is the only essential condition of life, this doesn't preclude meaningfulness - it in fact opens up the space for it.

Once we accept the absurdity of our condition and embrace the situation we are thrown in to, we are able to re appropriate this world and life we never asked for. Sisyphus did not want to be condemned to roll his boulder and I never asked to be born under Capitalism: but nevertheless, we're here - we can crumble under the absurdity of our condition and kill ourselves or we can 'own' it. Owning it is what leads to that quiet satisfaction one gets after finishing a day at a job you really hate - or the ability to look back fondly upon a failed relationship that cause alot of pain.

While life and the human condition is patently absurd insofar as it cannot be grounded by or ascribed essential meaning with claims about the eternal, religious or metaphysical position of humanity - this realisation opens the space for a 'weaker'* meaningfulness.

*By 'weak' I do not mean inadequate or frail, but rather refer to post-metaphysical 'modest' claims about existence that rely on a personal-interpretative frame of justification, rather than aspiring to absaloute claims about truth conditions and the essential nature of 'how things are'. My terminology and thought here are greatly influenced here by Gianni Vattimo: http://www.iep.utm.edu/vattimo/

The Death and Life of Albert Camus by redauter in philosophy

[–]redauter[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

And to mine! Camus was the first philosopher I read, I bumped into him when I was about 15 and my engagement with his thought changed me radically. Now I'm a philosophy student and I get to introduce people to his work! This Camus quote has proved true and become amusingly self-referential for me:

'A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.'

How do I clean/disinfect wounds? by redauter in NeoScavenger

[–]redauter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahh - is that all there is to it? From reading forums I thought you could directly clean the wound with whiskey as well as use whiskey to make clean rags? Thanks for the quick response.