No Excuses: Existentialism And The Meaning Of Life by Robert C. Solomon | Goodreads
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No Excuses: Existentialism And The Meaning Of Life
Robert C. Solomon
4.09
789 ratings84 reviews
PhilosophyNonfictionAudiobookHistoryPsychologyReligion20th CenturyUnfinished
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12 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 1995
Robert C. Solomon78 books146 followers
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Robert C. Solomon (September 14, 1942 – January 2, 2007) was a professor of continental philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.
Early life
Solomon was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a lawyer, and his mother an artist. After earning a B.A. (1963) at the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to the University of Michigan to study medicine, switching to philosophy for an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967).
He held several teaching positions at such schools as Princeton University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Pittsburgh. From 1972 until his death, except for two years at the University of California at Riverside in the mid-1980s, he taught at University of Texas at Austin, serving as Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business. He was a member of the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Solomon was also a member of the inaugural class of Academic Advisors at the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics.
His interests were in 19th-century German philosophy--especially Hegel and Nietzsche--and 20th-century Continental philosophy--especially Sartre and phenomenology, as well as ethics and the philosophy of emotions. Solomon published more than 40 books on philosophy, and was also a published songwriter. He made a cameo appearance in Richard Linklater's film Waking Life (2001), where he discussed the continuing relevance of existentialism in a postmodern world. He developed a cognitivist theory of the emotions, according to which emotions, like beliefs, were susceptible to rational appraisal and revision. Solomon was particularly interested in the idea of "love," arguing against the notion that romantic love is an inherent state of being, and maintaining, instead, that it is instead a construct of Western culture, popularized and propagated in such a way that it has achieved the status of a universal in the eyes of many. Love for Solomon is not a universal, static quality, but an emotion, subject to the same vicissitudes as other emotions like anger or sadness.
Solomon received numerous teaching awards at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a frequent lecturer in the highly regarded Plan II Honors Program. Solomon was known for his lectures on Nietzsche and other Existentialist philosophers. Solomon described in one lecture a very personal experience he had while a medical student at the University of Michigan. He recounted how he stumbled as if by chance into a crowded lecture hall. He was rather unhappy in his medical studies at the time, and was perhaps seeking something different that day. He got precisely that. The professor, Frithjof Bergmann, was lecturing that day on something that Solomon had not yet been acquainted with. The professor spoke of how Nietzsche's idea asks the fundamental question: "If given the opportunity to live your life over and over again ad infinitum, forced to go through all of the pain and the grief of existence, would you be overcome with despair? Or would you fall to your knees in gratitude?"
Solomon died on January 2, 2007 at Zurich airport. His wife, philosopher Kathleen Higgins, with whom he co-authored several of his books, is Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.
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4.09
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Ivy-Mabel Fling
371 reviews32 followers
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November 25, 2018
Another excellent course but a lot of it is quite philosophical. I found parts of it difficult to get my head round (but when I have listened to ten more professors on the same subjects, I will no doubt understand better!)
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SJ Loria
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March 26, 2014
Existentialism
A fantastic lecture series, where the professor explains existentialism with passion and vigor. One of the best lecture series I’ve ever listened to. Period.
Basic points of Existentialism
1. Embrace personal responsibility – Sounds so simple when explained, but here’s the idea. You make choices. You are responsible for these choices. It’s a virtue ethics approach, as opposed to rule systems, motivation theories, or consequential ethics. What matters is the action. You chose it, you are responsible for it.
2. Live life passionately – Existentialists held very little faith in the possibility of an afterlife. Therefore if this is your one shot at life, make the most of it. There is the metaphor Kierkegaard makes of riding a wild horse vs. passively falling asleep in a wagon being pulled by a horse. Existentialists believe you should hop on the horse and ride. It is through passionate commitment that we give our lives meaning. Passionate commitment, say yes to life, commit to it with passion. It’s invigorating.
3. No belief in the afterlife – Neitche hated what he called the “otherworldly.” Existentialists thought that actions should be weighed and justified according to this world, and without relying on any others. This has to do with debating people who are religious, and in historical context this line of reasoning makes a lot more sense.
Other fun facts, I don’t think Camus’ The Stranger is enjoyable without understanding Existentialism. Nietzsche also isn’t as terrible of an atheist as his reputation would have you believe. I thought the lecture on Hesse’s Siddhartha wasn’t quite as strong as it could have been. I think the Kierkegaard section is the strongest, excellent lecture series overall.
Quotes
It is through passionate commitment that we give our lives meaning
People clamor for freedom of speech, to make up for the freedom of thought which they lack.
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Gary Beauregard Bottomley
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July 25, 2015
I don't like existentialism philosophy, but I liked this lecture series. It allowed me to understand other philosophers through the lens of Existentialism, and I got to understand Kant, Schopenhauer, and learn learn more about Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Heidegger. I liked the hour and a half he devoted to Heidegger so much, I ended up buying "Being and Time" from Amazon.
I would strongly recommend watching the BBC production of the play "Huis Clos" ("In Camera", or also called "No Exit") freely available on YouTube before or after listening to this lecture. I did and am glad for the understanding it brought. The heart of this lecture series is really Jean-Paul Sartre and a lot of what he thinks is within this highly watchable and freely available play.
Even if you think Existentialism is passe (a word the lecturer uses), and you don't particularly like Existentialism this lecture has more than enough to keep you entertained. As with almost all of these Great Course series, I don't know of anything else where I get as much value for my one credit, and because of this series I'm violating one of my rules and plan on reading a difficult book because this series has piqued my interest that much in Heidegger.
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Todd
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April 8, 2021
In these lectures, Robert Solomon provides a very nice exegesis of several main existentialist authors. The lectures start with Camus, as the most popular and easiest to understand author in the tradition; Solomon then backtracks to take on in order Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. In a sense, it pairs very well with Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy by William Barrett. This survey is meatier than many in that it engages with the philosophies of several major existentialist authors, where many books deal more with the lives of the authors. It's well done and Solomon shows his command and ease discussing the ideas and doctrines of often difficult philosophers. The biggest weakness is probably Solomon's emphasis on personal responsibility at the expense of the society and structures serving as the environment for the individual and freedom in the grand sense. You would want to have some prior familiarity with existentialism and be ready to think philosophically, after all this is a philosophy survey.
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Andy
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August 30, 2015
This was a bizarre presentation of the material. It's not that what the professor talked about was wrong or uninteresting, but in opposition to the title, it seemed he was making a lot of excuses to dwell in trivia and avoid talking about the meaning of life.
He goes out of his way to cover writers tangentially related to Existentialism (Kafka, Dostoevsky, etc.), and he tends to focus more on literary angles of novels, and on philosophical jargon than on real-world implications.
For example, for Camus, he talks about symbolism and writing technique in The Stranger and The Fall, etc. , but he doesn't really get into The Rebel and the meat of Camus's copious non-fiction that deals with how to live in a world full of evil. The lecture series wasn't boring, but I think unfortunately that in the end it confuses more than clarifies.
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Dorum
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May 17, 2020
This is a series of lectures by TTC. I watched the video lectures and review them here.
After watching all of them, I realized that I have already read What Nietzsche Really Said by the same author. That book is in my opinion one of the best introductions to Nietzsche. It allows one to avoid many of the pitfalls that one can encounter with that philosopher.
As expected, this lecture series is itself very good. The presenter is explaining in a very clear and concise language, some very intricate ideas of this current.
The authors discussed are (in the order of apparition): Camus, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre. The lectures are 30 minutes each, and each provides an introduction to some of the key concepts. As such, it should be a really easy introduction, but by no means an extensive or comprehensive introduction.
The depth and quality of the lecture varies. Camus for instance, is pretty deeply presented. There are a lot of insights to be gleamed from his presentation of 3 of his works (The Stranger, The Plague and The Fall). However, his only philosophical work, The Myth of Sisyphus gets only a very weak presentation. Only generalities are explained.
Kierkegaard is also quite poorly explained. What disturbs me is that while Camus is presented work by work, Kierkegaard is somehow amalgamated, and very imprecise.
Nietzsche is again less properly explained, but the main themes of his philosophy are present. I have no doubt that professor Solomon IS able to explain all of them in much more detail, but I don't quite get why he didn't do a work by work analysis as in the case of Camus. It might be because the "theme by theme" analysis is not so easy for Camus as it is for the others.
Dostoyevski gets only cursory treatment. The only novels discussed are "Notes from The Underground", "The Idiot" & "The Brothers Karamazov". The interpretation given to the events is somewhat rushed. Why he excluded "Crime And Punishment" will be forever a mystery to this reviewer.
However, considering that Dostoyevski, Kafka and Hesse are all treated in the same lecture, I guess we can give him a break. What I really cannot understand is how comes he describes the end of "The Grand Inquisitor" completely wrong. Jesus walks away at the end!! He says that Jesus actually gets crucified a second hand, which doesn't happen!
Heidegger and Sartre are quite well explained. Especially Heidegger who is notoriously difficult, is nevertheless distilled in a way that is accessible to the non-professional.
For this reason, I need to say that the content is more often good, rather than bad. It is a bit on the commercial side of things but it is the better part of that side.
Also, I really like his voice. It is so relaxing, and soothing.
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Hmd Book
34 reviews16 followers
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April 15, 2016
رابرت سالومون با صدای عمیق و شمرده به واکاوی افکار و کتابهای چهرههای برجسته اگزیستانسیالیسم میپردازد. درس با «بیگانه» آلبر کامو آغاز میشود هر چند او پیشگام اگزیستانسیالیسم نبود؛ اما بیگانه او مردی را توصیف میکند که در مراسم تدفین مادرش نمیتواند اشک بریزد. علاوه بر بیگانه که به تفصیل در دو درس ۳۰ دقیقهای برای روشن کردن موضوع درس بحث میشود، اثر دیگر کامو، در مورد «افسانه سیزیف» صحبت میشود که قهرمان آن تا ابد محکوم است تا سنگی را از تپهای بالا برد، آن را رها کند و دوباره سنگ را بالا برد و رها کند-تا ابد. سیزیف نماد انسان محکوم به زندگی بیهوده است. «طاعون» و «سقوط» در درس دیگر بحث میشود، به ویژه که «طاعون» نماد انسانی است که با همه تلاش خود قادر به درمان طاعون زندگی نیست.
پس از این آغاز طوفانی از کامو، سولومون به سراغ پدر اگزیستانسیالیسم میرود: سورن کیرکگارد. دغدغه و بینش او (بر خلاف آیندگان از جمله کامو و سارتر) مسیحیت بود- به عبارت دقیق تر چطور میتوان مسیحی «شد».
با توجه به اینکه (تا جایی که اطلاع دارم) تنها ترس و لرز او در مورد تعلیق اخلاق در بازهای که ابراهیم فرزندش را به کشتارگاه میبرد در ایران چاپ شده است، سه درس موجود در این مجموعه و صحبت در مورد کتابهای کیرکگارد برای آشنایی بیشتر با او و این که چرا بنیانگذار اگزیسنانسیالیسم است بسیار روشنگر است.
نیهیلیسم نیچه که بر خلاف کیرکگارد پاسخی متفاوت و ضد دینی به مساله زندگی است در چهار درس بعدی مورد بررسی قرار میگیرد- این که «خدا مرده است» در اندیشه نیچه و در آن کانتکست زمانی از روشنگری و اعتقادات مردم به چه معناست. پیش از آنکه در ادامه هایدگر و سارتر به عنوان مشهورترین چهرههای اگزیستانسیالیسم بحث شوند، یک درس سی دقیقهای به داستایوسکی و رمانهایش به اختصار میپردازد و این که چگونه تِم برادران کارامازوف از زبان ایوانِ روشنفکر و در انتهای داستان در بستر بیماری این است که «اگر خدا نباشد همه چیز مجاز میشود.»- رویکردی متفاوت به نیهیلیسم مورد توجه نیچه.
بحث اصیل (آوتنتیش) بودن در تفکر فلسفی پیچیده هایدگر، علاوه بر مفاهیم دیگر او همچون داس مان، زورگه و ... بسیار مختصر و مفید بحث میشود.
بحث انتهایی مربوط به سارتر و مسئولیت پذیری در کانتکست زمانی جنگ جهانی دوم است. اندیشه و کتابهای سارتر در شش درس سی دقیقهای به زیبایی بحث میشود که شاید برای تفسیر کتابهای او که بعضا به فارسی هم موجودند مفیدند، از جمله رمان «تهوع» او که داستان مردی است که وقتی سنگریزه ها را (دن��ا) را لمس میکند، احساس تهوع میکند.
اگر سارتر و کامو با داستانهای متفاوت و سیاه خود برای ما آشنا باشند، این مجموعه نشان میدهد آبشخور فکری این دو چگونه در کیرکگارد و هایدگر ریشه دارد. به ویژه که سارتر رسما اعلام کرده بود که تحت تاثیر هستیشناسی هایدگر کتاب «بودن و هیچی» Being and nothingness را نوشته است.
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Amirography
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October 11, 2016
A great book. One of the most fluent reads. I loved it. Yet I didn't love Existentialism. It raises some great questions and ideas, yet it is a bit bitter and I cannot find any good reason for that.
The good thing about it was that I understood that I have to read more of Nietzsche works, and don't waste much time on Sartra any more.
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Joseph L.
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January 18, 2021
Watch a detailed review along with my favorite ideas and takeaways at:
https://youtu.be/Q7b7k_ey_yg
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Olga
383 reviews61 followers
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September 28, 2020
Приятный курс лекций, чтобы освежить в памяти философские идеи. В начале лектор подаёт прям очень разжёванно и гладко всё, начиная с «Постороннего» Камю — собственно за использование худлита как опорного материала уже как минимум одна звезда.
А вот когда начинается часть о феноменологии Гуссерля и Хайдеггера - *эмодзи с криком Ван Гога, три раза*
Собственно их приткнули в серединку, видимо это хардкорная часть для тру philosophy lovers.
Кончается всё довольно гладко Сартром, на мой взгляд опять же достаточно доступно и удобоваримо, как и в начале с Камю.
Важная пометка —Сартра, Камю (выборочно), Ницше, Кьеркегора и опять же выборочно Хайдеггера я читала очень, очень давно. В университетском курсе были все, кроме Ницше (загадочно, почему?). Впрочем, кто же не читал Ницше.
Поэтому думаю если найти подборку ключевых отрывков из работ авторов, и перечитать их по ходу прослушивания, понимать курс станет значительно проще.
Собственно, автором так и задумано — к аудио идет 100-страничный буклет с кратким содержанием теории, рекомендованным чтением и вопросами полегче и посложней. В идеале перед каждой лекцией нужно читать указанную главу в источнике, но я в общем считаю себя молодцом уже хотя бы за прослушивание аудио)
Примеры вопросов попроще в конце лекции о «Мифе о Сизифе» и абсурдизме:
- What is “the absurd”? Camus gives us several possible ways of living
in the face of “the absurd.” What are they? Do you think that they are
equally meritorious? What is “philosophical suicide”?
И посложней:
- Camus, who considered himself a political moderate and a humanist,
states that “to abolish conscious revolt is to elude the problem.”
Elsewhere, he emphasizes the need for “metaphysical revolt.” Who or
what is Camus, an avowed atheist, revolting against?
- Would “the absurd” simply disappear in the face of irrefutable evidence
that God exists?
Ну и как уже можно догадаться, о смысле жизни лектор не даст однозначного ответа, несмотря на завлекающий заголовок (а как хотелось бы...).
В общем и целом, однозначно рекомендую, профессор Соломон — человек явно увлечённый темой, и слушать его приятно. Хотя мне и приходилось некоторые лекции по паре раз прогонять для полного понимания.
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