My Take On Existentialism

[cherry]

'How can you say you appreciate the fictional, "philosophy presented in a work of art", existentialist novels while you think the non-fictional, "philosophy presented in a work of philosophy" is unimpressive? That's like saying I like the ideas behind this novel but I DON'T LIKE THE IDEAS'.

I do take your point, however for me philosophy must be a lived experience. A good philosopher considers new ways of being, new methods by which to live their life- and I mean live- not merely cope. Existentialism to me is a coping mechanism at best, and at worst it has been hijacked by 20 something party people who, as I stated earlier use it as an excuse for poor behaviour. and as I am now all grown up and the wrong side of 30, I think that was me back then.

besides that are plenty of examples of literature that use ethcial and philosophical principles as narrative, but I would not live my life by them. take Fight Club for example.