(Part 2) Top products from r/Existentialism

If one decides to perform an action in advance, and then performs that action, was it not a self-determined action? He was determined to slap the person in advance, but it was still a choice he made given many alternative options. Furthermore, is free will simply the freedom of action, or is it also the freedom of self-determination? I would argue that free will gives us the freedom to form ourselves into the people we wish to be, not just to perform the actions we wish to perform. He may have shaped himself into the type person that would slap an opponent instead of debating. Since this sub is about existentialist philosophy, you will probably find more people here agree with the idea of shaping ourselves into the people we wish to be.

>(or as Steven Pinker puts its a ghost inside your body pushing all the buttons)

Ah, another reference to a "pop intellectual" who isn't an expert in philosophy or free will. I've seen Sam Harris, Robert Salpolski, and now Steven Pinker as the defenders of hard determinism. It tends to be neuroscientists and psychologists in the popular science community. Why hasn't anyone mentioned a professional philosopher that shares their deterministic views; one who can provide a solid philosophical foundation for such beliefs? It may be because the majority of professional philosophers either believe free will is compatible with a deterministic universe, or that there is free will and it is incompatible with determinism.

>Free will: compatibilism 59.1%; libertarianism 13.7%; no free will 12.2%; other 14.9%.

If you're interested in learning more about the justifications and challenges for free will, I recommend reading Elbow Room by Daniel Dennet and Four Views on Free Will. I can guarantee you'll learn more about free will from those two books than you will by listening to Steven Pinker.

Hi there! There's a lot of different types of philosophy, so it really depends on what you're interested in.

There's two big camps - analytic and continental - but they really boil down to logic and classical reasoning vs. more existential material. Analytic philosophy would try to prove the existence of god, while continental philosophy would talk about how the existence (or non-existence!) of god would impact your life.

All that being said, I would recommend an intro to philosophy book like this. A lot of classic philosophical writers tend to be hard to read and convoluted. I'd recommend getting an intro to phil book and finding what interests you, then going from there.

Nothing really, you can go right to it. But it's not light reading and might not resolve your concerns, especially if Man's Search for Meaning didn't immediately help. What Frankl offers in that book is basically a patronus. Not that Harry Potter isn't a way of life but it's not a rigorous framework either. It's a charm in your pocket, if you can find one that's strong enough to withstand scrutiny and repeated use.

Because of your other questions The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. It gets to the heart of the question.

r/existentialsupport

HEY! EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT!
I've gone through bouts of similar thought processes and usually it's pretty difficult to dig yourself. There's no one thing that anything can say to brighten the situation or your outlook. Still, this book helped me find a bit of focus and perspective (http://www.amazon.com/The-Defining-Decade-Twenties-Matter-And/dp/0446561754), though it has nothing to do with existentialism.

It can be a bit corny at times, but overall it offers some pretty practical advice.

Just had a look then, the copy in my course-reader is photocopied from an anthology type of thing called "Philosophical Writings (The Beauvoir Series". It's translated by a woman called Marybeth Timmermann and after a quick google I can confirm that you can get it on Amazon pretty easily.

Hope this helps!

Yep! "Letters From A Stoic" - https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Penguin-Classics-Lucius-Annaeus/dp/0140442103/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=letters+from+a+stoic&qid=1558561107&s=gateway&sr=8-3


Here is a fantastic audio recording of it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a5jDHyXXDw&list=PLzKrfPkpj5om1kEBj7c80cwjJ1JS78FL7

Camus was both an essay writer and a fiction author, so reading a piece of each is a good idea. The Stranger would be his best work of fiction to read, and "The Myth of Sisyphus" his best essay. It really lays out his ideas regarding the absurd. It usually appears in a book called The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Both books, especially the first, are in most libraries.
I haven't read Kierkegaard, but I've heard that Either/Or is both a simple read and puts his ideas on display. If you'd prefer to read it online, here's a link that I found.

The Nietzsche Reader and The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche are both great resources to dive into!

https://www.amazon.com/Jay-JA0027-Gift-of-Nothing/dp/B019HDSCPU

Amazon has you covered with free shipping!

If you're interested, this is the book I was talking about. https://www.amazon.com/Denial-Self-Deception-False-Beliefs-Origins-ebook/dp/B00A2CF28Q

I mean this seriously, but i'd look into working with a good physician or psychiatrist (i.e., one who doesn't just randomly throw antidepressants at you), because there's a good chance that a bad underlying physiology is at least partly influencing these dark thoughts. There are even plenty of supplemental routes to take, depending on the type of depression you're experiencing; so if you primarily experience lack of pleasure and motivation, this means low dopamine, and tyrosine is an amino acid supplement you can take which precedes dopamine and so turns into it; same thing with tryptophan and 5-HTP for low serotonin (which presents primarily as rumination, "too many thoughts in my head"), and norepinephrine (consider copper or vitamin C deficiencies, both supplements which are cofactors -- speed up -- the enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine).

Also talk therapy could help unhinge any possible underlying schemas or core beliefs that could be contributing to your depression. Check out this link, for example (disregarding the first few pages which speak of personality disorders), or this book.

Totally serious here. We are also biological creatures in addition to being conscious ones.

Have you read this: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Black-Living-Fearlessness-Compass/dp/0140196307

I read it in high school. It was about the first thing I ever read on existentialism. Also, I think it has content of value for all races, but it's a perspective that may be under explored.

"Man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world—and defines himself afterwards"

—Jean-Paul Sartre

From Existentialism and Humanism (later published in English as Existentialism is a Humanism)

Whatever you do, do NOT read existentialist books.

All that will do is reinforce and rationalize your own depressed thinking. Existentialism is rationalized depression.

Try something with actually proven CBT psychological theory. Like "Overcoming Depression" by Paul Gilbert.

Or if you want something a bit more philosophical, try "The Denial of Death." In a way, it also is existentialist and reinforces the depressive premise, but it also describes the way out, through transcending the individual self. That book is what turned me from a depressive libertarian to a happy ethnonationalist.