Hello, everyone, I'm Stephen West. This is philosophize this huge thank you to the people that make the show possible by giving wherever they can unpatriotic. No, they show seems to make a lot of people happy and you guys should feel good about yourselves for making it continued to stick around. Thank you to the people that contribute what they think the bat catalogues worth on the website and thank you to the people they get coffee, mugs and sweatshirts and stuff with the logo on it. Appreciate all you. Thank you. Today's episode is on the very interesting and dark a meal children. I hope you love the show today, so I wanted to begin today by having a bit of a disclaimer about the thinker, we're about to cover a meal Tehran, born of Romania, nineteen eleven most of the time categorize one of the great existentialist of the twentieth century and as an existentialist, not a surprise. he's not going to spend a lot of time talking about things like metaphysics, building, elaborate systems talking about the past homology aesthetics. No, in fact, even more so than other existentialist out there. He actually

All these things were mostly a wasted time, but she, IRAN wants to talk about, is existence. The human condition more specifically be dark, inconveniently ugly aspects of existence that society often tells us to sweep under the rug, but nonetheless you find yourself, sitting there on the couch after work on a Tuesday nor front room at some level. You know that those things are still there under the rug hidden, but always still present. Because of this, we have to talk about some pretty dark stuff. This episode not a surprise, but is fascination with this protected class of dark topics going to cause a lot of people to label him a pessimist, and he no doubt was in some respects, but the point of this disclaimer at the top of the show was to let you know that yes five percent EU we're going to disagree with the way he thinks about the human condition, but

No, that my ambition as someone trying to present his ideas is that by the end of this, hopefully, what I can get across is that, despite what might seem on the surface like a very dark pessimistic out beneath the surface Emil Tehran might be one of the most optimistic thinkers. I've ever had the pleasure of studying. I guess the best thing I can say to prime us for talking about your rounds. Work is that it's far from depressing Sometimes, when you have a problem in life, you want somebody to come in and give you advice and fix the problem so to go away one a philosopher like Plato, to come in and give you an answer, proud of with more wisdom, but sometimes when you face problems you just have to endure and deal with, problems that clearly aren't going away anytime soon. Sometimes you dont want someone to fix it. Sometimes you just want someone to listen. Someone who's been there before that can relate to you, that is in my reading the essence of Tirana work. He makes

feel a little less alone in these inevitable darker aspects of the human condition, and he makes you feel if only for a minute that you don't have to hide them, for the sake of being polite may be the best way to give some perspective as to how unique of a finger he is is to talk about a group that to history became known ass. Gnostics the basic ideas this the world is flawed in a lot of different ways in a religious context. This might be described in terms of the world, certainly not being Heaven or Paradise right in philosophy the world is but an earthly shadow of the world of forms. Tons of examples you get what I mean so, if the world being flawed as a car, concept within human thought, different groups throughout history. I try to come up with theories as to why this would be the case. The gnostics but leave that the world is messed up in a lot of ways because it was created in a messed up way. God However, you want to envision, it could have created the world

However, it wanted to. It chose to create a world where we have to, for example, consume life to live. Read in a world where there are blizzards and volcanoes and hurricanes and everything else that causes hardship. It could needed a world were suffering, is a crucial part of the process. It created a world with clamshell packaging. That's Only a malicious god would ever create clamshell packaging into the gnostics. Only a malicious god would create a world where we could recognise and be aware of the suffering required of existence all the time. Now. It's because of this suffering that the Gnostics would arrive at a position which is much more commonly thought of in today's language as Anti Naval ISM, which in one pronounced form, is practised by refusing to have, children or even practice, making them out of an extreme aversion to knowingly bringing any more unnecessary suffering into this world now enter wheelchair run for a second, he once said that we all flee the tragedy of our birth. The reality of being cast

to an absurd, meaningless world against our will. But, as that wasn't bad enough. On top of all that we are caught justly aware of that reality. He said quote better to be in animal than a man, an insect than an animal a plant than an insect and so on. Solving asian whatever diminishes the kingdom of consciousness and compromises, its supremacy, end quote, but here's the thing to IRAN, but ultimately even reject the Gnostics and the anti NATO's. I mean for many reasons, but one of them were telling ones as the simple fact that they even tried to systematized their conclusions. He rejected previous attempts by philosophers to tread and neatly package things together, like that. He actually rejected a lot of ways. People have been doing things even rejected traditional formats and literature. He wrote in fragments in its work in this effort, mystic style that's impossible to kneel down. To put it bluntly, I guess, as he often did you dont have to have some codified official described

in reality to realise that we are failed projects as people. Humanity itself is a failed project. pray do whatever you want, but to a mule children who ever or whatever that, God is one things for certain a kind of messed up on this particular project now from you're, not gonna, be a shocking to many you but surround arise at the conclusion that maybe, ultimately, everything is meaningless and starting our discussion from this place. Here's the point he might make here to start it's that when you consider the utter meaninglessness of life. The issue: your absurdity of existence. These suffering endured on massive scales daily, simply for the sake of subsistence. How can anyone say that this is a beautiful creation? Not you can make the argument Opel, it's beautiful on its own flawed way, how can we pigeon hole? The definition of beauty like that, but his point is this: what omniscient, omnipotent deity makes this as an

project I mean to run. This is the equivalent of when a preschooler, Gluesome, macaroni smiley, face to construct and paper and, of course, he's not actually considering the possibility of there being a god responsible for all this. He's just laughing at the absurdity of it from that specific perspective, which he did a lot in his work by the way seats around thought that lets. You do believe in some creative force behind the universe. If you really were dedicated to whatever God, you think is up their planning. All this is sometimes have to be prepared to live without all the promises and safeguards at your God has to offer you, and he says it when you take a second and just listen when you take a second to stop grovelling, Godspeed asking for security when you stop asking for answers, what you here is what he calls the one true only reality silence. What are we here when we quote? Let idea

be declared void, beliefs, trifles art, a lie and philosophy, a joke. When we stop trying to rationalize and makes sense of the world around us with religions or philosophy or any other method, we instantly come into contact with the reality. The universe silence he said quote for animals. Life is all there is for man, life a question mark, an irreversible question mark for man has never found noble ever find any answers, life, not only has no meaning it can never have. One end quote to ninety five percent out there. So far, this major sound, like the ramblings of an angry dude that just doesn't have the depth the character to have found a way to connect with the universe or people yet, but the thing that me around. So interesting is the direction he's gonna take all this. Let me start here

look. There are very real, tragic, painful elements of human existence that we all experience at some point in our lives, that is to say that there are things about life that just plain stocks. Times practically every one. Listen to this at some point has experienced some level of despair, depression, melancholy failure. We ve all made missteps in life that cost us big opportunities. We all had our hearts broken, you name it, and yet how interesting around but say that all of these and many more fall into this sort of privileged class that we have a dark topics, a set of real experiences that we all seem to be. Having that we're not supposed to really talk about for most life consists of constantly cure rating, an image where you aren't feeling in you these things were supposed to be smiling and every picture we're supposed to be happy about. Actually where we are in life and excited about our future. But this image many of us project

is not the reality of our internal experience, there's a sense in which were just supposed to keep certain feelings inside and not talk about them, because when a friend comes up to us and they tell us that there feeling depressed about them, meaninglessness of life or when they say there feeling despair about the lack of control. They ultimately have over things how interesting Tehran but say that we often meet that person with a look of concern. That's the default. We may try to fix it missed other broken or something broken for acknowledging reality on realities terms, but IRAN would say why does it have to be this way? point isn't that we should try to help our friends of her feeling bad, I mean, of course you should have that's what you want to do. His point is more that these negative internal experiences are a part of the human condition. Sometimes shouldn't we be able to talk about

reality, and why is it something that makes us so uncomfortable when people do? I mean take any other aspect of reality. One plus one equals to when your first grade teacher talked about that aspect of reality, where you sad where you concerned was at the the forbidden equation, or something no, of course, not. So why these parts of experience in particular, why the taboo to Tehran? The answers simply because talking about them makes us feel uncomfortable? This point that he makes reminds me a bit of high degree point in his concept of being unto death. Heidegger makes the point that People spend their lives doing anything they can't do not consider the absolute too. We'll reality that one day they're gonna have to die. We even see sure our societies around the denial of that reality. We high death and disease these and illness away in these cordon off distant facilities, so that we never have to really look at it, cemeteries, hospitals, retirement homes and normal

how uncomfortable it may make us to acknowledge this reality everyday. Ultimately, if we lived with the constant awareness of death our lives will be lived in. A much higher resolution will so who which IRAN, these darker moments of our experience, make us extremely uncomfortable and by not vocalize in the way we feel and by making people feel damaged or broken when they do. It helps us in our quest to do what most people do in this life in his eyes to live in a constant state of denial. now, although there are more three primary strategies, people used to try to get rid of these bad feelings. The first one is that, through various methods they try to just reason these feelings away. This is probably the most common method that has been used. Historically, this could be a religion this, be a philosopher and their ideas. This could be a self help book This could be one of those weekend, motivational seminars where everyone suddenly That's a good idea to jump around. Waved their arms and one of those two people outside the car wash

Tehran, it doesn't matter what it is. This is anything, but we come up with some sort of narrative that aims to get away from these feelings by them, This is one of the things that mixture on such an interesting philosopher. He doesn't it like philosophy any all these attempts by thinkers to create these rationalizations, these feelings as a waste of time. This no doubt be a surprise to many of you knowing he's doing its work in the early to mid twentieth century coming out of the enlightenment, reed and is not exactly everyone's go too when it comes to solving the problems we face. As people I mean conclude, it is about biology in psychology are being highly scrutinised, as are many of the other sciences. Language and its instability is under attack. Relativism, nihilism, historic ism. These becoming the primary ways we direct our morality, not something some dude happened too, reason. Tunis basement one day, Tehran's pointers when you try to reason away these feelings of dread and melancholy about existence,

Oh you are really doing, is being intellectually dishonest. You dont like how uncomfortable these feelings are So we try to find some rationalization about life that allows you to feel more Optimistic, but what you were simultaneously doing there he says is chaining yourself to a doctrine of false hope about higher things now again at surface level, this may sound, like he's, probably a downer, and someone might come away from that point with an attitude like, but then what's the point of doing anything, but at a deeper level. What you're saying here is just God, how many possibilities are made impossible to you by chaining yourself to some optimism: COLT when you don't have any chains, and you accept the aimlessness of things. The flip side of that is that now you can go anywhere when you accept the dangers of the Savanna, for example.

have to stay crammed inside about armored car on the road watching things from a distance, but just like any great attraction, that's we're seeing it comes with a cost, and the cost of this type of existence is melancholy, dread and all the rest of the feelings that come with intellectual honesty, the second which around things we try to get rid of the feelings is to distract ourselves away from them. This is a really common one in today's day and age, because we have so many tools that help us do it so effectively. Netflix social media, video games, things that get you intoxicated fantasy apples, there's no shortage of things to distract you away from these feelings. If that's what you choose to do, but to IRAN, but say that if you choose to ignore these feelings, you

you so at your own peril, because here's the thing you can't be on a constant ivy drip of Netflix, your entire life, these feelings of dread and melancholy, their common, and it doesn't matter how comfortable you been or how long it's been since you, ve, experienced failure or tragedy. Life will eventually throw something your way and when it does do you want to be comfortable dealing with those What or do you want? Those muscles atrophied do want to face something. That's gonna be a trying time, but you know you're gonna get through it when you what potential catastrophe, yes just like reasoning, things away. Distraction may work in the short term, but it doesn't solve the problem and ultimately, just serves to rob you with some other point with an experience. The third common way people get rid of these is to just accept them as reality, we see this in things like stoicism Finally, in many eastern traditions, the idea is that if we can just learn to accept that things are ultimately out of our control and be fine with it

all those things, no matter how uncomfortable they are, will no longer have any power over us now. That sounds great in theory, but you around was pretty sceptical about this hype, medical person and how much they really accepted these things, or whether this was just yet another way of creating a rationalization for the sake of disarming the how are these feelings have over us now has a quote that man accepts death, but not the hour of his death. and part of what he's getting there is, but we can accept the fact that one day in the future, a meteor the size of Canada is gonna, unexpectedly slamming to earth and in life. As we note, we can go about our lives, caring about all kinds of things. Now, worrying about the potential meteor, because, honestly, if it comes What could we have done anyway, and if it doesn't, then I don't know wise for never having worried about it. But good luck when you actually see a rock size of Canada Ring fire on everything you ve ever known and loved good luck having to look on

face like you're waiting in line for a sandwich, but let's at that aside for second for the sake of argument, let's just say that these people have learned to completely accept everything that is out of their control. Tehran would say mere acceptance is not enough. be a functioning human being in a universe that is meaningless and filled with absurdity to have reasons to get off the couch. And anything beyond eating and sleeping you know, SL. We need to evoke, as he says, moral, aesthetic, religious, social and many more reasons for doing it, no doubt even those who have acquired this level of acceptance made, which IRAN would see as intellectually dishonest leaps and other areas educated by the moral, aesthetic, religious and social and here's where he's coming from the main premise of neurons work is nothingness. He says quote when all the current reasons, moral, steady, religious, social and so on no longer guide one's life. How can one?

sustain life without succumbing to nothingness only by a connection with the absurd by love of absolute uselessness, loving something which not have substance but which stimulates an illusion of life. I live because the mouth do not laugh and the worms do not sing end quote here's what he meets. Consider this for a second like we said before reason can certainly pass are you region can give you temporary relief from feelings of dread and melancholy, but another way of looking at that is to say that in doing so, you chain yourself to a doctrine and limit the possibilities you haven't. I that's an alternative way of looking at the merits of reason. Why couldn't we also say that a person that doesn't how a passer by reason or distraction or acceptance. arming these uncomfortable feelings. Couldn't we say that a person filled with this feeling of this? there is in some way full of life We all the other ones. Aren't I mean despair and melancholy or parts of life at times

couldn't we say running from them, seems to be denial or a negation of life in some way, you know it's from this place, and I want to look at this claim that IRAN is a pessimist a little bit closer from his perspective. He is faced with the same reality as everyone else, the tragedy of our birth against our will into a universe that we quickly realized, is meaningless and absurd. Now most people at this point run in the other direction. Once again, they pacify recent distraction acceptance, but from here perspective. None of these have actually solved the problem, universal still absurd and no. national liberation distraction is change. That fact. So, from the perspective of most that use one of these tactics Yes, Tehran is going to look like an ultimate pessimist because he's being now It is about their optimistic outlook, but from his perspective, he's not being pessimistic pieces calling and how he sees it

he certainly doesn't advocate sitting around lamenting. The fact that everything is meaningless in the world is absurd. All the time. What makes him an interesting thinker is that his tactic is to steer into the absurdity to run into the burning building that everyone else wants to run away from to learn to love the world which is pure absurdity simply for the sake of itself and not for the sake of what meaning it can give to us to be able to connect with pure uselessness member, as he said, to be able to love some which does not have substance but which simulates an illusion of life by steering to the absurdity and embracing it, we affirm life by running from it in all sorts of creative ways we negate it. Can we I say that this embrace of the human condition, both the dark and the light sides of it. Can we say that this is a type of optimism, but make no mistake If you wanted to embark on a journey like this, it certainly is. Gonna be easy. This is a lifestyle that, without quest and will require you to accept these views.

Things of melancholy dread failure low. In this and all the rest, but by embracing The absurdity of the world and the reality of the emotional variants of the human condition you reward will be to have access to these. It was possibilities that lay before you and we'll talk about it more next episode, but a milch. Iran would go on to say that he's never had a friend who didn't get real and steer into the absurdity of things without a passive fire and kindness. He worries coming from when picking your friends or when trying to understand yourself when trying to get to know anyone, do you want a super distracted person talk, and you know how do you even get to know them? Do you want someone just parroting some book they read or rambling? We need to set on a topic know I'd rather just hang out with Nita personally Do you relate to someone who mascot

its around as someone who has transcended all of us, other feeble human beings and our feelings of sadness see it's only by contending with the true possibilities available to us that we have access to ourselves and to others. Tehran has a quote in his book on the heights of despair We asked the question he ass quote: who is more unhappy? He who feel his own loneliness or he who feel so loneliness of the world. End quote: he sang a few things in this quote, but one of them, I think, is a perfect way of thinking of what many see as a paradox that lies at the foundations of his work. On one hand, he's a thinker: that's gonna, go there he's I think that his dark enough to bring up the cosmic level of loneliness of the human species, a lonely Everyone feels but Joe by bringing it up talking about it and packing it, making fun of it at times agonising over it and, ultimately not accepting it to somehow diffuse it how it makes us uncomfortable, but by embracing it staring into it. When we do all these things we

feel less alone. After reading his work we feel not only that someone else's feeling the way we do sometimes on our worst days, but also that, we want this feeling this way, sometimes in that makes you feel like you're at least a part of something. Now he does with every one of these feelings that we talked about today, he steers into them he's fascinated by the most dark and taboo things to talk about. In so called polite conversation. to this favorites nobody's gonna lifetime, absolutely fascinated with where the concept of failure and suicide his thoughts on failure it is interesting as they are hilarious. His favorite people in life were complete failure. He would revel in his own failures in life and that they should be embraced. we'll talk about it. We more next episode. Suicide. The other hand was a bit more of a complicated issue. What next episode to be exciting, so it only give too much away here but what I will say is that Tehran did not think so. side was an answer to uncomfortable feelings. He himself did not commit. Suicide, in fact, might be

the picture Toronto. Some emo look endued corner the bar pray, beer is meaningless now, on the contrary, member. His whole messages to embrace life which to him is solely to embrace melancholy, dread failure, etc. There are some people that right about meeting to IRAN and it very clear that he may have been one of the most jovial people. They never met to leave something to think about and for China what will be making a case for next episode. I leave you to do with this quote the fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live. Moreover, it's the only one end quote. Thank you for listening I'll talk to an extra