Most people:
What the actual fuck, how am I going to pass this class? I hate groups, I hate writing, and the teacher said he wasn't actually going to be teaching the course! Besides, this tall gangley freak sitting next to me is starting to creep me out. I think I'll drop this one and go for an easier A.
Me (the tall gangley freak) :
Damn this is gonna be fun.
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My name is Ben Belisle, although most people on the internet know me as Artie, hence the name of the blog, "Existential Artie". I'm a sophmore here at ASU, and this is the first philosophy class I have taken. Well actually that's not true. This is the first philosophy class I've taken in college. My other experiences with philosophy come from my days in high school when I went to a school known as Chandler Preparatory Academy (CPA for short). The school was centered around teaching kids how to be prepared for college by enabling them to have a love of learning and giving them a handle on what was going to be expected of them at the university. I actually noticed a few others I knew from the school in this class, but that's to be expected when your graduating class is only 69 students.
But back to philosophy.
I've loved philosophy for a few reasons:
1. There are never any clear cut answers, and almost everything has an antithesis associated with it.
2. It allows me to express myself through the writings of others, and gives me a chance to read through the thoughts and memories of another individual who, more than likely, had a much firmer grasp on reality that I do.
3. I get those awesome moments of "Holy shit, he/she is totally right."
So when I got into this class and I got 4 separate emails from the teacher, I knew that either the class was going to rock because we had a zany teacher, or that the class was going to suck because the teacher was obviously not very bright. And personally I'm glad we got the former and not the latter.
As for the reading and what we discussed in class, I found myself sticking to a singular idea: existentialism seems to be the "loner's philosophy" according to Solomon. He talks multiple times about how it's an individual's perspective on a world that doesn't make sense to them. I've felt this way before, and have written story ideas on the premise of "not fitting in". But existentialism seems to be much more than that, it's a movement inspired by the ideas of one lone individual. Like the man sitting in the same row as me today said, "There's an almost neurosis that comes with existentialism. I don't sit up at night thinking about bills or girlfriend problems or stuff, this is the stuff that keeps me awake at night." And I agree, there's a sort of crisis that occurs in oneself when confronted with the idea that he may be alone in the world. The mind begins to tear down any notions of self worth and self definition, and you have to start from scratch and ask yourself, "Who am I?" Overall, I got a lot of notes from this reading including questions like "If existentialism can never be fully bottled and documented, does that mean that we should then not try to bottle it at all? Does a painter never paint a river because he knows that the river will not stop while he paints?"
I leave you with an idea that I've been tossing around in my head for a while and really comes to light with this reading. Say you tear down all self image and self prejudice and go meet someone. Say you get stuck in an elevator with a pretty girl or a cute guy. You get to talking. If you, as a person without any judgments or self predjudices can talk to that person, get to know them, form a bond with them, and have them accept you for who you are, then there is nothing in this world that is beyond your grasp. It is not the ideals that are imposed upon us, nor the ideals that we impose upon ourselves that push us forward on the path to glory, but rather the acceptance and personal affirmation of who we are that bring us to greatness.
Simply,
Ben "Artie" Belisle
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