/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.4663786]

I give up, /lit/. I'm tried of trying to figure out how I should live my life. I need someone to tell me how to live. Who is the best philosopher for the job, and which works should I read?

[Anonymous No.4663788]

I believe gunocles was the best.
>kill yourself for wanting others to tell you how to live, ya fuggin' pleb.

[Anonymous No.4663789]

>>4663786
>not living in a barrel

[mom No.4663791]

>>4663786
Zeno. And other mathematical paradoxes. Just study them and you'll be so busy that you'll forget about your life

[Anonymous No.4663804]

>>4663786
Read Stirner, the most emancipatory thinker of all time. You'll realise you don't need someone to tell you how to live your life after all. You think you do now, because you're still plagued by the notion of the good life, perhaps even of a well spent or a wasted life. Once you get rid of the notion that there is a right way, you'll get rid of the notion that there is a wrong way, and a weight will fall of your shoulders as you put those silly notions behind you and live as you please without shoulds or oughts or rights or wrongs.

[Anonymous No.4663809]

>>4663786

Siddhartha. And not for the reason you think.

[mom No.4663821]

>>4663804
I suppose this is a good summary of the existential, empowering words of Stirner

He's right, though. Strong men who exercise their will always have respect. Like, you may not like Hitler, but you sure as fuck respect him. In fact, if you can't honestly admit to yourself that the Nazi image was goddamn impressive, then you're lying to yourself.

Life is never simple. No matter what, you will be trapped into axioms you make for yourself and you'll never know that much about anything. That's okay. I know almost nothing. And yet, I've learned how to express confidently and to use sophistry and sometimes logic to convince people

And so, I got a raise-promotion at work. I dunno. I don't really like my job but I want to succeed at it because succeeding makes me happy

I'm ranting as fuck but the main idea is, analyze your thoughts and desires, and learn how to be strictly honest with what you want. Like, if you want to bone some girl, and she's friend-zoning you, buck up and stop talking to her. You have 3 ways to go, you fuck her, you stay her friend, or you move on. And if you can't do the first one, and are afraid of the third one, you choose the second. But not acting will cause you all this suffering. so learn to act. and you'll make your own life genuinely simpler because part of life is making uncomfortable long term decisions on insufficient evidence. That's okay, as long as you're final and not wish-washy people will respect your choices.

[Anonymous No.4663837]

>>4663809
Why?

[Anonymous No.4663844]

>>4663821
>He's right, though. Strong men who exercise their will always have respect. Like, you may not like Hitler, but you sure as fuck respect him. In fact, if you can't honestly admit to yourself that the Nazi image was goddamn impressive, then you're lying to yourself.

[mom No.4663855]

>>4663844
>>He's right, though. Strong men who exercise their will always have respect. Like, you may not like Hitler, but you sure as fuck respect him. In fact, if you can't honestly admit to yourself that the Nazi image was goddamn impressive, then you're lying to yourself.

[Anonymous No.4663863]

>>4663821
>Life is never simple.
Nor is it ever hard, then.

>you will be trapped into axioms you make for yourself and you'll never know that much about anything.
You seem confused. Are you sure you know what the word 'know' implies here? Without axioms your knowledge would cease to exist.

>are afraid of the third one, you choose the second.
False dichotomy, tripfag.

[Anonymous No.4663872]

>>4663863
Get a load of this fuckin' guy.
>gets on 4Chins /lit/ just to act like an asshole when he's too butt-frustrated to say anything in the real world

[Anonymous No.4663877]

[Anonymous No.4663886]

>>4663821

To be completely honest, I have no respect whatsoever for Hitler. In actuality Hitler was weak.

[Anonymous No.4663892]

>>4663886
Weak people don't get that far.

[mom No.4663907]

>>4663886
Hitler was incredibly megalomaniac an is one of the most recognizable figures of all time. Who created an army with the mos recognizable aesthetic and even changed the popular aesthetics of evil itself.

Do you really have no idea how enormous hitlers personal impact on culture is?

[Anonymous No.4663923]

Foucault.

[mom No.4663924]

>>4663863
You do realize that simply spouting fallacies does nothing? Look up the fallacy of the fallacy

You should argue your points if you want to enter an arena of formal logic. you can't impose formal logic standards on an argument that wasn't written in that context. But if you want to go down the formal logic route, stick to it and ill destroy you.

[Anonymous No.4663935]

>>4663821

What should I do to combat my laziness and inability to get myself to actually do anything? You seem like a person who can give good advice.

[Anonymous No.4663932]

Name one thing Heidegger has written that isn't a regurgitation of Nietzsche.

[None !!lZetafI6z8s No.4663939]

stirner -> schopenhauer -> aristippus -> nietzsche -> frankl -> watch the notebook & then freely embody every conflicting will-to with a prudent epicurean style "this actually can't possibly go wrong" path-of-least-resistance decision making technique while cultivating a (truly) unwavering amor fati AND freeing nihilistic fatalism, until your chaotic aiming-for-self-enjoyment becomes your natural way of being & you are able to joyously and purposefully/purposelessly consume every facet of human satisfaction while having the strength to affirm (& thereby turn) all the necessary suffering

[mom No.4664036]

>>4663935
Focus on the basics of basics. Simple health, sleep patterns, etc. everyone thinks they know the basics but often try don't. And exercise plays a role. When you get in tune with your body you get more control and it gets easier to accomplish things

[Anonymous No.4664066]

>>4663804
>Once you get rid of the notion that there is a right way, you'll get rid of the notion that there is a wrong way, and a weight will fall of your shoulders as you put those silly notions behind you and live as you please without shoulds or oughts or rights or wrongs.

The True Man of ancient times did not rebel against want, did not grow proud in plenty, and did not plan his affairs. A man like this could commit an error and not regret it, could meet with success and not make a show, could climb the high places and not be frightened, could enter the water and not get wet, could enter the fire and not get burned. In this way, his knowledge was able to climb all the way to the Infinite.

The True Man of ancient times slept without dreaming and woke without care; he ate without savoring and his breath came from deep inside. The True Man breathes with his heels; the mass of men breathe with their throats. Crushed and bound down, they gasp out their words as though they were retching. Deep in their passions and desires, they are shallow in the workings of Heaven.

The True Man of ancient times knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hating death. He emerged without delight; he went back in without a fuss. He came briskly, he went briskly, and that was all. He didn't forget where he began; he didn't try to find out where he would end. He received something and took pleasure in it; he forgot about it and handed it back again. This is what I call not using the mind to repel the Way, not using man to help out Heaven.

[Anonymous No.4664071]

>>4664066
At least use quotation marks.

[Anonymous No.4664753]

>>4664066

[Anonymous No.4665322]

>>4663924
>You do realize that simply spouting fallacies does nothing?
Do you realize every fallacy has a connotation of its own? You should be able to figure it out for yourself. I am not here to spoon feed you. "Oh no!!!! what could this possibly mean within what i had written????? I can't see the context!!!!!!!!". Correct yourself, poser, or consider yourself an irrational twaddler in the eyes of many.

>You should argue your points if you want to enter an arena of formal logic. you can't impose formal logic standards on an argument that wasn't written in that context.
First of all, informal "logic' is not formal logic. Secondly, you should read Hume's is/ought problem and shut your whore mouth. Moreover, I am not here to argue about "formal logic", a subject which you obviously have no experience with. I called you out for a reason. So far, you're failing hard and everyone is laughing at you.

[mom No.4665345]

>>4665322
You haven't argued against the conclusion.

[Anonymous No.4665365]

>>4665345
I literally spotted a flaw in your assumptions/premises, moron. Revise your pathetic "argument", or get lost.

[mom No.4665423]

>>4665365
And that literally does not make the conclusion false, moron.

You did not even look up the fallacy fallacy, did you?

[Anonymous No.4665547]

>>4663786
Join the Military.

[Anonymous No.4665569]

>>4665423
I couldn't care less about your contingent and relativistic conclusion. Your shit is flawed; as in, your conclusion doesn't follow.

[Anonymous No.4665610]

>>4663886
>>4663907
This. Hitler is one of the best artists of the 20th century. He was a work of art in himself. Read Heidegger.

[Anonymous No.4665668]

>>4665610
>Read Heidegger.
What the fuck does that have to do with it.

I fucking hate dogmatic nihilist teenagers in here.

>DURR STIRNER
>NIETZSCHE SO UBERSEMNSESNCH

[Anonymous No.4665676]

>>4663932
Name one thing that is a regurgitation of Nietzsche

[Anonymous No.4665689]

>>4665668
The more passive aggressive someone is on 4chan the more beta I've found them to be. Keep that in mind when you're thinking about what you're doing.

[Anonymous No.4665693]

>>4665668
Hitler and his aesthetics functioned like the temple in Heidegger's thought: "“[t]he temple draws the people who act in its light to clarify, unify, and extend the reach of its style, but being a material thing it resists rationalization. And since no interpretation can ever completely capture what the work means, the temple sets up a struggle between earth and world. The result is fruitful in that the conflict of interpretations that ensues generates a culture's history."

[Anonymous No.4665708]

>>4665689
Are you being passive agressive right now?

[Anonymous No.4665712]

If you read this and don't understand your purpose in life, then you will know your soul is truly that of a pleb

[Anonymous No.4665715]

>>4665693
You're nuts

[Anonymous No.4665723]

>>4665689
I mean, of course. Passive aggression is for women.

[Anonymous No.4665726]

Read this

[Anonymous No.4665740]

>>4663786

Carnap. Logical positivism is the only school worth a damn.

[Anonymous No.4665751]

>>4665712
>>4665726
>>4665740
>lel

[Anonymous No.4665801]

There is no 'point of reference' for how to live. Some will argue individualism (pursue your own desires and succeed), others will lean toward community (live to lead, teach or better others), but what does it all come down to?

You can examine your current state, your upbringing, your desires and wants and find they are wholly determined and outside control. You can attempt to reconstruct yourself or some notion of identity based on other arbitrary factors that, again, are mostly outside of your control. There is no 'right answer', 'right', or 'answer' in any of this.

[Anonymous No.4666293]

Read some Stirner and you'll learn how to unspook yourself
Epicurus for learning how to live pleasurably without burning yourself out in a hedonic treadmill
Stoics and Buddhists for practices which are effective at difficult times when you are suffering
Nietzsche for learning how to embrace your Will to Power and personal Pride
Aristotle for learning how to balance it all out

[Anonymous No.4666316]

>>4666293
word

[Anonymous No.4666342]

>>4663892
Hitler did.
>>4663907
That doesn't make him not weak. He's just a beta faggot who had talent for drama and got around at the right time in the right place for the special kind of drama that suited his tastes. The Nazi were a bunch of scarecrows in uniform, their operative power came for the German military, which was organized by officiers who colud just as well have served under another government. Even when he started to gain proeminence his followers would complain against his undecisiveness. If you want a badass Nazi, Goering is a much better pick.

[Anonymous No.4666352]

>>4666342
Hitler wasn't weak

>He's just a beta faggot who had talent for drama and got around at the right time in the right place for the special kind of drama that suited his tastes
> The Nazi were a bunch of scarecrows in uniform, their operative power came for the German military

You know nothing about Germany during the 1930's and nothing about Nazism
Please stop being an ignorrant cry more

[Anonymous No.4666370]

>>4666342
yeah hitler was such a little bitch he got all the highest decorations fighting in the trenches. check yourself m8

[Anonymous No.4666386]

>>4663935
>What should I do to combat my laziness and inability to get myself to actually do anything?

Make a schedule and stick to it.

Start small with little things, and take it one thing at a time though gradually buidling it up. IT doesn't need to be 'rigid' per se but do try to get the basics right (e.g. sleeping habits, regular meals, light exercise) and then create 'blocks' of time where you can do variable things. The point is not to force yourself to do it but make it so it comes naturally. In one of those blocks, though you may not have specified anything formally, the idea is that you use it for something constructive nonetheless.

But as always and I must reiterate - really focus on the basics - sleep, diet, exercise.

[Anonymous No.4666443]

>>4666293
Thank you

[Anonymous No.4666475]

>>4666293
>Will to Power
>Not WIll to Live + Will to Power

[Anonymous No.4666480]

>>4663939
das it mane

[Anonymous No.4666482]

Epicurus has a proven track record.

[Anonymous No.4666499]

>>4666352
You seem to be the one crying. Sorry I destroyed your I-doll.

Also, you have yet to produce an argument to defend this opinion
>Hitler wasn't weak

His politics of resent and his suicide definitely show he was prone to a certain kind of weakness.

>>4666370
>yeah hitler was such a little bitch he got all the highest decorations fighting in the trenches.

If you believe the decorations went to the soldiers "fighting in the trenches" then you need to read more about the history of WWI. The most decorated soldiers were mainly the ones closest to the high-ranking officers, which are also the ones less exposed to front-line combat. This issue isn't about Hitler alone, by the way, one of the sons of the Kaiser's family had expressed concerns about that towards the end of the war. We have letters of soldiers from Hitler's regiment who basically said him: "I know that youdid your job, and that you're not responsible for the high command giving you the Iron Cross, but you can't just go around and pretend you spent the whole war fighting in the trenches like all of us". The idea that he was the bravest soldier tasked with particularly dangerous missions is a forgery he and some of his supporters created to foster his image of national hero. He did fight a handful of battle in the front, and he did do his duty, but overall he spent much less time in the trenches that your average German soldier. He belonged to one of the most sheltered parts of the German military.

And there's still the problem that you can be fighting recklessly under an adrenaline rush and be weak in most normal circumstances. So your rebuttal doesn't seem really convinving to me.

[Anonymous No.4666535]

>>4666499
Your claim of his weakness because he disliked certain people and because he wasn't going to play along in a show trail isn't very convincing either.

[Anonymous No.4666546]

Read about the preSocratics. Ignore what basic science classes have taught you and come up with arguments as to why it is reasonable to assume these things. Read Lao Tzu and Marcus Aurelius and try to think like them when things get rough. The more absurd something sounds to you at first, the harder you should work to make a system to prove it. Read Tractatus Logico Philosophicus and try to disprove things without proving them. Get a pet cat and read Schopenhauer's Aphorisms and all of Hegel. Take mushrooms one night and listen to Thus Spake Zarathustra on tape. Listen to Kierkegaard on angst the next morning with valium, then go to a puppet show drunk after reading Burke on the Sublime. Interact with the performance like a good audience member and then go home, throw up, and read Candide because it'll be a rough weekend. Re-read Hegel without leaving the house for six months, talk to your cat, and then read Garfield minus Garfield. Get a girlfriend, make her break up with you for reading Either/Or to her, and then read a biography of Seneca and watch his plays. Read Pericles. Work in a factory while reading nothing but the Fable of the Bees, William Blake and Samuel Butler. Read Justine and Juliette by Sade in tandem with the Bible and If on a Winter's Night a Traveller. Read The Talented Mr Ripley and Thorstein Veblen while posing as a secret agent/kingpin to OKCupid, actively seeking company. Subscribe to a newspaper and read an essay by Hume between each article. Join a Buddhist monastery and try to convert them to Judeo-Christianity using Augustine, Freud and Wilde. Read Baudrillard while browsing /r9k/. Read Heidegger to your toaster. Finally, you must read Kant's one joke while drinking warm beer, laugh across the void, and do all the math in Alice in Wonderland. Then you might live well.

[None !!lZetafI6z8s No.4666870]

>>4666480
glad some1 gets it, that truly vital zone manes it's beautiful beyond words on /lit/

[Anonymous No.4667155]

stirner is a spook

[Anonymous No.4667239]

>>4666499
seriously what
i want you to define strong because if a guy that ascended so much without important connections is weak, i dont know shit anymore. his method might be machiavellian but not weak, no sir

[Anonymous No.4667266]

>>4666546
gay

[Anonymous No.4667268]

>>4667239
Success is not the same as strength.

[Anonymous No.4667474]

>>4667268
I'm not /pol/ here but with this much denial you just sound like an ass-blasted heeb. Let it go.

[Anonymous No.4667477]

>>4667474
u first
enjoy the ride

[Anonymous No.4667559]

>>4664066
So basically live as close as you can as an animal, and try to do away with your awareness of self
The only reason I've even begun to read and think about these sorts of things is because I am unhappy, when I should have simply realized that I'm unhappy BECAUSE I think.

Follow suite of those that are happy to be happy.

[Anonymous No.4668150]

>>4663786
Jeremy Bentham is one of the best philosophers out there.

[Anonymous No.4668194]

>read only one medieval theologian and follow him only
>don't read anyone else, if you must read stoics
>disregard anything since the enlightenment and science because they're bad or useless

Most desperate bulwark against nihilism I have ever encountered.

[Anonymous No.4668257]

>>4663791
Zeno's paradox doesn't make sense in modern physics.

[Anonymous No.4668345]

>>4667559
Daoists & Cynics are all you need bruv

[Anonymous No.4668421]

>>4667559
Fuck that. Our self awareness is the most complex of any animal and is a powerful asset. We shouldn't abandon it, we should learn to use it properly. A cheetah doesn't do anything for itself by limiting it's speed and we should not limit our thoughts. Constant self reflection is an ingredient to happiness.