Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: SHOOT HORSES? and existentialism

From: Michael Robison ( zspider@gte.net)
Date: 15 Apr 2003


Al Guthrie wrote:
> Forgive me for questioning the co-founder of the "mad noir" school, but
that
> sounds like solipsism to me, Charlie. I don't know that it's compatible
with
> existentialism - existential choice involves other people or things which
> have to be believed to exist in order to make any of our choices
meaningful.

************* According to Britannica:
"...Existentialism is opposed to any solipsism (holding that I alone exist)."

But that is not exactly what Charlie said. From what I've seen snooping around on the net, it sounds to me like existentialism is the philosophy of noir. The roots are the same, and so are the concepts. Really interesting (to me) how all this stuff ties together. My preliminary idea is that:

Existentialism + Freudianism = Noir

Existentialism states that a man is defined by the choices he makes. Freud says that man is not in control of his choices. That's just "screwed" waiting to happen.

The Industrial Revolution, Freud, Marx, American Realism and Naturalism, and noir all have a common thread of man's growing alienation from society. Sexy, huh? Maybe I can work Darwin in there too.

miker

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