Existentialism and Identity Flashcards
BLANK - a certain set of core properties that are necessary, or essential – for a thing to be what it is.
Essence
But the important thing is that your essence gives you a purpose. Because you were born to be a certain thing. This belief, known as BLANK
essentialism
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, embraced BLANK - the belief in the ultimate meaningless of life.
Nihilism
Well, this became the framework for what we now know as existentialism. And its mantra is the claim that “BLANK ” We have no actual, predetermined purpose – there’s no set path that we’re supposed to follow.
“existence precedes essence”
The BLANK - the search for answers in an answerless world.
Absurd
So the best thing you can really do, he determined, is to BLANK . Sartre used this to mean that you have to accept the full weight of your freedom in light of the absurd.
live authentically
BLANK - a refusal to accept the absurd.
Bad Faith
BLANK - someone who believed that You equals Your Body – death just meant nonexistence.
Materialist
Contemporary American philosopher BLANK points out that some people dread death because they’ll miss out on things that they want to experience.
Thomas Nagel
BLANK - It doesn’t matter what the content of that life looks like, or what the person is like. The fact that they’re alive is just good. So, losing it would not be good.
Sanctity of life
BLANK - what’s important, then you’re going to want to distinguish between lives that are full of good experiences, and those that aren’t.
Quality of life
Chinese Daoist philosopher BLANK . He lived about the same time as Epicurus, and believed that there’s no reason to fear the death of your loved ones. He asked, why would you fear the inevitable? In his view, mourning can actually seem selfish.
Zhuangzi
Now here’s the question: When the ship finally returned to Theseus, was it the same ship that left?
NOP-E
BLANK - the relation that a thing bears only to itself.
Identity
BLANK - if any two things are identical, then they must share all the same properties.
Indiscernibility of Identicals
BLANK - the core elements needed for a thing to be the thing that it is.
Essential properties
BLANK - are traits that could be taken away from an object without making it a different thing.
Accidental properties
Ancient Greek philosopher BLANK famously said that you can’t step in the same river twice. What he meant was: Nothing is identical to itself because everything – including both you and the river – is changing all the time.
Heraclitus
It’s BLANK – the property of being interchangeable with other objects of the same kind. Most people think that money is fungible, because it’s just a place-holder for the value it represents – and it’s the value that we really care about.
fungibility
Now the coffee mug … this one is interesting. It seems like what matters here is why that mug that Nick broke was my favorite. If I loved it because it’s the perfect size and shape to fit in my hands, and it keeps my coffee warm, then I’d probably be just as happy with a new one. So in that case, the mug appears to be fungible.
BLANK
