Single Idea 19604

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 3. Angst]

Full Idea

Whereas all beings have their place in nature, man remains a metaphysically straying creature, lost in Life, a stranger to the Creation.

Gist of Idea

Unlike other creatures, mankind seems lost in nature

Source

E.M. Cioran (A Short History of Decay [1949], 1 'The Indirect5')

Book Reference

Cioran,E.M.: 'A Short History of Decay', ed/tr. Howard,Richard [Penguin 2010], p.27


A Reaction

Nice challenge to the Aristotelian idea that we can identify the nature and function of man, and derive an ethics from it. This idea seems to state the essence of existentialism, perhaps better than anything in Sartre. We should have stayed in Africa?

Related Ideas

Idea 12281 Man is intrinsically a civilized animal [Aristotle]

Idea 3843 There is no human nature [Sartre]