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Single Idea 20765

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 1. Existentialism ]

Full Idea

Existentialists no longer see man against a background of values, of realities, which transcend him. We picture man as a brave naked will.

Gist of Idea

Man is a brave naked will, separate from a background of values and realities

Source

Iris Murdoch (Against Dryness: a polemical sketch [1983], p.46), quoted by Kevin Aho - Existentialism: an introduction 7 'Subjectivism'

Book Ref

Aho,Kevin: 'Existentialism: an introduction' [Polity 2014], p.111

A Reaction

It is one thing to deny the values, and another to deny the realities. This piece is a 'polemic', and reads more like an exhortation than a truth. Many of us are, at best, cowardly naked wills.

The 22 ideas from Iris Murdoch

20765 Man is a brave naked will, separate from a background of values and realities [Murdoch]
22591 We know perfection when we see what is imperfect [Murdoch]
22341 Literature is the most important aspect of culture, because it teaches understanding of living [Murdoch]
23563 Philosophy moves continually between elaborate theories and the obvious facts [Murdoch]
22338 An unexamined life can be virtuous [Murdoch]
22337 Philosophy must keep returning to the beginning [Murdoch]
22339 Love is a central concept in morals [Murdoch]
22343 If I attend properly I will have no choices [Murdoch]
22340 It is hard to learn goodness from others, because their virtues are part of their personal history [Murdoch]
22342 Kantian existentialists care greatly for reasons for action, whereas Surrealists care nothing [Murdoch]
22345 Moral philosophy needs a central concept with all the traditional attributes of God [Murdoch]
22348 Ordinary human love is good evidence of transcendent goodness [Murdoch]
22346 Moral reflection and experience gradually reveals unity in the moral world [Murdoch]
22347 Appreciating beauty in art or nature opens up the good life, by restricting selfishness [Murdoch]
22350 Only trivial virtues can be possessed on their own [Murdoch]
22349 Art trains us in the love of virtue [Murdoch]
22351 Only a philosopher might think choices create values [Murdoch]
22709 We should first decide what are the great works of art, with aesthetic theory following from that [Murdoch]
22712 Art and morals are essentially the same, and are both identical with love [Murdoch]
22713 Love is realising something other than oneself is real [Murdoch]
22715 Great art proves the absurdity of art for art's sake [Murdoch]
22714 Because art is love, it improves us morally [Murdoch]