Ideas from 'Against Dryness: a polemical sketch' by Iris Murdoch [1983], by Theme Structure

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     unexpand this idea


23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 1. Existentialism
Man is a brave naked will, separate from a background of values and realities
                        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.
                        From: Iris Murdoch (Against Dryness: a polemical sketch [1983], p.46), quoted by Kevin Aho - Existentialism: an introduction 7 'Subjectivism'
                        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.