Immortality – Transcendental vs Immanent knowledge

IMMORTALITY: A DIALOGUE
THE ESSAYS OF ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
STUDIES IN PESSIMISM
Volume Four
Translated by
T. Bailey Saunders
Adapted & narrated by Jason Youngman

Ever wonder why philosophers are stereotypically seen as depressed and sombre individuals who like to find fault in every insignificant detail! Some of you remember Russ from True Detective, a pessimist and a solitary man. His character shone through with his off the wall remarks that got you wondering about it all.

“I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self; an accretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. Maybe the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.” Rust Cohle

Anywho, if you’re interested in taking a deeper look into this philosophical mode, then I have just the thing for you! Of all the modern philosophers to come onto the scene, Authur Schopenhauer is probably one of the most relevant & useful. Don’t let the term pessimism put you off. There is an advantage to looking at the dark side of matter. If not to better appreciate the good, then to prepare for the rainy day. In the dialogue on Immortality he conjures up an interesting perspective as to the nature of the individual and how it is that our higher self remains in immortality.

JY

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