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Thomas Nagel, "The Absurd"

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Christina Hendricks
Christina Hendricks

These slides are for an Introduction to Philosophy course at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. They discuss a couple of Nagel's purported "bad arguments" for saying life is absurd, then his view of why human life is absurd, and how we should respond to that.

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Thomas Nagel, The Absurd (1971) PHIL 102, Spring 2017 UBC Christina Hendricks Except images noted otherwise, this presentation is licensed CC-BY 4.0
Nagel: bad arguments for absurdity (1a) Nothing we do now will matter in a million years (716) 1 million yearsAction s Now Wont matter But then: nothing that will be the case in a million years matters now (716) Doesnt matter now
Nagel: bad arguments for absurdity (1b) Nothing we do now will matter in a million years (716) 1 million yearsAction s Now If their mattering now is not enough ... how would it help if they mattered a million years from now? (716) Matter now but not in 1m years: current actions absurd Matter now and/or in 1m years: current actions not absurd ??
Nagel: bad arguments for absurdity (2) Would infinite duration or larger size make our lives less absurd? We are tiny in the universe in terms of time and space (717) Image of galaxy by NASA
What matters is absurdity now Are our lives meaningful or absurd now, as we are? If lives have no meaning/ are absurd now, adding more years or size in universe wouldnt make our lives less absurd. Life infinitely absurd .................. Life absurd
Nagel & Camus on absurdity Camus: a divorce, a confrontation between what humans want & what the world offers (7) Image of space licensed CC0 from pixabay.com
Nagel & Camus on absurdity Nagel: absurdity is a discrepancy between ... aspiration and reality (718) More specifically: a collision between two inescapable viewpoints in us (719) Image of space licensed CC0 from pixabay.com a collision within ourselves (722)
Two viewpoints on our lives Seriousnes s Detachment From inside: we are seriously engaged in our lives, with effort, plans, goals; things have meaning (719) From outside: lives arbitrary b/c all meaning & purpose comes from internal perspective interna l external
Internal & external Goals in life Reasons justifying those goals (e.g., beliefs, values) Detached from goals, reasons, beliefs, values These are only meaningful to me if I take them seriously, from perspective inside my life interna l external
Collision of viewpoints We need to take our lives seriously to live Need to hold seriously to our beliefs, values, goals...make plans and work towards them Yet we can take a detached view and so not take our lives, beliefs, values, etc. seriously Can these two be combined? How can we live with both? interna l external
Irony & Humility DetachmentSeriousnes s We return to our lives, as we must, but our seriousness is laced with irony (724). Live with humility: between complete detachment & blind self-importance (The View from Nowhere 222).

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Thomas Nagel, "The Absurd"

  • 1. Thomas Nagel, The Absurd (1971) PHIL 102, Spring 2017 UBC Christina Hendricks Except images noted otherwise, this presentation is licensed CC-BY 4.0
  • 2. Nagel: bad arguments for absurdity (1a) Nothing we do now will matter in a million years (716) 1 million yearsAction s Now Wont matter But then: nothing that will be the case in a million years matters now (716) Doesnt matter now
  • 3. Nagel: bad arguments for absurdity (1b) Nothing we do now will matter in a million years (716) 1 million yearsAction s Now If their mattering now is not enough ... how would it help if they mattered a million years from now? (716) Matter now but not in 1m years: current actions absurd Matter now and/or in 1m years: current actions not absurd ??
  • 4. Nagel: bad arguments for absurdity (2) Would infinite duration or larger size make our lives less absurd? We are tiny in the universe in terms of time and space (717) Image of galaxy by NASA
  • 5. What matters is absurdity now Are our lives meaningful or absurd now, as we are? If lives have no meaning/ are absurd now, adding more years or size in universe wouldnt make our lives less absurd. Life infinitely absurd .................. Life absurd
  • 6. Nagel & Camus on absurdity Camus: a divorce, a confrontation between what humans want & what the world offers (7) Image of space licensed CC0 from pixabay.com
  • 7. Nagel & Camus on absurdity Nagel: absurdity is a discrepancy between ... aspiration and reality (718) More specifically: a collision between two inescapable viewpoints in us (719) Image of space licensed CC0 from pixabay.com a collision within ourselves (722)
  • 8. Two viewpoints on our lives Seriousnes s Detachment From inside: we are seriously engaged in our lives, with effort, plans, goals; things have meaning (719) From outside: lives arbitrary b/c all meaning & purpose comes from internal perspective interna l external
  • 9. Internal & external Goals in life Reasons justifying those goals (e.g., beliefs, values) Detached from goals, reasons, beliefs, values These are only meaningful to me if I take them seriously, from perspective inside my life interna l external
  • 10. Collision of viewpoints We need to take our lives seriously to live Need to hold seriously to our beliefs, values, goals...make plans and work towards them Yet we can take a detached view and so not take our lives, beliefs, values, etc. seriously Can these two be combined? How can we live with both? interna l external
  • 11. Irony & Humility DetachmentSeriousnes s We return to our lives, as we must, but our seriousness is laced with irony (724). Live with humility: between complete detachment & blind self-importance (The View from Nowhere 222).