The Gospel According to Darkness

Looks like we’re good to go.

Tonight’s program considers the state of the world here at the edge of the Pluto in Capricorn era, as we embark on the Pluto in Aquarius era.

PROGRAM NOTES AND DISCUSSION ARE ON SUBSTACK.

Alt Player (standard HTML5)

Map of the World, Part II by Jane Siberry — lyrics

Commentary on Existential Philosophy from Waking Life by Richard Linklater. The words are those of Prof. Robert Solomon himself, unscripted.

“The reason why I refuse to take existentialism as just another French fashion or historical curiosity is that I think it has something very important to offer us for the new century. I’m afraid we’re losing the real virtues of living life passionately, sense of taking responsibility for who you are, the ability to make something of yourself and feeling good about life.

“Existentialism is often discussed as if it’s a philosophy of despair. But I think the truth is just the opposite. Sartre once interviewed said he never really felt a day of despair in his life. But one thing that comes out from reading these guys is not a sense of anguish about life so much as a real kind of exuberance of feeling on top of it. It’s like your life is yours to create.

“I’ve read the postmodernists with some interest, even admiration. But when I read them, I always have this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out. The more that you talk about a person as a social construction or as a confluence of forces or as fragmented or marginalized, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses.

“And when Sartre talks about responsibility, he’s not talking about something abstract. He’s not talking about the kind of self or soul that theologians would argue about. It’s something very concrete. It’s you and me talking. Making decisions. Doing things and taking the consequences. It might be true that there are six billion people in the world and counting.

“Nevertheless, what you do makes a difference. It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms. Makes a difference to other people and it sets an example. In short, I think the message here is that we should never simply write ourselves off and see ourselves as the victim of various forces. It’s always our decision who we are.”

— Prof. Robert Solomon, UT Austin, from the film Waking Life.