Last nightI saw “The Outsider” (stage adaptation of L’Etranger by Camus) at a small theatre, above a pub, called Etcetera in Camden. I recommend it very strongly as a brilliant play and an excellent intro to existentialism. Anyway, after the play we got into a long, deep conversation on existentialism. Part of it was about love.
Here’s the reason for the post. People always reduce humans to mere ‘animal instincts’ in philosophical discussions. Modern man is likened to a caveman with exactly the same instincts. Society is reduced as being the product of self interest. I.e it has a coperative and competitiv function. A caveman would compete to survive by killing a fellow caveman (competitive) but other cavemen want to kill him so instead they collude for everyone’s personal interest (cooperative). This creates society.
Personally I see this way of thinking as unnecessarily pessimistic. Is society not born out of anything else? We talked about love as I said and my friend said that love was nothing more than a concept invented by the victorians. His argument is that love is no more than extreme lust and we are conditioned by society to make this acceptable by calling it love (something more spiritual). We belive in love because society has created this concept, supposedly. Marriage is just society’s way of ensuring that we don’t become promiscuous and spread disease?
So i want opinions? Is this way of thinking realistic or not? Does love exist or are we just animals in clothes?
[This message has been edited by alex (edited 15 December 2001).]