Could it be that hell is not other people, but rather the separation that we perceive between the objects in question?
When I first heard the quote I adopted it as my own outlook to stand against the world. It did nothing good for me. I wondered if there was a better way to look at such a proclamation without blame or hoisting the hellish responsibiity on the Other. After looking into buddhism and reading the Tao, I was taken back by even the slightest understading of oneness.
So, is it possible that hell is in holding the perception of the Other? Would it be the case where if we were able to perceive oneness, all things would be harmonious and far from hell? If separation is the culprit, what consitutes this separation, what is this separation comprised of, and how might one define the qualities of such a separation?
I think it’s not so much separation per se as it is alienation. A full description of how we come to feel alienated would be very interesting.
I’ve always loved that Sartre quote, but I only think of it from time to time as an amusing comment that has some truth to it - it describes well my own confused (ignorant/dualistic) outlook. But I don’t think of it as true true, if you know what I mean.
Can we ever know the nature of that separation if the air you breath is the same air I breath, and the skin that flakes off your dry hand lands on my arm?
The quote is from Sartre’s play No Exit, which elucidates how the Other frames our own identity. We are moral scum only when we internalize our self through the gaze of the Other, hence we get, “Hell is other people.” Other people allow ourselves to objectify our ‘self’ in a moral light. For example, I internalize myself as a glutton, when my Uncle stares at me in disgust after having eaten everything on the table; he puts me into a moral Hell. It is his gaze that allows me to frame myself as an objectification (or embodiment) of a moral principle. This, however, is not the entire story. The Other is also a will in opposition to my own which leads to conflict. I desire to be with Sarah, who desires to be with John, who desires to be with me. Hello! Conflict! Irreconciable conflict. Now, it is the confluence of these two dynamics that makes one of Sartre’s characters (not Sartre himself) proclaim, “Hell is other people.”
And by the way, if Hell is other people, so is Heaven.
This is exactly why I isolate, and go into long periods of solitude. You must know what i mean underground man. When i’m out in public i hate myself, when i alone i love myself. I cant seem to live by the Emerson quote that says something along the lines of, enjoying your own ideas but keeping them to yourself in public, rather than pontificating by youself and thinking your ideas are great because they go unmatched and there is no mirror to challenge you.
In notes from the underground, the author says, humans are ungrateful wretches. I agree.
Just remember that this is an inductive claim about human nature. You haven’t met all humans, and I can assure you that not all humans are “ungrateful wretches.” Universal claims are always dangerous.
“Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man.” Good ol’ Benny Franklin. The man speaks from experience. Community is a wonderful, given that one finds himself in a good one. It’s not people that are bad, just bad people.
When i’m out in public i hate myself, when i alone i love myself. I cant seem to live by the Emerson quote that says something along the lines of, enjoying your own ideas but keeping them to yourself in public, rather than pontificating by youself and thinking your ideas are great because they go unmatched and there is no mirror to challenge you.