refuse to treat something as Here it means refusing to treat existentialism as a mere fashion.
The reason why I refuse to take existentialism...Waking Life · 2001 — 第 2 / 13 章 · 2'04" · C1
Speaker Defends Existentialism, Explained：write ourselves off
A case for existentialism: not a "philosophy of despair" but a call to make something of yourself. "It's like your life is yours to create," the speaker says — while warning that talk of social construction hands people a new set of excuses.
あらすじ
A single unbroken monologue. The speaker opens by refusing to file existentialism away as "just another French fashion or historical curiosity," then argues that the tradition usually tagged as gloomy actually reads as exuberance — and that framing people as social constructions or "a confluence of forces" only opens "a whole new world of excuses."
注目の表現
take responsibility forso much asnagging feelingopen up a whole new world of
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いま
このシーンの表現
write ourselves off
dismiss oneself as hopeless
Near the end, the lecture turns from analysis to advice: do not file yourself away as a victim or a lost cause.
We should never write ourselves off just because one interview went badly.
このシーンの他の表現
- take responsibility for
be accountable for
- so much as
less A than B
- nagging feeling
persistent uneasy feeling
- open up a whole new world of
open the door to endless new things
- concrete
specific and tangible
このシーンのメモ一覧
30 行のセリフに 28 件のメモ
have something worth offering
is that I think it has something very important to offer us for the new century.predicative clause: The 'is that' introduces the reason itself, not a pause before a new sentence.
is that I think it has something very important to offer us for the new century.live with passion
I 'm afraid we're losing the real virtues of living life passionately, the sense of taking responsibility for who you are,be accountable for
I 'm afraid we're losing the real virtues of living life passionately, the sense of taking responsibility for who you are,make a success of oneself
the ability to make something of yourself and feeling good about life.feel positive about life
the ability to make something of yourself and feeling good about life.a philosophy of hopelessness
Existentialism is often discussed as if it's a philosophy of despair.exactly the reverse
But I think the truth is just the opposite.these thinkers — Casual classroom talk; avoid it in formal writing.
But one thing that comes out from reading these guys...a feeling of anguish about life
is not a sense of anguish about life so much as...less A than B
The speaker acknowledges the familiar image of anguish, then pivots to a more exuberant reading.
is not a sense of anguish about life so much as...In fast speech, link 'not a' and keep the t light.
is not a sense of anguish about life so much as...a rush of exuberant feeling
a real kind of exuberance of feeling on top of it.yours to shape
It's like your life is yours to create.Stress 'yours' and 'create'; let 'to' pass quickly.
It's like your life is yours to create.persistent uneasy feeling
The lecturer admits a persistent unease about postmodernist writing, even while granting its appeal.
But when I read them, I always have this awful nagging feeling...be omitted
that something absolutely essential is getting left out.a socially constructed idea
The more that you talk about a person as a social construction...a coming-together of forces
or as a confluence of forces...a fresh supply of excuses
or as fragmented or marginalized, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses.subject clause: The 'what' clause is the subject; 'is' then restates the action and its result.
or as fragmented or marginalized, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses.relative clause: The 'that' clause describes the kind of self or soul under discussion.
He's not talking about the kind of self or soul that theologians would argue about.The 'and' reduces to a light n; keep the beat on 'you' and 'me'.
It's something very concrete. It's you and me talking.accept the results
Making decisions. Doing things and taking the consequences.subject clause: The 'it' is a placeholder; the real content comes in the 'that' clause.
It might be true that there are six billion people in the world and counting.in practical or material terms
It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms.dismiss oneself as hopeless
Near the end, the lecture turns from analysis to advice: do not file yourself away as a victim or a lost cause.
that we should never simply write ourselves off...「Speaker Defends Existentialism」を読み解く
What's really going on
The surface is a defense of a much-maligned school of philosophy; underneath, it is an argument about excuses. The speaker grants the postmodern critique some admiration — "I've read the post modernists with some interest, even admiration" — then names the cost: "this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out." Every vocabulary that turns a person into "a social construction" or "a confluence of forces" is, in this reading, also a vocabulary that relocates agency somewhere else. Against that, the scene keeps insisting on the small, unglamorous unit of responsibility: "It's you and me talking. Making decisions. Doing things and taking the consequences." The claim that we should never "write ourselves off" is not consolation; it is a demand, and the scene's confidence comes from how plainly it is stated.
Theme
PhilosophyThe scene argues that existentialism is not despair but exuberance: life is yours to create.
IdentityIt rejects defining a person as a social construction or a victim of forces: who we are is our decision.
発音のポイント
- not a sense — In fast speech, link 'not a' and keep the t light.
- yours to create — Stress 'yours' and 'create'; let 'to' pass quickly.
- you and me — The 'and' reduces to a light n; keep the beat on 'you' and 'me'.
It's like your life is yours to create.The payoff of the whole argument: nothing upstream settles your life for you; the making of it is handed over to you.
It's always our decision who we are.Identity is not fixed by social forces or labels; it stays an ongoing choice, made again and again.
Nevertheless, what you do makes a difference.After conceding six billion people and counting, the speaker still insists that one person's actions land somewhere.
It's something very concrete. It's you and me talking.Responsibility here is not an abstract doctrine: it is the ordinary exchange in the room, with decisions and consequences attached.
このシーンについての質問
Why does the speaker refuse to treat existentialism as "just another French fashion"?
Because, in this argument, it still "has something very important to offer us for the new century" — the case is made before any definition of the term shows up.
What does the speaker say is missing from postmodernist writing?
Reading them produces "this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out" — the loss is named, but not spelled out further here.
Why is calling a person a "social construction" a problem in this scene?
The claim is that such descriptions "open up a whole new world of excuses": they move the reason for what someone does away from the person doing it.
Does the scene claim Sartre felt despair?
The reverse is reported: a line relays that Sartre said "he never really felt a day of despair in his life," which is used to argue the philosophy is not one of despair.
How does the scene define responsibility?
Not abstractly and not theologically: "It's you and me talking. Making decisions. Doing things and taking the consequences."
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