Libertarian vs. existentialist notions of freedom

by  Tyler Cowen in

Also known as Existential Star Wars.  Pretty awesome, this is the funniest thing I’ve seen all year.  For the pointer I thank Xavier, via Yana.

Comments

Barry Stocker

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How is there any 'libertarianism' in the video? The label is rather confusing anyway because libertarianism has two meanings
1. In political theory, libertarianism refers to limited state and non-state positions.
2. In metaphysics, libertarianism refers to a belief that humans (and possibly other sentient beings) have free will, and is the opposite of determinism
I guess 1. is intended since this is blog that deals more with political theory than metaphysics.
1. is very clearly not present in the video.
2. is assumed by the Sartrean existentialism (see see Sartre's philosophical masterpiece *Being and Nothingness*, his novel *Nausea* etc)
All the lines in the video are expressions of Sartre's existentialism (also with various undertones of Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, and earlier French literature, sources Sartre drew on).
Some lines sound more positive, advocating passion, and some sound nihilistic, but there is no clear distribution between the Jedi and Darth Vader sides with regard to such lines.
Fairly funny video, though I'm surprised anyone could say it was the funniest thing for years.
Best thing is to watch the joke done for real, at full length, in Godard films like *Alphaville*, *Bande à part", "Pierrot le fou".

dirk

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You guys are nerds.

Marcus Nunes

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Tyler. This is actually a comment/critique on the "Hayek in favor of NGDP targeting" article that you linked to yesterday (http://reason.org/files/federal_reserve_monetary_policy_hayek_rule.pdf).
http://thefaintofheart.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/insisting-on-targeting-the-fed-funds-rate-can-be-bad-for-the-economy%c2%b4s-health/

Pandaemoni

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"Man is condemned to be free" would be a great tagline for any movie.

SteveV

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Ayn Rand, a central figure in capitalist/libertarian philosophy, spent a good deal of time scoffing at philosophy that dealt with abstraction... like existentialism.

A=A. Objectivism praised rationality and reason, and called for an objective morality built on logical axioms.

Those silly frenchies with their confused philosophers, funny spelling, and silly hats!

FFF

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The Knowledge of Pretense, illustrated

Eric H

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http://www.losanjealous.com/nfc/perm.php?c=156&q=42

etc.

OneMinuteGalactica

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I'm not one to look a gift compliment in the mouth, but as the maker of this video, even I don't think this is the funniest thing I've seen all year. Thanks for the link, though. I appreciate anything that'll help me get more views.

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