Existential Comics

04 Dec 2023 19:30

It is funny to think about the morality in the fantasy genre, because often it just seems more like a war between species which are both trying to exterminate each other, rather than a moral issue. They have to find ways to explain why humans are justified to kill orcs or goblins or whatever on sight. The crudest reason is simply that they are ugly and we are beautiful. For example the elves in Lord of the Rings are always the fairest of all creatures, and the orcs are hideous monsters. Aesthetics seems to play some even greater role, because we can see that once Gollum is corrupted he even now prefers ugliness and darkness itself to beauty and light, even in the type of food he wants to eat, or the type of art he would want to look at.
Having bad taste in art is hardly a justification of genocide though, so they often need something more. Here we start seeing things that more resemble real world colonial justifications. The orcs, unlike the noble elves, are simply uncivilized. They are brutal and ignorant. They are savage creatures who haven't read any Shakespeare. Well, except for maybe Romeo and Juliet, but everyone has read that. Still not enough Shakespeare to be considered civilized though. Since the good guys always win in the end, and are typically outnumbered, this becomes pretty important. The orcs will brutally, savagely kill a few dozen elves, and the elves will respond in a very civilized fashion by wiping out the entire orc civilization. You can even still see this kind of justification in contemporary colonialism (cough Israel cough).
In the original Dungeons & Dragons rule set, the orcs were simply "ontologically evil", that is to say, born with a kind of "evilness" in their essence. It was therefore not only justified, but a moral obligation for paladins to kill them on sight. If they didn't kill them on sight, they would risk losing their "good" status, and being kicked out of the Order of Paladins. Pretty brutal stuff, if you think about it. In the latest editions, this sort of thing has been seen to be problematic, and stripped out. Now the orcs simply have an evil culture, most likely because they weren't exposed to John Rawls at University.

Existential Comics

04 Dec 2023 19:30

Fantasy Morality - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

27 Nov 2023 18:30

More Parmesan? - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

20 Nov 2023 19:30

Do I want to eat an entire cake by myself? No.

Will I do it to spite Rousseau? Abosolutely.

Existential Comics

13 Nov 2023 19:30

Thanks to everyone for reading the comic for 10 years, and especially to the Patreon supporters because without their support I probably would have quit a while ago. In fact, I always wanted to save the terrible Kant/Can't pun for the very last comic, and today probably would have been a good day to quit, but those dastardly patreon supports just insist on keeping philosophy comedy alive.

Existential Comics

13 Nov 2023 19:30

Ten Years of Existential Comics - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

06 Nov 2023 18:30

Philosophical Pickup Lines - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

30 Oct 2023 18:30

Philosophical Holdup - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

23 Oct 2023 19:30

March of the Penguins, Narrated by Soren Kierkegaard - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

16 Oct 2023 19:30

The Philosophy of War - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

09 Oct 2023 18:30

Also, check out the real time chess game I made: www.kungfuchess.org.
All the pieces can move away once, then have to recharge. Also join the discord, there is a section of the comic too.

Existential Comics

09 Oct 2023 18:30

Anarchist Chess - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

02 Oct 2023 19:30

But it turns out that John Stuart Mill had heat stroke the entire time he was writing most of his major works.

Existential Comics

25 Sep 2023 19:30

This comic is in tribute to Gregory Sadler finishing his Half Hour Hegel, in which he does a close reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, one of philosophy's most notoriously long and difficult works. He started February 27, 2014 (nearly ten years ago, just a few months after I started this comic), and he finished with his 377th video last Friday, September 21 2023, finally explaining the concept of Absolute Knowing (and also hinting that he might re-read it from the start now, come on man give Hegel a rest!). To me this is one of the longest and most dedicated YouTube projects that I know of, especially considered that Hegel isn't as popular of a subject matter as, say, silly cats. So if you have a spare 189 hours or so for Hegel, give it a listen.
Or you can check out his hundreds of much more reasonably length videos about dozens of different philosophers.
Or better yet support him on patreon if you believe in this kind of free public philosophy education.

Existential Comics

25 Sep 2023 19:30

The Greatest Ambition of Philosophy - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

04 Dec 2023 19:30

Of course the real reason is because the good people are beautiful, and the bad people are ugly. Any idiot knows that.

Existential Comics

27 Nov 2023 18:30

Seriously though generally speaking restaurants shouldn't let customers make decisions about the food. They don't know what to do as well as the chef, that's why they are there.

Existential Comics

20 Nov 2023 19:30

Hobbes more or less thought we all give up our freedom to live under the absolute authority of the State because without it we would all be in a constant state of war and violence against each other over resources. So essentially people can't be trusted to dole out the birthday cake evenly themselves with a cop watching, or we'd all be at each other's throats.
He lived in a pretty violent time where the English monarchs were constantly starting wars with each other over every little reason, so he had some reason to think this, but his view on human's natural social cooperation was pretty dim.

Existential Comics

20 Nov 2023 19:30

We Live in a Society - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

13 Nov 2023 19:30

Mostly though what I'd say I've accomplished was nothing, but I guess that just how things go when you are an existentialist.

Existential Comics

06 Nov 2023 18:30

Generally speaking philosophy is actually a super good for picking up women if what you want to do with them is dicuss philosophy.

Existential Comics

30 Oct 2023 18:30

Seriously though more people need to be trying to rob billions of dollars at once in daring heists. Rob the bank. Rob the Fed. Rob the US Treasury. Come on, live a little.

Existential Comics

23 Oct 2023 19:30

Come to think of it Kierkegaard should narrate most things, it would really spice things up.

Existential Comics

16 Oct 2023 19:30

On second thought there is no philosophy in war.

Existential Comics

16 Oct 2023 18:30

The Philosophy of War - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

09 Oct 2023 18:30

Shoutout to /r/AnarchyChess, the least funny subreddit in existence.

Existential Comics

02 Oct 2023 19:30

John Stuart Mill, being a utilitarian, believed that any ethical decision should be decided creating the most happiness or utility in the world. It seems rather obvious that his life will lead to more happiness than Kierkegaard and Weil, who are both sort of religious puritans who suffered throughout their lives, both physically and emotionally. They both also possibly died as virgins in their 30s. On the other hand, this is how Harriet Taylor Mill (JS Mill’s wife) describes sex:

Sex in its true and finest meaning, seems to be the way in which is manifested all that is highest, best and beautiful in the nature of human beings – none but poets have approached to the perception of the beauty of the material world – still less of the spiritual – and there never yet existed a poet except by the inspiration of that feeling which is the perception of beauty in all forms and by all means which are given us, as well as by sight.

She ends the essay saying “it is all for you” to John Stuart Mill. So it seems that we have some evidence that he was having a good time.
Kierkegaard, on the other hand, believes that the religious transcends the ethical, and even in some cases it is our duty to act in accordance with God’s will even if it goes against ethics, such as when Abraham was commanded to kill his son. Even if Abraham was suspicious that it was not God that was commanding him, but some kind of madness, he had to follow through regardless.
Simone Weil’s ethics was highly influenced by a parable she heard about Alexander the Great. When he was crossing the desert with his army, he heard that his men were out of water, so what he did was go before them and pour his own flask of water out onto the sand, to show that they were all in it together. Weil thought it was a beautiful moment of ethics, because it was creative and surprising, but once it happened everyone realized that was how it had to be. In her own life she often put herself though suffering in similar ways, such as refusing to heat her home or sleeping on the floor because others had to live that way. These acts are entirely useless to anyone else but she believed were necessary for herself to live a fully authentic ethical life.

Existential Comics

02 Oct 2023 19:30

Desert Philosophy - Existential Comics

Existential Comics

25 Sep 2023 19:30

It took Gregory Sadler 10 years to explain Hegel in his "Half Hour Hegel" YouTube series. Half Hour Hegel is complete, was it worth the time? Yes. Was it worth the effort? Yes. We know this because once you fully understand Hegel you will know that progress education is always worth the time.

Existential Comics

18 Sep 2023 18:30

"There are no fact, only interpretations" is such a funny quote coming from Nietzsche because his philosophy itself has been subject to some of the worst interpretations of all time.