My existentialism class, surprisingly, had a few optimistic views on the subject. Kierkegaard emphasized the importance of our relation with others, particularly as not "mediated by universals." Beauvoir made the point that at the very least we seem to have to value the freedom of others. On the other hand, Heidegger seemed fairly pessimistic on the subject. He basically said that relations with others distracted us from our main business of perfecting the self. Sartre took an even gloomier view, arguing that the mere presence of another person is threatening because it makes us feel objectified. He says that there are only three responses, each of which can only be a temporary solution and is doomed to failure. The first is sex, doomed because of its inherently fleeting nature and because it makes both of those involved into objects. The second is love, doomed because there is no guarantee as to its permanence and a third person could always come along and objectify the both of you. The third is hate, doomed because there are a good six billion of us parasites crawling on this planet's face, and it's too tall of an order for anyone to hate every one of them, at least on an individual basis. These are not very hopeful views.

¶ 11:46 AM