Do material objects pervent you from defineing yourself or giving meaning to your life as Sartre says in Nausea? I would say no. First you can always deine the reality. I use the example of Xtains who say Evolution never happend. Also you can cast the objective in any subjective light you want. I'll use the exapmle of me, who thinks the goth style is really cool, while others who think it is depressing
I think Xtians say that evolution doesn't exist because they find no proof. Is one defined by an object? I'd hope not. Sartre has a really good point, and a philosophy that I'd endeared myself to before I read him, in that one indeed is not defined by one's occupation. I love that. It is always a bore when, after being introduced to someone, the first question is "So, what do you do?" What they mean is "What do you do for an income?" The question should be "How do you define yourself? What do you like? What do you think about?" But it isn't. The bulk of humankind doesn't care to ask that question off the bat. There is a driving need or desire to place our fellow man in a box or on a list, in order of relevance according to one's position of employment, to suss one out. Again, I say that no, one may not define ones' self by material things. One may be quite spiritual and have many things, or no things.
Yes, I read a great article on this subject before. Modern humans define themselves based on the things the own, and what job they hold. Some philosopher called this the "false self" because a "true self" comes from within not your external world.
To me, objects are projections of our inner self. They express our taste, our preferences, our personality. For example, the clothes we choose, these show our good or bad taste. Then, the type of furniture, the type of valuable objects, whether there’s a bookshelf or not in our home... all these can say a lot about ourselves... We can tell a lot about a person according to whether or not he/ she has got a tattoo, several ear-rings in one ear, etc. Our choice of objects defines ourselves because the choice is always made according to our preferences. Also the way we arrange the objects defines ourselves, like whether we are orderly or not... And yes, clothes do make the man! Just think about how ‘happy’ you are when next to you on the bus stands a filthy beggar, smelling badly! However, there are situations when you use objects to define a fake you, when you play a role and need a mask to deceive some people around you. But when you create this new, fake you, it’s also with the help of objects. Sometimes, objects can reveal our real self. Think about a beggar whose cell phone suddenly starts ringing!
Yes objects prevent you from defining yourself or giving meaning to your life, but not in the way that you think it means. It requires an understanding first of all of what an object is and an understanding of his terms "being for itself" and "being in itself". If you understand those two terms then you can begin to understand what Sartre meant by objects preventing you from defining yourself. Except that in order to fully understand his point you would need to learn about his terms that he defines "authenticity" and "inauthenticity" as applied to sentient being.
I think I have some grasp of the in-itself and the for-itself. What is it about the object that precludes one from giving meaning to one's life or defining oneself? I'm still at a loss. Unless what is meant is that, life is absurd because one cannot be a free for-itself and an absolute in-itself simultaneously. Therefore, the for-itself constantly requires a choice as it nihilates the in-itself, or its object. Hence the need to constantly redifine oneself. One's identity would be static was nihilation non-ocurring... Am I warm?
have you read the little prince? art is material, but i think that art is one of the most important things in this world. i don't think there is any virtue in seperating ourselves from all things material, as we are material ourselves. as myself (great name ) said, you shape your perception of a person by the way they decorate their bodies. i think it's a matter of competetiveness/creative expression. whether you choose to have things because the things are "good", or because other people want them, or if you choose to have them because they say something about you. if you choose to go naked and not own a thing, you're still making a material statement.
