Existential Despair in Philosophy

The Russian existentialist philosopher Lev Shestov is known for his “philosophy of despair” or “philosophy of tragedy”. For Shestov, the sources of philosophy were the human tragedy, the horrors and sufferings of human life and the sense of hopelessness.

Tragedies take place in the depth of the human soul, where no eye can reach out to see. Consequently, He saw the beginning of philosophy starting not with knowledge, not with wonder, but with despair.

Despair is what he considers a “penultimate knowledge”, that is, a preliminary step that we must acknowledge, in order to progress towards something higher, the “ultimate knowledge”.

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📚 Recommended Reading

All Things are Possible – Lev Shestov
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Athens and Jerusalem – Lev Shestov
▶ https://amzn.to/3G6sVLx

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⌛ Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
0:52 Philosophy of Despair
3:32 Conflict between Faith and Reason
6:14 Penultimate Knowledge: Despair and Awakening
11:03 Ultimate Knowledge: Freedom and God

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📝 Sources

- Shestov, L., & Shein, L. J. (1967). Lev Shestov: A Russian Existentialist. The Russian Review, 26(3), 278-285.
- Ogden, M. G. (2021). From groundlessness—to freedom: The theme of ‘awakening’ in the thought of Lev Shestov. Studies in East European Thought, 1-17.
- Ogden, M. G. (2019). Facing the absurd: On Lev Shestov’s angel of death. European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 21(1), 5-21.
- Berdyaev, N. (1938). The Fundamental Idea of the Philosophy of Lev Shestov
- https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/a-philosopher-of-small-things
- https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Lev_Shestov
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Shestov
- https://www.angelfire.com/nb/shestov/intro.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oebgVcNn68&ab_channel=HermitixPodcast
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMQHjayz4Ps&ab_channel=OlivierSalazar-Ferrer
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06hkv3vRo6I&t=5s&ab_channel=HermidaEditores

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🎶 Music used

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3. Stillstand - Myuu

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