We’ve often name-dropped our former U. of Texas professor Bob Solomon, perhaps best known for his great original work The Passions
One of his central philosophical concerns was Sartre’s view of freedom and responsibility, and his take on existentialism always seemed to climax at that point. Here he is introducing the major themes of existentialism.
Watch on YouTube.
In this audio clip, he lays out themes in Being and Nothingness and explains why the book is such a convoluted read: Sartre read Heidegger but wants to put Heidegger’s insights within the French tradition of focusing on consciousness going back to Descartes.
Listen on YouTube.
So, yes, I stole my analogy of consciousness as a flashlight without the beam from this clip. It comes from Solomon’s series of audio lectures, “No Excuses.”
To experience a guided introduction to Being and Nothingness, please purchase my Close Reading audio on its first pages.
-Mark Linsenmayer
Nice. I was a happy customer buying the “No Excuses” seminar as an audio download from the Great Courses site:
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=437
(HINT: Wait for it to go on sale, or check out pirated uploads to YouTube.)
I used to think the Great Courses series was corny, but actually I’m now sold on the product. As long as it’s a good professor you’re downloading (unfortunately there are rarely previews), there’s some great stuff available.
Solomon also recorded (with his wife) a series of lectures on Nietzsche for the same site, which you can download relatively cheaply:
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=415
Just rewatched “Waking Life”–it’s one of my favorites, and that’s really cool you had him as a professor. I’m curious to know what you guys think of the film overall? Per Google, it doesn’t seem you’ve discussed it (this is all that really comes up).