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Philosophy, Literature and the Meaning of Life

@ Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham

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Lecture with Darren Harper

What is the meaning of life? This is an age old question, but one that we will address through examples from philosophy and literature. In this lecture we will explore the philosophical idea of existentialism.  The German philosopher Nietzsche had stated that ‘God is dead’, but, according to existentialism, if God is dead, then that means we are all free to do as we please. Sounds good doesn’t it? But, and there’s always a but, the problem is that we have no purpose. The purpose of a letter opener is to open letters, but what is the purpose of a human life?

During this lecture, we will explore existentialism, and nurture our understating of the concept through thought provoking passages from Jean-Paul Sartre’s novel Nausea and Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, before tackling the question: what is the meaning of life?

Please note that this lecture is at an introductory level, and no prior knowledge of these thinkers, writers or texts is required. All you need is an open mind, an interest in learning and a love of books.

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