[Buddha-l] Batchelor

[JKirkpatrick]

>    
Existentialism is a name for Sartre's philosophy, given by a
Parisian journalist. It is not a cult. If you care to read
Sartre, you'll see that he has a many meaningful things to say to
us. As a philosopher he was an exception in that he wrote
exceptionally well, so many of his readers took on some of his
ideas. Often philosophy of existence is incorrectly called
'existentialism'. Husserl can not be included in this movement,
though he came very close at the end, but Levinas and the early
Heidegger can. Paul Tillich used to be a very devoted Heidegger
fan.
Combining existence philosophy and Buddhism is promising because
the Noble Truths are existential (if they are not, they would
hardly change our life). It would however mean a new kind of
Buddhism, because the Asiatic Buddhism is characterized by its
own traditional more or less theological discourse.

erik

 
Calling existentialism a 'cult' was from my days in the 50s and
60s (in the US) when the enthusiastic followers of Sartre acted
as if it was a cult. It certainly was fashionable, affecting
dress and public postures. Maybe it's fair to say that Sartre
himself was a cult--together with his wife. 
I read some of his work, in translation, of course, and admit
that for a few years was under the influence.

Regards,
Joanna