Today, I decided to give reading Sartre a second chance. Maybe I will have a better chance at reading his work and understanding what he is saying. I have to post online a reading response by Monday morning for my philosophy class.
Result: I read seven pages and reached the conclusion that I just do not understand Sartre. And I do not think that reading him over and over will help me understand him any better.
So instead of writing a reading response for my philosophy class where I try to sound smart and as though I know what I'm talking about, I decided to write an honest response. They're graded on word length, not on what they say. So why not just be honest? Here's what I said:
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Reading Sartre has proven to be much more difficult than I was initially anticipating. I felt frustrated from the very first page of our readings and wanted just to give up on reading the passages from our book. Instead of giving up, I decided to try to read him on another day.
Two days later, I have read only seven pages and am already wondering how I’m going to get through these readings. I feel as though the philosophers we’ve read thus far (Heidegger and Sartre) use words and phrases that I’m not familiar with. So I turn to the internet or books on Heidegger and Sartre in the hopes that I will be able to find some teachers or lecturers who are familiar with these philosophers’ works. Maybe they will be able to help me understand Sartre or Heidegger better. Instead, I become even more confused because it seems as though everyone has a different opinion on these philosophers and what they are trying to say in their writings. I am starting to come to the point where I feel as though one semester learning about these philosophers is not enough. Some people study Heidegger for twenty-five years; how in the world am I going to understand him in just one month? I am feeling as though Sartre is even more difficult to grasp than Heidegger. And I have no idea how to read these readings without becoming extremely frustrated for not understanding what in the world Sartre is saying.
Two days later, I have read only seven pages and am already wondering how I’m going to get through these readings. I feel as though the philosophers we’ve read thus far (Heidegger and Sartre) use words and phrases that I’m not familiar with. So I turn to the internet or books on Heidegger and Sartre in the hopes that I will be able to find some teachers or lecturers who are familiar with these philosophers’ works. Maybe they will be able to help me understand Sartre or Heidegger better. Instead, I become even more confused because it seems as though everyone has a different opinion on these philosophers and what they are trying to say in their writings. I am starting to come to the point where I feel as though one semester learning about these philosophers is not enough. Some people study Heidegger for twenty-five years; how in the world am I going to understand him in just one month? I am feeling as though Sartre is even more difficult to grasp than Heidegger. And I have no idea how to read these readings without becoming extremely frustrated for not understanding what in the world Sartre is saying.
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I'm glad that I just decided to be honest in my post. And who knows, maybe other people in my class will agree with me. And if not, at least I'm being honest with myself for a change.
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