Existentialism

15h October

I was surprised by my form tutor who sat me down and told me we were going to have a mock Oxford interview. It went well because I didn't know about it and therefore had no time to get anxious. We essentially just had an interesting conversation about the USSR and my AS level year. So I suppose I learnt about how to carry myself in an Oxford interview, should I be offered one.

I'm reading a 4th book called 'Lenin: Life and Legacy' by Dmitri Volkogonov which is incredibly interesting. I learnt about how Lenin became a revolutionary and his family's background.

I also learnt the basics behind Existentialism. One aspect of it that interested me is the notion that everything everybody does is covered in 'layers'. The example my politics teacher gave is that taking a girl out on a date is basically saying 'will you have sex with me?'. An existentialist would simply ask that question rather than perform the elaborate rooze that masks true intentions. The reason to ask that frank question is that, in existentialism, there is no religion or authoritarian overlooking us which leaves each person free to act as they will. Thus, dressing up social situations becomes redundant and a waste of time as we all only live once. I thought the argument was fascinating and I learnt that I made a mistake in not taking philosophy.