LOST Theories - DarkUFO

I did not start watching Lost until the 4th season. My sister was a big fan and she told me about it after a discussion that we had about political philosophy. She mentioned that I might like the show because they had people on it named John Locke and Rousseau.
I started to watch and here I am today. I once had a professor that had an interesting way of looking a philosophy and politics. The Greek polis was how they interpreted/ explained what constituted the community. It is something that we have been trying to understand ever since. Therefore, politics is simply put a study of the community, and the relationships and connections between it. If want to begin to understand this labyrinthine and mysterious thing that dictates much of our lives we must first understand its paradoxical nature. It has inspired wars and promoted liberty. Politics or communities are about conflict because life is about conflict, and we can not simply extract conflict from life. But, we can not simply dismiss the utopianism of politics or communities. How else will we ever think that politics or life is in our hands?

Below are some random philosophical connections that I made.

Here are some names that I connected to different philosophers. I’m not sure if this is relevant at all or not.
Austin-John Austin was a British jurist that was known for his analytical mind. He is most famous for the idea of jurisprudence. It is most commonly understood as the science or philosophy of law. It can be analytical, sociological and theoretical.
John Langshaw Austin was a philosopher of language similar to Wittgenstein. He is interested in words as a motivation or form of action.

Sheppard- Eugene R. Sheppard wrote a book on Leo Strauss and the politics of exile. More specifically Sheppard rejects the idea of a timeless mind which was a perspective that rejects Strauss. Strauss did not think that we could discuss nature without discussing our own human nature. He analyzes the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. He also critiques Rousseau and Burke. Is there any connection between these names and the names of characters on lost?

Reyes- Alfonso Reyes Ochoa was a Mexican writer and philosopher. He promoted cultural and ascetic ideals.
Tom Sawyer is Mark Twain’s southern witty boy who challenges the concept of slavery. He was the master of irony. He was known for his keen wit and perceptive satire. Was it coincidence that Sawyer read so many books at the beginning of the show?
I’m not sure if there are any real connections in the names listed above, but it was fun anyway. However, below are some concepts that I do feel are relevant to the show.

Man kind in the state of Nature
Hobbes "nasty, brutish and short... every man is in a war of each against all"
Locke "is a state before the rule of positive law comes into being...this state was governed by the laws of nature alone"
Rousseau "we were much like animals...then we moved to small clans but life was very simple and no one took more than they needed"
In Rousseau's Discourses in Inequality he argued that it was not until the first man stuck a steak in the ground and claimed that this is mine that all of the ills of society came about.
There are also many interested in maintaining the status quo of its function in the contemporary context. If you look at various interpretations of man kind in the state of nature most of them would agree that civilization is a necessary evil. Thus, government or civilization is best when it does little. If we don’t like it then it is up to us to change it.


Civilization
What is this construct that we have created for ourselves as humans? Some historians argue that it started in ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates because hunters and gathers developed irrigations systems. They were no longer as mobile and thus they began to develop systems that governed each other. (a very basic explanation of civilization) As time went on there were various individuals that questioned the legitimacy of the world. Since this is a theory section my theory is that if the Dharma initiative was interested in the physical characteristics of the Island then the "others" were interested in its metaphysical characteristics.

Books:
The book that Hurley picks up off of the dead French mans body is by Søren Kierkegaard. He was a philosopher that rejected many of Hegel’s ideas. He thought that personal choice and commitment were reflections of concrete human reality and put more emphasis on this form of thinking as opposed to abstract thinking. He also thought that the Christian church had lost its way. He argued that doubt in this world was conquered by faith, but it was faith that brought doubt into the world to begin with.

The book that Jacob is reading is called Everything That Rises Must Converge the book was influenced by a French philosopher named Pierre Teilhard De Chardin. He argued that we must all remain true to ourselves but always be in search of a greater consciousness. All those who follow the same upward journey will eventually converge.

In the episode the Final Chapter Ben (or Ben’s voice) said that “many believe what is done is done, and you can not change fate no matter how hard you try”. He went on to say that “Those who challenge what is destined will always be met with disappointment, but fate has a way of charting its own course.” As Juliet hit the bomb with the rock he said “that we can not underestimate the power of the human spirit, and the force that lies in ones own free will.”
I believe that in this season we will explore free will.

We welcome relevant, respectful comments.
 
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