Ever wonder why Lost was so keen on using flashbacks to begin the show?
I wondered this for quite some time actually, and I thought about it even more so when they began using flashforwards in Season 4. Throughout the show, the show fixed upon the idea that we could not understand what was happening at the present time without either swinging back into the past or into the future. This idea was cemented in season 5 when the characters literally began to swing back and forth in time at the whim of the Island (or Esau or Jacob or any other supernatural being not yet named). When I finally saw a pendulum at the Lamppost, everything began to make sense.
I began to suspect Lost using a time concept called "pendular time", or the idea that time swings back and forth between two extremes. This idea was popularized by a philosopher named Georg Hegel, a modernist who benefited from the work of philosophers like John Locke, David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As I searched more about Hegel, I happened upon an enotes page that summarized what is called the "Hegelian Theory of History." In this brief summary, I found three incredibly important ideas that seem to be the building blocks of the entire show. The page can be found at: http://www.enotes.com/history-fact-finder/philosophy/what-hegelian-theory-history
The Hegelian Theory of History is built on three foundations which are called a dialectic, or the resolution of a conflict of two extremes. Lost is, in fact, a dialectic, and though much has been written on this subject in these theories, let me say something briefly. The emphasis upon black/white, us/them and freewill/fate is much too obvious for anyone to ignore. In every season, we are given two opposing forces that are forced to resolve their differences. The differences between Jack Shephard and John Locke, the front section and tail section of Oceanic 815, Losties and Others, Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore, Dharma and Richard Alpert, Jacob and Esau are only a few. In every case, we are given what we call in philosophy a thesis and an antithesis. And through this conflict that we call a dialect, we make a synthesis, or a combining of two extremes. Such syntheses may be opening the Hatch, combining the members of the two sections of the plane, destructing the ! Hatch, killing Anthony Cooper (Tom Sawyer), the additions of Juliette, Ben, Daniel, Miles, Charlotte and Frank and Sawyer's and co. brief stint with the Dharma Initiative. In every case, we have two extremes that are forced together in conflict and become something new. This, if I haven't explained this yet, is called dialectic. And Lost is dialectic.
Hegel's dialectic follows in three steps. First, Hegel believed that the events of history follow a necessary course. In other words, he believed in fate. History happened as it happened and it could not of happened in any other way. Much has been written here about the fate/freewill theme in Lost. The words FATE etched across Charlie's fingers, John's blind faith in the Island, Eloise Hawking's warning to Desmond that he had to follow history and leave Penny, Charlie's death, Jack's and company's returning to the Island, Esau's command to John that he must die and Esau's words to Jacob on the beach all indicate that fate is incredible force in this story.
Second, each event in history not only represents change but progress. I read this and nearly flipped. "Progress" is the very way Jacob sees the events of the Island. What progress has been made will probably be revealed in Season 6. (Sidenote: I have not proof here, but I do believe that Jacob is dead and that Jacob's plan was to die. His victory will come through his death.)
The final step of the dialectic is called the "pendulum theory." As noted earlier, the idea of the swinging pendulum has been very important throughout the structure of Lost. In Seasons One through Three, the pendulum swings from the events of the Present to the Past. In Season Four, events swing from the Present to the Future. In Season Five, Locke and his crew swing to and fro chronologically on the Island before landing comfortably in 1977.
So, in short, my theory is that the writers of Lost are using Hegelian themes as their foundation for the very show itself. Their emphasis on fate, progress and pendular time illustrates as such. My problem at this point is that I am not well versed in understanding Hegelian dialectic or even his Theory of History. I am only a fledging philosopher at this point. So in my spare time, I may do some reading and detective work to find out a little more about these themes. I would also hope that those who have read this will also be inspired to do their own searching. I hope that this adds to the discussion, getting the pendulum swinging in this way.
For the time being, my theory is that the final season of Lost will focus on the game that Jacob and Esau have been playing throughout the first five seasons of Lost. We will see where loyalties truly lie, most notably Charles Widmore's and Eloise Hawking's. We will see that the Losties probably succeeded in creating the conditions necessary for the construction of the Swan Station, and in the end, ensured that Oceanic 815 would still crash on the Island thirty years later. However, progress was made by their efforts. Jacob's "they" are coming, and "they" will determine the outcome of the game.
And in some way for Season 6, the pendulum must swing. I anticipate a new creative way in which to structure the show to ensure that the pendulum continues to swing from one point in history to the other. We may see the old formula of Seasons 1-3 focused on characters like Alpert, Widmore and Hawking or Esau the Nemesis himself. However, I think that they will introduce a new formula for the show. Perhaps they may only swing the pendulum once and tell the story of Jacob and Esau from beginning to end.
In any case, the end of the show will be the resolution of the conflict between two extremes: that is, Jacob and Esau. We will probably find out most notably that there is no winner or loser in this game, but only two extremes doing their very best to kill each other. There is no traditional good guy or bad guy in this story. So I do not think that the show will end with the traditional defeat of the enemy to the hero's glory. I think that this show will end with a resolution, where the enemies come together in peace. I hope for this ending because it gives me hope for a similar ending in this present world.
Peace,
Kyle
I wondered this for quite some time actually, and I thought about it even more so when they began using flashforwards in Season 4. Throughout the show, the show fixed upon the idea that we could not understand what was happening at the present time without either swinging back into the past or into the future. This idea was cemented in season 5 when the characters literally began to swing back and forth in time at the whim of the Island (or Esau or Jacob or any other supernatural being not yet named). When I finally saw a pendulum at the Lamppost, everything began to make sense.
I began to suspect Lost using a time concept called "pendular time", or the idea that time swings back and forth between two extremes. This idea was popularized by a philosopher named Georg Hegel, a modernist who benefited from the work of philosophers like John Locke, David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As I searched more about Hegel, I happened upon an enotes page that summarized what is called the "Hegelian Theory of History." In this brief summary, I found three incredibly important ideas that seem to be the building blocks of the entire show. The page can be found at: http://www.enotes.com/history-fact-finder/philosophy/what-hegelian-theory-history
The Hegelian Theory of History is built on three foundations which are called a dialectic, or the resolution of a conflict of two extremes. Lost is, in fact, a dialectic, and though much has been written on this subject in these theories, let me say something briefly. The emphasis upon black/white, us/them and freewill/fate is much too obvious for anyone to ignore. In every season, we are given two opposing forces that are forced to resolve their differences. The differences between Jack Shephard and John Locke, the front section and tail section of Oceanic 815, Losties and Others, Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore, Dharma and Richard Alpert, Jacob and Esau are only a few. In every case, we are given what we call in philosophy a thesis and an antithesis. And through this conflict that we call a dialect, we make a synthesis, or a combining of two extremes. Such syntheses may be opening the Hatch, combining the members of the two sections of the plane, destructing the ! Hatch, killing Anthony Cooper (Tom Sawyer), the additions of Juliette, Ben, Daniel, Miles, Charlotte and Frank and Sawyer's and co. brief stint with the Dharma Initiative. In every case, we have two extremes that are forced together in conflict and become something new. This, if I haven't explained this yet, is called dialectic. And Lost is dialectic.
Hegel's dialectic follows in three steps. First, Hegel believed that the events of history follow a necessary course. In other words, he believed in fate. History happened as it happened and it could not of happened in any other way. Much has been written here about the fate/freewill theme in Lost. The words FATE etched across Charlie's fingers, John's blind faith in the Island, Eloise Hawking's warning to Desmond that he had to follow history and leave Penny, Charlie's death, Jack's and company's returning to the Island, Esau's command to John that he must die and Esau's words to Jacob on the beach all indicate that fate is incredible force in this story.
Second, each event in history not only represents change but progress. I read this and nearly flipped. "Progress" is the very way Jacob sees the events of the Island. What progress has been made will probably be revealed in Season 6. (Sidenote: I have not proof here, but I do believe that Jacob is dead and that Jacob's plan was to die. His victory will come through his death.)
The final step of the dialectic is called the "pendulum theory." As noted earlier, the idea of the swinging pendulum has been very important throughout the structure of Lost. In Seasons One through Three, the pendulum swings from the events of the Present to the Past. In Season Four, events swing from the Present to the Future. In Season Five, Locke and his crew swing to and fro chronologically on the Island before landing comfortably in 1977.
So, in short, my theory is that the writers of Lost are using Hegelian themes as their foundation for the very show itself. Their emphasis on fate, progress and pendular time illustrates as such. My problem at this point is that I am not well versed in understanding Hegelian dialectic or even his Theory of History. I am only a fledging philosopher at this point. So in my spare time, I may do some reading and detective work to find out a little more about these themes. I would also hope that those who have read this will also be inspired to do their own searching. I hope that this adds to the discussion, getting the pendulum swinging in this way.
For the time being, my theory is that the final season of Lost will focus on the game that Jacob and Esau have been playing throughout the first five seasons of Lost. We will see where loyalties truly lie, most notably Charles Widmore's and Eloise Hawking's. We will see that the Losties probably succeeded in creating the conditions necessary for the construction of the Swan Station, and in the end, ensured that Oceanic 815 would still crash on the Island thirty years later. However, progress was made by their efforts. Jacob's "they" are coming, and "they" will determine the outcome of the game.
And in some way for Season 6, the pendulum must swing. I anticipate a new creative way in which to structure the show to ensure that the pendulum continues to swing from one point in history to the other. We may see the old formula of Seasons 1-3 focused on characters like Alpert, Widmore and Hawking or Esau the Nemesis himself. However, I think that they will introduce a new formula for the show. Perhaps they may only swing the pendulum once and tell the story of Jacob and Esau from beginning to end.
In any case, the end of the show will be the resolution of the conflict between two extremes: that is, Jacob and Esau. We will probably find out most notably that there is no winner or loser in this game, but only two extremes doing their very best to kill each other. There is no traditional good guy or bad guy in this story. So I do not think that the show will end with the traditional defeat of the enemy to the hero's glory. I think that this show will end with a resolution, where the enemies come together in peace. I hope for this ending because it gives me hope for a similar ending in this present world.
Peace,
Kyle
