Fight Club as Philosophy: I am Jack's Existential Struggle

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Abstract

The aim of this essay is to analyze the movie Fight Club, directed by David Fincher and written by Jim Uhls, and first released in the fall of 1999. The movie is based on the homonym novel by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 1996. I will argue that Fight Club is to be understood in purely existentialist, non-ethical, and non-evidential terms, showing the struggle felt by each and every one of us to find a convincing answer to the question of what (if any) counts as an authentic, worth living life. Moreover, I will argue that the movie does not merely illustrate the struggle and the existential angst it engenders, but it also advances if not strictly speaking a theoretical answer grounded in an indisputable philosophical reasoning, then at least a practical way to face it. It is only after positively endorsing the claim that absolutely nothing (whatever it may be) externally imposed on the subject can give ultimate meaning to their life is one free to engage in a conscious, laborious, and exhausting attempt at self-affirmation, a full and positive endorsement of one’s own singularity.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy
EditorsDavid Kyle Johnson
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages1217-1234
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9783031246845
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Publication series

NamePalgrave Science Fiction And Fantasy: A New Canon

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