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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   28113 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 18, 2023

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House had two points:

  1. House had an internal contradiction. He was very nihilistic yet believed heavily in doing whatever was possible to save his patient’s life.

  2. House was very utilitarian. The kind of medicine he practiced was effectively take calculated risks. He didn’t get fired despite being an ass because he had more points in the hood column.

Mix that in with a somewhat charming cast and soap opera and you have somewhat interesting tv.

He didn’t get fired despite being an ass because he had more points in the hood column.

I'm sure this was a typo but I chortled regardless.

Doyle's core characterization managed to survive into a very different adaptation.

House had an internal contradiction. He was very nihilistic yet believed heavily in doing whatever was possible to save his patient’s life.

That is not a contradiction. Nihilism only denies objective morality, you can have your subjective one and cling on to it like a limpet, and you might as well because there isn't anything better.

I'm certainly what might be called an optimistic nihilist, but I don't let my patients die on me if I can help it, despite being no House.

Nihilism only denies objective morality, you can have your subjective one and cling on to it like a limpet, and you might as well because there isn't anything better.

My understanding is that nihlism rejects all meaning, including personal values, no?

What you're describing sounds more like existentialism.

Wiki tells me:

In popular use, the term commonly refers to forms of existential nihilism, according to which life is without intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose.

So that's what I'm going for. I see it as only applicable to objective morality anyway, since subjective ones seek no further justification.

Ahh interesting. My pedantry has been one-upped I see. This time.... >:)

I like to call it functional nihilism, because it makes me look smart.

somewhat charming cast

I think it's hard to overstate how heavily the show was driven by Hugh Laurie just being really, really good at delivering the House role. The rest of the cast does a good job too, but Laurie is perfectly cast, well written, and consistently delivers sardonic humor that keeps the whole thing running. Maybe the exact jokes don't get written that way in 2023, but the basic character would work just fine and would simply be taking shots at someone else instead.

Agreed. Laurie was by far the best part of the show. Some of the other cast members were decent. Hence the somewhat charming.

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