Western Philosphy, in my view, is in the process of re-engaging with existence. This time, not so much because of World Wars, fields of blood and industrial scale murder, but more as a result of reasons similar to the reasons that drove veterans of the The Third Crusade to become hermits and find peace in the caves of Mount Carmel where Elijah had once challenged the Prophets of Baal. The Elijah account is a long, tumultuous story and still is. Baal was all about storms, fertility, deception, idolatry and king Ahab's wife, Queen Jezebel. Elijah was about obeying the one God and having no fun whatsoever this side of the "Still Small Voice."
Elijah had just caused the death of 450 Prophets of Baal, there'd been fire that melted stone. Despite the victory for Yahweh it had been no more and no less traumatic for Elijah than the Third Crusaders attempts to retake Jerusalem, and return it to the rightful god. What Elijah did to recover was to retreat to the Cave of Mount Horeb, he wasn't victoriously celebrating, he was a broken soldier. His symptoms, as recorded, were exactly those of severe trauma, his first request was to pray for death : "It is enough! O Lord, take away my life."
Elijah had had his word with his god, and nowhere in the story did Elijah appear to have publicly doubted his calling. Had he shared Schopenhauer's understanding of Will he might have seen what I see - a mindless, universal force pushing shape into the mystery, a random slope looking for Nouns - a blind, insatiable, striving energy that underlies all physical reality. But no Elija was a full blown noun, he'd left his verbs, avoided them, didn't want to think about them and he'd become a servant of his Lord.
Our philosophers are where I believe they should be, verbs looking for nouns, not smug little shit heads with answers. Indeed the choice is to connect with existence not define it.
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