Ben Brinckerhoff

Problems in Philosophy

12-18-00

The Philosophy of Fight Club

Chemical burns, explosions, fighting, soap, and the meaning of life. These are among the subjects covered in the raw, violent, yet philosophical film Fight Club. The film is the story of two young men: an unnamed narrator, who is casually called AJack@ for convenience, and his friend Tyler Durden. When Tyler shows up, Jack is at an all time low, an insomniac who is miserable at his job and hates his life. Together they learn to reject any kind of meaning that society has shoved upon their life and live to learn by their own rules, rules that include rejecting materialism and embracing violence. The philosophy that these two characters live by is very much like the philosophy of Raymond Martin concerning the meaning of life.

Martin says that the only meaning in life is that of finding perpetual satisfaction. Satisfaction can be defined as a deep feeling of fulfillment that comes from doing that which one feels is important and right. He claims that satisfaction is always only temporary. Any time we feel satisfied, we will only want more satisfaction. When whatever is giving us satisfaction leaves our lives, we want it back, or something else to replace it. Since looking for the meaning of life is looking for lasting satisfaction, and since we can not keep ourselves satisfied for long, Martin concludes that there is no answer to the meaning of life that will satisfy us.

These ideas translate directly to the film. Jack lives in a nice apartment and works in a good job, yet he is miserable. He can only keep himself marginally satisfied by continually buying trendy things for his apartment, a behavior he calls the AIkea nesting instinct.@ Yet even with all this, he is left wanting so much more. Tyler, on the other hand, realizes that satisfaction is only temporary and embraces it, saying A. . . let me never be complete . . . let me never be content.@

Martin states that we can live our lives, even when we know there is no real meaning to life. He says we should do what we love, clarify and pursue our goals, and ignore those things that are not important to us. This is precisely how Tyler and Jack live. They start up underground Afight clubs,@ where men brutally beat each other just for the pure thrill of it. Although its obviously self-destructive, they do it because it adds something to their lives. They also clarify their goals and actively pursue them. In this case, their goal is to Ahit bottom,@ meaning to totally give up everything, so they will be free. Tyler and Jack also clearly ignore those things that they feel doesn=t matter, such as society, comfort, and material possessions. Jack describes Tyler=s philosophy by saying, A[Tyler] lets that which does not matter truly slide.@

The movie makes a good case for Martin=s views by showing that the lack of meaning in people=s lives drives them. Almost every action in the film can be traced back to a character desperately trying to find some sort of meaning, and every attempt comes up short. The message is made even stronger when we see that the characters, even though they understand that their satisfaction is only temporary, try to satisfy themselves with violence. Even with their understanding, they cannot escape the pointless struggle we all face. Predictably, and just like any other kind of satisfaction, they need more and more violence to make themselves feel satisfied, and their violence quickly gets out of control and consumes them. The film is successful in conveying a Martin-like message- with no meaning of life to look for, our desire for satisfaction can very quickly destroy us.