John Locke - Existential Comics

A philosophy webcomic about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world. Also Jokes

Empiricism vs Rationalism: the Final Fight

Pragmatists are well known for their ability to bully nerds, that's just a matter of historical record.

Permanent Link to this Comic: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/579

Hobbes, Locke, and Very Silly Hats

John Locke: "Hey Hobbes."
Thomas Hobbes, wearing an extremely silly hat: "Hey Locke."
Locke: "So uh...what's with the hat?"

Hobbes: "The King said everyone has to wear silly hats from now on, and sadly, because of the social contract, i must obey."

Locke: "Isn't that...totally stupid?"
Hobbes: "I don't want to talk about it!"
Locke: "But why obey such stupid rules?"

Hobbes, putting a silly hat on Locke: "Look, do you want to have a chaotic war of all against all? Huh? Well i don't, so we have to just wear the silly hats and stop complaining about it. Here, put this on before civilization collapses."

PERSON: "No! Nobody, even the King, can desire to have me in his absolute power, to make me a slave! Any monarch which violates our sacred natural rights: life, liberty, property, and to not have to wear silly hats, is an illegitimate ruler that needs to be replaced!"

Locke, taking off the hat: "I refuse to obey an illegitimate ruler, I'm taking off my silly hat!"
Hobbes: "Locke, no!"

Bystander, in a group of people wearing silly hats: "Hey, that guy's not wearing a silly hat!"
Another bystander: "And thus, by extension, none of us need to obey the social contract."

Locke, as chaos erupts, and the crowd starts to beat them up: "God damnit Locke, I told you!"

This is actually why there was a ministry of silly walks in Monty Python, because they live in an alternate universe where Hobbes's theory of Leviathan became the dominant political text of the 20th century.

Permanent Link to this Comic: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/390

Eowyn Kills the Witch King

Description: The Witch King, from Lord of the Rings, in the battle of pelennor fields.

Witch King: "You fool. No man can kill me. Die now."

Eowyn: "I am no man!"

John Locke: "Whoa whoa whoa, time out. That's clearly not what he meant."

Roland Barthes: "Wrong, Locke! He is merely quoting a prophecy, and any interpretation is equally valid. The author's original intent is irrelevant when analyzing a text."

John Locke: "Language is a representation of the ideas of the speaker, and he obviously meant â€œno human can kill me.â€"

Locke: "Enough of your relativism, Barthes, you can't beat a prophesy with a pun!"
Barthes: "Says who?"
Locke: "The prophet!"
Barthes: "Once a prophecy exists the prophet is only one of many interpreters!"

Eowyn: "Enough! I don't care. I was just trying to say something badass before killing him."

Description: Eowyn stabs the Witch King in the face, killing him.

Barthes: "Is it just me, or was he a bit overconfident that no man could kill him when he can die from getting stabbed in the face?"
Eowyn: "Yeah, i was a bit surprised that was all it took to be honest."

"I never expected someone would try to...stab me."

Permanent Link to this Comic: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/318

Potluck Economics

"What did you bring again, Marx?" "I brought the cake." "I thought Engels brought that." "Uh...it's from both of us."

Permanent Link to this Comic: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/280

Social Contract Theory: The Game

It turns out that when you agree to play a game with Camus, you implicitly agree to the "Camus Contract". That means Camus is gonna do whatever the fuck he wants.

Permanent Link to this Comic: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/211

The Life of Francis

"You've got to always look on the bright side of life. Because any attempt to deduce the bright of life from reason alone will still rely on concepts gained from prior experience of the bright side of liiiiiife."

Permanent Link to this Comic: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/183