Existentialism (Brief)

 

Existentialism an Analysis (Brief)

Existentialism

Philosophers including Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Friedrich Nietzsche questioned existentialism in the 19th century, existentialism was popularized by Jean-Paul Sartre in the mid-20th century following the horrific events of World War II.Existentialism an Analysis (Brief)

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As people questioned how something as catastrophically terrible as the Holocaust could have a predetermined purpose, existentialism provided a possible answer that perhaps it is the individual who determines their essence, not an all-powerful being.

The existentialist movement asked, “What if we exist first?” At the time it was a revolutionary thought. You were created as a blank slate, tabula rasa, and it is up to you to discover your life’s purpose or meaning. While not necessarily atheists, existentialists believed there is no divine intervention, fate, or outside forces actively pushing you in particular directions. Every decision you make is yours. You create your purpose through your actions.

This personal responsibility to shape your own life’s meaning carries significant anxiety-inducing weight. Many of us experience the so-called existential crisis where we find ourselves questioning our choices, career, relationships, and the point of it all. We have so many options. How do we pick the right ones to create a meaningful and fulfilling life?

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does”-John-Paul Sartre

Freedom is usually presented positively but Sartre posed your level of freedom as so great it’s “painful”. To fully comprehend your freedom you have to accept only you are responsible for creating or failing to create, your purpose. Without rules or order to guide you, you have so many choices that freedom is overwhelming.

Life can be silly. But this isn’t quite what existentialists mean when they talk about the absurd. They define absurdity as the search for answers in an answer less world. It’s the idea of being born into a meaningless place that then requires you to make meaning.

The absurd posits there is no one truth, no inherent rules or guidelines. This means you have to develop your moral code to live by. Sartre cautioned looking to authority for guidance and answers because no one has them and there is no one truth.

The phrase “living authentically” was coined by Sartre which means to live with the understanding of your responsibility to control your freedom despite the irrational. Any purpose or meaning in a person’s life is created by himself.

If someone chooses to live by someone else’s rules, be that anywhere between religion and the wishes of your parents, then you are refusing to accept the absurd. Sartre named this refusal “bad faith” as you were choosing to live by someone else’s definition of meaning and purpose  not your own.

 “The literal meaning of life is whatever you’re doing that prevents you from killing yourself”- Albert Camus

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