Existentialism

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life” --Albert Camus Author of The Stranger

Existentialism Existence precedes essence “What is meant here by saying that existence precedes essence? It means first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself” -Jean Paul Sartre

Existentialism Nuts and Bolts Core tenets of existentialism: Life has no inherent meaning or grand purpose The universe is ultimately unfeeling and unknowable The meaning of life is individual Mankind is the measure of all things Freedom is unlimited: we can never NOT choose Human beings are indeterminate, ambiguous beings in constant process of becoming and change We are solely responsible for ourselves and our past For existentialists, striving for authenticity is an ideal goal

Existentialism Existence precedes essence. Our consciousness is not a fixed object There is no absolute/predetermined value, morality, meaning We as people do not have value assigned to us from a god, community, or belief system The individual must create value, morality, meaning for himself

Existentialism: Choice and Commitment Humanity’s primary distinction (from everything else, you could say), is the freedom to choose Human beings do not have a fixed nature, or essence, as other animals and plants do; each human being makes choices that create his or her own nature Must accept responsibility We are continually “becoming”

Being and Nothingness “None of us are fixed entities like tables or stones, but indeterminate, ambiguous beings in constant process of becoming and change. We are all free and can't stop being free. We are all responsible for our actions and our lives are burdened with desire, guilt and anxiety, especially anxiety about what other people think about us. This leads us to suffer such bothersome emotions as guilt, shame, and embarrassment. And, if all this isn’t terrible enough, we are doomed to die from the moment we are born into a meaningless universe where there is no God, or at least a very elusive one. Amazingly, despite this tale of woe, existentialism is ultimately a positive and optimistic philosophy! (Gary Cox, The Existentialist’s Guide, 7).

Being, or Being-in-itself, or Undifferentiated Being=THE WORLD What there is fundamentally, according to Sartre, is not the universe of diverse and complex phenomena that we perceive all around us, but being-in-itself. Being-in-itself simply is Undifferentiated being—has no characteristics; it has no parts, contrasts, divisions, peaks, valleys, etc. It is not spatial--not a landscape or room It is self-sufficient, uncreated, and unchanging It is not temporal (has no past, present, future) Another way to think of it is the physical world and all of its (unconscious) stuff

Non-being, Being-for-itself, or Nothingness=CONSCIOUSNESS Consciousness is a negation of being-in-itself It is a nothingness or a non-being We exist because we are a denial of being We are the OPPOSITE of being Being-for-itself is to be a conscious, knowing entity that perceives nothing-in-itself temporally and spatially It is our consciousness

“There are particular things, like tables and stones, and there is nothing beyond the series of particular things other than consciousness, which is nothing more than consciousness of particular things” —Gary Cox Author of The Existentialist’s Guide to Death, the Universe and Nothingness

Good faith vs. Bad faith At the heart of existentialism is the concept of good faith and bad faith Good Faith Bad Faith Abandons idea of a purposeful universe Abandons illusions while striving for authenticity Honest with oneself Does not “reveal” to other men or women the meaning of their lives Creates his or her own morality in the absence of any known predetermined absolute values Judges a potential action by estimating the result as if everyone were to perform it Chooses to actively engage life Believes that the universe is meaningful and that he or she has a predetermined, fated value: essence before existence Accepts illusions Does not take responsibility for his or her own actions Deliberately hypocritical Tries to use the excuse of “good intentions” to escape responsibility of his or her actions Considers only him or herself (or a few) when carrying out an action Withdraws from life

Authenticity Authenticity is the holy grail of existentialism It means with be fully aware that you are not a fixed thing like a table or chair You are a free being responsible for your choices You are brave, unselfish, and original You see life for what it is and build your life on an understanding and acceptance of how things really are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bQsZxDQgzU

The Absurd Life is absurd and has no inherent meaning; there is no grand purpose to our being here People are subject to intense psychological and physical burdens Camus compares life to the myth of Sisyphus and even entitles one of his philosophical works after it (published a year after The Stranger) (Listen to podcast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6zaM5-Cnnc

Questions 1) According to Camus, in what way is suicide the only important philosophical question? Explain your answer. 2) In your own words, describe the absurdity of life (as Camus describes it) and explain what it means to live in an absurd world. 3) Despite the absurdity of life, how might one achieve happiness?

Camus 3 options when facing the absurd Suicide Philosophical suicide Embrace absurdity

Albert Camus Quote “I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

6 ways we encounter the absurd First, he describes the experience of feeling the void and sincerely replying nothing when asked "what one is thinking" [...]. [T]hen it is as it were the first sign of absurdity" (12).

6 ways we encounter the absurd Second, he describes mechanical living, the deadening repetition of daily work, because it fosters an onrush of futility; yet the "why" arises one day and consciousness awakens.

6 ways we encounter the absurd Third, a person may become aware of time passing by and thus living for the future. Again this is the divorce between an individual and his or her worldly fate; people are caught in time and this makes no sense.

6 ways we encounter the absurd Fourth, the absurd may be experienced because nature is indifferent to people, making the world seem strange, dense, or foreign even if familiar objects are perceived. We are solitary in a world with which we have nothing in common.

6 ways we encounter the absurd Likewise this is evident when there is an acute feeling of isolation between ourselves and others; we are bewildered when we perceive other human beings as nonhuman.

6 ways we encounter the absurd And finally, there is the fact of death and the emotional response it evokes in us. It is inexplicable and makes no sense. We want to endure in life, but all people are nevertheless mortal.