Existentialism: The Search to Find Meaning

The Major Concepts…

#1: Focus on Concrete Existence Existential philosophers believe that we should focus on our individual lives and the things we create. We shouldn’t worry by asking questions about how we got here or what is our human essence. For example: If I worry about my essence and ask who am I, an existentialist would tell me that who I am is comprised of what I say and do on a daily basis.

#2: Existence Precedes Essence There is no one essence that defines what it means to be human. What we say and do as individuals determines our individual essence. Through a state of consciousness, we create our own values and determine meaning in our lives. For example, existentialists don’t believe that our human essence is goodness. Instead, an individual might create his own good essence by saying and doing good things.

#3: Angst/Dread Because we are free to create our own meanings and values, we often develop dread/angst in reaction to this freedom. No-thing can hold me back because I have ultimate freedom. Yet, I experience angst because I have the ultimate responsibility for the choices I make. I can’t blame anything or anyone for what I say and do.

#4: Freedom Existential freedom isn't situated in some kind of abstract space where everything is possible. Since people are free, and since they already exist in the world, it is implied that their freedom is only in this world, and that it, too, is restricted by it. And we are still responsible for the choices we make, as well as the consequences.

#5: Facticity Facticity: The facts of our life that we cannot change. These facts act as limitations because they are often areas we did not choose. (i.e. where we were born, who our parents are, etc.) Existentialists emphasize that even though one's facticity is "set in stone," it cannot determine a person. The value we give to our facticity is our choice.

However… You cannot deny your facticity. Denial would make you inauthentic because you are rejecting key aspects of yourself.

#6: Authenticity vs. Inauthenticity Authenticity: act according to your freedom. Of course, as a condition of freedom is facticity. BUT remember that facticity can’t determine or be blamed for your choices.

Inauthenticity Inauthenticity is the denial to live in accordance with one's freedom. This is called ‘bad faith.’ You pretend your choices are meaningless or random. Your environment forces you to be this way. You should act this way…How you should act is often determined by the image you have of yourself and how someone such as yourself should act.

#7: Despair Despair occurs when one uses exterior pillars to define himself and then these pillars break down. An athlete defines himself by his ability and then suffers a career-ending injury. Since he based his identity on being an athlete, he’s now in despair. So long as a person's identity depends on qualities that can crumble, they are considered to be in perpetual despair. Many people are in despair and don’t even realize it.

#8: The Other and the Gaze The gaze: We experience someone else experiencing the world.(I watch someone eat lunch. They don’t know I’m watching them.) If someone sees me staring, they watch me watching the person eat lunch. Suddenly, I see myself subjectively through the eyes of the person who has caught me. I used to be focused on the eater, but now I am focused on myself and how the other is defining me.

#9: Reason Existentialists reject reasoning. They believe that people actually make decisions based on the meaning to them rather than rationally. Existentialists believe that there is no organized structure or logic to the world. It is random and chaotic. So if we try to use reasoning/rationale to make decisions, we fail.

#10: Absurdism (made famous by writer, Albert Camus) There is no meaning in the world beyond what we give it. If we search for an inherent meaning of life, we fail. Anything can happen to anyone at any time. What happens, happens. There is no such thing as karma or fairness.

Options for Responding to Absurdism: #1: Suicide. Admitting that an absurd life is a life really not worth living. By committing suicide, you don’t really escape the absurd. Rather, the absurd then becomes even more absurd.

#2: Leap of Faith A turn to the religious, abstract, spiritual or transcendental as a means to finding greater meaning in life. Existentialists believe this is philosophical suicide because you are cutting off your path to creating your own meaning and values in life.

#3: Acceptance/Surrender By accepting that there is no greater meaning to the world, you achieve a great sense of freedom to create your own meaning and values.