Existentialism Blogpost- Gabe Weible H03

EXISTENTIALISM

To begin the discussion of existentialism, we should set a clear definition for what exactly it is. Existentialism is the belief that through the combined force of free will and personal responsibility, one can construct their own meaning in life in a world that intrinsically has none. Søren Kierkegaard is widely considered to be the father of existentialism, but the philosophy really came into its own in the 1940s with French thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. In this blogpost, I want to talk about a couple important existentialist figures and look at how their ideas influenced the world around them.

A good place to start is Jean-Paul Sartre.

Sartre is perhaps most famous for saying “Existence precedes Essence” in his book Existentialism is a Humanism. Or in other words, our birth happens first and then it’s up to each of us to determine who we are. This was a pretty radical idea at the time, especially because prior to this time period, religion filled in the gaps for any sort of meaning people felt they were missing in their lives. Another important concept that Sartre discussed is the idea of overwhelming freedom. He believed that as humans we are “condemned” to be free. Once we exist in the world, we’re responsible for all that we do. We can look to authority figures to learn how to live but those figures are only just people like us who are finding their own way to live. So, Sartre determined the best thing to do is to live authentically. You live authentically when you recognize that any meaning your life has is given that meaning by you. Conversely, you can live in bad faith. To Sartre, living in bad faith is the refusal to accept the absurd and search for your own answers. 

Sartre was a very prominent and well known philosopher in his time and he helped lay the framework for later thinkers. Sartre published notable works such as Nausea (1938), Being and Nothingness (1943), Existentialism is a Humanism (1946). 

Here's a video that explore's Sartre's personal philosophy more.

Next, let’s look at Albert Camus.

Camus is particularly famous for his thoughts on what he called “the absurd”. We must remember that existentialists don’t believe that the universe was created with any particular purpose in mind. Our world and our actions lack any inherent importance and are ultimately meaningless. Therefore the absurd can be described as “The search for answers in an answerless world”. When an individual’s longing for order collides with the universe’s lack of order, this is where the absurd exists. As humans we crave meaning in our lives and constantly search for our purpose because there’s no inherent purpose we’re born with; Therefore, we have to give it our own meaning. 

In 1942, Camus released an essay titled The Myth of Sisyphus that further delves into the absurd. In the essay, Camus discusses that each of us is forced to live with the absurd. Basically, in the eyes of Camus, living is whatever keeps you from killing yourself. The book later talks about the Greek mythological character Sisyphus. Camus claims that Sisyphus is the ideal absurd hero and that his punishment is representative of the human condition: Sisyphus must struggle perpetually and without hope of success. So long as he accepts that there is nothing more to life than this absurd struggle, then he can find happiness in it.

Here's a link to the essay "The Myth of Sisyphus".

Both Camus and Sartre contributed heavily to modern existentialism, though later in their lives in 1952, there would be a falling out between the two men. Post World War 2, both were regarded as some of France's finest intellectuals. They became friends in the early 1940's and maintained their friendship for a few years. However, the relationship dissolved rather nastily as the years passed. 

Sartre would turn to releasing his repressed rage against Camus in an essay where he discusses Soviet Communism and Stalin's crimes. In the first sentence of the essay Sartre writes, "Dear Camus, our friendship was not an easy one, but I shall miss it." He goes on to throw jabs at Camus' philosophy. Camus never responded, allegedly writing a retort but then keeping it in his drawer, never to be published. 

Regardless of whatever social and political crises were occurring at the time in these two philosopher's lives, both are widely accredited as the most important existentialist figures. Camus went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1957, and later Sartre would do the same in 1964.

Though they were philosophizing nearly 70 years ago, their ideas are still widely discussed today and will be for the foreseeable future.