Naguib Mahfouz's The Metamorphosis And Zaabalawai

What is the meaning of life? According to Chris McCandless living free and not conforming to the natural way of life is the meaning to life, as shown in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Similar to Chris McCandless, Ralph Emerson believes that following your dreams and making your own trail is the meaning of life according to his short story “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Emerson. The purpose of man's existence is to avoid conformity and following one's own instincts and ideas.

Susan R. Wolf (born 1952) is a moral philosopher who works extensively on the meaning of human life and is the Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wolf addresses the questions of the meaning of life in hope to distinguish the characteristics and reasoning that gives meaning to life. According to Susan Wolf view about the meaning in life, “I would say that meaningful life are lives of active engagement in projects of worth… two key phrases, ‘active engagement’ and ‘projects of worth’” (Wolf, 205). However, I believe that her proposal leaves out our basic motives and reasoning that’s

As defined by Merriam-Webster, Existentialism is, “a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad” (Merriam Webster). Logotherapy/existential analysis is based on the premise that within one’s self there lies the 1) “Freedom to will, 2)“will to meaning”, and 3), “ meaning to life”. (Batthyany, Alexander) Meaning to life as it pertains to classic existential theory and logotherapy, is defined by the individual on a situational basis. It can vary based on what is essential to the individual and their well being (Existentialism-By Branch/Doctrine, The Basics of Philosophy). Frankl concentrates on what it was that drives people to live, and determined that those who survived the unspeakable circumstances of the Nazi camps had been those who focused on the meaning of their lives. Frankl’s psychological-anthropological model addresses the ability for others overcome

In this article the meaning of Existentialism is explained as the author, Randall Niles, describes how existentialism is a 20th century philosophy that centers itself on the analysis of human existence. He explains the popular slogan “existence precedes essence” by the very first founders of Existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre. The notion of the slogan is described by explaining how humans come into existence when they are first born, and spend their lifetime changing their essence and nature so it satisfies them. The philosophy of Existentialism is further analysed by explaining how humans find themselves and the ultimate meaning of their life by acknowledging their responsibility and making decisions accordingly. Moreover, it also explains

There is no pre-programmed destiny, no inherent meaning in our lives. Instead, meaning arises from the individual's impetus to will freely, to do what we choose in any given moment, and to then reflect upon those choices and the ways in which they alter reality and the lives of others. Being and Nothingness defines every individual as just that: a lone individual. The nature of our being is truly isolated from the nature of other beings and the world around us – while our actions and essence contain an implicit interconnectedness with the world, while meaning can only come from the existence of external phenomena, our true self is like an island surrounded by impenetrable nothingness – pregnant with the potential for possibility, but always empty in-itself.

Society tends to live day to day without much question of their own existence. Humans are born into the world and without second thought begin to live their lives, but there comes a time when individuals begin to question the reason for their being. In Richard Taylor’s, “The Meaning of Life”, Taylor explores the thought that our existence, when viewed externally without our prejudices, is fundamentally pointless. A thorough analysis of Taylor’s ideas will be given to understand the reasoning behind his thoughts, his argument will then be defended from counter arguments that state that the meaning behind any entity’s life could have any alternative meaning.

Most people want to live a meaningful life. They feel that is important to live a life that is sufficient and worthwhile. The meaning of life has been debated among many people and philosophers throughout history. There have been several theories used to try to explain the true purpose of life in some subjective or objective perspective. Louis Pojman argued that religion gives every individual life meaning to it and those who choose not to believe have no morality or purpose in life. On the other hand, suppose someone would object Pojman theory and believed that life with or without God is not required for finding meaning in life. In the following paper, I will explain Pojman theories about religion giving meaning to life and what that life may consist of. Second, I wish to explain how an atheist would reject his premise and provide a response to how a person of faith would respond to and atheists argument.

Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman” and Franz Kafkas “Metamorphosis" are both stories that challenge the idea of reality. Diary of a madman depicts the idea of an insane first person as he starts to visualize texts in his reading that say humans are going to eat him. “Metamorphosis” keeps the reader guessing weather Gregor is an actual insect or not through his slick metamors and vague use of language. Although “Diary of a madman” is told in first person and “Metamorphosis” is told in third person they both exemplify the human thought process and help us challenge the idea of sanity within a human being.

In “The Meaning of Lives,” Wolf asserts that the question “What is the Meaning of Life?” is inherently unintelligible because it is uncertain what the question is asking. In other words it is too general because it has no specified context. Wolf then acknowledges, however, that there is value in examining the meaningfulness of a life. This is because she observes people wanting meaning as an unchangeable fact. While there is no grand reason for meaning, she suggests that we can create value through what we do in our life. In her work, Wolf constructs a framework on how to obtain meaning in one’s life. I will examine her view, then critically discuss the positive attributes and the shortcomings. Wolf does a sufficient job to outline a possible way to achieve meaning. However, I will argue that a definition for the meaningful life that does not include morality and happiness is not sufficient. Lastly, I will express the subjective and objective tension that weakens her stance.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, adapted by Peter Kuper revealed how people are affected by the demands of society physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is about the dehumanization of a man named Gregor, when he wastes his life monotonously repeating the same task every day to support his uncaring family. The lack of purpose in his life is an example of absurdist fiction, a genre of fictional narrative that uses satire and irrationality to explore the human experience of meaninglessness. Furthermore, “The Metamorphosis” uses aspects of magical realism, such as transformation of common, distortion of time and loss of identity, featured in other magical realism works such as “Axolotl” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” has both absurdist fiction and magical realism traits, therefore, should not only be classified as

Let's summarize by saying this, there is only one "I" in the universe. This universal "I" is one-and-same to that which you identify as you as an individual, when you introspect upon your own existence, although from the perspective of your individual, you are unaware of the universality of your own being. It is to be understood that when I say that there is only one "I" in the universe, I am implying that there is some significant sense in which the matter of which I am composed is identical to the matter of which you are composed. Since our own being is driven by the search for purpose, it is this, the search for the meaning within meaning, which drives all of us. If you haven't got meaning in your life, then you haven't a reason to live at

In Thomas Nagel’s book What Does It All Mean, Nagel shares his view on several different topics. The first topic we will discuss is our perception of reality. Nagel describes several different beliefs about the reality that we live in and the reasons for those beliefs. After discussing reality, we will be discussing arguments about free will and whether or not human beings actually have the ability to make their own decisions. In the end, it all comes down to one big question. What is the meaning of life?

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis utilises existentialism and the id of mortal creatures and the theme of isolation to dehumanize the protagonist throughout the novel; thus, Kafka produces a petrifying novel. Existentialists not only hide many messages; they also disguise themes throughout all the chaos in their novels. Authors writing in an existentialist atmosphere are often criticized for having absurd works with arduous events; thus, producing interesting

We go through life drifting from one superficial disagreement to another without truly ever taking the time to ponder about the meaning of life. Such a question will not be easily resolved but by trying to answer it we stop daydreaming and extend our conception of ourselves while gaining knowledge of the external world (Solomon 10). Unfortunately anyone who attempts to answer that question quickly realizes that it isn’t just one broad question but rather it’s the slogan to an overwhelming amount of enquiries. Out of all possible question the one that has had the most influence on humanity is the notion of whether or not God exists. Philosophers and non-philosophers alike from ancient civilizations to our modern era have contributed their