Nothing New Under The Sun : A Look At Existentialism

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

Theistic existentialism begins with acceptance of all the propositions of theism. It’s main differences concern human nature and our relationship to God and the cosmos.

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

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a relation is “a state of being mutually or reciprocally interested,” which relationship is a connection by the way the of relations (Relation, 2017). Since the term relationship is defined, therapy is then a process with a purpose; for example, the resolution of clients’ problems. To achieve the treatment that the patient needs, the innovative approach must attain the goal for the patient’s point of mutual interest with the therapist, who also has a common interest in resolving the patient’s problems. Addressing the patient’s problems means accomplishing some changes in the way the client perceives, thinks, feels, sees their reality. This small detail requires active participation from the

“To a man utterly without a sense of belonging, mere life is all that matters. It is the only reality in an eternity of nothingness, and he clings to it with shameless despair.”

The world is a simple place, but often at times, it seems more complicated than it really is. People exist in a world where others do not know about them because the world is so big. Existentialism is the belief that a person creates one’s self with the influence of external factors. However, more importantly, it is how a person is able to cope with these factors that allow a person to live their life. Existentialism is a key factor that is prominent throughout the story. The main characters in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, are all influenced by outside factors that include a pregnancy substitute to make babies and pre-plan their futures, living in a controlled environment and by making the citizens live in a constant hallucination of “happiness”.

What is the meaning of life? What gives life meaning? Philosophers have asked these questions for decades, and there still is not a solid answer to the question. This paper will analyze one modern philosopher’s take on the question: What gives life meaning? Susan Wolf is a modern moral philosopher and philosopher of action and mind. She attended two Ivy League institutions for her undergraduate and graduate careers. Wolf received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Philosophy and Math from Yale University, and she received a PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University. Wolf taught at various prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, and University of Maryland. She is currently a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where she teaches philosophy. Susan Wolf has written many works such as “Meaning in Life and Why It Matters,” “Freedom Within Reason.” This paper will focus on the article “Meaning in Life” from the journal “Happiness and Meaning: Two Aspects of the Good Life.”

Many philosophers, throughout centuries of human existence, have deciphered, or at least attempted tried to cast some light on to, our purpose. Consulting their findings could give several answers on whether we should live to maximize our pleasure, minimize our pain, avoid frustration or achieve greatness. In my own considerations, though, sorting through the tumultuous noise and clutter of the world around me for the some obscured or hidden meaning was not necessary. To me, the noise and clutter is the meaning. I do not live for what is hidden; I live for what is all around me. My experiences are not tools that assist me in find some truth. Rather, they are the truth. In other words the Good in my life is, in fact, life in its entirety.

Existentialism has always been criticized because it is viewed as only a pessimistic approach. To those critics, existentialism is nothing more than not believing in a higher power, but what it truly means is that “man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself,” (Sartre, 3) which, in turn, makes it optimistic. By that definition, there would be no human nature because that would imply that there is a predetermined plan for humans. Sartre counters the claim of human nature by proving that all actions are a choice made by the individual since before having an essence, man only existed and then he had to create that essence.

The existence and purpose of human live has always posed a question for society. To answer this question, philosophers ponder Existentialism. Existentialism is the philosophy that humans exist for no true purpose and that each individual changes essence in his or her lifetime by finding meaning in life through freewill, choice, and personal responsibility without certain knowledge of right and wrong. This theory gained popularity in the mid-1900s after WWII caused many people to lose hope in an ordered world and accept that no cosmic justice exists. According to this theory, no absolute rules govern humans’ lives. This theory appears throughout literature and offers a grim perspective on human existence. The Metamorphosis, written by

The Good Life is an expression representing how one would like to live out their life. In other words, how that person achieves happiness. The three more relevant theories that correlate to the Good Life are Daoism, Stoicism, and Existentialism. Since each person defines their happiness differently, each person has their own opinion as to whether or not what is read to be correct or not. The goal is to at least shine a light to what everyone seems drawn towards. Existentialism is an important theory to consider in order to achieve the Good Life. Although existentialism may not appeal to everyone as a reliable theory to achieve the Good Life, it does elaborate as to how existentialism can be used to attain the Good Life in the 21st century.

For this paper, both movies used to explain Existentialism are adapted from real stories. The first film is Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed and the second is Into the Wild, starring Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless. In Sartre’s definition of existentialism, human existence precedes essence, therefore leading to meaning, purpose and identity. When Chris and Cheryl leave their family, friends and everything else they know from the society, they are attempting to find a meaning and purpose to their lives.

Existentialism developed in the more extensive feeling to twentieth century rationality that is focused upon the investigation about presence and of the best approach people discover themselves existing or their existence as a whole. Existentialism takes its name from those philosophical topic of 'existence ', this doesn 't involve that there will be homogeneity in the way presence will be on be comprehended. On simpler terms, existentialism will be an logic worried for finding self and the intending from claiming an aggregation through spare will, choice and also personage obligation. Existentialism turned into prominent following those Second World War. In spite of seeing its philosophical viewpoint is little spot complex,

I consider myself an existentialist. There are two basic approaches to this philosophy: either one rejoices in the freedom of the idea that a higher power is not imposing rules and purpose onto our existence, or, one sinks beneath the burden of responsibility that this bequeaths. Existentialists like Sartre, who can only see the bleak and meaningless aspects of living, have missed the opportunity that this philosophy gives to structure and guide their lives based on their own inner moral principles. I think that the inability to cope with inherent absence of meaning points to a dependence on the guidance of a higher power: in effect, a reluctance to take responsibility for oneself. I see existentialism as an incredibly liberating

Existentialists focus on the question that is a concrete human existence, and the conditions of such existence; they do not dwell on a hypothesis for human essence, instead they stress that this essence is determined by an individual’s own life choices. Although humans live in the world, a distance is created in order to add meaning to the disinterested world; however, this meaning is fragile and can be disturbed by tragedy or insight. When this disturbance occurs, and human’s precarious lives crumble, the true nature of the world is revealed; a nature that shows little importance for humans; this way of thinking created the, post WWII era, worldwide explosion of ambiguous literature, and the sensory perception of art and music; heavily influenced by the idea of human worthlessness.