DE Weekly: Freedom, Responsibility, & Political Existentialism
Much like other philosophies, Existentialism carries with it a political dimension, insofar as it can be applied to the larger realm of groups of people and societies in general. For example, in the same ways that the arguments laid out in Plato’s The Republic have provided discourse for human politics, so have the writings of Existentialism been applied.
One does not need to look too far in the literature to see this: Albert Camus’s The Rebel and many of Jean-Paul Sartre’s short stories (“The Wall,” “The Childhood of a Leader,” and “Dirty Hands,” to name just a few) all have something to do with our political nature.
DE Weekly: The History, Development, and Precursors of Existentialism
While it is true that Existentialism arguably did not cement itself as a real, solidified philosophy until the twentieth century, its core tenets were explored and espoused over the centuries preceding the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, who organized it into a cohesive school of thought.
I have written about how certain ideas we would today call “existentialist” in nature can be found as far back as Aristotle’s time, can be gleaned from theologians such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and were present in the work of Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others.
DE Weekly: Purpose, Complete Responsibility, & the Meaning of Life
Perhaps the biggest question the philosophy of Existentialism aims to solve is, “What is the meaning of life?” Indeed, this question has been tried by all major philosophies and religions in one way or another. But, has it ever been truly answered?
Aristotle’s writings on the “human function” as it relates to aligning our souls with their highest capacity, St. Thomas Aquinas’s writings on working to achieve the beatific vision of Christ, and Immanuel Kant’s rationalism aiming for the highest good are just some answers posited to this question on the meaning of life.
DE Weekly: Art, Angst, & Existential Aesthetics
Sometimes, I will be reading something, or watching something, or I’ll simply see something and think to myself, “There is something existential about this.” Perhaps it is just me, and the amount of time I spend with the philosophy––but, I’ve seen others make similar observations, so maybe it is something inside of all of us to some degree.
Existentialism is called what it is because of its emphasis on existence: how humans exist and operate in the world as unique beings.
DE Weekly: Nagel, Irony, & the Backward Step
“Most people feel on occasion that life is absurd, and some feel it vividly and continually. Yet the reasons usually offered in defense of this conviction are patently inadequate: they could not really explain why life is absurd. Why then do they provide a natural expression for the sense that it is?”
This is the opening paragraph of Thomas Nagel’s 1971 essay “The Absurd.” Nagel is an American philosopher and University Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at New York University. Among many other things, his body of work explores the philosophy of mind.
DE Weekly: Benatar, the Asymmetry Argument, & Camus’s Rebel
Earlier this week, I came across a post on social media from a so-called “anti-natalist,” someone who believes that it is wrong to have children, and that we should not do so. Their reasons, they claim, are philosophical. “When you bring someone into this world,” this person wrote, “you are introducing them to a lifetime of pain and suffering.” The conclusion they draw from this is that it is morally wrong to procreate.
I wish this view of humanity was a one-off. Alas, that is not the case; there have been whole philosophical treatises written on the subject aiming to advance the anti-natalist view.
DE Weekly: Camus, Absurdism, & Revolt
One of the first names mentioned when one discusses the great philosophers of Existentialism is Albert Camus. There are those, however, who say that Camus was neither a real philosopher nor an Existentialist. One such person who claimed to believe both of those things was Camus himself.
“Why am I an artist and not a philosopher?” Camus wrote in his Notebooks, 1942–1951. “Because I think according to words and not according to ideas.”
DE Weekly: The Hurt Locker, Cereal, & the Burden of Choice
Jean-Paul Sartre made famous the Existentialist idea that, as humans, we are “condemned to be free.” By this, he meant that we did not choose to be alive, but once alive, we are responsible for the choices we make. Even not choosing to choose is a choice.
This level of absolute personal responsibility––what Sartre called our radical freedom––often leads us to anguish and dread. The overwhelming weight of being the one responsible for your choices is terrifying, on some level; in the end, we are the one true author of our life.
DE Weekly: Camus, Absurdism, & A Happy Death
When one thinks of existentialism, one of the first authors to come to mind is likely to be Albert Camus. Two of his works in particular––his novel The Stranger and his book-length essay The Myth of Sisyphus––are undoubtedly his best known works. However, there is another novel of his I’ll be writing about today: A Happy Death.
A Happy Death is, in many ways, the classic Camus novel. Replete with beautifully written, endlessly quotable passages, wondrous highs and desperate lows, it is an enjoyable read, like many of his books.
DE Weekly: Time, Urgency, & the New Year
I sat down to think about what I wanted to write to kick off a new year, and it hit me: what a perfect opportunity to write about the new year itself. New years, new beginnings, new starts, new anythings all represent the core tenets of existentialism well.
When the new year approaches and the calendar finally turns, we tend to mull over the year that was and the year that will be. We ask ourselves, “How do I turn my ideas into actions, my freedom into good choices into meaning?”