Existentialism why it’s wrong and life is meaningless
This popular philosophical outlook might not be the right choice.
To question your existence is just as natural as being alive. You have been conditioned to think that once you start questioning the reasons for your life, a feeling of discontent and malaise will overpower you.
If you have ever asked yourself:
- Why are you here?
- Why live for anything?
- What should I do with my life?
After grappling with these life-altering questions, it is common to search for answers. Philosophy offers a refuge for those who search for answers to some of life’s most pressing queries. Inevitably, after milling around stoicism, and flirting with nihilism you find yourself firmly in the grip of the existentialists. They assure you that meaning is what you make it, and that life can have a purpose after all. The only trouble with this is — they are wrong.
Let’s get this straightened out right away. Existentialism is one of my favorite philosophies. However, in light of some relatively recent scientific discoveries, it is appropriate to revisit this philosophy to see if it still carries metaphysical water so to say.
Existential philosophy can be used to clarify your direction in life. However, it cannot give your life meaning.
The idea fabricated by Jean Paul Sartre of
Can be understood as the meaning of life is not found. Instead, it’s something we imbue life with.
Humanity has searched for meaning from the beginning of recorded history. We have attempted to explain questions of existence, personality, and morality. But, our efforts have been in vain. We like to rationalize our awareness, filling the void of eternity with little more than hopes of forever and dreams of meaning.
Inquiries about existence, morality, mortality and yes, meaning, have taunted the intellectual titans of all ages. As human beings, we attempt to rationalize our existence, testing abstract notions of reality against reason itself, hoping to find an answer. Existentialism is another rationalization.
Existentialism is yet another rationalization
Facticity is a term used by existentialists to describe objective facts about the external world that are registered in awareness or cognition. Their logic is as follows:
- Because an individual is conscious, and can choose how to respond to facticity,
- Determinism and the predictability of human behavior cannot be a valid undertaking.
Existentialism is a comforting philosophy. It assures you that you have agency, and it’s up to you to assume control of your trajectory in life. However, this runs counter to factors external to personal volition, ones that escape the touch of even the most determined actor.
Take consciousness, for example. Existential philosophy posits the primacy of existence before essence. But how can awareness exist without a means to be generated? In other words, how does consciousness exist without a brain?
Sartre was wrong! Existence Precedes Essence is false.
Consciousness can be divided. If your corpus callosum was split in two, the right and left hemispheres of your brain would no longer be able to communicate with one another, effectively distorting your awareness. Can we still claim that existence precedes essence? The brain must exist before you are aware after all. Seeing that awareness itself can be manipulated lends credence to the exact opposite of Sartre’s thesis.
Existentialism may not be the most accurate understanding of human agency. There are still many questions regarding consciousness and its origins. But, it’s safe to assume that what we know about split-brain patients casts some doubt upon the ideas put forth by existentialists.
The action of dividing awareness (the essence of personality) through the severing of the corpus callosum (existing matter) that leads to a fractured state of consciousness.
Existentialism is meaningless
I know what you might be thinking. This says nothing about meaning. You have just outlined how an anatomical process can manipulate our perceptions of the real world. You have not told us that what follows is necessarily meaningless.
Oh, yes I have! I am not saying that once we have a better idea of how consciousness functions that this will not change. But, Sartre had no clue that splitting awareness was even possible. As the study of consciousness progresses, we too should update or beliefs accordingly.
Existentialism can be used to frame reality in accordance with your perceptual truth. However, it’s not metaphysical truth.
Existentialism cannot claim to be a foundational element of consciousness or physical existence. It’s and abstraction that resides atop the super structure of awareness.
As for the meaning you give life, it can be viewed in the same light. When reaching conclusions about the rationality for your existential motivations, they, too cannot be deemed fundamental. In other words, what you say your life means is still just a form of rationalization atop universal laws.
The Dangers of responsibility and individualism
Existentialism is a code of personal agency and responsibility. It seems compelling to some due to their predisposition to accept personal responsibility, and in turn, is demanded of others as well. Existentialists view their philosophy as a means of transcendence, a way of overcoming their nature. In reality, their philosophical mechanism for imparting personal meaning is a reflection of their nature. In other words, to be an existentialist is not a move beyond yourself, but a confirmation of what you already are.
Because of the existentialist’s understanding that their embracing of responsibility is transcendent, they expect others to adhere to the same philosophical outlook, while remaining incapable of acknowledging that everyone is not so inclined.
This leads to viewing those who are not predisposed to adopt an existential world view as moral failures who are unwilling to take responsibility and overcome their circumstances. That those who do not adhere to their philosophy are condemned for their moral failings. From here, it’s easy to see how existentialism might be used to justify policies that punish those who do not abide by its philosophical edicts by no fault of their own.
Because existential philosophy is chosen by people who are already motivated by self or social conditions to be existentialists, it can be viewed as conformation of their existing beliefs. It follows that any meaningful insights drawn from it are in turn, rationalizations of existing biases or a reflection of circumstantial realities.
Ridiculous and insane
Humanity’s desire to obtain meaning comes from our drive to self-validate. It’s not that we crave answers about our existence, because none exist, but that we are required by nature to seek these rationalizations, since it aided in the survival humanity. Existentialists like to believe that humanity stands apart from nature, that humans are exempt from the physical process that govern the natural world. In reality, we may be only programmed to believe we are autonomous because it garnered some evolutionary advantage in the past.
Final thoughts
We cannot know the meaning of life — ever. Just as cats cannot do math, reality has made meaning an impossible question to answer. Not even we, with our good will and intentionality, can give life meaning. It appears the best we can hope for is a rationalization about what we think our lives mean, not what they mean.
I’m not telling you that your life has no meaning. If you found something that helps you move forward to better things, hold on to it! Just because meaning cannot be objectively real, does not mean that its subjective value is absent.
If not handled with care, it is possible for ideas that were formed in the best of intentions to lead to some of the most horrifying atrocities imaginable. If we are aware of what they mean, and where they will end up at the furthest reaches of their logic, it is possible to make more informed decisions about meaning and life in general.
I encourage you not to blindly walk into a life perspective without researching what it could mean when taken to an end. In the process of testing our ideals, we are made stronger, more aware of how we think, and what those thoughts could mean for those around us.
To me, existentialism is not good or bad, but indifferent. If you are so inclined to follow its decrees — go for it! But remember, not everyone is so compelled. There are many different ways to get through life. Existentialism is just another — no more special, or profound than any other.
