Existentialism seems like a good mindset to maintain throughout life in order to lead a productive lifestyle. I like the ideas of uniqueness, independence, and living life fully. What I don't like is the concept that our Existence is essentially absurd and that there is no purpose to our presence. One reason I don't like this statement is that I feel this is made out of a lack of knowledge. Since we do not know or understand the universe, life, and death, there is no way of us knowing what has happened or what will happen. The second reason is because it goes again some of the other ideals. Instead of promoting a full participation in life, it promotes depression. I believe Mr. Bennett said that our senses are deceptive and if they are, then maybe they're deceiving us right now. Perhaps we're nonexistant or already dead. We don't know. God exists to explain these unknowns. God explains the cause of our universe. Everything has a cause(I'm not saying anything about purpose yet). Humans have a cause, which is some sort of scientific evolution process. But, the only possible cause for a beginning is God. Anyway, the purpose of our presence in the universe is determined by the individual. Perhaps there is a specific purpose, but we don't know it. To say that we don't know the reason for our purpose differs from saying that our purpose doesn't exist. The individual must set out to discover his or her own purpose in the universe.
Albert Camus wrote a book called The Stranger and when I read it I hated it and could not stop thinking about how stupid the main character was. Some of you guys should have read it already and now that I think about it, the main character was an existentialist. He ended up believing that there is no meaning to life and he dies peacefully knowing this and that the world is indifferent to us. Now, I still think it's really stupid. He died living a rather useless life and with a false happiness. Throughout the story, it's almost as if he doesn't have a conscience. Camus says that we cannot find rational explanations in an irrational world. That's fine with me, but does the man really feel justified with death? It seems to me that existentialism in this sense leads to a poor, disappointing mindset.
E's would agree with you, I think. We cannot know, ultimately, what the meaning of life is, or whether God exists. Hence the E would say, why bother?
ReplyDeleteRight on about Camus and Mersault. Did you notice how all the trivial aspects of the story are told in nauseating detail, while the murder of the Arab on the beach is told so quickly that you might miss it? Hemingway's "Sun also Rises" is similar. I often wonder what they're trying to say. Something about the meaninglessness of life, I guess.
I believe that the book "The Stranger" is a book that describes the mindset of a killer. It takes an extra - ordinary person to kill another. It takes one that lacks emotion, that lacks guilt. And this is describing a true killer. By this I mean that if a person that is not a true killer kills someone they will racked with guilt and their moral sensibility will inevitably lead them to confront their demon or commit suicide. Either one is just as good.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you Kamil, Existentialism doesn't have to be depressing or disappointing, and unlike (seemingly popular between our bloggas) popular belief does not justify murder, rape, and other crimes. It argues that if we were completely logical beings we would not commit these crimes and always reason the better path. But since we don't, logic cannot be the driving force of people. A lot of it has to do with luck, environment, genetics and when we understand this it empowers us to strip these forces that limit us and create "free will" to be able to do what we feel is right.
A great example is when Manny says that "You're gonna clean that spot" and you'll treat that job as "gold". The director shows us that as an existentialist he has shown us his conclusions by following free-will.
I didn't say E was disappointing or depressing. I was refering to the single statement. But, thanks for the insight blogga.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about The Stranger, that book is definitely written by an existentialist. I also agree that Mersault is the most mundanely miserable example of an existentialist and just goes to show you how much he could differ from someone like Manny. Although both are criminals who feel that life has little or no meaning, Manny still has goals and wants to keep working for his freedom and success in life.
ReplyDeleteAs for you statement on God, I think it's a bit bold(but then again, it's a religious statement, so that should be expected). God isn't the only possible cause for any existence, logically. If, according to E ideas, there's no meaning in life, then there didn't have to be some being to create it.
But, if someone were to have limited E beliefs(like an Enlightenment Deist) they could admit that God does or could exist but still believe that life has no higher meaning and God really couldn't care less about our lives.