I’m going to analyze euthanasia from an existential perspective in connection with my thesis and I have my empirical evidence in place with four interviews. Who would you recommend using? Heidegger or Yalom? I feel like Heidegger has, to a greater extent, created his own theory, while Yalom simply puts together others'. But Heidegger seems difficult to use for analyzing cases in practice. What do you guys think?

Our choices not only shape our lives but also our sense of self. Sartre believed that our identity is not predetermined, but rather a product of our choices. Each decision we make reveals something about our values, desires, and priorities, ultimately defining who we are as individuals.

Can anyone please help me out here I'm confused what it means(even literally). It just doesnt sit with the context.

While delving into my mind and my past experiences, I was reminded of the ugly truth that I have repressed; This truth, nonetheless, is a part of me. A truth many assume and misinterpret to their false realities, biases, and personal narratives of their life episodes. I find myself in a hotel, my “dessert” for five days, confronted with me, myself, and I—the three people I love and hate so desperately. Me and Myself accepted being dangerous. I accepted and grieved the Hero—a spiral of emotions, feelings, and experiences. I laughed, I cried, I was angry. I still am sometimes. However, I now have to go back… the question arises if I can integrate this state into the trait or regress once again. If all else fails, I will commune with the “peasants” of my community, being no different than they, and rise as I always do. In the end, nothing matters. My life is meaningless. Therefore, why not create my meaning? Nothing comformative to the “ascetics” of the "morally [wounded]", but my own “WILL”. (Nietzsche)

I think abstraction refers to detachment or divorce from reality as rieux was thinking himself . I thought it was more like being rational and not thinking from heart or not thinking like people around but for the idea rieux had in mind(I.e to solve the problem of plague). If that makes any sense I'm not that good with words

Bookclub read: The Fall

In May there will be a /r/bookclub group reading and discussing The Fall by Albert Camus.

For anyone interested discussions will begin May 16.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bookclub/s/f46oEjnV6C

hello,

just wondering how everyone copes with too much self-consciousness, to the point where you cannot take anything seriously. i genuinely wake up everyday and am just constantly questioning everything both i and the people around me do. like i can't go to school without obsessively pondering about how this is all pointless and meaningless. there are a lot of other absurdities that i cannot seem to get over, but i'm feeling a tad trapped in my own head. or trapped in a cycle. not sure how exactly to describe.

Reading The Stranger for the first time in years. Feel like a lot of authors that influence existentialist philosophy (Dostoevsky, Kafka, Nietzsche) write protagonists that live in the margins of society. Their seemingly renegade qualities almost makes them anti-heroes because they provide insight into the flaws of mainstream society and human nature.

But when I read Meursault, all I see is a psychopath, someone who’s very glib. Food, wine, cigarettes, women. Superficial relationships to others in the novel. Apart from the murder, he’s not necessarily malevolent. He’s just an empty shell. Even a person like Holden Caulfield, Humbert Humbert or Gregor Samsa have something that makes them tick.

I feel like in any other circumstance, if someone killed a minority, we wouldn’t be philosophizing about him and giving him a platform.

Existentialism posits predisposed agency, libertarian free will, which is not to be confused for the hotly debated metaphysical free will term relating to cause/effect.

Meaning is not inherent in the world nor in the self but through our active involvement in the world as time/Being; what meaning we interpret ourselves by and impart onto the world happens through us.

As I understand it, existentialism relates to the absurdity of the human condition and the meaning/purpose (or lack thereof) of human life. I am currently navigating a breakup and have never felt more absurd in my life. I recognize this person was not a good fit for me even though I loved them, and that there is more to life than romantic relationships, but i cannot fully accept my new reality and be at peace with it.

There is just something so amazing about being with someone and knowing someone at that level. It brings a feeling of being so understood, and anchors me in spite of the floating and purposeless nature of life. I want to de-center romantic love from my life. I already have a meaningful connection with hobbies/passions, family, friends. I try to anchor myself to the present by working out, meditating, etc. what can I do to change my approach to love, loss, heartbreak?

https://preview.redd.it/4zai7vai1swc1.png?width=324&format=png&auto=webp&s=35ca16b0faf915e68e8d196ee200deef02c05915

The absurdity lies the heart of existentialist inquiry. Imagine the cosmic stage: a vast universe, indifferent to our existence, and a fleeting moment for each of us to play our part. They raise poignant questions like; what is the meaning and purpose of life? what is the ultimate significance of living? Existentialists invite us to embrace our absurdity—to dance with it, laugh at it, and find solace in our shared predicament. We are the absurd heroes, pushing our boulders uphill, knowing they’ll roll back down. And perhaps, in that very act, we discover our freedom—the power to choose, to create, and to find meaning in the face of absurdity.

(1)-there is a God who you can understand but also not, as he is an entity that is beyond the level of our comprehension.

his power is so great, that we don’t have to worry about children randomly dying of brain tumors, innocent people being viscously murdered, raped or any horrific thing that is seemingly “random” because those people are actually stronger from their retribution because they will go to heaven?

wouldn’t it be more convenient if none of this happened in the first place?

humans have free will sure, but why does the rapists freedom to rape, and the murderer’s freedom to murder overide the rights of their victims? And God is omniscient, No?

(2)-there is no God which means that something (our universe), came from nothing? how is that possible?

If the universe is so complex that our small brains can barley comprehend its magnitude, is that not a testament to intelligent design?

we all feel (at least I do), that there is a force among us that is bigger than us.

Is that not God?

I’m just an ignorant 18 year old male. Help me out here. Thanks.

PSA: The first part of this post is mainly about things I said to my peers in the past with some editing; everything after is new information I’ve brought to the table. While making my final edits, I decided to keep these parts, as throughout the post and the research I did for it, I as a person also evolved, and I want this post to show that.

PSA 2: I am not a scientist, and I have no degrees in philosophy.  I have however been studying space, biology, and all the theories surrounding it since I was a kid. I'm sure in the way I feel about everything, but if there's anything I just flat out got wrong please correct me.

PSA 2.5: I'm open to changing my view on a lot of things, but I decided to bold all the sentences I'm firm in and want to discuss with others the most.

PSA 2.6: I grew up as a Christian so any mention of a God is referring to biblical portrayal.

TL;DR/Excerpt from this post: >!The point, in my philosophy, is that nothing matters, and that’s the best part of life. The fact that nothing matters means that the only thing that matters is you. Rather, you’re religious, atheist, think we’re in a simulation, or anything; the thing is, it doesn’t matter, and that’s alright.!<

Final Edit Comments: After some more research, I believe the way I’m feeling is called optimistic nihilism, but a lot of people seem to say that isn’t a real thing. So take this how you want to. 

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Existing: Is it really pointless?

I believe existence is hell, but not in any biblical way; without any spiritual/5th dimension stuff, in the most logical mindset, existence is pointless. 

I put it in a math equation: ∞ > 1.

This conceptual number explains everything.

Infinity being everything,

1 being our existence.

I believe that religion wasn’t made to escape the fear of death; it was meant to escape the fear of nothing.

Death is as easy as not existing.

But to not exist is what drives people mad.

The thing is, no matter what the outcome, existing to begin with would have been pointless.

You are a finite value in an infinite realm.

The fact that we can ponder what true torment really is—our torment.

There is no afterlife, there is no religion, and there is absolutely nothing that makes living worth it. 

Exactly what I told my friend, 80 years to a sideways 8. ∞

Compare 80 to 80 quintillion, a huge difference, and that’s a conceivable number. Now compare 80 to ∞.

There is absolutely nothing in your existence compared to ∞.

Existence is the easiest mathematical equation of all time.

∞ > 1

You are 1, no matter what value you put in place of that 1, you are always infinitesimally out valued, out placed, out everything.

Nothing you will ever do or have done will compare to ∞, and in the end, it makes you all realize that none of this matters. Once you realize that, everything else is how you feel. You’ve surpassed all logic and understanding. 

Personal Comment: You could say basing my outlook on existence on a mathematical concept is just as bad as faith in a god. My certainty in infinity is that, if the universe was finite, that'd mean the universe would have to be finite in something, and even the thought of trying to comprehend that is just... wow.. Crazy how it's easier to believe in the universe being infinite rather than it being finite. I firmly believe that finite exists in infinite, to me, reality and math are indifferent. You could say every number is just the count to infinity, an endless "thing", and that's what we are, we're that finite count to infinity. So for me at least, it makes more sense for the universe to be infinite rather than finite. The universe being finite would also change a lot of things, even the concept of a god. If space is finite, than what's outside of space? This sentence makes no sense, to believe there's space outside of space.

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Faith, Christianity, and the afterlife.

This, for me, took away all the little faith in God I had left. Christianity teaches that those who believe in Christ and live good lives will have eternal life in heaven; this means living to begin with was pointless. God willed us into existence to live a finite amount of time, just to take us to heaven, a realm of the infinite, when we die. 

If anything Christianity leaves you with more questions, the concept of faith is a insult to our intelligence. To fully believe in something with no proof is insanely foolish to me. All religious books fail to stand the test of time, it’s honestly shocking to me that religion is still a concept we as people follow. 

The belief that there’s a god is not foolish in any way, but this fiction that so many people take as fact is extremely foolish. The bible is a book of tales, and there’s not even any proof that these scripts were made to be followed. At this point in society, religion is nothing but a tradition passed down from person to person. 

If you believe in the bible then who are you to say stories like Pinocchio and Cinderella are fiction? They’re all equally unbelievable, except for some reason we decided to take one of those books as fact.

Debating with close-minded religious people is as fun as coloring a white sheet of paper with a white crayon. It’s always the same quotes being told, “it’s in the bible”. It’s in the thing that we’re supposed to be debunking? 

I don’t understand when Christians try to prove the existence of God, as the bible itself states many times that God is completely faith. 

Using your own quotes against you,

2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight. 

Hebrews 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

How can you prove the existence of God, if God himself does not want to be proven?

Even if the bible was real, we do not have the original scripts, whatever we are reading right now has been altered through so many hands it might as well be fiction. 

Which is why I think faith is a joke, we do not have the original scriptures, and as a Christian you could say this doesn’t matter as all we need is faith. But the fact of it is, we have free will. This changes everything, especially since we are as intelligent as we are. In a world of science the question is WHY should we believe in such extreme claims with no proof?

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Reincarnation: It’s not fair.

Many people, even some Christians I know say reincarnation is the favorable “ending” . Reincarnation is the worst thing imaginable for me. Reincarnation being real would actually be true torment. Reincarnation would mean we are stuck in a loop and we are to exist forever, even though we were brought into existence unwillingly. 

 An argument against this is that, reincarnation wouldn’t be hell as you right now don’t remember a potential past life, so it’ll be like that for the next. But that’s capturing a small frame. In the bigger picture, your existence would be a never ending loop of life and death. Meaning technically not existing to begin with would be the best. 

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The meaning of life | Finding Peace.

I read a lot of posts and watched a lot of video essays before I decided to post and share my opinion, and this topic seems to make a lot of people depressed or manic, but for me, I feel relieved and happy, like I figured it out.

 The meaning of life is simply to live, as we literally only live once.

There’s nothing scary about it; there’s nothing to comprehend; we simply live until we don’t. If anything, the concept of an afterlife is worse than what’s truly at the end. Anything other than actually dying would entail existing forever.

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Religion and Philosophy: Coming to grips with it all.

I’m new to this all, but this has intrigued me since I was a child. From everything I’ve read as a child until now, I feel like religion or the concept of a god has driven a lot of people mad. I believe religion is cheating in life; I feel like we all have to debate our existence to become better people. 

Religion was created to stop us from going insane. As curious creatures, we can’t help but question everything, but a lot of the things we question have no answers, and religion or God was made so we as people can feel secure; it gives us an easy escape from our existential dread.

I don’t blame people for being religious, nor do I think they’re unintelligent for having faith, even if I think faith is foolish, for some people it could be the way they cope and who am I to tell anyone they’re coping wrong. If all my questions could be answered by simply saying “Because God did” or “Just because," I’d feel a lot safer too.

I think we’re too curious for our own good. I read a lot of other people’s views on these topics; some people, like me, accepted the belief that existence is meaningless, and some people have come to the same conclusion we did, but they still want more. Questions like “how the universe came to be,"  “why do we exist?"  “why are we sentient?"  etc. These are questions that are meaningless. I feel like not a lot of people realize that even if they had the answers to everything, there’d be more questions. If there was a confirmed god, the next question would be how that god came to be and why, and if we are given an answer to that, there will still be that question of how that creator of god came to be, and it would go on forever. 

 There is no why; there is no reason. For there to be reason, it would mean there was someone behind the reasoning, suggesting a god. And at this point, we’re stuck in a loop, because once we get to the topic of religion, it’s all opinions.

I see the reason to ask questions. I used to ask the same things all the time; I just wanted to know everything. 

I love debating topics like this, but trying to prove anything is absolutely foolish and you will never get anywhere. Coming to grips with reality is admitting there’s no point of trying to prove anything, as it’s impossible to prove.

My point or my philosophy is that nothing matters, and that’s the best part of life. The fact that nothing matters means that the only thing that matters is you. Rather, you’re religious, atheist, think we’re in a simulation, or anything; the thing is, it doesn’t matter, and that’s alright.

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Conclusions

After writing this post, I’ve changed my stance on existence. Existence isn’t hell; it’s a gift. Being able to change, think, and understand is the best thing ever. But this doesn't contradict my beginning statement, in the bigger picture existing may actually be hell, but right now we are alive and have the free will to not make it our hell. Existence may be hell, but living isn't, so live the best you can live!

As someone who struggles with depression, anxiety, and other things, I’m shocked at how happy and content I am with all this. Studying this topic has made me want to live life more, truly to its fullest. I want to have fun, I want to meet people, I want to master all my hobbies, and I want to experience life while I can. 

If everything is truly meaningless, then when we die, it doesn’t matter. There’s no reason to question further when there’s nothing after. 

If any single religion is real, then that’s great, as any promised heaven is supposed to be amazing, so it shall be amazing. 

We as humans, although more intelligent than most life, are still animals. The lack of any intelligent life forms around us on earth and in space seems to have made us feel more special than we really are. We have to accept that we can’t be in control of everything or know everything. Once you accept that, then and only then can you truly live life with a sound mind.

The end. 

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Hey!

I been wanting to read more philosophy and, having dwelved with the basics, I decided to read existentalist authors. Is there a structured reading list I could follow (meaning one that doesn't make me jump straight away to Sartre's Being and Nothingness like this one)

Something like the stranger by Camus but shorter. I don't want explanations, I want things to depress my mind and break it. Something unlike No exit but similar to stranger, no play but structure of stranger and difficulty of similar books.

I assume it's about how ppl who think of themselves as free from things that are not in their dimension for example:plague; it's about how they would think that the plague had gone away just because it was out of their imagination and was not meant for them . Is that it ? Please rectify me and help me thank you

I have not finished reading it (about half way through) but there has never been a text that has ever made me feel so understood. I wish I would have read this 10 years ago.

Curious if other people experienced that "relief" after reading this book.

They espouse various differing (theistic and non-theistic) versions of Existentialism, so I thought it might be interesting to understand how popular each of them was.

View Poll

Hoping to make this a philosophy based leg sleeve! 😁🔥

Ever since almost a decade ago, I would experience this strange emotion come to me at random. It felt incomprehensible, and at first I couldn’t give it a definition. But what really stuck out was that, while processing it, I felt a sort of “barrier” that prevented me from feeling past it. But I somehow knew there was more of it to feel. This was oddly unsettling to me at the time, so I just forgot about it. Now, however, I experience it every day and it’s so much more intense and intricate than it was back then. I also don’t feel the barrier anymore, so I know I’ve gotten past it. It’s a lot easier to define it now, and this is what I have so far. It’s the feeling of suddenly realizing the true significance of reality itself, but you have to understand, this definition is only an infinitely small part of it. Has anyone else experienced this before?

Do you know of any good counter arguments to sartre’s thesis? Or any issues with his conception of authenticity?

In my opinion, one of the main reasons why we cannot answer this question is that we do not have clear criteria for deciding whether an act is of free will or not.

Consider a example:
We imagine that you somehow building a perfect theory of human behavior. You feed a model based on that theory with a lot of data about a person and ask the model to make a prediction about what the person will do next.

We observe the situation carefully and unbiased. The person does something different from the prediction.

From now on, we know for sure that our model isn't able to predict the behavior of a person.
What says us this result about the freedom of will?
Sadly, nothing.

The failure of our model could be explained by several reasons:

1. The information we used to feed the model is wrong. In this case, the model could be almost perfect, the problem comes from our inability to collect the necessary information.
2. The model itself is simply wrong. Here we don't need to ask if the problem is in the model.
3. Some random event occurred and therefore the original prediction doesn't come true.

Otherwise, the model would give us the right answer.
This random event could be something in the brain of the person. Some hormon plugged on a neuron and this caused the behavior. 4. The person actually has free will and is therefore not determined by external influences.

My point in this post is: We do not have any idea how to differentiate between these 4 points.

I would suggest that the problem stems from our lack of a definition of free will. We really only know what free will is not. It's not something caused by external causes, it's not randomness, it's something else like our lack of information.

But we can't pick an certain act and say "this is a act of free will".

Hi,

I'm doing an essay on existential ethics and am looking at Sartre's 'Existentialism is Humanism'. I stumbled across Heidegger's 'Letter on Humanism' as I wanted to see some criticisms. I understand what Heidegger says about Sartre still doing metaphysics when he reverses 'essence before existence' to get 'existence precedes essence' but I don't understand why Heidegger is so opposed to conventional metaphysics. In other words, why is it a problem (for Heidegger) that Sartre is still doing metaphysics in his existential ethics? Any help would really be appreciated, thanks :)

Line from an amazing unreleased song by Kendrick Lamar called Prayer that I see as a statement with very existential connotations.

Schopenhauer on aesthetic and artistic perception and output as a mode of transcendence from individual consciousness. Camus saw art as a revolt against meaninglessness. Nietzsche’s artistic energies of the Apollonian and Dionysian come from and produce an expression of freedom and passion.

Kendrick’s line made me think. He is the best.