Answering Existential Questions: Societal Pressures & Authentic Living

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SUMMARY

This discussion centers on the challenges of living an authentic existential life amidst societal pressures. Participants reference key existentialist texts, including Sartre's La Nausee and Huis Clos, and Camus' l'Etranger, emphasizing the importance of individual interpretation of ethics. The conversation highlights the limitations of knowledge in decision-making, suggesting that true authenticity requires introspection and self-challenge. The notion that existentialists reject universal ethics is a recurring theme, reinforcing the idea that authenticity is subjective and context-dependent.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of existentialism and its key figures, such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.
  • Familiarity with existentialist literature, particularly La Nausee and l'Etranger.
  • Knowledge of ethical relativism and its implications in existential thought.
  • Concept of introspective humanism as it relates to personal authenticity.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the biographies of existentialist philosophers to understand their responses to societal pressures.
  • Explore the concept of ethical relativism in existentialism and its practical applications.
  • Study the implications of introspection in existentialist philosophy and its role in authentic living.
  • Analyze the critiques of essentialism in existential thought and how they apply to decision-making.
USEFUL FOR

Students of philosophy, particularly those interested in existentialism, as well as individuals seeking to navigate societal expectations while pursuing authentic living.

Greg Bernhardt
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I just got out of class and I didn't get to ask a couple burning questions I had, maybe some of you can help me.

1. If existentialists were concerned about leading a first-hand life, how did they deal with societal pressures and laws.

2. Can we really live an authentic existential life. For example, if I have a problem, in the whole world of possibility say there are 4 solutions. However, in our narrow lives we can't know all possibilites so say I am only aware of 2. I pick one that I feel is best for me, however in reality of all solutions one of the two that I didn't know would have been best for me. So we can only live the best and most truthful life with the limited resources we have, but does that fufil the ideal existential life?
 
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Don't tell me that our site Admin is posting homework questions without showing us how he started them! :eek:
 
Tom Mattson said:
Don't tell me that our site Admin is posting homework questions without showing us how he started them! :eek:

Haha these are questions I formed off the top of my head through the discussions we had in class. My class is awesome in that we don't get homework, it's all open discussion.
 
OK, I'll start.

Greg Bernhardt said:
1. If existentialists were concerned about leading a first-hand life, how did they deal with societal pressures and laws.

This sounds like a historical question. Seems to me that you can answer it by looking up biographies of famous existentialists and see how they dealt with such things.

2. Can we really live an authentic existential life.

That depends on how you define existentialism. I think that most (all?) existentialists do not hold to universals in ethical questions, and that it is the individual that determines what is right and wrong. So it seems to me that the existentialist ideal is to do the best you can with what you know. And "the best" is defined by the individual.
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
I just got out of class and I didn't get to ask a couple burning questions I had, maybe some of you can help me.

1. If existentialists were concerned about leading a first-hand life, how did they deal with societal pressures and laws.

2. Can we really live an authentic existential life. For example, if I have a problem, in the whole world of possibility say there are 4 solutions. However, in our narrow lives we can't know all possibilites so say I am only aware of 2. I pick one that I feel is best for me, however in reality of all solutions one of the two that I didn't know would have been best for me. So we can only live the best and most truthful life with the limited resources we have, but does that fufil the ideal existential life?

1. The answer is in Sartre's La Nausee and Huis Clos and in Camus' l'Etranger. The famous summary from Huis Clos: "Hell is other people".

2. The assumption that there are four and only four solutions is essentialist. You PRETEND to be able to analyze life in this way but you can't. There is only the moment as you find it, and to be authentic you must challenge it from within.
 
selfAdjoint said:
and to be authentic you must challenge it from within.

What the heck does that mean?
 

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