Why is existentialism the most successful philosophy?(Part II)
In the second and final part, I try to discuss some of the most influential ideas of existentialism, that hold relevance in the modern day.
Never live in bad faith
We live in bad faith (or mauvaise foi as Sartre calls it) when we convince ourselves that things have to be a certain way and shut our eyes to other possibilities. For example when we tell ourselves that we have to do a particular job, or have to live with a particular person or live in a given city.
The most well known example of bad faith is perhaps that of a waiter in a cafe that Sartre talks about in his book “Being and Nothingness”. Sartre thinks the waiter is acting in a certain stiff, mechanical way because that’s how he thinks he is supposed to act. Sartre has an issue with people using their position in the society as an excuse for giving up their freedom. Bad faith according to him is when we will ourselves to others’ opinions and lose our “selves” in the process. That is when we convince ourselves that we are essentially, necessarily a waiter (insert what you consider is your “job”) first than a free willing human being.
Another really good example of living in bad faith comes up in the play “No exit” — which I consider to be one of the most creative of Sartre’s works.
In this play, three people are condemned to spend eternity together in a room after their deaths — a curious portrayal of hell. One of the characters Garcin cannot decide for himself what he is, unless the others say so. This is a classic example of “bad faith”, the inability to judge ourselves and accepting responsibility for our actions. By simply placing three individuals in the same room, Sartre not only suggests that hell naturally exists on earth but that hell is other people. As Garcin discovers, there is no need for physical torture: the gaze of the “other” reduces and “devours” his individuality.
Hell is other people. — Sartre in “No exit”
According to Sartre, when we judge ourselves with the means “other people” (the society, friends, parents, teachers) have and have given us for judging ourselves, it is akin to being in hell. We must free ourselves from such limitations and notice that it is us, who can know what we are and what we are capable of doing.
Existence is absurd — stop searching for a “meaning”
Life has no meaning.
In fact the universe is highly contingent and painfully absurd in ways that would terrify us, if we were to pay strict attention to them and stop taking them for granted. In the book “nausea”, Roquentin is plagued by this absurdity so much that he has bouts of debilitating nausea. In one instant he is sitting in a park when the roots of a tree suddenly stop making sense to him and seem awfully alien.
While most of us do not have such intense acquaintance with absurdity — highly appreciated for the sake of our sanity, it is important to acknowledge and accept the absurdity of it all. As Albert Camus insists the absurd journey itself is worthwhile, as long as you are conscious of its absurdity.
The sooner one accepts there is no predestined meaning to one’s existence, one can reach the highest level of personal freedom. — Albert Camus
While it can be somewhat unnerving to accept this, a lot of our happiness can be claimed as a result of it, as we shall see in the next item.
Happiness lies in the mundane
Once we accept the absurdity of existence and as an extension everything else we encounter, it becomes easier to do whatever that is we “choose” to do, irrespective of the fact that one day we will die and life will inevitably go on.
Take for example Sisyphus, whose work was to push a boulder uphill only to watch it roll down, for eternity. In “the myth of Sisyphus”, Camus explains that when Sisiphus watches the boulder roll down and becomes conscious of his toil, even accepting it — it becomes an act of rebellion against those who have cursed him. Acceptance of the situation is the way to conquer it — the acknowledgement of the absurdity is the triumph over the otherwise hopeless existence.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy. — Camus
It is obviously a commentary on modern day workplaces where the workmen complains of spending his life doing the same tasks. It is boring, but at the same time and for the same reason, glorious and brave. Once we accept that there is no purpose, there is no big picture and throw ourselves into the everyday, mundane tasks, we become a giant — a survivor.
Continuing in the face of futility is a revolt in itself and the consciousness is the reward. That, after all is meaningful.
A conclusion
Very early on my quest to look for meaning, I read Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s search for meaning”, wherein he chronicles his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Frankl identifies three psychological reactions experienced by all inmates:
(1) shock during the initial admission phase to the camp,
(2) apathy after becoming accustomed to camp existence, in which the inmate values only that which helps himself and his immediate friends survive,
(3) reactions of dehumanization, moral deformity, bitterness, and disillusionment if he survives and is liberated.
Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. While at the outset, it might seem ironical to what existentialism espouses, I believe it is actually highly analogous — for what Frankl considers separates a survivor is the freedom of choice he always has even in severe suffering.
The reason I bring up Viktor Frankl is to reinforce my initial claims that through this article I am not in any way trying to convince someone to select a particular way of life. That will, by its very definition, be against everything existentialism advocates. Much like Frankl, we are free to choose what we want to be and how we want to live our lives. I myself am an existentialist only in the most pragmatic sense. I might change my mind tomorrow and recommit to a new ideal. However, by its very nature, existentialism will accordingly subsume the vehement exertion of my freedom!
