How do existentialists live

Existentialists ponder questions about the meaning of life and death, whether or not there is a God and whether deity is involved in individual lives nearly all existentialist philosophers believe there is no God, since there is no meaning or order , the meaning of friendship and love, and other questions that have to do with the individual.

Existentialists are less worried about social or political issues like what the role of the state should be. Part 3. Make up your own mind. Existentialist philosophy holds that each person must create their own meaning, and in order for it to be authentic, it has to be something that you arrive at on your own rather than being coerced by others.

Existentialists tend to believe there is no God, but some, like Kierkegaard or Dostoevsky, believed both in God and in free will and self-determination. The important thing is the freedom to choose what to believe. Live and let live. A major application of existential philosophy is recognizing the inherent value in choice and self-identity, and allowing others to live authentic lives as well.

Do not impose your moral or philosophical code on others. Let them live their own authentic lives, rather than trying to shape them into what you want them to be. Rather paradoxically, this means if they don't want to be existentialists, its not up to you to convince them. Recognize the repercussions of your actions.

One reason the philosophy is often associated with anxiety and hopelessness is because existentialist philosophers recognize that their actions have consequences and are not meaningless.

Even though one may have good intentions, one always acts on limited knowledge and with limited truth, which means one's actions are always imperfect. We are nevertheless responsible for the consequences of our own actions, because there are no other agents to whom we can pass off responsibility. Steven Hesky, PhD. Reflect upon some of the essential elements of your life, like being with others, making choices to create your life's direction, and taking responsibility for your decisions.

Yes No. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. Something that is "existential" relates to the idea of one's existence. Not Helpful 0 Helpful Either something is good because "god" commands it, or "god" commands things because they are good.

This is a rephrasing of the Euthyphro dilemma. Genocide is a horrific crime that causes an untold amount of suffering. We recognize that even if, for example, god ordered the Nazis to commit genocide it would still be wrong. If this is true, then it follows that something cannot be good because it was commanded by god. Good things are brought about by some other pedigree than divine command. Good things seem to be the things which encourage the well being and flourishing of individuals.

If this is true, then good things should be distinguishable from bad things in reality. Today, we often approach this as a disorder in need of treatment, but the existentialists saw it as an essential part of human experience, and one particularly revealing of our situation in the world.

For Heidegger, we also run up against the horrifying realisation that, whatever I do, I will die one day. I am mortal, and this limitation is part of what I am. Sartre and De Beauvoir wrote about death too, but for them it cannot be embraced so positively. Death is an outrage that comes to us from outside our lives and wipes them out.

What we can do, at least, is to resist the false consolations of belief in immortality. Some existentialists did have religious faith, but Sartre and De Beauvoir were radical humanist atheists; Sartre said that he had lost his faith at the age of 11 while standing at a bus stop.

They stuck to their conviction that this is the life we have, and that our task is to live it in the fullest and most honest way. They take this to mean being less self-deceiving, more decisive, more committed, and more willing to take on responsibility for the world. For Sartre, the problem is mauvaise foi , or bad faith. To avoid facing up to how free I am, I pretend not to be free at all.

We all indulge in bad faith. It is sometimes even beneficial, since it makes life livable. So I set my alarm clock, and when it goes off I roll out of bed unquestioningly as though the clock were controlling me like a marionette so said Sartre; I find my own response to alarm clocks is less predictable.

A fully authentic life is probably impossible, but trying for an authentic moment now and then does us good. Authenticity has become something of a commodity now.

We are sold authentic-sounding recordings on vinyl records, authentic breakfast cereal, authentic floorboards, and authentic prepackaged holiday experiences. The existentialists remind us that authentic authenticity has more to do with honesty and alertness.

Another existentialist, Gabriel Marcel, said that the distinctive task of a philosopher was to remain ever-vigilant so that, when seductive political delusions or lies crept over our minds, he or she could ring like an alarm clock and wake everybody up. Most existentialists were in favour of getting out into the world and making a difference, rather than being authentic all by themselves in a room.

It was not just talk: they campaigned for many causes, notably on the side of independence fighters during the Algerian war of to This made them many enemies.

On 7 January , someone planted a bomb in the apartment above the one Sartre shared with his mother. By sheer luck, no one was hurt, though both flats were damaged. He and his mother moved out, but he did not let the attack stop his activism. The belief in the importance of commitment had roots in an idea borrowed from the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant : that even small decisions should be made as though we were deciding for all humanity, not just for our paltry selves.

This belief in the mattering of everything made the Parisian existentialists passionate debaters: it seemed so important to get everything right. They stayed up all hours arguing with friends — who were not always friends any more by the time morning came.

What principles could be worth losing friends over? Similarly, if one aspires to not do anything but play video games all day he may also do so. It is this fundamental sense of freedom in which Existentialism garners its attraction as a way of living.

Jean-Paul Sartre. Taken from SRF. While both philosophies hold free will as integral to human agency, Camus instead posits that the pursuit of personal meaning is ultimately futile.

The world is inherently chaotic, and thus the only way to live in such a world is to accept its meaningless absurdity; true happiness may only derive from this acceptance Camus, Whether you accept Existentialism as an ideal way of living however, is entirely up to your discretion. Eating the North-East. Common Existential Actions Taking responsibility for your own actions Living your life without regard to commonly-held religious or social beliefs Believing as an educator that that being a teacher is a providing a beneficial and critical role in the growth of students Selling all of your belongings and riding a bike across the U.

Determining your career choice based on what you think is an important way to spend your future. Questions Can Be Existential To get a better grasp of how existentialism looks at life, here are examples of existential questions: Who am I?

What is my real nature or identity? What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of existence? What is my greater purpose? What is death?