The Essence of Existentialism

Through centuries of development and growth, science has finally reached a point where it can concretely provide answers for why humans collectively exist. Why humans choose to live in a functioning society. Biologists say that tribal behavior among humans is deeply ingrained. What science is unable to answer on the other hand is why each person individually exists. More importantly, their purpose. This leaves much grey area and leaves many things up for interpretation. One is given a blank canvas when they are born and they spend their life trying to paint a beautiful and more importantly, meaningful work of art.

That is the essence of existentialism. Jean-Paul Sartre, a french philosopher of the 19th century, was able to fill his canvas and help others do the same. Sartre uses existentialism to build a rational foundation of emotional purpose and intelligible reasoning for one’s continued being and development within a functioning society. Sartre’s reason for viewing human existence this way is convincing because of the way anguish, abandonment, and despair play major roles in the decisions a person continuously makes in order to fulfill their personal purpose.

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One of the fundamental qualities of existentialism is that existence precedes essence. “What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world and defines himself afterwards” (Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”). Essence is something that is to be discovered with time, within yourself. It’s first step is accepting that Man begins with no essence, simply because it is Man’s job to find it.

Once one has accepted this, they begin to identify their purpose. The moment one is born, is the moment they embark on their personal journey. “The Myth of Sisyphus” is a philosophical essay written by Albert Camus and published in 1942 about the Greek legend of Sisyphus, who is condemned by the gods for eternity to repeatedly roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again once he got it to the top. Camus uses Sisyphus, as a metaphor for the individual’s persistent struggle against the essential absurdity of life. As Sisyphus repeatedly pushes this boulder up the hill, his emotional state evolves. He is initially very disgruntled by the fact that his efforts continuously amount to nothing. Camus says, “Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him?” Camus essentially is referring to Sisyphus’ character. Sisyphus continuously allows failure to discourage him, when he simply has not accomplished his goal yet. Camus’ philosophy touched on how there will be times where one feels as though they are working towards nothing.

Sisyphus continued to push this same boulder up the hill and realized this very quickly. Once Sisyphus realized how absurd his repeated action was, he slowly began to find peace within himself. Initially this makes the reader think that Sisyphus’ personal journey is meaningless, but the action of pushing that boulder over and over again is what began a string of thoughts that led to Sisyphus’ personal “All Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him” (Camus). This ties the entire philosophy together because if Sisyphus had not repeatedly pushed the same boulder up the hill, he would not have come to this emotional development and he would not have reached happiness. Sisyphus realized that he was in control of himself and how he felt.One has the ultimate freedom to do whatever they want, or feel however they choose to feel. One is ultimately responsible for what they choose to be. Not choosing is a choice within itself.

Because existentialism eliminates the concept of God or a higher being, one acts with disparity since there is no ultimate authority in control over everything. One acts with disparity and urgency because a lot is on the line, and every waking moment counts towards what they will ultimately amount to. It puts into perspective how absurd yet bizarre things could be. On one hand, one has all the freedom in the world. On the other hand, one has so much responsibility that they must be alert at all times because every moment counts. Sartre expresses the philosophy of having freedom in a very unique manner. To Sartre, acting in freedom is acting in “anguish”. By Sartre’s definition, anguish is the awareness of one’s own freedom of will and choice. He says, “one will never be able to explain one’s action by reference to a given and specific human nature; in other words, there is no determinism – man is free, man is freedom” (Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”). Sartre’s philosophy is that absolutely any sort of social constructs or boundaries we may perceive to have, do not actually exist. Although it is initially very easy to view this philosophy as extreme, it is extremely critical for one to be able to mentally unhandcuff themselves from certain methods of rationale, in order to be happy.

Sartre’s philosophy widely touches on how because one has an infinite amount of freedom, they have a large amount of responsibility. Sartre believes that there is no ultimate being around us to fix our mistakes. Any decision one makes is absolute and one will have to deal the consequences of his decisions. Sartre says, “We are alone, without excuses. That is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free.” (Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”). One must accept that he is doomed to have no other life than his own. He has to make his own way. If life begins in despair, then the problem is to know how to live with it. Once one learns to live with it, the boundaries of happiness are endless.

Although some of Sartre’s ideologies involve touchy subjects that could be argued by physics, his overall concept of self-actualization is one that could benefit people in any society because it simplifies human existence. The concept existentialism walks one through necessary steps to find personal peace. It begins with finding essence or purpose, one of the strongest fundamental pieces needed for a belief system. Sartre uses existentialism to build a rational foundation of emotional purpose and intelligible reasoning for one’s continued being and development within a functioning society. Sartre’s reason for viewing human existence this way is convincing because of the way anguish, abandonment, and despair play major roles in the decisions a person continuously makes in order to fulfill their personal purpose.