Human Existence and Human Suffering

All throughout our history, we humans have constantly evolved and developed to an extent where we can give an account to the world we live in. From Epicurus to Thomas Aquinas, from Aristotle -who taught one of the greatest kings namely Alexander the Great- to Sartre and Camus were all for the search of why we are on this planet. What drives us to live or perhaps to die, even if it is by one’s own hand. When arguing about the meaning of life, one has to take into account that every doctrine, thesis, antithesis, thought and emotion can only be explained and defined through the human perspective. It can be said that humans see the world through a specific lens, which is not only a cultural and political one, but a human one. We are limited in a sense of our physical presence and also our mental capabilities. If one would try to see the world through non-human lenses it would seem as “Absurd” which Camus points out, comes with the realization that the world is not rational. Ultimately we all stand against irrationality and create systems of understanding to escape the fear and forlornness we would experience. From the moment on we are born, we live in a pre-constructed world which we see through our individual lenses. René Descartes was the first person -after the Greeks- to define that the mind and the brain are two different substances. This is called Cartesian Dualism. He believed that the human mind could exist without the body. This theory is considered outdated, since one cannot imagine the mind separate from a physical body. It is more likely to be separate from us and embedded within us. This might seem to be a paradox, but one may argue that the impact of human understanding on the mind is almost nil. Take into consideration ...

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...ty to destroy himself, or so much as any creature in his possession, but where some nobler use than its bare preservation calls for it” (Locke:Sect 4.).

The question about our existence has been with us since the Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. 20th century philosophy has been more critical, questioning a much broader spectrum of our existence.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays. New York: Knopf, 1955.

Joseph, Campbell. "Quotes About Meaning Of Life." (240 Quotes). Goodreads, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

Merriam, George, and Noah Webster. "Ascetic." N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. Web.

Sartre, Jean-Paul, and Wade Baskin. Essays in Existentialism. New York, NY: Citadel, 1993. Print.

Sternberg, Robert J., and Susan Grajek. "The Nature of Love." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47.2 (1984): 312-29. Web.