The universe we inhabit seems to be an atypical one; some individuals deal with its foolishness by surrounding themselves with faith, while others neglect all its significance. Existentialism, however, ushers us down a unique course that obscures these views toward one unique belief structure. Even though we can encounter circumstances that are out of our control, we do have the ability to control how we deal with said circumstances and whether or not we choose to develop importance from them. The hunt for our true meaning is primitive and so are the answers that have maintained it throughout history. Certainly, life does not have a definite fixed meaning to it; it is up to each individual to discover their own relative objective and achieve their own happiness. This is precisely what Existentialism suggests, that it is not likely to know reality, thus it is up to the individual to discover his or her own, and then create their own meaning. …show more content…
In the movie “I Heart Huckabees,” Existentialism plays a crucial role in searching for the ultimate truth of oneself. Existentialism is a philosophical point of view that stresses the individual’s unique position as a self determining agent (Academic). It also emphasizes the importance of free will, freedom of choice, the unique experiences of each individual, and the responsibilities of one’s choices and what one makes of oneself (Rooney). During the movie, the Existential detective, Jaffe explains to Albert that dismantle is “to help shut down your everyday perceptions and give up your usual identity that you think separates you from everything. This room, this street, this town, this country, this economy, this history, this planet. Your body, your senses, your job. Everything that you identify with” (I Heart Huckabees). The characters from “I Heart Huckabees” attempt to destroy themselves by accepting and recognizing their troubles to get to their necessary
In Christy Wampole’s “How to Live Without Irony” and Richard Taylor’s “The Meaning of Human Existence” both authors argue how humans ought to live a meaningful life. Wampole tackles the argument in a different way than Taylor but they both have similar positions on the meaning. I agree with both authors in some of the ways that we should dictate our lives to justify meaningfulness but I also believe that meaningfulness can differ from person to person. Life is very precious to us; since humans have had the ability to consciously think, we have always questioning our existence. No other animal on the planet has had the luxury of pondering whether or not their life is meaningful.
Finding a meaning to life and to nature is something all people try to do, but is there really a correct answer? Maybe the purpose to life is actually finding the purpose to life, or it might just be to enjoy living and all the experiences that come with it. Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, brings this up in his novel. Throughout the book, the theme nature and its meaning is shown through the knowledge that the main character accumulates.
Searching for the ultimate truth of oneself is difficult. In the film I Heart Huckabees, existentialism plays a major role in searching for the ultimate truth of oneself. Existentialism is a philosophical point of view that stresses the individual's unique position as a self-determining agent (Cherry). It also emphasizes the importance of free will, freedom of choice, the unique experiences of each individual, and the responsibilities of one's choices and what one make of oneself (Rooney). During the movie, the existential detective, Barnard Jaffe explains to Albert Markovski that dismantle is "to help shut down your everyday perceptions and give up your usual identity that you think separates you from everything. This room, this street, this town, this country, this economy, this history, this planet. Your body, Your senses, your job. Everything that you identify With." The characters from I Heart Huckabees attempt to dismantle themselves by understanding and realizing their problems to get to their essential identities. People have different ways of understanding their essential identities in the movie; Albert Markovski understands the interconnection between himself and the world, Brad Stand realizes his insecurity, and Dawn Campbell understands that appearance is not everything.
Admittedly, the philosophy of the late nineteenth century German Friederich Nietzsche had a profound impact on my world view. I concur with his belief that humans should occupy themselves with living in the reality that is, and not to be preoccupied with fantastic illusions of working towards a great afterlife. Granted, I am still very young, but from what I can see, humans have no universal nature nor do any set of underlying human morals dictate what is right and wrong. And as much as people would like to believe, unfortunately, we do not have free will. Every action carries the weight of a punishment or reward, so in essence, people do things either in fear or in hope of attaining one of these outcomes, therefore, humans do not have free will. So, then what is the meaning of life? To live each day as if it is heaven itself is all anyone can really do; accepting and embracing the reality of your life is the source of meaning. Whether God exists or not is irrelevant, the only thing that is within the control of humans is the power to embrace life. As 1950’s Beat poet Allen Ginsburg stressed, people should be concerned with "living in and inhabiting the human form." Living means to not let outside forces take away your pursuit of life, once this thirst for life is taken, you are simply existing, waiting to die.
...ng my opinion using Frankl can argue “For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.” He warns us to not turn meaning into an illusion.
The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good example of existentialism is Woody Allen’s movie, Deconstructing Harry. A man is haunted by his past and his past has followed him into the present. He is a wreck not because of the things that happened to him, but because of the choices he made. He is consumed by regret and insecurity and he tries to find blame in his situation with someone other than himself, however he cannot (Barnes, 2011). Throughout the rest of this paper I will be discussing two of the most prominent existentialists, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
The Existential Approach stands for respect for the person, for exploring new aspects of human behavior, and for divergent methods of understanding people (Corey, 2013). Existentialists do not focus on instinctive drives or internalized others but on the person's unavoidable confrontation with the givens of the human condition. Yalom (1980) described those givens as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. (Bauman, & Waldo, 1998).
Many people wonder: what is the meaning of life? What is the human purpose on this earth? At least one time in our lifetime, we all look at ourselves and wonder if we are living our lives the way we were meant to live them. Sadly, there is not a definite answer to the principles of human life. Every human comes from different backgrounds and different experiences throughout their existence.
Hence, people cannot rely on those to guide them in life. This contributes to what Frankl (2010) referred as existential vacuum, which is “a sense of futility and emptiness and a feeling of meaninglessness” (p. 41). Consequently, in such state, people are unable to identify their individual wishes that in turn, lead them to conformity or totalitarianism. Frankl (2010) cautioned his readers that such sense of emptiness and meaninglessness are increasingly experienced by young people in the US.
Existentialism is the epitome of the unknown. There is no straightforward explanation of what exactly it is, there is only certain characteristics and behaviors that describe existentialist views. Throughout today’s world, there are examples of it everywhere, it’s found in movies, books, songs, and just people in general. Existentialists are known to think and do for themselves only. They believe that to understand what it means to be human requires understanding of themselves first. Some very well known pieces of entertainment existentialism is found in are: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Breakfast Club by John Hughes. The Stranger is a book written about a young man whose mother dies, which soon leads him to becoming acquainted with the feeling of not caring about what his actions do to others or himself. The main character Meursault starts helping his friend Raymond, carry out ways to torment his mistress. Out of nowhere while at the beach, Meursault shoots Raymond’s mistress’s brother. He is thrown into jail and tried, but he seems to not be affected as much as he should about his actions. He first finds it hard to live without cigarettes, women, and nature, but he soon finds out he doesn’t need any of those. After being sentenced to death, he is suggested to turn away from his atheism but later realizes that human existence has no greater meaning. This realization and acceptance is what truly makes him happy (Camus). Next, The Breakfast Club is a very relatable movie about high school students suffering the consequences of their actions in detention. The kids are all of ...
In existentialism one’s mind and body are ultimately free, they have nothing controlling their actions; that freedom is in the way one communicates, one’s actions, one’s choices, one’s
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry , by Mark Twain, the main character enters into a transitional period of his life. This character, Huck Finn, faces many situations in which he is forced to deal with decisions that foster with in them the ability to bring about change. Since transition is the process of entering change, Huck is searching for an identity which is truly his own. In determining his self image, Huck deals with conformity and freedom, trying on different identities that do not belong to him, and enveloping and shaping these new found attributes into an identity which best suits his "deformed conscience."
Ultimately, Nagel’s, Frankfurt’s, and my theory are just three of many possible theories regarding the meaning of life. Neither Nagel’s explanation of the contradiction between meaning within a life and meaning of life as a whole, Frankfurt’s idea that love functions to make lives meaningful, nor my argument that the search for the meaning of life is the meaning itself are universally accepted views. Open-ended problems such as this one about the meaning of life are rooted in the subject of philosophy, since there is often no right answer. Philosophy allows people to come up with a variety of theories and opinions that attempts to solve certain philosophical issues. Therefore, the debate on what the meaning of life really is will continue in the future as others take their turns in searching for the meaning of life.
The meaning of life is a very confusing question but to be able to answer it you must realize that it differs for everyone. There is never only one real answer. Everyday it can change for each individual. Everyone has their own way of living; they have their own thoughts and beliefs so therefore each persons answer to the meaning of life will be their own private version.
I have always been to asking myself what is meaning of life? or what I supposed to do ? or what I have to achieve? . Meaning of life what 's you have been given? what you have given by different kind of human? Or what I believe or what I do not believe in life .Everybody have Meaning of life it depends between person to person, I found myself when I was young because my parents always talk about experience in their life.Throughout my entire life ,I have wondered about the significance meaning of life that has beneficial for the people, because the life is beginning odds and ending odds .Even though struggle of life, I believe meaning of life are ,regional ,ambition, participate ,achievement ,and happiness .Due to this, I