An Existentialist Meaning of Life Essay - 2565 Words

An Existentialist Meaning of Life Arguably one of the most pondered questions in philosophical thought has been, â€Å"What is the meaning of life?† Humans have been put on this earth with the knowledge of self awareness and the ability to manipulate the environments that they inhabit to a greater extent than any other species on the planet. Ultimately one must wonder what purpose there is to one’s own existence and define what it means for them to be. Presupposing the existence of different human beings in the external world, there would undoubtedly be varying opinions regarding the ultimate purpose of existence. Several key thinkers in modern existentialism provide the necessary framework for establishing a so-called â€Å"meaning of†¦show more content†¦45) Even if one were to accept Descartes evil genius hypothesis, they would still have to admit that beings in the outside world still affect them. Regardless of whether other human beings are actually â€Å"real†or not is irrel evant, since we would still have to treat them as such. The consequences of not doing so would inevitably be similar one way or the other. For example, if I decided to go about shooting everyone at random, claiming that I am the only real human being on the planet, I would inevitably be thrown in a psychiatric prison. Besides, existentialists would not waste their intellectual efforts arguing about the existence of the external world, and beings of comparable consciousness to one’s self, in it. Although this was a central question in philosophy for some time, it is now generally regarded as nonsense. (Madison, Sept. 17, 1998) The notion of subjectivity: It is, â€Å"logically impossible to deny one’s own existence as a subject.† (Madison, Dec. 2, 1998) There exists the idea in our reality that every individual person is different. Although we may have similar emotions and undergo the same physical processes, we assume that no two people are exactly alike. If this is the case, we can assume that there will be minute differences in the way individuals perceive certainShow MoreRelatedEssay on Sartre and the Meaning of Human Existence848 Words   |  4 PagesWhere the Meaning of Human Existence is Located According to Sartre The word philosophy comes from Greek and literally means love of wisdom. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines philosophy as a critical study of fundamental beliefs and the grounds for them. Both explanations of philosophy are correct and concrete. The meaning of human existence has no such concrete answer, but in this paper we will examine where Sartre believes it to be. 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