1. What is the meaning of
life?
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2. What is the meaning of life?
“Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts
to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.”
--Albert Camus
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3. What is the meaning of life?
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
--Socrates
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4. Monday, 2 December, 13

5. What is the meaning of life?
“What is the meaning of MY life?”
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6. What is the meaning of life?
Nihilism
Existentialism
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7. What is the meaning of life?
Nihilists argue that life is meaningless and absurd
“We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in
the blissful repose of nothingness... Human existence must
be a kind of error.”
--Arthur Schopenhauer
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8. “Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and
that nothing can be known or communicated.
It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a
radical skepticism that condemns existence.
A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties,
and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to
destroy.
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9. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism
is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who
argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy
all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and
precipitate the greatest crisis in human history.
In the 20th century, nihilistic themes– value destruction
and cosmic purposelessness–have preoccupied artists,
social critics, and philosophers.”
Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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10. Something to think about:
Is there anything dangerous about nihilism?
Think back to Schopenhauer’s quotation
“We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the
blissful repose of nothingness... Human existence must be a
kind of error.”
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11. What is the meaning of life?
Existentialism:
“Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.
Such is the first principle of existentialism.”
--Jean Paul Sartre
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12. Existentialism
Existentialism: philosophical movement that focuses on
individual autonomy and making reasoned decisions for
oneself. Our being as subjective individuals (our
existence) is more important than we have in common
objectively with all other human beings (our essence)
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13. Existentialism
Root word is “existence”
The philosophy is based on your
existence
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14. Famous Existentialists
Sartre
Kafka
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de Beauvoir
Camus

15. Existentialism
Sartre said people create themselves each
moment of every day with the decisions and
choices they make.
“Existential Angst”
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16. Sartre and Atheistic Existentialism
Examining life in a world where
God does not exist or play a role
“God is dead” as Nietzsche, famously said
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17. Basic Tenets
Existence precedes essence
Personal Responsibility
Human Condition
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18. 1. Existence Precedes Essence
Existence precedes essence
Contrary to Plato’s idea of forms
Born into unknown world with no preset template. Have
to define ourselves through our choices
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19. 1. Existence Precedes Essence
Objects that do not have a consciousness-- tables,
chairs, etc., are not aware of their own existence.
Their essence is determined before their existence
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20. Cookie Cutter Example
We are the opposite of a cookie cutter. Cookie cutter
idea existed before it was created. Essence before
existence.
Our existence comes before our essence. We are not
made with a plan or design before. We are thrown on
the earth randomly and have to make something of
ourselves from Day 1. We are what we do.
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21. 2. Personal Responsiblity
People decide their own fates
Would an existentialist believe in free will?
We are what we make of ourselves. We are responsible
for the choices we make.
No template to meaning of life.
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22. Leads to despair or “existential angst”
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23. Even though we have free will,
people are often unaware of it
We shy away from it out of fear of the
responsibility we have to take for our choices
Easier to conform
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24. Can’t blame evil deeds on “human nature”
because there is no such thing
This leads to idea of Existential Guilt:
since there is no pre-given legitimation of our
existence and we feel a need to justify our
existence, there is no one to appeal to to make
us feel better about it. We are alone.
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25. 3. The Human Condition
Subjectivity is the starting point. We start with you, not
something off in the world of abstractions. This is where
meaning is derived.
Existentialists do not believe there is some
transcendent reason for our existence, such as a God
As Sartre famously put it: We are condemned to be
free.
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26. 3. The Human Condition
This refers to the choices we make throughout our
lives which is supposed to give meaning
Sartre claimed there was no innate meaning to life,
though. But he did not say nothing mattered. That would
be a nihilist.
So we have to accept the burden of our own choices.
Through these choices you contribute to the essence of
humanity .
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27. A final point about “authenticity
Existentialists argue that you have to be true to yourself when
making choices rather than acting based on some perceived
system of human nature.
This does not mean “getting in touch with your inner self” but
more about facing your own existence and seizing it by doing
something with your life and committing to it, giving your life a
focus and commitment.
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28. What philosophies on the meaning of life are addressed
here?
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