Sartre, Kierkegaard, etc.

While I lack much of a long-form study of philosophers and philosophy as I only really started to seriously study it a year or two ago, and only started to major in it a month or two ago, I have certainly been interested in it enough to develop some level of personal fondness for certain particular people and ideas. I find Albert Camus’s absurdism to be a incredibly interesting concept, and stoicism (though somewhat co-opted by modern dude-bros) is a fascinating belief system that I can imagine has helped some people out of some dark places. Though, my favorite philosophy to both read about and think on is most certainly Existentialism.

My first introduction to Existentialism cam in the form of an assignment to read Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Existentialism is Humanism”, and for some reason i was just instantly consumed by it’s ideas. Particularly the main concepts he discusses of Alienation (sometimes called abandonment), Anguish, and Despair. Because these concepts stuck out to me, I want to talk about them and yap about how I think they ought to be applied to life.

To start off, the most divisive of the concept, Alienation. What Sartre means by alienation is actually better understood as the abandonment of God. Essentially, Sartre means to say that the realization that there is no god is immediately followed by the harrowing realization that without a god, there is no immutable standard for morality, and as such there is no true right or wrong. This is such an interesting concept to me, as it’s something that I truly and whole-heartedly believe (regardless of my beliefs about god, which I imagine I’ll post about at some point) and yet, I struggle to conceive what actually determines my personal moral beliefs. I’d like to think I’m a decently strict person morally speaking, with strong beliefs regarding authority and justice, and though I can explain why and how I believe a lot of these things, many seemingly come down to ‘it’s just right’ or ‘it’s just wrong’. The particular beliefs I’m talking about are things like murder and thievery. Obviously these things are wrong, but when you dig past “taking a life is wrong” most often your left with question marks, either that or a deep metaphysical conversation that gives you a migraine. Regardless, it’s a fascinating concept.

The second of Sartre’s concepts, Anguish, was most simply described to me by my first philosophy professor as such: You are responsible for everything that you are (Though some sources online say almost the same exact thing so, credits to whoever said that first). This essentially explains the realization that every choice we make is entirely of our own free will, and as such the consequences of those actions are ours to behold. Even though there may be no explicit rulebook or guide, we must still make each and every arbitrary, absurd choice of our own volition. In other words, we suffer from being trapped by our own freedom (Eat your heart out, Eren Yeager).

Finally, my favorite of the concepts, Despair. The simple meaning of despair in Sartre’s sense is that we lack any and all control over other peoples actions. A concept ever so simple and yet still ever so crushing. I’m intimately reminded of this simple idea by every passing moment of the days gone by, every single time I’m cut off in traffic, every time a customer shows up late to an appointment and throws a fit cause we wont take them, every time my neighbors dog gets out and runs across the busy street, narrowly missing cars rushing by at ungodly speeds. For every single one of those moments there’s a flashing remembrance, “this is what despair feels like”, like a web of dread soaring through my veins, just a simple reminder that the only thing that we are ever truly in control of is ourselves, and even then that control remains incomplete and lackluster.

Now, I understand that all these concepts sound innately depressing, but I don’t think any of them, alone or all together, are reasons for you to fall into some depressive episode or delve deeper into the depths of apathy. No, i think these three simple ideas should stand as the grand three motivations of ones life.

Alienation; perhaps there is no god, maybe there never was one. That’s all the more reason you should strive for moral greatness. So that at the end of your life you can look back and say “I didn’t need any ethical leader, I could stand on my own and be great by myself.”

Anguish: Yeah, of course your responsible for everything that you are, who else would be? That’s just all the more reason to try and be the best you that you can be. Sure, technically you’re responsible for all your own flaws and consequences, but you’re also responsible for all your own accomplishments, all your virtues.

Despair; Sure, you are completely unable to control other people, that’s kind of a given in life unless you’re some egotistical megalomaniac. But that’s all the more reason to push harder. To Sartre, there is no reality outside of taking action. take your life into your own hands, don’t blame the circumstances of the moment, just take action and be great.

But, I suppose that’s just how things are.