[ POLL ] Our Existential State.

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The 7 Principles of Existentialism

Principle 1: Reality defies ultimate comprehension, no timeless truths exist independently.  Our existence takes precedence over any presumed absolute values.  The values society tries to impose on us cannot define us.

Principle 2: Reason alone is an inadequate guide to living.  We must participate fully in life and exist directly, actively, and passionately.  Only way to live wholly and authentically.

Principle 3: Thought must not just be speculation but it must have a bearing on life, it must be translated into deeds.

Principle 4: Human nature is paradoxical and problematic.  One becomes less than human when one permits one's life to be determined by a mental outlook -- a set of rules and values -- imposed by others.

Principle 5: We are alone; death is stalking us; the Universe is indifferent; and our awareness of all this causes anxiety and depression.

Principle 6: Existence itself is essentially absurd.  There is no purpose to our presence in the universe.

Principle 7: We are free from purpose, nature, and end.  Paradoxically, total freedom is too much for us -- overwhelming, in fact, so we create religious and political laws to relieve our discomfort.

The poll is simple: "Do You Embrace These Principles of Existentialism?"

• You may select only one option, but you may change your selection at any time.

• If you make a selection, then please post a comment.

• If you post a comment, then please make a selection.

Thank you.

When I was a kid, I once asked my dad, what is god? My dad, who is definitely neurodivergent in some way, explained it as god is everywhere: in plants, in people, in the sidewalk, in benches, etc. I was quite young and I liked my dad’s response, but it didn’t necessarily convince me that god exists.

FFWD to high school and college, reading Kafka, Sartre, Ionesco, it clicked. It made so much more sense for there to be no natural order, no grand meaning, no plan. There is more comfort in the indifference of the universe because the inverse would mean that the horror and cruelty of the world was a choice that someone/something made. That is a terrible thought.

I also love the second principle as a guiding force for living. I could never relate to people who find purpose and motivation through religion. Living an active, passionate, and authentic life sounds as fulfilling as anything. Meaning exists where one finds it, and that can be anything. For as dry, depressed, and cynical as many existentialists are presumed to be, it's a beautifully humanistic and compassionate worldview.

1: Mostly agree but the timeless truths part is too vague.
2: We have no reason to act without desires, which are rooted in emotion and can only be rational or irrational insofar as they aid or inhibit desires we deem more important. Hume goes a little too far when he says its not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the world to the scratching of your finger, but that's only because (almost?) everyone has other desires that require the world to exist.
3. All speculation has the potential to affect our lives because it affects how we see the world.
4. Most humans do let their lives be determined by others, so it doesn't make any sense to say that they are less than human for it. And many of them think that they are thinking independently and that only those they disagree with are being controlled by others. Its a part of why human nature is so paradoxical. There are millions of people who had no problem with wearing masks during a pandemic until Trump and conservative media mocked the idea of wearing them, yet they think of themselves as free thinkers for no longer doing so.
I agree fully with 5 and 6.
7: Mostly agree except about being free from nature. Human nature is incredibly varied and dependent on circumstance but many individual differences are innate. I couldn't choose not to be autistic even if I wanted too. And I only think we have freewill in a compatiblist sense, not libertarian free will. We can't choose what we want and freedom is being able to do what we want.

I agree fully with 1 and 2.

3: Partially. Sometimes, one might not act on one's thoughts---but others might. We have "thinkers," and we have "doers." Both are useful in their own way.

4: Partially. I believe in "rules and values"----but I don't believe in being a slave to them.

5: Partially. We are not always alone. We have families, friends, etc. The Universe is an indifferent entity--true. I don't know if, when we die, we are "alone."

6: Not at all. I don't believe our existence is "absurd." I believe most people can create a "purpose" for themselves, even if, technically, there is no "purpose" for their existence.

7: Not at all.

I might like Ralph Waldo Emerson-----but I don't agree with every word he says (of course, I don't LITERALLY hear every word he says; he passed away about 15 years before my grandfather was born )

I am agnostic.

I do not know but do not define other as not knowing or knowing.

I realise that there are places in the world that i have never been.

I realise that there are some experiences in life that I have never experienced and never will.

I can not say that i am all knowing, I am not.
I have a very limited perception of the universe/galaxy/life experience.
I experience from my own perspective and only can truly know any thing about life from my own perspective.

I do not dismiss your observations about reality nor can i agree.

I am but one person on a planet of billions, a planet that has existed for what appears to be millions of years if not longer. How can i define all of human or sentient life with such limited experience. I would also ask how can anyone?

How can i know that the nature of existence is even static? Is time?

I am but one Wolfman out of not so many