Just a little bit of existential philosophy/therapy; the beauty of this aspect of philosophy is its emphasis on human’s freedom, choices, responsibility and problems that arise with existence. We may often be caught-up with the busyness of the day where sometimes we become overwhelmed, anxious , stressed and have no time to question what this all means for us or what we want from life.
Existential philosophy explores some of its themes viz-a-viz;
Freedom; is an essential principle of existentialism, our freedom to choose allows each of us to transcend the immediate circumstances of our life, we don’t have to be victimized by nature, others or self unless of course this freedom is underdeveloped or denied.
Responsibility; with freedom comes the assumption of full responsibility for what we become. Nothing or no one can be blamed for who we are. Freedom and responsibility are inseparable .People must accept responsibility for directing their own lives.
Choices; The comportment in which we live and what we turn out to be are as a result of our choices.
Existence; One can distinguish 4 dimension of human existence, the physical, social, psychological and spiritual. “On each of these dimensions people encounter the world and shape their attitude out of their particular take on their experience. Our orientation towards the world defines our reality. The four dimensions are obviously interwoven and provide a complex four dimensional force field for our existence. We are stretched between a positive pole of what we aspire to on each dimension and a negative pole of what we fear.”(1)
What I love about this branch of philosophy is its flexibility. It acknowledges our freedom to think , explore self subsequently arriving with our own meanings .It philosophizes that the essence of human existence lies in searching for meaning and purpose .Meaning in itself is, however, not automatic; we must seek it . We must trust ourselves to search from within and find our own answers. In addition, life is not meaningful in itself; the individual must create and discover meaning.
Questions ; How do you create/find meaning in life?
Reference/Source
2,The Existential Theories of Rollo May
3, Existential Therapy ; James .J Messina Ph.D
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Fatima,
I really believe that life meaning comes from a feeling that comes from deep within. When I feel in my heart this real sense of purpose and connection, that’s when I feel the meaning in my life. So, it’s about seeing those moments, and not just letting them pass by because they are different, or weird, or whatever – it’s embracing those moments as they come…
Fatima-I feel the same fondness for existential philosophy. I like the way it focuses on the individual and his/her personal response to their own experience in the world. I find the same thing in Buddhism at its purest: “Ananda, be ye a lamp unto yourself; seek ye no external refuge.”
Interesting @Lance I agree meaning comes from deep within. In addition it’s nice to embrace those moments in our life in order to understand what they mean for us..Thanks for your comment.
Thanks @NP it’s nice to know that Buddhism also shares similar concepts.
Hi Fatima – I wake up grateful for the day, every day. I find joy and create as much joy in whatever I do all day as I can. I don’t look for “meaning ” or question “purpose” like I used to – I love the peace of my Zen-like existence. To me it is living life to it’s fullest.
From a previous post I did:
In Viktor E. Frankl’s book, ‘Man’s Search For Meaning,’ he said that a lot of people are going through life asking, ‘what is the meaning of life,’ when they should be giving their lives meaning by what they are doing everyday. Previously I was also constantly asking myself what is the meaning of life and it was like a dog chasing its own tail; I was going round and round in circle.
Then what I read in Viktor’s book made sense to me. When one is searching for the meaning of life, one is not in control of whatever life throws at one. However, when one gives his/her life meaning, one is in control of whatever he/she does. Then what meaning should one gives to his/her life?
In Bill Strickland’s book, ‘Make the Impossible Possible,’ he mentioned, “… a good life isn’t something you wait for, or chase after, or try to possess; it’s something you must create, moment by moment, on the foundation of your dreams.” What Bill said resonates with what Viktor had mentioned in his book isn’t it?
The connecting dots are then in the dreams that each individual holds. In so speaking, there is a need to know what are one’s dreams. Failing to know one’s dreams in life will make it impossible to live a fulfilled and happy life. Then how does one know his/her dreams? The question is, ‘what are we passionate about in life?’ Found out what we are passionate about and then build our dreams based on our passion.
Hi Fatima – Thanks so much for coming over to my site and leaving a comment. I really appreciate it. And of course, I love any discussion of meaning and existentialism. I’m very fond of one particular Nietzsche quote: “Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves.” For me this turns the traditional notion of responsibility on its head, and reminds us that we must first do the work to create our own meaning. I know it can sound a little selfish, but I think the opposite is true, actually. When we’re able to accept responsibility for our own meaning, we have a much better chance of making a contribution to the world. Thanks for writing about this!
Thanks BK the content of your comment shows your passion for existential philosophy. I love the analogy used to highlight the initial quest for meaning. It’s clearly confusing if this aspect of philosophy is not grasped properly .Then you evidently outlined and linked meaning to fulfillment, dreams and having a passion. What I am understanding from your comment is that life is not meaningful in itself, we must create and discover this via a passion..
Following on… I quote you here “one is not in control of whatever life throws at one”. True… we cannot change the past, this however becomes part of the present that opens new possibilities of approaching it.
“one gives his/her life meaning, one is in control of whatever he/she does” . Here I am right to say we have choices ….. In existential philosophy phenomenological it’s impossible to avoid a choice.
Thanks @Suzen our essence is based on how we define it and here you have mentioned peace and Joy …..Thanks for stopping by
Thanks @Patty and I don’t think it sounds selfish.. This philosophy beliefs the “ modern person has means to live but often has no meaning to live for – malady of our times is meaninglessness or existential vacuum” .. so it attempts to challenge people via its therapy to find meaning and purpose through suffering , love and work……