It seems strange to think that human beings cannot live their lives without thinking to themselves that there must be some sort of eternal retribution at the end. That at some point we are rewarded for our hard work and staying alive as long as we have, granted that we have lived "good," "worthy" or "meaningful" lives. But I can't seem to bring myself to actually believe in an afterlife and furthermore, I do not think I must necessarily frame my action as some sort of evaluable experience that will be judged after the fact. Unamuno points out that there is no truth that is not subjective, that we must all give our lives meaning, and that believing in an afterlife motivates us to make meaning in the world. While I cannot genuinely belive in an afterlife, it seems that my mortality and the finality of my life is what drives it and gives it meaning.
It is only reflectively that one begins to posit a meaning for his/her life, not actively. Thinking about some abstract eternal return may be helpful for some. But my own temporary existence on this earth and knowing that nothing will become of me after death (I will be dead afterall) seems to be an objective truth I cannot deny. And while I do not know for sure what will become of me upon my death, I don't think that an afterlife is going to help make my life anymore meaningful. In this way, Athiest Existentialism seems to make more sense to me than Religious Existentialism as I think it gets at the heart of the problems of human existence, that we are powerful meaning making beings, but that we are one of billions of those beings who are born and die everyday. It is the intersection of my particularity of being situated in the world and my anonymity of being just another being that is meaningful, not some sort of eerie, dream-like relationship to the world in which I must give a reason why I have lived at all when I wake up.
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I whole-heartedley concur. Throughout all the readings, I've found it a bit strange that nearly every philosopher attests to the mechanism through which we justify to ourselves the need for meaning is a belief in something higher, something beyond. To me, it seems more logical that if someone truly believes in life beyond death, then they would feel no pressure to make anything of their life on earth. After all, if one believes they will live forever, what's the rush in doing anything now?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. I see religious existentialism as trying to find meaning for existence by using other mediums, while atheistic existentialism tries to find true meaning for people's existence within the individual. Just today I was having a conversatoin with a friend about school and after graduation stuff but the primary focus of our conversation was "Rhodes graduates and people from other schools landing the same job or the people from the other school getting the job over a Rhodes graduate." Basically, after all was explained, she stated, "well if that's what God has planned for them then that's what will happen." Some Christians attribute everything that happens, is happening, or is going to happen to GOD. Their existence is rooted in the fact there is a GOD and HE IS the reason why they are here and sometimes other explanations are not even accepted. Although I understand this is coming off as very biased, I just feel like the Atheistic Existiantalist is a bit more opened minded to other meanings of Existence.
ReplyDeleteCan meaning arise from anything else besides the finality of life or a belief in the afterlife? I feel like we have always discussed these points, but I'm just wondering if there are other ways to derive meaning from life. Also, I don't think we are in a rush to accomplish anything, just because we are mortal, we are only pressed to find meaning out of our existence. The goal isn't to be remembered, but to live meaningfully for ourselves, at least in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post. The concept of religious existentialism doesn’t seem to contribute much to existential or religious studies; rather, I feel, it increasingly add to the dissention between those who are and aren’t religious. The concept of guilt is something that is present in religious but not atheist existentialism. That just doesn’t seem to fit. If you recall all the atheist existentialists that we’ve covered in class believe that a true existential person is one who makes their own values, and creates meaning for their life. If someone is living with guilt, affirming one’s own values isn’t likely.
ReplyDeleteI wonder is it in virtue of our awareness of our own mortality, our own individual death, that give us the ability to endow our lives with meaning or is it our self-conscious awareness of our own existence that gives us this ability? To me, it seems much more so like the latter rather than the former. After all, the life of an immortal god or gods doesn't really seem like a necessarily meaningless existence. Perhaps a tad boring--unless we are talking the greek gods b/c then there is lots of juicy drama and power struggles--but not meaningless.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe there is a standard of what is a "good" life, but that isn't to say that I don't want to be a "good" person. I have been wrestling with the idea of an afterlife for a while, and I'm not sure what I believe, but like you I don't think it adds anymore meaning to my life. I take heart in the fact that I know that I am living the life I want to, and I don't need some reward at the end to make me want to be "good". It doesn't take moral rules to make me act morally, instead I contemplate the situation and decide for myself.
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