Existential Crises: What is the Meaning of Life?

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. ” Taken from Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism is a Humanism, these words describe one of the greatest crises that has dominated much of society over the past two centuries: the search for the meaning of life - existentialism.

Existentialism can be defined as a philosophical theory that emphasises the individual’s responsibility to determine their own meaning by asserting free will. It would be impossible to discuss this philosophy without mentioning the four major thinkers who have had such a strong influence on it: Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus. It was the core ideas of these philosophers that influenced what we now know as existential crises.

An existential crisis is defined as a series of moments when a person questions the purpose or value of his or her life and hopes to find meaning by contemplating the mystery of their existence. One can trace the roots of the existentialist movement to the work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, the “father of existentialism” .

Pre-Kierkegaard society was ruled under Hegelian theology after the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who stated that one could only find meaning when becoming part of a larger world purpose. However, Kierkegaard found greater importance in the individual’s responsibility to create our own lives, and therefore believed the subjective aspects of human life were the most important. He thought that Hegel’s ideas diminished the individual's responsibility for his own life and purpose. Moreover, Kierkegaard thought these ideas had religious implications. Being a Christian, he believed that what mattered most was the personal and direct relationship between the individual soul and God. However, he believed this was not to be done through the dogmatic ways of the Protestant Church. Kierkegaard found that Protestant practices, such as attending church and reciting prayers, were completely antithetical to how true Christians should live. He found organised religion apathetic and unfulfilling; instead, he placed importance on people taking a “leap of faith” in their belief in God, even if there is no proof of his existence.

Many people find themselves in agreement with Kierkegaard up to but not including his conception of God. The varying beliefs around Kierkegaard’s ideas are what instigated the development of two schools of thought about existentialism: Christian existentialism and humanist existentialism. What made Kierkegaard the ‘father of existentialism’ were his beliefs about the latter. His insistence on the importance of our choices as well as the search for meaning provided a

framework for later existential thinkers, including German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Nietzsche swiftly became influential in the world of philosophy in the late 1800s as he found himself in disagreement with many Christian beliefs. In regards to the meaning of life, Christanity as a whole says that nothing is more important than what is to come in the afterlife: whether you are to spend eternity in heaven or hell. As such, many Christians believe that we should give up what seems important in this life and instead focus on achieving the ultimate goal of reaching heaven by following Christian principles. Nietzsche found these beliefs to be limiting and destructive, asserting that they must be transcended because, in placing such a large focus on the ultimate goal in the afterlife, Christianity requires us to deny the commitments of daily life, which is the opposite of how he thinks life should be led.

Hence, in one of his key works, The Gay Science, Nietzsche declared that “God is dead” . Yet, despite it being one of the most famous statements in the history of philosophy, Nietzsche did not see it in entirely a positive light. Without God, the fundamental values of European faith would be jeopardized. To Nietzsche, damage to this philosophical system could lead to feelings of depression and meaninglessness in other words, nihilism. Nietzsche argued that in the face of nihilism, man must strive to be uber, to rise above the herd and create values for himself; in his own words, man must “become God to appear worthy of the death of God. ”

In turn, this can often lead one down the path of nihilism. Not to be confused with existentialism, nihilism is the belief that not only is there no intrinsic meaning in life, but there is no point in attempting to construct our own as a substitute. Being organisms that innately crave meaning and purpose in life, nihilism is an idea that has the propensity to wreak havoc across any belief system and drive one to lead a life consumed with apathetic meaninglessness. A person following this kind of attitude to life was labeled by Nietzsche as the “last man” , who would be one response to the problem of finding meaning, Nietzsche predicted.

Regardless of their crucial impact on the philosophy of existentialism, neither Kierkegaard nor Nietzsche developed their insights in a systematic way. Their ideas were further developed and brought into fruition via their twentieth-century successors, who tried to provide a path to meaning without a need for the divine or the transcendent. None of these successors were more notable than Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus who struggled with themes including dread, alienation, and the absurd, which made them the leading voices of atheistic existentialism in the twentieth century.

The former summed up his philosophies in the statement “man’s existence precedes essence. ” Fundamentally, what Sartre argues for here is that humans were not created for any specific purpose. Rather, we simply find ourselves in existence, and therefore each person must create his own essence and find his own meaning. Sartre argued that this gave humans a great deal of freedom with which one is unable to place blame on God nor his environment for how their life unfolds. To describe someone who seeks to deny this freedom by living as a product of their environment, Sartre used the term bad faith. Only when you take responsibility for the meaning of your life and self-consciously choose your future can you lead an authentic life, which, to Sartre, is humanity’s ultimate and only goal.

Despite him not following any religious authority, Sartre strongly advocated that existential anxiety can be settled by freely choosing what kind of person we want to be. There might not be a god to guarantee our meaning, but to Sartre that did not matter, as we are free to make our own. Where some may feel weakened by such existential contemplation, Sartre thought that it was the despair of it that can pave the way to new meanings in life; as he summarised: “life begins on the other side of despair. ”

Similar ideas were proposed by Albert Camus, a French philosophical novelist who Sartre would make the acquaintance of in June 1943. Camus was a great believer in absurdism. He outlined the “absurd” as the futility in searching for meaning in an incomprehensible universe that has neither God nor meaning. Notably, Camus recognised the similarities between man, who spends every day repeating the same futile tasks, and Sisyphus, a figure from Greek mythology who was condemned to push a rock up a mountain forever, only to roll back down before he could get to its summit. As Sisyphus repeated his laborious and futile task, Camus identified him as a metaphor for humanity’s meaninglessness. It was this futility which Camus labeled the human condition, a fate we are all doomed to from the moment we are introduced to this world.

On a contrastingly encouraging note, Camus advised us not to avoid the human condition; instead, we

must embrace the absurd. Camus argued that it is our responsibility to persist in the face of absurdity for this is all there is, as he summarised: “The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. ”

However, when one goes through the intense process of contemplating the meaning of life, they may not always succeed in finding meaning. Hence, one typically comes out with one of the two feelings: trepidation or liberation.

Many philosophical writers have viewed the idea of an existential crisis as potentially dangerous to the overall mental well-being of society and an instigator of trepidation worldwide. Some argue that if an individual is weak, they may fall victim to despair and, as such, lead an inauthentic life. This issue displays itself prominently in the world of present-day mental health, as modern psychologists continue the exploration of existentialism and how it drives many to “existential crisis depression” and “existential crisis anxiety” . Although there are many factors that can cause mental health issues, it is argued by behavioral scientist Clay Rutledge that the current trend of increasing depression and anxiety in the U.S. isn’t just due to a lack of sufficient services to aid the issue. Instead, he says we’re facing a modern “crisis of the meaningless. ” In an article from the Dallas News in 2018, he explains that “in order to keep existential anxiety at bay, we must find and maintain perceptions of our lives as meaningful. It is when people are not able to maintain meaning that they are most psychologically vulnerable. ”

However, this does not need to be the case.

For Nietzsche, the most essential aspect of undergoing an existential crisis is overcoming it as the exact opposite of the last man: the “übermensch” (or over man, in English). The übermensch was a term coined by Nietzsche to describe one who views the apparent meaninglessness of life as an opportunity to take responsibility for meaning. The übermensch embodies a form of existence advanced from that of the nineteenth century’s last man. Nietzsche believed that life is fulfilling on its own terms and is worth living for its own sake; hence, we all should aim to become an overman.

In a similarly uplifting manner, Kierkegaard wrote “whoever has learnt to be anxious in the right way, has learnt the ultimate. ” To take this literally, Kierkegaard found existential anxiety to be a necessary requirement on the journey of selfunderstanding; we have to transform our trepidation into meaning.

Not only have existential crises been examined in philosophy, but they have been discussed in the field of science too. Scientists like the late Stephen Hawking argue that we have no soul nor inherent meaning. Rather, we are just small specks on an insignificant planet in a neverending universe; we exist simply because we exist. Many argue that our existence matters simply and only because we appreciate its meaning. Thus, we can act purposefully even if we are not part of any grand cosmic plan, as we are able to separate the determined individual’s purpose from the universe’s seeming lack thereof.

However, such a task has become increasingly difficult as society has entered what has become the third wave of existentialism: neuroexistentialism.

Existentialism can be divided into three waves. The first wave, largely defined by Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, occurred in response to growing anxiety in the society where God and religion could no longer guarantee the security of ethical systems. This wave was particularly strong after the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” which proposed the existence of all organisms could be explained via scientific theory, rather than divine creation, causing waves of doubt among religious communities in regards to whether or not God exists.

The second wave was later born in response to the horrors of the second world war, and was greatly influenced by Sartre and Camus. After the genocide of six million European Jews, people became less able to rely on the good nature of humanity to uphold moral values. Hence people began to shift their faith to science and abandon any belief in an ordered world.

The third wave has been occurring over the past halfcentury, as advancements in neuroscience have made known that humans are simply animals and that is all our existence is. The more neuroscience advances, the better an understanding we gain of the chemical processes that cause our behaviour. Theoretically, if scientists become able to make complete chemical images of the brain, every action

a person does could be predicted. This brings into question the existence of free will. For example, I might think I’m choosing to write these words, but it could be just the result of neuron interactions in my brain from minutes ago that led me to be writing this now. Because of this, my free will is inherently put at stake. Not only does neuroscience question the concept of free will, but it also discredits the idea that humans each have a soul. Scientists have begun to prove that there is no such thing as non-physical consciousness. If true, the death of the physical body is truly the be-all and end-all of existence. Such neurological discoveries have removed many of the final remnants of the belief that humans are in any manner uniquely meaningful, leading many into a modern-day crisis of existential dread.

So where does all this leave us? How can we take the findings of neuroscience in parallel with our concern over finding meaning, to remain determined in life?

It’s safe to say that as society has fallen into the coronavirus pandemic, our experience of a monotonous and repetitive everyday life like that of Sisyphus has enabled us all to experience the contemplation of life like never before. It is up to us, as individuals, to decide whether we are up to the task of finding meaning. Perhaps it is the ideas of Nietzsche that resonate with you, perhaps you identify with Camus’ insights on embracing the absurd, or maybe you find your meaning through religion. No matter how you are changed by an existential crisis, knowing where you stand on the matter is vital to self-understanding. When navigated well, an existential crisis can have the deepest and most transformative effect on an individual, that of truly maturing, accepting oneself, and creating a more meaningful life, in a world where there simply might not be any.