Abstract
Using the existential philosophies of J.P. Sartre, M. Heidegger, and G. Marcel, within an atheistic framework, I posit that mans underlying reason for continuing existence in the face of certain oblivion, is love. I have researched and analyzed many of the existential philosophies, and chose to place them in an atheistic framework because metaphysical ideas, like God, can neither be proven or disproven. The atheistic framework also allows for the argument to be more objective in nature and forces the point to be argued instead of falling on the Gods will defense. I argue that in an atheistic existence, man continues to strive for existence because of love, which supersedes basic desire.
The Absurdity of Mans Existence
In an atheistic framework or reality where the idea of god does not exist, the universe and mans existence occurs through mere happenstance. That is not to say that it just appeared, but if we were to use the big bang theory and the theory of evolution, there is no purpose for mans existence. A better way to put it is Sartres (1946) theory of Existence Proceeds Essence: where in a god-free world, everything has a purpose before it comes to existence. (I.e. a car was an idea in someones mind, designed with the purpose of transportation. That purpose of design is the cars essence. The person then took this idea and made the car or brought it into existence. Hence its essence preceded existence.) Now man or mankind is the only exception to this rule, whereas, if there were no god to design us, with a purpose in mind, mans existence has proceeded his essence. Therefore it is up to man to create his purpose. This is evident in our search, from youth to adulthood, to figure out Who we are? Where we are going in life? What do we want to do with our existence? This soul searching is mans way of finding his own purpose or essence.
In all of the philosophical ponderings and wonderment, there is one general, absolute fact. All men are mortal, and therefore, we are all going to die. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, as C. Palahniuk (1999) wrote in Fight Club on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. This fact is not only applicable to man, but it also applies to all of creation. Our universe, full of its galaxies, solar-systems, and planets, is finite and contingent, which means it too will come to an end. Even as we speak, stars are winking out of existence, carrying along with them planets, moons, and possibly civilizations that have come
and gone a thousand times over. The realization of standing on the brink of this impending doom is what Heidegger (1943) calls Angst or dread.
This nihilation or slow unraveling of all there is, in a god-less world, is our birthright, in that, it is the only thing promised to us in our existence. This fact can lead to angst. This feeling of dread is most evident in the clinical diagnosis of depression, which brings up the questions: Why continue at all? Why keep going, knowing, that its all going to end in the long run and nothing we do really matters on the macroscopic level of the universe? Like the myth of Sisyphus*, Why do we keep pushing our proverbial rocks? In a god -free world, where there is no promise of heaven or hell, what keeps us going? The answer to these questions, ultimately, as Marcel states is fidelity. Merriam-Webster defines fidelity as: the quality or state of being faithful or implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty. To Marcel it is this idea of fidelity, this giving of yourself or binding yourself to something beyond yourself. More to the core of it, the fidelity he speaks of ultimately is love. Love is the driving force for man to continue existence, especially in the face of certain oblivion. The Beatles (1967) had it right, All you need is love.
Love
Love is the reason for mans continual existence. Let us be clear, when I refer to love, I am not simply referring solely to the love between person and person, but also to the love of an idea like truth, justice, freedom, beauty, etc.. Love is the experience of unlimited value or worth in a being, be it a person or idea. The true measure of love is not what a man lives for, but what he is willing to die for. It is mans natural instinct, as it is with all animals, to preserve ones life. What compels a person to go against their very nature to sacrifice something so dear, especially? for an abstract idea like that of truth or freedom? The answer is love.
Love is the manifestation of mans need to transcend beyond self-centered needs. It is the losing of the self through the union or bonding with something we find more dear or value more than our very own lives. The losing of self is not the total abolishment of who I am, but more of a creation of a new being in which I/other have united. A good example of the losing of self in union can be found in the words of the first person plural perspective. Words like we or us meaning not just you/ not just me. In this union of both entities, you get another collective entity. Love is a bond that is different from a physical bond, in that on the physical level, when things unite either one or both things are destroyed, as in things like absorption or synthesis. Whereas, love is on a spiritual level and the bond is more or a communion or enhancement of the two, while preserving their integrity.
It is these kind of bonds that mankind strives to achieve. That is to say, when I form a bond with someone, no matter the level of bonding, it is also saying that I identify myself with that person. When that person is successful or happy, I share in their joy. Furthermore, when that person is unhappy or abusing themselves through drugs, for example, I too, am hurt or pained. The ability to identify myself with another being allows me feel compassion towards them, even if I have never met them. Another example of this, is when you see atrocities on T.V. going on continents away, when we feel for those people, it is because we can identify, on some level with them and are empathetic to their suffering. Conversely, when we are indifferent to these atrocities or even a movie, it is because we cannot identify with them.
Counter
One may ask, Why is man compelled to love or better yet feel the need for something transcendent? Sartre argues that while man creates his own meaning or purpose, he still needs others to validate his existence. Sartre says,in creating the man we want to be, there is not a single one of our acts which does not at the same time create an image of man we think he ought to be. That means what we as men choose for ourselves, we choose for all of mankind. Take the idea of freedom for example. When man chooses to be free, he must chose freedom for everyone, because if he were not to, who would be there to guarantee his own freedom. No man is an island. Marcel implies in his arguments that while we are free to create the person who we want to be, it is not solely up to us or that our freedom to create ourselves is limited.
The reality of the matter is that there are certain basic, undeniable facts about who we are that play a role in our self realization. Marcel (1948) wrote, to deny in a more aggressive fashion the existence of any sort of natural world, of anything that is inherited by us, or more profoundly, of reality itself, that reality which is conferred upon us or in which we participate, and which gives us greater impetus, the deeper we penetrate into it. .What all of this means is that our genes, environment, era we are born into have an effect on who we are, especially the people who are in our lives. Once again, other people give our lives validity and this is enacted through our bonds to them, therefore, we need go beyond ourselves or transcend or self centered needs to form these unions. Mind you these unions do not have to be deep like that of marriage or even friendships. A union can be something as simple as working with someone on a project or getting directs from someone in the street. But, all in all, these unions are important and a necessity for life.
Now, you may say, Love is all fine and dandy if you are a hippy, but, what about those people whose reasons for living are things like greed, lust, or power? My answer is: what are these things, but love of money, sex, and dominion. As I stated earlier, love is the experience of unlimited value or worth in a being. Love does not have to be positive in nature, it simply is a reflection of nature. It is thing that is neither good, nor evil, it simply is. It can be beneficial and hazardous, like the Sun or the Ocean. My argument is not that mans ultimate goal or reason for living is to be happily married with children and a white picket fence. No, the point of my argument is that love, in the purest sense, is why men continue to live, knowing very well, that they are going to eventually die. I mean, why any of us would keep on living, with a world full of suffering and angst, for no rhyme or reason.
Another argument would be If there is a God, why cant mans reason for continual existence, be God, or God and love? This is reason why I chose to put this argument in an atheistic framework is to argue that in the face of certain doom and in a world of suffering, man still has a reason to be, he has a reason to keep existing in this world. According to Nietzsche, Christianity makes men weak. I concur with him to a point, in that Christianity is kind of a philosophical crutch. That being God is the ultimate reason for everything. If something good happens its because God has blessed them, if something bad happens he is punishing them or testing their faith. Also, there is the issue of heaven and hell. That being men do not always do good, purely for good sake. Men do good, because if they are wicked or evil, they are to be punished eternally for their sins, or the reverse, they will be eternally rewarded. It is this fundamental reward/punishment system that sets Christians up to be viewed as kind of weak-willed children and puts all the responsibility on God. That is not to say all Christian are trying to buy their way into heaven and or avoid hell, because that is not the case at all, in fact I would like to believe that there are a good amount of Christians who do good for the sake of doing good. But, for the sake of the argument, with need to do away with ulterior motives because we cannot objectively argue why people would continue to live in a world of suffering with a reward punishment system in place. But, it can also be argued that Christians keep going because of love and the bond they feel with God. Albeit, death is not exactly certain in the Christian faith, it is merely a doorway to the afterlife.
So whether you are a Christian, atheist, or power hungry CEO of a mega corporation, we are all driven by our indelible bonds to the things that we find most dear to keep pushing our rocks, knowing its going to end one day. Love is a very strong thing, it is the one source of so much pain and suffering, yet the same source of hope and joy and true happiness even in the state of suffering. It is this thing we call love that compel us to go beyond our ego, to rise above our base needs and give up the very thing that we should logically, value the most. Love allows us to stand at the brink of oblivion and smile. We smile because we know that during our brief existence in our world, we made a difference. We made a difference because we affected someone somewhere in our lives therefore making our existence valid. What we do does echo throughout eternity. Its like Huey Lewis said, it dont take money, it dont take fame, you dont need a credit card to ride this train, its strong and its sudden and its cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life. Thats the power of love.
Using the existential philosophies of J.P. Sartre, M. Heidegger, and G. Marcel, within an atheistic framework, I posit that mans underlying reason for continuing existence in the face of certain oblivion, is love. I have researched and analyzed many of the existential philosophies, and chose to place them in an atheistic framework because metaphysical ideas, like God, can neither be proven or disproven. The atheistic framework also allows for the argument to be more objective in nature and forces the point to be argued instead of falling on the Gods will defense. I argue that in an atheistic existence, man continues to strive for existence because of love, which supersedes basic desire.
The Absurdity of Mans Existence
In an atheistic framework or reality where the idea of god does not exist, the universe and mans existence occurs through mere happenstance. That is not to say that it just appeared, but if we were to use the big bang theory and the theory of evolution, there is no purpose for mans existence. A better way to put it is Sartres (1946) theory of Existence Proceeds Essence: where in a god-free world, everything has a purpose before it comes to existence. (I.e. a car was an idea in someones mind, designed with the purpose of transportation. That purpose of design is the cars essence. The person then took this idea and made the car or brought it into existence. Hence its essence preceded existence.) Now man or mankind is the only exception to this rule, whereas, if there were no god to design us, with a purpose in mind, mans existence has proceeded his essence. Therefore it is up to man to create his purpose. This is evident in our search, from youth to adulthood, to figure out Who we are? Where we are going in life? What do we want to do with our existence? This soul searching is mans way of finding his own purpose or essence.
In all of the philosophical ponderings and wonderment, there is one general, absolute fact. All men are mortal, and therefore, we are all going to die. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, as C. Palahniuk (1999) wrote in Fight Club on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. This fact is not only applicable to man, but it also applies to all of creation. Our universe, full of its galaxies, solar-systems, and planets, is finite and contingent, which means it too will come to an end. Even as we speak, stars are winking out of existence, carrying along with them planets, moons, and possibly civilizations that have come
and gone a thousand times over. The realization of standing on the brink of this impending doom is what Heidegger (1943) calls Angst or dread.
This nihilation or slow unraveling of all there is, in a god-less world, is our birthright, in that, it is the only thing promised to us in our existence. This fact can lead to angst. This feeling of dread is most evident in the clinical diagnosis of depression, which brings up the questions: Why continue at all? Why keep going, knowing, that its all going to end in the long run and nothing we do really matters on the macroscopic level of the universe? Like the myth of Sisyphus*, Why do we keep pushing our proverbial rocks? In a god -free world, where there is no promise of heaven or hell, what keeps us going? The answer to these questions, ultimately, as Marcel states is fidelity. Merriam-Webster defines fidelity as: the quality or state of being faithful or implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty. To Marcel it is this idea of fidelity, this giving of yourself or binding yourself to something beyond yourself. More to the core of it, the fidelity he speaks of ultimately is love. Love is the driving force for man to continue existence, especially in the face of certain oblivion. The Beatles (1967) had it right, All you need is love.
Love
Love is the reason for mans continual existence. Let us be clear, when I refer to love, I am not simply referring solely to the love between person and person, but also to the love of an idea like truth, justice, freedom, beauty, etc.. Love is the experience of unlimited value or worth in a being, be it a person or idea. The true measure of love is not what a man lives for, but what he is willing to die for. It is mans natural instinct, as it is with all animals, to preserve ones life. What compels a person to go against their very nature to sacrifice something so dear, especially? for an abstract idea like that of truth or freedom? The answer is love.
Love is the manifestation of mans need to transcend beyond self-centered needs. It is the losing of the self through the union or bonding with something we find more dear or value more than our very own lives. The losing of self is not the total abolishment of who I am, but more of a creation of a new being in which I/other have united. A good example of the losing of self in union can be found in the words of the first person plural perspective. Words like we or us meaning not just you/ not just me. In this union of both entities, you get another collective entity. Love is a bond that is different from a physical bond, in that on the physical level, when things unite either one or both things are destroyed, as in things like absorption or synthesis. Whereas, love is on a spiritual level and the bond is more or a communion or enhancement of the two, while preserving their integrity.
It is these kind of bonds that mankind strives to achieve. That is to say, when I form a bond with someone, no matter the level of bonding, it is also saying that I identify myself with that person. When that person is successful or happy, I share in their joy. Furthermore, when that person is unhappy or abusing themselves through drugs, for example, I too, am hurt or pained. The ability to identify myself with another being allows me feel compassion towards them, even if I have never met them. Another example of this, is when you see atrocities on T.V. going on continents away, when we feel for those people, it is because we can identify, on some level with them and are empathetic to their suffering. Conversely, when we are indifferent to these atrocities or even a movie, it is because we cannot identify with them.
Counter
One may ask, Why is man compelled to love or better yet feel the need for something transcendent? Sartre argues that while man creates his own meaning or purpose, he still needs others to validate his existence. Sartre says,in creating the man we want to be, there is not a single one of our acts which does not at the same time create an image of man we think he ought to be. That means what we as men choose for ourselves, we choose for all of mankind. Take the idea of freedom for example. When man chooses to be free, he must chose freedom for everyone, because if he were not to, who would be there to guarantee his own freedom. No man is an island. Marcel implies in his arguments that while we are free to create the person who we want to be, it is not solely up to us or that our freedom to create ourselves is limited.
The reality of the matter is that there are certain basic, undeniable facts about who we are that play a role in our self realization. Marcel (1948) wrote, to deny in a more aggressive fashion the existence of any sort of natural world, of anything that is inherited by us, or more profoundly, of reality itself, that reality which is conferred upon us or in which we participate, and which gives us greater impetus, the deeper we penetrate into it. .What all of this means is that our genes, environment, era we are born into have an effect on who we are, especially the people who are in our lives. Once again, other people give our lives validity and this is enacted through our bonds to them, therefore, we need go beyond ourselves or transcend or self centered needs to form these unions. Mind you these unions do not have to be deep like that of marriage or even friendships. A union can be something as simple as working with someone on a project or getting directs from someone in the street. But, all in all, these unions are important and a necessity for life.
Now, you may say, Love is all fine and dandy if you are a hippy, but, what about those people whose reasons for living are things like greed, lust, or power? My answer is: what are these things, but love of money, sex, and dominion. As I stated earlier, love is the experience of unlimited value or worth in a being. Love does not have to be positive in nature, it simply is a reflection of nature. It is thing that is neither good, nor evil, it simply is. It can be beneficial and hazardous, like the Sun or the Ocean. My argument is not that mans ultimate goal or reason for living is to be happily married with children and a white picket fence. No, the point of my argument is that love, in the purest sense, is why men continue to live, knowing very well, that they are going to eventually die. I mean, why any of us would keep on living, with a world full of suffering and angst, for no rhyme or reason.
Another argument would be If there is a God, why cant mans reason for continual existence, be God, or God and love? This is reason why I chose to put this argument in an atheistic framework is to argue that in the face of certain doom and in a world of suffering, man still has a reason to be, he has a reason to keep existing in this world. According to Nietzsche, Christianity makes men weak. I concur with him to a point, in that Christianity is kind of a philosophical crutch. That being God is the ultimate reason for everything. If something good happens its because God has blessed them, if something bad happens he is punishing them or testing their faith. Also, there is the issue of heaven and hell. That being men do not always do good, purely for good sake. Men do good, because if they are wicked or evil, they are to be punished eternally for their sins, or the reverse, they will be eternally rewarded. It is this fundamental reward/punishment system that sets Christians up to be viewed as kind of weak-willed children and puts all the responsibility on God. That is not to say all Christian are trying to buy their way into heaven and or avoid hell, because that is not the case at all, in fact I would like to believe that there are a good amount of Christians who do good for the sake of doing good. But, for the sake of the argument, with need to do away with ulterior motives because we cannot objectively argue why people would continue to live in a world of suffering with a reward punishment system in place. But, it can also be argued that Christians keep going because of love and the bond they feel with God. Albeit, death is not exactly certain in the Christian faith, it is merely a doorway to the afterlife.
So whether you are a Christian, atheist, or power hungry CEO of a mega corporation, we are all driven by our indelible bonds to the things that we find most dear to keep pushing our rocks, knowing its going to end one day. Love is a very strong thing, it is the one source of so much pain and suffering, yet the same source of hope and joy and true happiness even in the state of suffering. It is this thing we call love that compel us to go beyond our ego, to rise above our base needs and give up the very thing that we should logically, value the most. Love allows us to stand at the brink of oblivion and smile. We smile because we know that during our brief existence in our world, we made a difference. We made a difference because we affected someone somewhere in our lives therefore making our existence valid. What we do does echo throughout eternity. Its like Huey Lewis said, it dont take money, it dont take fame, you dont need a credit card to ride this train, its strong and its sudden and its cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life. Thats the power of love.