Table of ContentsIntroductionAbsurdityAlienationFree Will and ResponsibilityDespairConclusionIntroductionThe literal definition of existentialism states that it emphasizes the existence of individuals as completely free beings who determine their growth through personal choices. Multiple characteristics like absurdity, alienation, responsibility, free will, and despair play a major role in an existential life. Having originated and gained popularity in the 19th century, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche began writing on this topic at the turn of the century, followed by several other philosophers shortly after. Existentialists believe that life is nothing, that there is no higher power or authority; God may or may not exist, but he really means nothing to the individual, an individual's life will not be affected by his presence. Therefore, the only way to find happiness is to accept the fact that life is meaningless and that only the individual matters when it comes to being satisfied with life, because he There is no authority to which an individual can contribute. This leads to the belief that people are truly free, that their essence must be independent for them to be as joyful as possible. Humans must define the meaning of their life by making their own decisions, regardless of the effect of the decision, people will always begin to create their essence which is suited to that individual only. This was what Kierkegaard and Nietzsche asserted when this view began to become popular; the only way to achieve joy is to accept this personal essence that we have created by ourselves. When you learn to create your happiness in the sense of your essence, nothing can stop it from always flying high in the mind of an existentialist. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayAbsurdityBeing absurd is when we look for answers that don't exist. This can be presented in several ways; for example, many people wonder the meaning of life, a question that has no answer. Individuals seek to find meaning in a vast and confusing world. A human's inability to find meaning in a universe full of things is the reason why absurdity arises and begins to affect an individual. For example, in The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus states that there is a conflict between what we want in the world and what we find. We will never find what we want to find, so an individual is forced to choose between accepting and placing hope in God or concluding that life is meaningless. Regardless, a person's life is absurd because they are searching for meaning in a world that makes no sense to them. In writing, “the gods condemned Sisyphus to continually roll a rock to the top of a mountain, where the stone fell back by its weight. They... thought... that there was no punishment more terrible than futile and hopeless work.” Doing a task over and over again is absurd because it's like life, life is repetition, everything someone does on a daily basis can be considered as pushing the stone up the hill because it's is the same thing every time. It's absurd because there is no meaning to these things but people are still looking for it like in real life, you have to accept this absurdism to really find meaning in your own life; Camus supported this in his work, he stated that it is difficult to find meaning in a world like this, so the only way to find meaning is to realize that it is happening and to be able to enjoy the task you choose to do for the rest. of his life. ForTo conclude the essay, Camus states that “we must imagine Sisyphus happy”. This is said because Sisyphus has accepted the absurd, he pushes the rock up and down, as if he goes to work every day because he knows that life is nothing. The only way he'll be happy is if he accepts the fact that all he does is push rock and loves what he does. The rock is simply meant to be a metaphor for all the tasks one accomplishes in one's daily life. Camus tries to argue that the rock can be anything as long as we like it. It can become a routine that will keep the mind in check when one realizes that life is nothing, this routine is something that controls despair which in turn allows happiness to flourish in an individual because that he or she is doing something. they love it so much that they don't even notice that they are in a completely meaningless situation. Alienation Alienation is when a person feels isolated and disconnected from the world. No matter what beliefs one may have, everyone feels disconnected from certain things because they feel a lack of belonging. People are shaped by materialistic things that bring short-term joy but provide no long-term help. This leads people to think that they are alien to their own lives and the world, and at this point, disconnection tends to develop. With nowhere to turn, people begin to question many things when they are in an existentialist state because they are trying to find meaning in life. In the poem “The Unknown Citizen” by WH Auden, there is a man so ordinary that the state honored him with a poetic monument about what a perfect citizen he was. The man had cataloged every aspect of his life. The Bureau of Statistics and all other reports show that he was fulfilling his duties, that he was employed, that he paid union dues, that he did not have radical opinions, that he reacted normally to advertisements, that he had insurance, that he had the appropriate material possessions, that he had good opinions on current affairs, and that he was married and had the “right” number of children. Even though the man had everything going for him, he couldn't do one thing: escape the shadows of everyday life. “He was a saint” from the point of view of the State, he “served the Greater Community”. Some of the words used to describe him were "normal", "fair", "sensible", "proper" and "popular", the words used to describe an ideal citizen. Being an ideal citizen may make one think that he is free or happy, but the evidence of his life shows that he is just another needle in a haystack, an unknown bureaucratic machine, without any sense of self and without authenticity. Man can do everything right and obey society's beliefs, but he will never truly get that authenticity to connect with himself if he doesn't start living his life differently. Man is constantly trying to fit in, but the more he fits in, the more he moves away from himself and others. At the end of the poem it says: “Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd. If something was wrong, we definitely should have heard it. With these final lines comes the deepest meaning of the poem, despite all the data collected, some parts of the man's life may not have been captured. It becomes clear that the man is “unknown” because in this collection of data his individuality and identity are lost. This is why things at the group level contain truth, but at the individual level it is the opposite: every individual has the opportunity to become something better, and the only way to do that is to become them. -even. Feeling excluded and lostis completely natural because society focuses on its official vision of the common good without taking into account the individual, what really matters. Society evaluates a person using characteristics that are easy to pigeonhole, as man was, rather than respecting each person's uniqueness in their thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears, and goals. Being alienated can lead to despair, but the only way to end it is to create personal authenticity by accepting the absurd. Living a life you really want to live can be scary, but that fear is what will make us happy, live, laugh, and love, but only in an authentic way. Free will and responsibility Everyone is free to do what they want, regardless of whether it is good. or bad, people on an individual level always have a choice in the end. Whatever choice one makes, the consequences and events that follow will depend on that choice. This is where the buck stops, as some of these life-changing decisions can have a huge impact on a person's life. The choice aspect of free will and responsibility plays a major role in existentialism, as almost everything one experiences in the future can be affected by this single choice. This theme is consistent in Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants; the story is about how a woman faces a crossroads, both literally and figuratively. The story takes place in a Spanish train station surrounded by hills, fields and trees in the middle of nowhere. A man known as American and his girlfriend decide to drink a few beers and chat while waiting for their train to Madrid. While drinking, they bicker over little things; for example, the girl says "the mountains looked like white elephants", but the American becomes very agitated. The girl replies that she just wants to have fun, then returns to her previous comment by saying that the hills no longer look like white elephants to her. By saying this on purpose and wanting to keep her baby, she implies that she wants to keep the baby by changing her mind which greatly annoyed the man. Literally addressing her crossroads, she then asks what will happen after she has the surgery, saying "what if I do it, you will be happy and things will be the same as before and you will love me?" The man replies that everything will be fine afterwards and that they will go back to the way they were before. In great confusion, the young girl then walks towards the end of the station, looks at the landscape and wonders if they could really be happy if she had an operation. At this point, the entire story has been building up to this point of tension. Here, Ernest Hemingway created an atmosphere where there were only two choices for the girl; while literally left at a crossroads between two opposing train tracks, the girl is forced to decide whether to board one train to keep her baby or board the other train to keep her boyfriend and her current life. Either way, the impact on one's life will be huge, which shows the idea of ​​having a choice and then dealing with the consequences of that choice. Having free will and responsibility is a crucial part of existentialism because it allows one to navigate their own life and create their essence by doing and perceiving things around them on an authentic individual level. Having this freedom allows one to be content, this happens because people feel like they matter and that whatever they choose to do is their responsibility as well, so it's not like someone other was living their life. This allows everyone to be happy in their own life through this authentic essence that they have created through their personal decisions and desires. DespairDespair.