Michael Vincent Pagdatoon
Staples
English 12 P. 3
22 December 2017
Research Paper 2017-2018
Life as We Know It
For centuries, millions of people have failed to answer a few of the universe’s oldest questions: Why are people here? What is the purpose of life? What are people supposed to do? To answer these questions, man turned to worshiping the gods to satisfy “reality.” Three centuries ago, the idea of intellectual freedom emerged from the minds of existentialist. These philosophers started a revolution that help shape the modern world in which religion is rejected and mankind is condemned to be free to live their lives free to make their own choices in life. However, with these choices, there have been consequences reflected from it.
Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. However, it is difficult to define primarily because its essence, so to speak is to oppose the kind of analytic reduction that definition entails (Kohn 382). Adjectives like “atheistic” and “pessimistic” are usually used to describe existentialism (384). This is a great misconception. This is because people believe that existentialist believe that God does not exist and it is up for humans to satisfy themselves in finding out why they are here. This is not the case however. Existentialist believe that humans are “condemned to be free (Barash 1).” Meaning, that humans are are forced to choose one way or another in life and it inevitable. In this modern era, humans today are magnetized towards this ideology and it there is no sign of stopping this growth.
Evolution is one of the reasons why human turns to moral values in certain situations other than other principles. This is because humans tend to adapt with society. Ethical restraints has produced the immense diversity of which prevents people from doing what they want to do that is right to them (Barash 3). Moving forward in time from the 18th to the 21st century, society have been more “liberal” in moral values and beliefs. Society began to “ deny the reality of the mythology attempted to conceptualize.” People fail to understand the purpose of set values from social institutions because they need adequate physical and factual proof or experience to demonstrate what people are supposed to believe. As a result of the lack evidence, people in today’s society have strayed away from institutions like religious organizations. To compensate, people became more involved in more materialistic things to find meaningfulness and worthwhileness in their lives. With people becoming preoccupied with thing like wealth, power, and possessions, society has gone off track to understand how mankind and the world are supposed to work (Adams 72). The irrefutable truth has caused the modern world to develop a pervert and self-destructive culture. Instead of uniting as one, people are straying further away from each other do to beliefs, distrust, or hatred.
Examples of issues stated in the previous paragraph can be scene all throughout Western culture. Western is a term used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies that are associated with the modern America, Europe, or Asia. Examples that show that existentialism promotes people to stray further away from each other do to beliefs, distrust, or hate are the Black Lives Matter Movement, LGBT Social Movement, or any other social movement. People are beginning to separate from each other because of one of two things; people are wanting change or fearing it. What people fear is that the more change there is the more they realize that their purpose in life is changing with the times and they are being forced to live with what is going on in the given time. This is mainly due to personal or religious values. As a result, people enter a degree of crisis full of emptiness and frustration. They feel pain from finding no purpose or being forced to live a purpose in life (Schnell 62). People want their meaning to stay the same and comfortable for them to fulfill it.the inherent lack of objective meaning renders the human-made sense of meaning no more 'meaningful' than any other function. People’s ability to assign meaning to things doesn't necessitate that ability is, in the grand scheme of things, meaningful in a universal way.
Social media has help set the path for people to find themselves and find purpose in their life. People by nature under an inner imperative to develop themselves and define and to live a life that would satisfy their logical and moral consciences (Adams 80). With the addition of modern technology, it is easier for people to find it. However, it has also made it easier for people to manipulate, intimidate, and bully others. The rise of online tools and services has made it easier for people to get what they need without going outside. This a shame because people are becoming less social and feel safe behind a screen. Fake news is separating people do to lies. It creates a distrust between people.These are a few of the greatest domestic problems within modern societies. Instead of people using social media to connect with each other, it is continuing to be used to spread loathe.
Politics also led to a self-destructive world. Currently tensions rise between Western countries and North Korea which led the nuclear power pointing their missiles in every direction. The United Nations placed sanctions on Iran because they refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program. These are examples on how people becoming preoccupied with thing like wealth, power, and possessions. Nations are too focused on the power of their government and the protection of their people to realize that nothing will accomplished in the end. Subsequently, the world is on the brink to have the next world war.
Other than war, capitalism has also led the world to forget the reason why they are here. Many philosophers, authors, and artist have stated the money is the root for all evil. They are not wrong. Even though money has help society run in a “functional” manner, it has lead to many problems. A reason because of this is that it is suggested that money is one such source capable of soothing existential anxiety. Instead of worrying about what is the point of living, people turned to using money to solve their problems. If the money comes up short, people tend to commit some sort of evil towards one another to maintain their position or even rise in power.
Why are people here? What is the purpose of life? What are people supposed to do? It seems that mankind had, at some point, was close to being solved. However, an existential revolution shaped the modern world in which religion is rejected and mankind is condemned to be free to live their lives free to make their own choices in life. However, with these choices, there have been consequences reflected from it. People became preoccupied with thing like wealth, power, and possessions. Society has gone off track to understand how mankind and the world are supposed to work. The irrefutable truth has caused the modern world to develop a pervert and self-destructive culture. Instead of uniting as one, people are straying further away from each other do to beliefs, distrust, or hatred. Culture, money, social media, politics, and war are examples to show that the modern world might not be ready to handle the truth of their purpose in this world.
Works Cited
Adams, E. M. “The Meaning of Life.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, vol. 51, no. 2, 2002, pp. 71–81. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40020993.
Barash, D. P. (2000). Evolutionary existentialism, sociobiology, and the meaning of life. Bioscience, 50(11), 1012-1017. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/216447761?accountid=29803
Kohn, Alfie. “Existentialism Here and Now.” The Georgia Review, vol. 38, no. 2, 1984, pp. 381–397. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41398688.
Munitz, Milton K. “Approaches to Existence.” Philosophy East and West, vol. 25, no. 3, 1975, pp. 335–346. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1398203.
Schnell, Tatjana, and William J. F. Keenan. “Meaning-Making in an Atheist World.” Archiv Für Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion, vol. 33, no. 1, 2011, pp. 55–78.JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23918907.