Lecture Notes: Nihilism, Existentialism, and Absurdism

Introduction to Modernity and Nihilism

• Modernity matured in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• This maturation revealed a crisis of meaning referred to as Nihilism.
• Philosophers revisited the question: What is the meaning of life?

Emergence of Nihilism

• Nihilism is the realization that there is no objective meaning to our lives.
• Two responses to Nihilism:
  • Existentialism
  • Absurdism

Religious vs. Secular Worldviews

• Religious Individual:
  • Objective meaning exists (e.g., Judaeo-Christian beliefs: creation and Judgment Day).
  • Eastern beliefs (Buddhism and Hinduism) focus on karma and liberation (moksha/Nirvana).
• Modernist Worldview:
  • Objective meaning dissolves as reliance on divinities decreases.
  • Nietzsche highlighted Christianity’s focus on truthfulness leading to a crisis of meaning.

Key Historical Texts and Philosophers

• David Strauss: Published "Life of Jesus" (1830s), challenging biblical historicity.
• Ludwig Feuerbach: "The Essence of Christianity" (1841) argued God is a projection of humanity.
• Charles Darwin: "On the Origin of Species" (1859) further eroded religious narratives.
• Nietzsche's Madman:
  • Proclaims "God is dead" and expresses the crisis of values.
  • Questions humanity's orientation in a meaningless universe.

The Crisis of Meaning

• Nihilism causes a vacuum in morality and meaning due to the absence of a divine foundation.
• Reality viewed through a secular lens negates geocentrism and anthropocentrism.

Existentialism

• Definition: Focused on defining humanity in the absence of objective meaning.
• Key Thinker: Jean-Paul Sartre.
• Philosophical Principle: "Existence precedes essence"—humans define themselves through actions.
• Sartre's quotation:
  • "Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself."
  • Focus: Create personal meaning through choices and actions.

Absurdism

• Key Thinker: Albert Camus.
• The Absurd: The tension between humanity's search for meaning and a meaningless universe.
• Three Responses to Nihilism:
  1. Suicide: Rejects life due to lack of meaning.
  2. Philosophical Suicide: Adopting a belief system for comfort (e.g., religion or ideology).
  3. Absurdism: Embracing the tension of the Absurd without escaping it.
• Camus’s Philosophy: Rejects existentialists for their perceived escapism.
  • Emphasizes integrity in facing life's absurdity.

Sisyphus as an Absurdist Icon

• Story of Sisyphus: Punished to roll a boulder up a hill repeatedly.
• Represents:
  1. Love of life despite absurdity.
  2. The eternal cycle of absurdity.
  3. Rebellion against the gods.
• Camus’s conclusion: "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
  • Meaning of Absurdism: Struggling with integrity and embracing life's absurdity.

Summary

• Nihilism: No objective meaning.
• Existentialism: Create personal meaning through action.
• Absurdism: Rebel against the absurdity of life, affirming existence without seeking imposed meaning.

Conclusion

• Call to action for engagement with the content and further discussion.