The Absurd

The absurd is a philosophical concept which points out the paradox between human nature’s need to find some meaning or intrinsic value to life, but being unable to find one. I have chosen this topic for this month’s post as the idea of life’s meaning has been playing on my mind recently. As an atheist I cannot turn towards a divine power for a solution; however I do not find that a negative thought. It is in my rationalist nature to deduce that truth does not come from a false idea. It would be wrong of me to accept something as truth simply because I want it to satisfy the problem.

The absurd originates with the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard, when he is writing of the absurd, does not necessarily state that there is no meaning to life. He simply makes the observation that humans have not found any meaning. It goes on to conclude that there is a good level of futility in us searching for “meaning in a meaningless world,” as any real value that life has is “humanly impossible” to find due to the extraordinary amount of unknown information.

According to Kierkegaard there are 3 ‘solutions’ to the problem of the absurd:

• Suicide – To escape reality and henceforth the absurd entirely.  To leave existence.
• Religion – Belief in a higher being used to give meaning in a way that transcends the absurd. Kierkegaard makes a point of the irrationality behind this belief but recognises that the “leap of faith may be necessary as a solution.” Camus, another major absurdist philosopher states that acceptance of an unprovable being is nothing short of philosophical suicide.
•  Acceptance – Being aware that the absurd is simply a fact of life and possibly even embracing the fact that we will never know why we’re here or even if there is a reason at all, Camus believes this path to be the only true way to overcome the absurd as it leads to the truest form of freedom. However Kierkegaard regards this idea as “daemonic madness”.

Kierkegaard is also considered the founder of existential philosophy; the belief that meaning must originate from individual experience regardless of culture or context. That a person’s idea on the meaning of life should come from within themselves rather than looking to the external world and that by living in a certain way and making choices that have outcomes affecting the world, which give us meaning.  Kierkegaard states that one’s life can be meaningful in the pursuit of a goal, even if the goal is finite, as in that devotion one finds a drive that is a form of meaning.

God and meaninglessness - I should make a point that not all theists find life’s meaning from the idea of God. The naïve believer will see that God is the only way to derive meaning and that acceptance of God, and meaning in life are in a direct relationship. Camus and I would agree here that this is not the case, unless one finds a way of separating these two ideas one is living a false reality. For even within scripture there is regard to the hollow existence: “Meaningless! Meaningless! Says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). The wise believer will acknowledge that there is no ontological meaning, but will instead take their own form of life to be one that derives meaning from Christ, but does not necessitate his existence within their definition of meaning, as in this way they are living for themselves.

Nietzsche and nihilism – Nietzsche says first in the gay science “God is dead” however he continues this sentiment throughout his works. It is a common misconception that this phrase is said in an anti-realist fashion to mean that society as a whole has no need for God anymore. Nietzsche is actually referring to a crisis in value. He maintains that through the rationalism of Enlightened philosophy we have reached a point where we can no longer accept God as a form of value. This leads many people to think that Nietzsche was a nihilist; (the belief that life has no intrinsic value or meaning whatsoever and that all things are meaningless) however Nietzsche uses nihilism as a starting point rather than his conclusion, he aims to rescue us from a Godless, meaningless existence. He then goes on to make a point that we need something new, which is more than human. He believes that this Übermensch is a true free spirit and a creator of new value in the world. 

Meaning through legacy – Some people live the meaningless life in the hope of having a meaningful death, this comes from the thought that the only meaning people find, is the legacy they leave to the world after they are dead. For example the graphomaniac; someone who experiences the compulsive need to write and have their work published, similarly with the need of the artist to paint. These things come from a need to leave a mark on the world, as they have come to realise that once they are forgotten, they never really existed. What they themselves do not realise is that all things will eventually cease to exist. As Nietzsche says in human, all too human “To think of writing as one’s life’s profession should by rights be considered a kind of madness.”

Dysteleology -Or in other words ‘optimistic nihilism’. This is the philosophical doctrine that life has no purpose, or more specifically, no final cause. It is however more a perspective of scientific philosophy. It is a school of thought followed by Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, Stephen Hawkins and much of the global scientific community. The position is one that accepts that life is intrinsically meaningless, but rationalises meaning through the wonder of the universe. Rather than becoming overwhelmed with the meaninglessness of existence, be unendingly blissful that, by an impossibly unlikely sequence of events you are here to see the universe for this fraction of time that you inhabit it as a conscious being. 

“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness” – Carl Sagan