endlessness wrote:I see the point and I agree to some of it, thanks for sharing.
Ah, but some modes of existentialism seek to overcome simple agreement or disagreement. The two often occur simultaneously (or not at all) and in as much within the the individual as reflective upon the extraneous. Anyway, something to ponder.
Quote:Nevertheless I feel that to affirm with certainty that the world is ultimately meaningless is just as much speculation as giving any other unprovable idea (including Gods or whatever else). The weight falls on the shoulder of the one making the absolute affirmation to show absolute evidence, otherwise I would say better express humbleness, and point out what seems more likely or reasonable to oneself, giving evidence or arguments why...
"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Follow any concept to its ultimate logical conclusion in consideration of the ubiquitous lack of an infallible perspective, and the absolute absurdity of existence at large becomes practically incontestable--especially to the extent that any attempt to "prove" otherwise would be an exercise of absurdity in itself. In a sense, this position isn't drawing any actual conclusions in itself but simply negating all conclusions, effectively reinstating the question "why," dissatisfied with all prior conclusions--likely calling into question the possibility of future conclusions and the worthiness of the pursuit.
What's often overlooked is that existentialism goes well beyond nihilistic futility and void. The individual is free to assemble a philosophical arsenal by which one chisels out its own being and identity, unhindered by the neurosis of "truth" but rather in pursuit of a sort of self-honesty, taking the spirit in hand as a sort of artwork. Often the hope is to access the core and most rudimentary qualities of being--human and more than human, in a sense.
The results of this don't always follow the more common secular models and can even lean toward affirming the rigors of scientific method as much as against it, but they almost invariably utilize a heavy cynicism, bordering on or veering well into nihilism.
polytrip wrote:There may be no external reason. But that won't make the force of life's meaning, the sheer will to live, any less strong and convincing.
Existential thinkers often contest the validity of a "will to life." As in, the sense that life persists or is cut short regardless of any willing to do so and paradoxically in accordance with a higher common will, as much prone toward death as life--if not more so to the former.
In any case, good luck convincing anyone who truly feels that life is meaningless of its inherent purpose as you see it. Existentialism is a mode of thought for those who have come to that crossroads and simply will not be satisfied with arbitrarily divining a meaning out of the void as they must see it, and instead, they must think beyond those conceptions that consistently fail to assuage their condition.