Absurdism

[peruvianskys]

I think absurdism is probably the only real way to accurately deal with the nature of our existence. I don't believe in a God and I can't see any other possible way for their to be an objective meaning to our lives. But that's okay, it doesn't depress me at all.

 

[Lunar Templar]

So. Discussion value: What do you think of absurdism? Personally I don't understand it at all. There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

the only meaning life has is the meaning you give it

but back to the question at had, as long as its the absurdity

to that definition i'm pretty much for it.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Its pretty fun actually. Just live out day to day without any care or worry and do the things that are expected of you. There is a nice peace to it that I enjoy quite a bit. I really don't need a meaning as long others can define my meaning for me. Its not that I am depressed, its just that I don't care.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

How can you convince yourself that there is a preconcieved meaning to one's existence?

How can you convince yourself that there isn't?

How would such a thing give one's life more substance over accepting the idea that that's not the case?

Because it would prove that living is actually worth something in the long run, as apposed to just being one huge waste of time.

 

[Whateveralot]

All I can say is that apathy is not the way. It doesn't mean you're actually careless, it's basically giving up on responsibilities.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Well since I'm kind of an Absurdist, I'd say I generally follow the ideas behind Absurdism. It fits with my agnostic beliefs. I figure that even if there is an ultimate truth, there's little chance of me figuring it out right now. So I'll just accept that and go along with my life.

 

[I Have No Idea]

Wow. I'm glad that this seems to have some discussion value.

One more thing... I won't challenge your teachers, but in my opinion Abdurdism and passivity aren't even remotely related.

Yeah, my mistake. The two go hand in hand in the book, so I guess i got mixed up.

And I suppose whether or not there is a meaning to life depends mostly on your spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

So. Discussion value: What do you think of absurdism? Personally I don't understand it at all. There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

Absurdism doesn't rule out the possiblity of life having meaning, it merely asserts that human beings do not have the epistemological breadth to ever be able to unearth said meaning, so attempting to do so is pointless. Believing that life has no intrinsic meaning or value is Nihilism, not Absurdism. And while we're on that topic:

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

Then how can you live without being in perpetual depression? If there's no meaning to life, then why do you live? I'm not saying "Go kill yourself!" or anything (I'm not a douchenozzle), just to be clear.

Speaking as a Nihilist; the concept itself does nothing to upset me other than the fear of death, but that's something I won't concern myself until I actually near my last days. If anything it serves as a driving incentive to make the most out of what little time I have, rather than waste my time indulging in fruitless philosophical quandries of 'why am I here' and the like I'm free to just make the most of this anarchistic clusterfuck that we call life. Nihilism doesn't have to be pessimistic you see, neither does Absurdism.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

Biologically speaking, the meaning of life is to create more life. Other than that, why does it have to have a meaning? Can't you enjoy doing things for their own sake and not an ulterior motive?

 

[Gentle Dementia]

I pretty much live Absurdism, I went through a period of denial, then a couple years of whole-bodied, hate-filled, conversation-killing cynicism, and now I'm pretty absurdist/nihilistic/whatever-you-call-it-when-you-know-there's-nothing-but-you're-pretty-okay-with-it.

That would be nihilism not absurdism. Absurdists suspect that there could be something but that that something is unknowable nihilist just believe in nothing.

Thanks, I always get those confused... which probably isn't a good thing considering I'm also doing The Stranger and Absurdism in English right now.

 

[Rin Little]

I don't quite understand Absurdism either, in fact it almost scares me to be honest. This is mostly just because it involves a lack of emotional response and I thrive off of emotion. It's what actually helps me understand people and meeting someone who doesn't have emotional response unnerves me horribly.

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

And I agree wholeheartedly with this. Why does there have to be some deep meaning to life that no one understands in order for it to be worth living?

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

Then how can you live without being in perpetual depression? If there's no meaning to life, then why do you live? I'm not saying "Go kill yourself!" or anything (I'm not a douchenozzle), just to be clear.

because some people don't need a reason to keep doing what they're doing. This actually works with your character, because apathy would keep them from suicide, which requires a major emotional commitment to whatever has upset you

 

[I Have No Idea]

Read "The Myth of Sisyphus" (sp?) by Albert Camus, it explains it quite well.

We read that in class too.

I'm also doing The Stranger and Absurdism in English right now.

Are we going to the same school?

 

[JesterRaiin]

There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

Absurdism doesn't deny meaning to life. That's nihilism. Absurdism is mainly either a) Life has no meaning so it is our duty to ascribe one or b) life does have a meaning but humans will never know/comprehend it, so we must, again, ascribe one.

Read "The Myth of Sisyphus" (sp?) by Albert Camus, it explains it quite well.

I beg to differ. There is neither DUTY nor MUST in Absurdism.

Plase, take a look at this (as suggested earlier) :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism#Relationship_with_existentialism_and_nihilism

 

[Esotera]

There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

Not really...to me life is just a game. You can't definitively prove anything one way or the other philosophically, logically, or scientifically, so you may as well have fun while you're here.

Basically, this.

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

"to me life is just a game"

Well THERE's a meaning to life right there! Stop saying life is meaningless, you're adding meaning to it all the time.

Well, life is inherently meaningless, but most humans decide to add meaning, it's slightly different because this is my personal interpretation of the meaning of life, rather than any absolute meaning of life. All this philosophy hurts my brain ^_^

 

[Gloomsta]

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

If one has feeling of happiness and sorrow, and one wishes to evade sorrow and be happy, then how is life meaningless to a person? Feelings from experiences make it worth to have meaning in life.

You can sit around and be a miserable nihilist, or you can enjoy the good and bad feelings that we recieve in life.

 

[Indeterminacy]

So. Discussion value: What do you think of absurdism? Personally I don't understand it at all. There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

Oh, in Absurdism, there is meaning. Everything is ridiculous, and has meaning in terms of that underlying tragedy/comedy. Moreover, it imposes a sort of functional consequence that the meaning of life from the subjective perspective is to enjoy yourself.

I disagree with this consequence, regardless of any metaphysical foundation people place on things (in fact, both Nihilism and Absurdism strike me as decidedly metaphysical notions in a similar manner to Christianity). If the importance of your life is just for you to enjoy it, then why should I give a damn about you? I wouldn't particularly enjoy the act of killing you, but your ongoing existence doesn't bring me entertainment of itself and drains the world of resources that could probably be better used for my enjoyment.

The meaning of life is completely unfixed by "reality first" metaphysics (not even from a "biology first" perspective), to the point where there is absolutely no foundational thing that can dictate meaning or the absence thereof. For this reason I think Existentialism is a much stronger way of looking at the relationship between us and the world we live in, in that it respects the priority of being grounded in the physical world, while freeing us to build meaning up for ourselves as we see fit.

 

[zehydra]

There has to be some meaning to life, you know?

Not really...to me life is just a game. You can't definitively prove anything one way or the other philosophically, logically, or scientifically, so you may as well have fun while you're here.

Basically, this.

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

"to me life is just a game"

Well THERE's a meaning to life right there! Stop saying life is meaningless, you're adding meaning to it all the time.

Well, life is inherently meaningless, but most humans decide to add meaning, it's slightly different because this is my personal interpretation of the meaning of life, rather than any absolute meaning of life. All this philosophy hurts my brain ^_^

all meaning is added meaning from humans

 

[Indeterminacy]

all meaning is added meaning from humans

Well, they do say it's possible to communicate with animals. And perhaps there might be intelligent extra-terrestrial life. So while your intention is pretty clear, "humans" is maybe a bit strong.

 

[MassiveGeek]

Applying a meaning to life is itself absurd, because there is none.

I don't understand why this isn't understood.

Then how can you live without being in perpetual depression? If there's no meaning to life, then why do you live? I'm not saying "Go kill yourself!" or anything (I'm not a douchenozzle), just to be clear.

What I think they mean is that there is no universal meaning to life. Which I would agree to be correct.
There's absolutely no reason to believe that because someone that does not have a "meaning" to their existence would kill themselves on a whim or be perpetually depressed. Why the fuck do you need some sort of deep meaning to exist and keep going? And since it seems you haven't found one satisfactory yet, why aren't YOU perpetually depressed? Is your meaning to life to look for a meaning to life?
I settle for the logical and simplest reason to my existence of them all:
My parents fucked and I was the result. You can take this even further and go on about evolution and shit too, but I don't feel like it.
I'm not going to go around moping because I don't have a "meaning" to life. It doesn't mean I don't have goals, plans, dreams and/or can't enjoy myself because this is the only fucking life we know for sure that we have.

I do think it is bullshit to constantly look for a "meaning", if you want one so bad, just make your own, holy shit, it's not hard.
For example, here's my meaning to life that I decided right now: I want a cat.
There, settled. Your turn.