Discussion: About Freedom and Meaning of Life (Coursework Sample)
Existentialism Essay—Part Three—Freedom and Meaning
10: 50 class, due: May 3 10:30am
1:40 class, due: April 28 3:30pm
4-6 pages minimum, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, send .doc, .pdf, .rtf (no Google drive links
or .pages) to
Read your last two essays and integrate your answers in replying to the following questions. It is
encouraged to try and develop, disagree, or change your ideas in relation to the coursework and
your own thinking. Remember to provide clear page citations and specific examples from the
texts.
Explain why Sartre and Beauvoir think we are free, but also that we often flee from freedom and
try to deny our freedom. Why do they think this?
Explain Frankl’s view on the relationship between meaning, suffering, and a life well lived.
If you had to write a “meaning of life” what central ideas would you present? Is meaning
necessarily related to freedom?
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Freedom Discussion
Explain why Sartre and Beauvoir think we are free, but also that we often flee from freedom and try to deny our freedom. Why do they believe this?
Beauvoir and Sartre are two philosophers who advanced the existentialism school of thought. For many scholars, Beauvoir is heavily influenced by the ideas of Sartre. Accordingly, it is easy to understand why the two think the humans are free but commonly escape from the freedom and attempt even to deny its existence. There is a rationale for why these philosophers adopted such a school of thought. According to Sartre, humans are free, and their choices in life determine their nature. He viewed people's life as a result of the reflections of their previous actions up to the present. Accordingly, humans can review their previous efforts and determine which actions will lead to the best results. It implies that humans make choices implicitly (Senejani 19). However, even with the past knowledge, people still make bad choices that lead to negative consequences. People have the freedom to make the right choices. Yet, sometimes they choose to make choices that contribute to a bad life. This reasoning informed Sartre's arguments that while people are free, they make conscious choices to escape from this freedom. The best human struggles in life but learns and uses knowledge to make the right choice.
Simone de Beauvoir also agrees that humans have the choices in life which make them free. However, the same humans also choose not to make the right choices, jeopardizing their autonomy. According to her, a human's earthly fate might or might not have significance since it relies on individuals to give it the importance it deserves. It is the individual's choice to make life crucial as it is only the person who can feel success or failure. Humans have a responsibility for themselves to give their life meaning, but they also need to help others realize their freedom (Rodriguez-Apple 19).
For this reason, humans can decide not to engage in destructive activities such as wars. However, often humans flee from their freedom and do things that contribute to their destruction. For example, humans decide to enter the war, hence jeopardizing their liberty and reducing the chance of others attaining autonomy. Some men are not free and thus contribute to war and oppression. How humans engage with the world contributes to how they treat others in their pursuit of autonomy. The freedom humans deserve requires ownership of humanity and existence on Earth.
Explain Frankl's view on the relationship between meaning, suffering, and a life well-lived.
Frankl views human life as an eternal search for meaning and one that involves happiness and suffering. According to him, life is not just about happiness, but more about the attitude one adopts, irrespective of the events that unfold in one's life. Frankl's views are critical since he suffered a lot, especially in the concentration camps run by the Nazis. People have different conceptions of the meaning of life. For some, life is about finding pleasure, while others are about power and wealth (Beuselinck 78). All these are indications that people are attempting to give meaning to life. People consider a life well-lived if they find the meaning they have placed in life. For example, if one achieves power, say political or wealth, becoming a multibillionaire, then it is a well-lived life for them. However, in attaining these goals, people face struggles such as losing loved ones or illnesses. All of these are part of the life process, which shows that the meaning of life is not just about achieving the goals but also the journey that leads to the attainment of the plans.
Humans commonly analyze the margins and extreme settings that help them know their character. Frankl is one of the people who faced such circumstances during his period in the concentration camp and the loss of many family members. Still, he found purpose in life and lived a long life. According to Frankl, humans must know that they will discover suffering in life. Frankl and other prisoners had little freedom in the concentration camp, but they carried on, and later, the suffering became part of their stories. HumansThe human can live a fulfilling life if, first, they have work, love, and find meaning in suffering. According to Frankl, human life must suffer and end in death to be considered complete. In the process of suffering, humans need to find a method of endurance. It implies that they see the suffering as part of attaining a greater goal in life (Mayer et al. 164). It is also essential to consider people's actions, especially when facing difficult situations. It is these moments that reveal a person's character. Human nature is revealed in extraordinary circumstances, and it is through this that people find meaning and live a fulfilling life.
What central ideas would you present if you had to write a "meaning of life"? Is meaning necessarily related to freedom?
The meaning of life is a multifaceted topic, and hence, when presenting it, it would require a series of ideas. First, the purpose of life is tied to various functions that humans have or attain during their lifetime. First, I would attach life essence to the biological process. Accordingly, the biological meaning of human life is procreation and continuity of life. The second meaning of life is related to society. The social human of life is to interact with others and create communities. The next significance of life would come from the economic needs of society. It implies that humans have a purpose in life to find work or provide for other community members. Life's meaning can also be attached to the ecological cycle. Humans are part of the ecosystem, and their existence till death is part of the environmental cycle. The other meaning attached to life is conn
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