Unsafe at MIT
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If life is merely a result of a random occurrence, what meaning could it ultimately have?
In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl recounts what happened to F., a fellow inmate in Auschwitz:
"I would like to tell you something, Doctor. I have had a strange dream. A voice told me that I could wish for something, that I should only say what I wanted to know, and all my questions would be answered... I wanted to know when we, when our camp, would be liberated and our sufferings come to an end."
"And when did you have this dream?" I asked. "In February, 1945," he answered. It was then the beginning of March.
"What did your dream voice answer?"
Furtively he whispered to me, "March 30."
When F. told me about this dream, he was still full of hope and convinced that the voice of his dream would be right. But as the promised day drew nearer, the war news which reached our camp made it appear very unlikely that we would be free on the promised date. On March 29, F. suddenly became ill and ran a high temperature. On March 30, the day his prophecy had told him that the war and suffering would be over for him, he became delirious and lost consciousness. On March 31, he was dead. To all outward appearances, he had died of typhus.
This story illustrates Frankl’s primary principle of Logotherapy: meaning is the human being’s greatest need. Without it, we can't live. Frankl explains that those who survived clung to some purpose – whether it was to see their spouse, to publish their manuscript, to bear witness. For F., the prisoner in Auschwitz, the promise of liberation became his sole purpose for living. When the appointed day passed, his will to live evaporated.
With meaning, it is possible to even survive the unspeakable horror of a concentration camp.
With meaning, it is possible to even survive the unspeakable horror of a concentration camp. As Frankl writes, "There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life. There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: 'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.'"
But Frankl’s viewpoint skirts an essential philosophical question: Does life have meaning?
There are two divergent ways to answer this question, the Existentialist viewpoint that believes God does not exist, and the religious viewpoint that believes God does exist.
In order to wake up every morning ready to face the pains and frustrations of life, we need to believe there is some purpose to life. Without the underlying belief that life has meaning, there is nothing preventing a person from eventually committing suicide and leaving behind an absurd life devoid of substance and purpose.
But according to the worldview that God does not exist, life is merely a result of a random occurrence, without prior aim or intent, a fluke spontaneously leaping from chaos, without rhyme or reason. From where can one find meaning? Trapped in an absurd cosmos, life is just an accident; there is no reason for our existence.
Existentialism's solution: the human being is challenged to "create" meaning.
"Thus, there is no human nature, because there is no God to have a conception of it. Man simply is... Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle of existentialism." (Jean-Paul Sartre, "Existentialism")
So it is up to the person to create meaning – whether it’s settling down and raising a family, building a career, or becoming the largest collector of Barbie dolls. You invent your meaning.
Jean- Paul Sartre wrote in Existentialism, "Dostoevsky said, ‘If God did not exist, everything would be permissible.’ That is the very starting point of existentialism. Indeed, everything is permissible if God does not exist, and as a result man is forlorn, because neither within him or without does he find anything to cling to."
But what does this "created meaning" amount to?
Samuel Beckett's enigmatic tragi-comedy, Waiting for Godot, wrestles with this dilemma. The play's two main characters are hobos who are trapped in a world represented by the stage. They seem incapable of taking leave, even though at times they desperately want to go. Thus, the repeated refrain throughout the play:
"Well, let's go."
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"We're waiting for Godot."
"Ohhh."
Trapped in a world devoid of meaning, they are frequently enticed by the idea of leaving it all behind. "Let's go." But the option of suicide proves too difficult – "We can't." Staying alive, they are immediately confronted with the need to justify their painful and absurd existence: "Why not?" What is our purpose for being here?
"We're waiting for Godot. Ohhh..." That's their fabricated purpose – to wait for the mysterious Godot figure to arrive. (According to Existentialism, the belief in God is merely another fabrication man relies on to keep on living.)
The tragedy is twofold: Godot never shows up, and even worse – Godot doesn't really exist; they made him up. For these hobos, their meaning is a delusion. Because they live in a world where there is no God, the stark reality is that life is an accident and has no inherent meaning.
For the existentialist, confronting reality head-on eventually leads to despair. The only option for survival is submerging oneself in an illusion of meaning, a world of make-believe.
Author Albert Camus famously captured this existential dilemma: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide" (The Myth of Sisyphus). For the existentialist, confronting reality head-on eventually leads to despair, and ultimately the necessity to escape from a useless life. The only option for survival is submerging oneself in an illusion of meaning, a world of make-believe.
There is a term for believing in something that doesn’t truly exist. We call that delusional. Inventing your make-believe meaning may solves the pressing issue of suicide, but it does not lead to a life of genuine meaning, since the stark reality is that there is no meaning. Life is a random accident.
Religion maintains the alternative viewpoint. The existence of God means that life is not a pointless accident. Life was created, placed here by design by a purposeful Being. There is authentic meaning, a reason for existence that is objective and real, not invented. Therefore, reality is to be embraced, not shunned.
Purpose engenders a commitment to build a life of integrity, a passion to embrace the beauty and holiness that pervades the universe. Hope and celebration replace suicide as the natural responses to reality. True love, goodness and meaning are not illusory figments of a desperate imagination. They are the soul of existence. Our moments of intense meaning that we’ve experienced in life are real, not delusional.
Existentialism and religion present two diametrically opposing views:
If you believe, deep in your gut, that the meaning you experience in life is real and animates the core of your existence, as Viktor Frankl describes, that meaning can only exist if life is not a random accident, but rather created for an authentic and true purpose.
Great article about how polarizing the great existential debate remains. Are we trapped in a design of our own making? Jeremiah 23:11 states “ I well know, O “Hashem”, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” All we have to do is look at the current social climate to see that this is true. That doesn’t seem to convince the majority, however. So take humans out of the equation altogether to gain some perspective. There are definitive laws that we see in nature, in our universe that defy the explanation of “happenstance”. Biological engineering showsevidence of an intelligent designer. An intelligent designer that many of the greatest minds have copied in propelling man’s technological advancements, also known as “bio-mimicry.”
So this only stands to reason that if we see evidence of intelligent design in the natural world around us, then we too are part of that fabric. From there, the search begins. Who is the Designer? How can we get to know Him and what does He expect of us?
SHALOM
Let me suggest that our quests relate to SHALOM, Peace.
SHA(LO)M divides SHALOM into to words, as I see it, SHAM and LO, His name.
Perhaps, we can find Peace, in the name of HaShem.
Maybe, we can find some Peace by giving other people, LO, more credit and reward.
Perhaps, Aish.com can write about a link, between Peace, SHALOM and credit. TNX
I teach "Names, Not Numbers," Holocaust curriculum at a Jewish school.
The touching and tragic discussion detailed in the book probably occurred at "Tuerkheim, subsidiary camp[s] of Dachau in Bavaria", Germany, from where Frankl was liberated on April 27, 1945*, a mere month after his friend's self-imposed deadline - and death. (Auschwitz, where Frankl had been previously, had already been liberated on January 27.)
* https://www.viktorfrankl.org/biography.html
What a great read!
Rather ironic that existentialists view religion as a made-up search for meaning since existentialism is hedonistic, a mere excuse for living without restraint and a solid code of ethics!
I think you’re not referring to actual existentialists, who are engaged in philosophical discourse. People who just want to do whatever they want are generally not philosophers; many of them are just hedonists or even criminals.
This is probably too philosophical for me. I believe in G-d, but let’s set that aside. I believe in the world around me. First and foremost, that includes my husband and children. Then there’s my extended family, friends, neighbors, city, state, country, the world. If I can help a blind stranger cross the street, that is at minimum meaningful for the person I help. If I donate money to an NGO, it is with the hope that a food insecure person will have another meal. For the people I know and love, the give and take, the care and kindness we show each other, are very meaningful. I think most humans through most of history have found more meaning through interconnectedness than through pondering the unknown.
As for F in the camp, he was freed on March 30.
The meaning of life is to believe. The instructions will follow. Absorb the wisdom of those that came before us, those who believed.