Living an
Existential Life
By:
Chris Cochran
Fall 2004, PHP3786
Professor:
Dr. Hawkins
This paper will be a discourse on how a
person might go about living an existential life. First, I will define what existentialism is
and how Martin Heidegger’s Dasein and Being fit into existentialism. Next, I will discuss the Physical and
Biological Reality (PBR) that we live in and the Socially Constructed Reality
(SCR) that Searle says we have created to help us live in the PBR. Then I will follow up with Sartre’s position
of “Bad Faith” and how we use it to forget about the PBR and focus on living in
the SCR. Next, I will give a few
examples of how we can use existentialism to our benefit. Finally, I will discuss how I use all of this
information to go about living an existential life, and then conclude with a
summary of all that I have covered.
What is existentialism? The length and brevity of this paper will not
allow me to fully go into this subject, but put simply, existentialism is the
awareness of one’s own existence and the ability to make decisions and take
full responsibility for those decisions.
Heidegger would say that existentialism is all about “Dasein” and
“Being.” Dasein is the awareness of our
Being and existing in the universe as nothing else can know because Dasein is
uniquely known only to humans, and “…the ‘essence’ of being there lies in its
existence.”[1] Therefore, someone who is aware of their
existence in the Physical and Biological Reality would be Dasein, according to
Heidegger.
There are two realities that we humans
live in, the Physical and Biological Reality (PBR) and the Socially Constructed
Reality (SCR). First, the Physical and
Biological Reality (PBR) is the actual world (Earth) that we live on. It comprises everything that is
physical. We are sentient beings that
live on the planet Earth which is the third planet from the sun in this solar
system which is a part of the Milky Way Galaxy that is flying through the
Universe and has existed for Billions of years.
Also, when things in the PBR react with each other, there is a physical
reaction. For example, when I push on an
object, the object moves within the PBR.
If I light an object on fire, there is a physical reaction taking
place.
Second, is the Socially Constructed
Reality (SCR) that Searle talks about.
He says that SCR is a reality that is purely human in design and was
created for humans to live in. SCR is
how society has conformed the PBR to suit its needs. Most people have forgotten all about PBR and
focus solely on SCR and how other people view themselves and others in
SCR. Hence, the need for people to “find
their place” in society and fit in.
Importance is placed on the non-physical and the interactions that one
has within a given society. Reality in
SCR is only real so long as we believe it is real. There is nothing physical about it.
Take money for example. Money is nothing more than oddly shaped
fibers that are arranged in a certain manner so that inks and dies can be
coated over its surface. In PBR this is
the physical description, and in this sense the money is real. But in SCR, money is, not only real, but it
also holds value based on the worth that society has placed on it. A five dollar bill is worth five dollars and
represents the length of time a person will work or the amount of products that
can be purchased or traded for five dollars.
“Bad Faith,” according to Sartre, is
the ability to lie to one’s own self.
Most of the time, we are so caught up in the SCR that we are hardly even
aware that we are lying to ourselves. We
have the ability to rationalize an event, or situation, to suit our own needs
and goals. This all takes place in our
own SCR. For example, a person on a diet
knows what foods they need to eat and what exercises they need to do in order
to lose weight. But, should the weight
not come off, then we tend to rationalize the results and explain it away as
something external to what we did and that we had no control over the outcome. When, in reality, had the person actually
followed the diet, they would more than likely have lost the weight to begin
with and wouldn’t have had to deal with trying to rationalize their failure. This is a great, and common, example of bad
faith.
Living an existential life is very easy
and has many great benefits. The best
thing about living existentially is that there is a lot less stress. Knowing that things don’t really matter
allows people to not worry quite so much on what other people think and
do. Decisions are easier to make as
well, since we only have to focus on our immediate needs and wants. There is no need to find one’s place in
society, other than to fulfill personal needs or wants. While living in society, an existentialist is
confronted with certain SCR’s that need to be addressed. That is, unless you don’t care about being
free to live your life the way you chose.
Society usually requires a person to pay taxes and find a way to support
one’s self and their family members, if they chose to have a family. But beyond that, there’s not much a person
has to do to live a happy and care free life.
I live an existential life on a daily
basis. I constantly make decisions that
I know have no real value other than to please me right now for this moment in
time. I’m aware that I live in a
socially constructed reality, but I do my best to not get caught up in it. I know that a person can’t be Dasein twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week; so I have learned to walk a fine line between
Dasein and living within my socially constructed reality. I monitor myself and try to stay away from
Bad Faith because lying to myself doesn’t do me any good and can only set me
back in my pursuit of living a good existential life.
In conclusion, being aware of one’s
place in the physical and biological reality and being true to one’s self
within their socially constructed reality will greatly improve the quality of
life that they live. I wasn’t around a
hundred years ago and I won’t be around a hundred years from now. But I’m here now, and that’s why I live life
for the moment and I live life for today.
After all, for me, there is no real purpose to life other than to live
it.
[1]
Heidegger, Martin: The Way Back Into The Ground Of Metaphysics
In class hand out, page 3, col. I