John Paul Sartre captured the essences of existentialism when he said: “I have never ceased to believe that one is and one makes oneself of whatever is made of one.” The idea is that we make ourselves.
Professor Solomon presents a lecture about the following three existentialist themes:
1. Individuality: Soren Kierkegaard defined himself as an individual. We are all unique. For Sartre, however, individuality is basically individual choice. With choices the individual takes responsibility for making his or her own choices and takes responsibility for the consequences of those choices.
2. Passion: Passion is very powerful and very important for human life. According to Kierkegaard, to really be oneself one must passionately commit oneself to a way of life that actualizes oneself.
Note that he was not talking about the outward expression of emotions; he was talking about the passion of commitment to developing oneself in a way that is compatible with one’s uniqueness and individuality.
The really passionate person is not necessarily the one that expresses a lot of emotion or talks a lot; the passionate person is quite inwardly contained and is self-defined by his or her passions—not by what others say think or do.
For the existentialist, to ideally exist is to live passionately. The writings of Friedrich Nietzsche encourage us to live according to our passions. In a philosophical sense, however, passion is the power of self-control; and, it is used to improve oneself, to persistently and consistently self-actualize towards self-fulfillment.
3. Freedom: None of us are detached from nature or our social environment; therefore, these are not the freedoms that were meant. What existentialists mean by freedom is personal freedom—how we think of ourselves, how we behave, and how we think about our behavior.
Kierkegaard said, “People hardly make use of the freedoms they do have—like the freedom of thought; instead, they demand the freedom of speech as compensation.”
The idea is that freedom has to do with making choices. It has to do with deciding how you are going to live your life. Freedom also means taking responsibility for the consequences of the choices that we make.
Freedom is also connected to reason—to be free is to think and act rationally.
Reason, however, should serve the passions. Passions motivate us. Without passion, there is no motivation. It is passion that gives meaning to life; without passion, life is meaningless. Therefore, your primary passions should determine what your life really means to you.
So, perhaps the best way to think of your life is in terms of your passions. This doesn’t mean stupid passion or unrestrained emotions. It means passion with a worthwhile purpose.
Because we have the ability to reason and because we are affected by our thoughts, it is through passionate commitment that we give our lives particular meanings.
