Journal #5 - The Stranger

I believe that the philosophy that I follow most closely is existentialism. I do believe that in the end, civilizations fall and the universe collapses, and that there will be no breath left to speak about the achievements of humanity, and therefore every action one makes can be considered absurd. However, I don’t submit to this. Although there may be no actual purpose to life, I believe that life should be lived with the max amount of happiness obtained. If one should retain life, one might as well make the most of it. Life can be considered a sort of a gift, where it gives us the happiness and sadness, the experiences. In this way, I also believe in hedonism, but I will focus on existentialism.

1. You are the choices you make. There is no predetermined personality for you, but rather, it is created through the choices you make in life. This is important because it puts emphasis on the individual and that a higher entity did not create the essence of the individual. Due to this, many existentialists do not believe in a higher being.

2. Your existence precedes your essence. This is related to the previous principle, but is more direct. The being that you are right at this moment constitutes your essence. This also puts emphasis that there is not a entity determining who you are.

3. You are responsible for your choices. You must take the full responsibility of your choices, no matter what the outcome. This emphasizes the individual and self-justice. It acknowledges that the world will not dish out justice, but rather that justice comes from yourself, or in a related way society.

4. Freedom. This is an important principle, defining existentialism directly. It means that one has the ability to make any choice that comes by them, but that these choices must be made through one's values. It again emphasizes the individual and also acknowledges that the world will be indifferent to your choice. Responsibility is built directly off of this principle.

5. Live authentically. This means that you do not act as your genes determine or society determines, but rather you act as yourself. This is related to freedom, and also implies that morality is relative, and that someone acting as themselves, even if making "wrong" choices, is living in the right way. Also, one must follow their own beliefs in accordance with this.

6. You give meaning to your experiences. There is no predetermined meaning that you must take out of an experience. This means that meaning is  relative throughout humans, and that there is not a universal meaning. This principle is important because it is the way you build your character.

7. Do not rely on rationality. In a way, rationality is a limitation because when you rationalize something, you often bring in society's values and do not completely rely on your own. This emphasizes freedom to make your own choices based off of your own values.