Today we come to the last three major philosophies—Realism, Absurdism, and Existentialism—in our worldview discussions. They give us an idea about just how weird the world can get in its thinking. Although there are many more philosophies we could cover, we’re sticking to the major ideas that have profoundly shaped our world, its politics, and social beliefs.
Meet Naturalism’s cousin Realism—
Realism has the same substance as Naturalism but takes that philosophy to the extreme. Realism says that if people were really honest, they’d admit that there wasn’t any God at all, that He doesn’t exist and never did. An Evolutionist (although we could argue that evolutionism by itself could be called a religion or philosophy) might fall into this category. Everything’s here by chance and God, or any god, doesn’t have a thing to do with it.
Realists embrace (and worship) reality. In their mind, that’s what should drive the world. Some have called it an “in-your-face” view of life. These are the “telling it like it is” folks. Whatever happens on earth stays on earth, and it’s all just a big game of luck, aside from what they can force into reality, to make happen. And that’s what they get meaning from. There is no abstract in life from which you can draw meaning. It is what you can see and experience.
Say Hello to the Absurdist, close friend of Realist—
The Absurdist believes what the Realist does, but takes it a step further. For them, there is no meaning to life. Zilch. The Absurdist abandons all hope of finding meaning in existence. At heart, you could consider them embracers of nihilism. They’re hardcore skeptics, pessimists and cynics that see nothing good or purposeful in the world. All religious and moral principles can be rejected because they ultimately mean nothing. Why would they if nothing in the world has real existence?
The extreme Russian Revolutionary Party held to Absurdism. Because they saw nothing good in the social order of their day, they didn’t see anything about it worth saving. On the contrary, they thought it should all be destroyed. And that’s what they set out to do.
They even reject the Romantic’s belief in a desire, that parts or aspects of life were transcendent. To an Absurdist, desire cannot exist if life is senseless, meaningless, and therefore, devoid of hope. The American author, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., combined Absurdismand Humanismin his writings. However, while he sometimes set outrageous plots and hopeless characters, there were undercurrents of encouragement for people making the world a better place. Somehow.
In an interview with Robert Musil in 1980, Vonnegut expressed his view on the condition of life, a condition that strongly correlates with the idea of the absurd:
“I think that at least half the people alive, and maybe nine-tenths of them, really do not like this ordeal at all. They pretend to like it some, to smile at strangers, and to get up each morning in order to survive, in order to somehow get through it. But life is, for most people, a very terrible ordeal. They would just as soon end it anytime. And I really think that is more of a problem really than greed or machismo or anything like that. I think that’s the fundamental thing that’s going on. (Musil 129) (Krisandra R. Johnson, Indiana Wesleyan University, published in Butler University Libraries’ Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 4, Article 7 )
Pretty sad commentary, isn’t it? Although I have a suspicion that he’s right about how people feel about life. As I view it, the problem, is that these despondent (and usually angry) people don’t have the hope they need to make this life meaningful, regardless of what situation they find themselves in. And they haven’t passed that hope down to their children, who are now suffering record numbers of depression and suicide.
Existentialism: Welcome subjective feeling as the way to live!
Existentialists don’t debate meaning of life. They go for the feelingit gives them. Who cares what it means? There’s no point to discussing meaning since it’s the feelingthat matters. They worship experience. No wonder an existentialist tends to go from one feeling to another, and search for it constantly.
No deity needed on this one. The goal is to do what feels good. The reality of life exists in human desire not some God who created and manages the universe. According to an Existentialist, discovering and experiencing your desires leads you to the divine. Not a true divinity, but a divine (perfect) existence.
They focus on making sense of the chaos in life and seeking to learn their life purpose, their reason for being. Evidently Existentialism as a writing genre is regaining popularity among the millennial generation. Not surprising since many of them don’t have a Judeo-Christian foundation to draw from; or their Judeo-Christian foundation was so legalistic, authoritarian and distasteful that they rejected it and ended up finding something more palatable that felt as though it had some Judeo-Christian ideas attached to it.
And you?
Would your worldview fit any of these philosophies? Have any of them seeped into your life perspective, theology or faith?
NEXT WEEK we’ll have one final formal look at worldview, why it matters, and how you may be affected by these philosophers in ways you didn’t imagine.
Until then, keep trying to figure out what worldviews your political leaders, teachers, writers and media personalities espouse. It will help you figure out what they’re basing their arguments on, how they see the world, approach life, and think you should live it.
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).