I'll admit that I was quite frustrated with Mr. Heidkamp these past two days when he seemed to be arguing as devil's advocate. Today, as he concluded the discussion with the main views of existentialism, his points made more sense, yet I could not help but to still wonder, why are the social systems he raged against so bad?
According to Existentialism, social systems such as organized religion, education, love, friendships, morality, success, etc, are purely social constructs that trap people into their patterns. What existentialists advocate is to break free of those systems and assert your authentic independence, be in complete control of yourself. This assertion sounds great, but to do so, one must accept the fact that life in itself is meaningless, and that the individual gives life meaning. It is the first belief that I cannot accept- life is not meaningless in and of itself. I believe that we find meaning in our relationships and our success, and that these "social constructs" are not entirely bad things. In fact, even if I did accept the existentialist belief that life is meaningless until you give it meaning and break free of the systems, I would not want to apply this to my own life. It is both inapplicable to today's world, and altogether not a desirous solution for me.
To completely break free of all of the systems- relationships, school, morality, justice, success- in the modern word would be near impossible. It would, for example, require dropping out of school, which then leads to no job or money, which then leads to homelessness and starvation. Be it good or bad, our society is constructed in a way that we need to participate in the systems to survive. Furthermore, and maybe I have just been brainwashed by our dominating culture, I actually enjoy our "social constructs." I love my family and friends, I enjoy working for success and attaining it, and I even like going to school sometimes. I don't want to leave all of those just to assert my independence. I cannot possess the indifference to love, jobs, and justice like Mersault does in The Stranger. So while I may be submitting myself to control by the system, I'll admit that it I won't mind it too much.
I agree, I don't think social constructs are a bad thing and I think some of them make life better. I think that if we did apply the existentialist ideas to our own lives, life would be extremely difficult.
ReplyDeleteI think often people feel safer, or at the very least more comfortable conforming to society's norms and beliefs, and often that's a good way to be. We see love and relationships as positive and valuable interactions, than can influence us in the very best of ways throughout our entire lives. But if you accept that life is ultimately meaningless no matter what you do, why live at all? And even if love is only a social construct that covers up pain and misfortune, why should that be condemned? It serves a very real and very important purpose.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, I think societal norms, especially social constructs, aren't all bad and definitely shouldn't be considered so.
I like part of what you get at towards the end; Existentialism claims to be the only pat to 'happiness', but rejecting all social constructs simply on principle doesn't sound happy at all to me!
ReplyDelete*way not pat
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Erin. Social constructions are not all bad. Some are bad and society should move away from those social constructions, but in general I think that the systems are inescapable and we cannot survive without them.
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