Self-realization and meaning in the philosophy of Sartre and Camus

Existentialism is a very popular school of philosophy in the 20th century. It explores human freedom, choice, responsibility, and how we can realize ourselves and find the meaning of life. Among the existentialist philosophers, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus are the two most influential. Although they are both existentialists, they have different views on free will and absurdity. This article will introduce Sartre and Camus's views in more popular language to see how they view self-realization and the meaning of life.

1. Sartre's Free Will

Jean-Paul Sartre has a famous view: "Existence precedes essence." What does this mean? Simply put, it means that people decide who they are and what kind of person they want to be after they are born. There is no preset destiny or essence that restricts us. We can completely determine our own lives through our own choices and actions.

Sartre believes that each of us is free, and this freedom allows us to make choices at any time. For example, when faced with a job, we can choose to accept it, reject it, or try to change it. We are not only responsible for our choices, but also for who we become. This kind of freedom sometimes makes people feel anxious and stressed because we cannot put the blame on others or the outside world.

Sartre believes that self-realization is achieved through free choice. We gradually shape our identity and the meaning of life by constantly making choices. Although this freedom is accompanied by responsibility and anxiety, it is this anxiety that prompts us to constantly reflect and improve ourselves.

2. Camus's sense of absurdity

Albert Camus has a different point of view. He believes that the world itself has no inherent meaning. Human beings always try to find meaning in this meaningless world, and this sense of contradiction is the so-called "absurdity". In other words, we try to make life meaningful, but the world itself does not cooperate with us, which makes us feel absurd.

Camus believes that we should not escape this sense of absurdity, but should face it and give our lives meaning through resistance. Although the world is absurd, we can find our own meaning in life through our actions and attitudes. For example, Meursault, the protagonist of Camus's novel "The Outsider", finally accepted the absurdity of the world when facing death, and found inner freedom and peace in this acceptance.

In Camus's view, self-realization is not achieved by looking for external meaning, but by facing the absurdity and finding one's place in it. We can create our own meaning in the absurdity and live out our true self.

3. Dialogue between free will and absurdity

Although Sartre and Camus have different views, they have one thing in common: emphasizing personal initiative and creativity. Sartre believes that we realize ourselves through free choice, while Camus believes that we give meaning to life by resisting the absurdity.

From this perspective, we can learn two different paths to self-realization from the dialogue between Sartre and Camus. Sartre teaches us to shape ourselves through choices and actions, while Camus teaches us to find our own meaning through resistance when facing the absurdity of the world.

This dialogue makes us understand that self-realization and the meaning of life are not external, but are created at every moment through our choices and actions. Whether the world is absurd or not, we can find the path to self-realization through our own efforts and attitudes.

Conclusion

The dialogue between Sartre and Camus on free will and absurdity provides us with two important perspectives for understanding self-realization and the meaning of life. Their thoughts tell us that no matter what the outside world is like, we can find the meaning of our own life through our own choices and resistance. By drawing on the views of Sartre and Camus, we can find effective ways to realize ourselves and pursue meaning in modern life.