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Existentialism is a branch of philosophy that explores the concept of free will. Mankind has presence of thought and a need for self-exploration. Through this presence of thought, we create meaning in our lives that guides the direction in which we live them. Existentialist thinking came to light in the 19^th century with Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, and many believe them to be the so called “founding fathers” of this thinking. These men are often credited with bringing this idea into the world, but the idea of man creating their own meaning had been theorized before.

            In the late 16^th to early 17^th centuries, an Iranian philosopher called Mulla Sadra theorized that “existence precedes essence” meaning that a physical form must exist before developing thought, the essence of life as man. His ideas were vastly different from many Islamic philosophers before him as they believed the essence of life was given to us by God. Mulla Sadra flipped this around to reflect man’s search for meaning in its creation. He believed that God was much more than the essence of being, and that living entities on Earth are interconnected by one essence. His understanding was an early development toward the branch of philosophy we now know to be existentialism.

The belief that “existence precedes essence” would become a phrase often accredited to the 20^th century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre built upon this concept to develop his ideas of authenticity and facticity of self. He believed that authenticity is to act exactly the way one wants to act in that moment without influence from others, while facticity considers a person’s past, present, and potential future influences on the action at hand. Sartre’s philosophy recognizes man’s free will as a flexible construct depending on the person and every aspect of their lives. Though we may be free to make our own decisions, we are also forced to live with our consequences as they are a reflection of the choices we freely made. This “burden of free will” is exactly what we make of it. Our past decisions live with us in every moment and influence our decisions of the future.

On one hand, the burden of free will means that our lives are exactly as great as our decisions make them out to be. On the other hand, our lives are just as horrible as we make them. A staunch existentialist may reflect on actions in the past and thank them for any negative effects said decision has made on their lives, causing existential dread. When the responsibility of happiness in fully in the hands of the individual, this may be a large load to carry when life is at a low point. In this, existential thinking can be an excellent motivator to change life for the better because it fully gives the power to the individual.

Man has always searched for the meaning of life in an omnipotent power, but that neglects the beautiful power in the fact that we can ponder these ideas at all. The essence of being is to do what is best for you as in individual and live existentially.

What is it that connects us as human beings?

If mankind were unable to make decisions using free will, would the essence of man remain the same?

If we have the freedom to make our own decisions, are we able to make ourselves free of pain or despair?

-Julia Hudson and Kory Cooke