existentialism

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

let's have a discussion on free will. Does it exist?
Camus and Sartre are badass, Kafka is annoying.

[beardface]

i was pretty into the existential theories/books/essays that i've read but i'll have to leave it at that for now cause its time to skate.

[Sleazy]

arguments i've seen against free will seem sketchy at best while my own experience with doing what i want is pretty compelling

[TalentlessSkateboarder]

I don't regard it as a philisophical question. A definite answer is either provable through science, or impossible to come to. It is too early to say that we are simply physical entities whose choices are dictated entirely by our environment and the matter we consist of.

[Paper Crane]

i type because i am typing. what's more to say?

[Pelican]

existentialism doesn't matter

[Binomial Nomenclature]

I don't really understand exactly what existentialism means, but Camus's The Stranger/The Outsider/L'Etranger is my favorite book and I really relate to it. 

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

I don't really understand exactly what existentialism means, but Camus's The Stranger/The Outsider/L'Etranger is my favorite book and I really relate to it. 

I love that book. nobody exactly understands  what it means. I take it to mean that we have both the freedom to make any decision we make in life, and the responsibility for those decisions. The Stranger covers it more on the responsibility side. He realizes at the end that the sun didn't make him do shit. He had the gun, he pointed it at the guy, and whether or not the sun affected him, in the end, he was responsible for pulling the trigger. Then he decides he wants to accept the consequences of his actions, and does so gleefully.

[crunk juice]

Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

But brothers can grow up in the same environment and end up doing completely different things. I know that heredetary traits and environments effect people, but I like to think of them as influences upon free will. You may be influenced to do one thing or another based on your genetics or upbringing, but are you necessarily a slave to those things? I like to think not. I feel as if many things influence us to choose one thing or another, but that we are not necessarily slaves to this. Like, if you grow up in a town where there a ton of beaches with great waves, and everybody surfs, that doesn't mean you have to be a surfer, but its a lot more likely than if you grew up in the desert.

[floop]

i don't think free will was really the central question of existentialism but more what we do with that free will, and does it matter

[sage]

Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

You're fucking stupid. Obviously free will exists, just because it can be influenced by your environment doesn't mean it's controlled by it. I like how you chose a major that you basically couldn't fail at, didn't have the balls for a real degree?

[crunk juice]

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Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[close]

But brothers can grow up in the same environment and end up doing completely different things. I know that heredetary traits and environments effect people, but I like to think of them as influences upon free will. You may be influenced to do one thing or another based on your genetics or upbringing, but are you necessarily a slave to those things? I like to think not. I feel as if many things influence us to choose one thing or another, but that we are not necessarily slaves to this. Like, if you grow up in a town where there a ton of beaches with great waves, and everybody surfs, that doesn't mean you have to be a surfer, but its a lot more likely than if you grew up in the desert.

By "heredity," I meant the "nature" part of the equation.  In other words, everything you're born with when you're thrown into the world - not just your genes, but the whole machine/body you're given.  That machine is thrown into the world (nature) and you use it to make "choices," but you never had any choice or control over what machine you were given and you never had any choice or control over what environment you were thrown into.  The machine and the environment just happened to you, and you use your machine and what it learns for the rest of your life.  For example, I just read this thread.  The symbols on the page caused chemical reactions in my brain (or however it works...) and I used my machine and all it has experienced and learned to respond.  I was given a stimulus and my machine reacted in a specific way to that stimulus.  The reaction is this post.  If I had had a different machine, then it would have reacted differently to the stimulus (see: the guy a few posts up talking about palm reading).  If I had had a different stimulus, then I would have reacted in a different way (see: any other thread I've ever posted in).  But given this specific stimulus I received, there was only one way my machine could react at this time.  It could not have reacted in a different way unless it had been a different machine or there had been a different stimulus.  The point is that I don't believe anyone can ever make a free choice.  I don't see any way that a person can do other than what they do.  All anyone can do is use the machine they were given and respond to a given stimulus.      


  

[crunk juice]

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Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[close]

You're fucking stupid. Obviously free will exists, just because it can be influenced by your environment doesn't mean it's controlled by it. I like how you chose a major that you basically couldn't fail at, didn't have the balls for a real degree?

Go back to the kiddy pool little boy.  You're out of your depth.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

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Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[close]

But brothers can grow up in the same environment and end up doing completely different things. I know that heredetary traits and environments effect people, but I like to think of them as influences upon free will. You may be influenced to do one thing or another based on your genetics or upbringing, but are you necessarily a slave to those things? I like to think not. I feel as if many things influence us to choose one thing or another, but that we are not necessarily slaves to this. Like, if you grow up in a town where there a ton of beaches with great waves, and everybody surfs, that doesn't mean you have to be a surfer, but its a lot more likely than if you grew up in the desert.

[close]

By "heredity," I meant the "nature" part of the equation.  In other words, everything you're born with when you're thrown into the world - not just your genes, but the whole machine/body you're given.  That machine is thrown into the world (nature) and you use it to make "choices," but you never had any choice or control over what machine you were given and you never had any choice or control over what environment you were thrown into.  The machine and the environment just happened to you, and you use your machine and what it learns for the rest of your life.  For example, I just read this thread.  The symbols on the page caused chemical reactions in my brain (or however it works...) and I used my machine and all it has experienced and learned to respond.  I was given a stimulus and my machine reacted in a specific way to that stimulus.  The reaction is this post.  If I had had a different machine, then it would have reacted differently to the stimulus (see: the guy a few posts up talking about palm reading).  If I had had a different stimulus, then I would have reacted in a different way (see: any other thread I've ever posted in).  But given this specific stimulus I received, there was only one way my machine could react at this time.  It could not have reacted in a different way unless it had been a different machine or there had been a different stimulus.  The point is that I don't believe anyone can ever make a free choice.  I don't see any way that a person can do other than what they do.  All anyone can do is use the machine they were given and respond to a given stimulus.      


  

There are a lot of factors we don't control in this life, no doubt. Where the free will comes in is what we do with what we are dealt. And I understand that you can't deny the fact that chemical reactions in our brain effect the way we respond to stimuli in our environment. But, in the end, you still give yourself options, and choose one, and are fully responsible for the option.
Also a lot of the stimulus responses are based on observations and decisions based on them. When I stop at a red light, its not because a strong chemical reaction is forcing me to, its because I see the light, understand that it means that I do not have the right of way, and know that I would get hit if I walked onto the street. If I wanted to, I could ignore that, there is nothing forcing me to stop- its not like a dog drooling at the sound of a bell. And maybe a lot of factors go into that decision, my fear of being written a ticket, my fear of being hit by a car, my value of life and health, but I add it up in my head, and think it through.
I feel like even though chemical reactions cause our brain to function, that in many ways it reciprocates itself. As vulgar of an example as this is, a good example is masterbation. We want to become stimulated, so we create stimuli for ourselves, either imagined, or in the form of pornography, we also fondle ourselves, the reason is because we can't just automatically create an orgasm in our head, but we can stimulate our brain to act a certain way, and have conscious control of how we stimulate it.
I may be off task. I'm suuuuuuper stoned right now. Sorry.

[Bugs]

The point is that I don't believe anyone can ever make a free choice.  I don't see any way that a person can do other than what they do.  All anyone can do is use the machine they were given and respond to a given stimulus.      

Interesting point. You can't do two things at once.

[crest]

is the stranger the book where the dude wakes up one day and is a slug or something?

[Mackattack]

How is free will defined in this context?

Choice, to me, is free will. You can choose to do almost anything you want.

[James Joyce]

It's already established that free will doesn't exist. The real problem here is whether Free Will is dictated by Probablisim as observed within quantum mechanics or a determinism that has a planned trajectory of destiny or outcome. Science tells us (insofar) that it's most likely the former of the two. The implications of it is tripping balls considering that existence is all based on probabilities which raises interesting reconceptualizations of fundamental ideas of justice and responisibilty. But fuck that shit all I want to talk about is Ass and Boobs.

[4LOM]

i don't think free will was really the central question of existentialism but more what we do with that free will, and does it matter

This sounds right, the truth or falisty of determinism is irrelevant to existentialism.

How is free will defined in this context?

Choice, to me, is free will. You can choose to do almost anything you want.

But then dogs have free will since they mostly do what they want. Which is fine, but usually we want an understanding of free will that excludes most animals.
Freedom probably has more to do with not doing what you want (Franfurt's second order will)

[Battle]

"A human may very well do what he wants, but cannot will what it is that he wants." -Schopenhauer

[kilgore.]

is the stranger the book where the dude wakes up one day and is a slug or something?

naw that's metamorphosis by kafka.


and it's funny how this thread popped up, i'm reading the stranger for the 3rd time.

[EricLogan]

without free will, I'm pretty certain 'the charleston' wouldn't exist



i mean, look at it!

[rob2]

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Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[close]

But brothers can grow up in the same environment and end up doing completely different things. I know that heredetary traits and environments effect people, but I like to think of them as influences upon free will. You may be influenced to do one thing or another based on your genetics or upbringing, but are you necessarily a slave to those things? I like to think not. I feel as if many things influence us to choose one thing or another, but that we are not necessarily slaves to this. Like, if you grow up in a town where there a ton of beaches with great waves, and everybody surfs, that doesn't mean you have to be a surfer, but its a lot more likely than if you grew up in the desert.

[close]

By "heredity," I meant the "nature" part of the equation.  In other words, everything you're born with when you're thrown into the world - not just your genes, but the whole machine/body you're given.  That machine is thrown into the world (nature) and you use it to make "choices," but you never had any choice or control over what machine you were given and you never had any choice or control over what environment you were thrown into.  The machine and the environment just happened to you, and you use your machine and what it learns for the rest of your life.  For example, I just read this thread.  The symbols on the page caused chemical reactions in my brain (or however it works...) and I used my machine and all it has experienced and learned to respond.  I was given a stimulus and my machine reacted in a specific way to that stimulus.  The reaction is this post.  If I had had a different machine, then it would have reacted differently to the stimulus (see: the guy a few posts up talking about palm reading).  If I had had a different stimulus, then I would have reacted in a different way (see: any other thread I've ever posted in).  But given this specific stimulus I received, there was only one way my machine could react at this time.  It could not have reacted in a different way unless it had been a different machine or there had been a different stimulus.  The point is that I don't believe anyone can ever make a free choice.  I don't see any way that a person can do other than what they do.  All anyone can do is use the machine they were given and respond to a given stimulus.      


  

[close]

There are a lot of factors we don't control in this life, no doubt. Where the free will comes in is what we do with what we are dealt. And I understand that you can't deny the fact that chemical reactions in our brain effect the way we respond to stimuli in our environment. But, in the end, you still give yourself options, and choose one, and are fully responsible for the option.
Also a lot of the stimulus responses are based on observations and decisions based on them. When I stop at a red light, its not because a strong chemical reaction is forcing me to, its because I see the light, understand that it means that I do not have the right of way, and know that I would get hit if I walked onto the street. If I wanted to, I could ignore that, there is nothing forcing me to stop- its not like a dog drooling at the sound of a bell. And maybe a lot of factors go into that decision, my fear of being written a ticket, my fear of being hit by a car, my value of life and health, but I add it up in my head, and think it through.
I feel like even though chemical reactions cause our brain to function, that in many ways it reciprocates itself. As vulgar of an example as this is, a good example is masterbation. We want to become stimulated, so we create stimuli for ourselves, either imagined, or in the form of pornography, we also fondle ourselves, the reason is because we can't just automatically create an orgasm in our head, but we can stimulate our brain to act a certain way, and have conscious control of how we stimulate it.
I may be off task. I'm suuuuuuper stoned right now. Sorry.

I basically agree with crunk juice with this one but see it slightly differently.

Take a moment in time when you do something e.g buy a box of cereal/ brush your teeth/ think about your girlfriend.  Now imagine you travel back in time to the instant before you performed that action - every atom in the universe is in the same position, your neural networks are firing in exactly the same way, your personality and all those around you are identical.  I believe that you would invariably perform the same action as on the first occasion. If that is the case then I see everything running as a machine and there being no free will.

The arguments against this I see coming from a quantum theory viewpoint - with the uncertainty of where every atom/electron etc is positioned etc. However I don't see those arguments as  a upport of free will but just as support of an inherent randomness.

When people talk about free will they always say "I decide what I want to do" - yes that's true but I believe that that decision making process is inevitable: you can decide whether or not to step in front of the car but I think the final decision you make is the only one you would/could of made.

[Alan]

without free will, I'm pretty certain 'the charleston' wouldn't exist



i mean, look at it!

Hhahahah! That made my morning! There's something dadaist about that clip, a nice counterpoint to the discussion...

[TalentlessSkateboarder]

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Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[close]

But brothers can grow up in the same environment and end up doing completely different things. I know that heredetary traits and environments effect people, but I like to think of them as influences upon free will. You may be influenced to do one thing or another based on your genetics or upbringing, but are you necessarily a slave to those things? I like to think not. I feel as if many things influence us to choose one thing or another, but that we are not necessarily slaves to this. Like, if you grow up in a town where there a ton of beaches with great waves, and everybody surfs, that doesn't mean you have to be a surfer, but its a lot more likely than if you grew up in the desert.

[close]

By "heredity," I meant the "nature" part of the equation.  In other words, everything you're born with when you're thrown into the world - not just your genes, but the whole machine/body you're given.  That machine is thrown into the world (nature) and you use it to make "choices," but you never had any choice or control over what machine you were given and you never had any choice or control over what environment you were thrown into.  The machine and the environment just happened to you, and you use your machine and what it learns for the rest of your life.  For example, I just read this thread.  The symbols on the page caused chemical reactions in my brain (or however it works...) and I used my machine and all it has experienced and learned to respond.  I was given a stimulus and my machine reacted in a specific way to that stimulus.  The reaction is this post.  If I had had a different machine, then it would have reacted differently to the stimulus (see: the guy a few posts up talking about palm reading).  If I had had a different stimulus, then I would have reacted in a different way (see: any other thread I've ever posted in).  But given this specific stimulus I received, there was only one way my machine could react at this time.  It could not have reacted in a different way unless it had been a different machine or there had been a different stimulus.  The point is that I don't believe anyone can ever make a free choice.  I don't see any way that a person can do other than what they do.  All anyone can do is use the machine they were given and respond to a given stimulus.      


  

[close]

There are a lot of factors we don't control in this life, no doubt. Where the free will comes in is what we do with what we are dealt. And I understand that you can't deny the fact that chemical reactions in our brain effect the way we respond to stimuli in our environment. But, in the end, you still give yourself options, and choose one, and are fully responsible for the option.
Also a lot of the stimulus responses are based on observations and decisions based on them. When I stop at a red light, its not because a strong chemical reaction is forcing me to, its because I see the light, understand that it means that I do not have the right of way, and know that I would get hit if I walked onto the street. If I wanted to, I could ignore that, there is nothing forcing me to stop- its not like a dog drooling at the sound of a bell. And maybe a lot of factors go into that decision, my fear of being written a ticket, my fear of being hit by a car, my value of life and health, but I add it up in my head, and think it through.
I feel like even though chemical reactions cause our brain to function, that in many ways it reciprocates itself. As vulgar of an example as this is, a good example is masterbation. We want to become stimulated, so we create stimuli for ourselves, either imagined, or in the form of pornography, we also fondle ourselves, the reason is because we can't just automatically create an orgasm in our head, but we can stimulate our brain to act a certain way, and have conscious control of how we stimulate it.
I may be off task. I'm suuuuuuper stoned right now. Sorry.

[close]

I basically agree with crunk juice with this one but see it slightly differently.

Take a moment in time when you do something e.g buy a box of cereal/ brush your teeth/ think about your girlfriend.  Now imagine you travel back in time to the instant before you performed that action - every atom in the universe is in the same position, your neural networks are firing in exactly the same way, your personality and all those around you are identical.  I believe that you would invariably perform the same action as on the first occasion. If that is the case then I see everything running as a machine and there being no free will.

The arguments against this I see coming from a quantum theory viewpoint - with the uncertainty of where every atom/electron etc is positioned etc. However I don't see those arguments as  a upport of free will but just as support of an inherent randomness.

When people talk about free will they always say "I decide what I want to do" - yes that's true but I believe that that decision making process is inevitable: you can decide whether or not to step in front of the car but I think the final decision you make is the only one you would/could of made.

That line of argument makes a few assumptions. I don't think that a person invariably making one decision when subject to a particular condition is proof that there is no free will. We don't even know the answer to this hypothetical question since perhaps the inner workings of the brain are small enough to be subject to quantum probability.

From second and first hand experience I've found that it's likely our consciousness is more than physical matter (not religious at all). If that's the case, we know far too little to make a conclusion,

[Sleazy]

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Human beings = their heredity's interaction with their environment - neither of which they have any power to choose/control --> there is no free will.

I have never heard a compelling argument for the existence of free will in my life, and I majored in philosophy and asked every professor I had to give me one good argument for it.  None of them could.  Most just said, "you're too smart to believe that" or "there's an immaterial soul" or something regular like that.

  

[close]

But brothers can grow up in the same environment and end up doing completely different things. I know that heredetary traits and environments effect people, but I like to think of them as influences upon free will. You may be influenced to do one thing or another based on your genetics or upbringing, but are you necessarily a slave to those things? I like to think not. I feel as if many things influence us to choose one thing or another, but that we are not necessarily slaves to this. Like, if you grow up in a town where there a ton of beaches with great waves, and everybody surfs, that doesn't mean you have to be a surfer, but its a lot more likely than if you grew up in the desert.

[close]

By "heredity," I meant the "nature" part of the equation.  In other words, everything you're born with when you're thrown into the world - not just your genes, but the whole machine/body you're given.  That machine is thrown into the world (nature) and you use it to make "choices," but you never had any choice or control over what machine you were given and you never had any choice or control over what environment you were thrown into.  The machine and the environment just happened to you, and you use your machine and what it learns for the rest of your life.  For example, I just read this thread.  The symbols on the page caused chemical reactions in my brain (or however it works...) and I used my machine and all it has experienced and learned to respond.  I was given a stimulus and my machine reacted in a specific way to that stimulus.  The reaction is this post.  If I had had a different machine, then it would have reacted differently to the stimulus (see: the guy a few posts up talking about palm reading).  If I had had a different stimulus, then I would have reacted in a different way (see: any other thread I've ever posted in).  But given this specific stimulus I received, there was only one way my machine could react at this time.  It could not have reacted in a different way unless it had been a different machine or there had been a different stimulus.  The point is that I don't believe anyone can ever make a free choice.  I don't see any way that a person can do other than what they do.  All anyone can do is use the machine they were given and respond to a given stimulus.      


  

[close]

There are a lot of factors we don't control in this life, no doubt. Where the free will comes in is what we do with what we are dealt. And I understand that you can't deny the fact that chemical reactions in our brain effect the way we respond to stimuli in our environment. But, in the end, you still give yourself options, and choose one, and are fully responsible for the option.
Also a lot of the stimulus responses are based on observations and decisions based on them. When I stop at a red light, its not because a strong chemical reaction is forcing me to, its because I see the light, understand that it means that I do not have the right of way, and know that I would get hit if I walked onto the street. If I wanted to, I could ignore that, there is nothing forcing me to stop- its not like a dog drooling at the sound of a bell. And maybe a lot of factors go into that decision, my fear of being written a ticket, my fear of being hit by a car, my value of life and health, but I add it up in my head, and think it through.
I feel like even though chemical reactions cause our brain to function, that in many ways it reciprocates itself. As vulgar of an example as this is, a good example is masterbation. We want to become stimulated, so we create stimuli for ourselves, either imagined, or in the form of pornography, we also fondle ourselves, the reason is because we can't just automatically create an orgasm in our head, but we can stimulate our brain to act a certain way, and have conscious control of how we stimulate it.
I may be off task. I'm suuuuuuper stoned right now. Sorry.

[close]

I basically agree with crunk juice with this one but see it slightly differently.

Take a moment in time when you do something e.g buy a box of cereal/ brush your teeth/ think about your girlfriend.  Now imagine you travel back in time to the instant before you performed that action - every atom in the universe is in the same position, your neural networks are firing in exactly the same way, your personality and all those around you are identical.  I believe that you would invariably perform the same action as on the first occasion. If that is the case then I see everything running as a machine and there being no free will.

The arguments against this I see coming from a quantum theory viewpoint - with the uncertainty of where every atom/electron etc is positioned etc. However I don't see those arguments as  a upport of free will but just as support of an inherent randomness.

When people talk about free will they always say "I decide what I want to do" - yes that's true but I believe that that decision making process is inevitable: you can decide whether or not to step in front of the car but I think the final decision you make is the only one you would/could of made.

Your assuming the universe is deterministic, when physics is actually asserts that it's probabalistic, and your deducing that the fact that we can make the same choice over and over again means we don't have free will when I'd make the opposite assertion. If I don't like liver but I love bacon and I'm given the choice to have liver or bacon, the fact that every time we run the test I'm able to correctly choose my preference adds more weight to my ability to choose than if it was random. For what you are saying to disprove free will, then all things being equal, you'd expect some variance in the results because otherwise, it's my will that is controlling the outcome with 100% of the time.

Also, care to explain how your model works if I decide to flip a coin? Heads I go, tails I stay. You could reset this one, atomically, all day long and you'd get different results. I understand that this is tesing the randomness of ability to flip a coin and get the same result, but throughout our life we encounter endless situations of probable outcomes that contribute to our descion making. So if you flipped everything atomically back to when you were born, I'd argue that history wouldn't be exactly the same from then till now if we repeated because of the combination of our ability to choose and probability. I guess I'm basically an indeterminist. The second time through, the same guy who won big in the casino could have lost big, ect...

[Sleazy]

without free will, I'm pretty certain 'the charleston' wouldn't exist



i mean, look at it!

i was going to post something about how art would argue for free will but nothing that could do it as well as you just did

[TalentlessSkateboarder]

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without free will, I'm pretty certain 'the charleston' wouldn't exist

i mean, look at it!

[close]

i was going to post something about how art would argue for free will but nothing that could do it as well as you just did

Expression can be deterministic too.

[loophole]

i hate the whole inconclusive free will/determinism debate. it's never going to go anywhere.
let's just agree that there is 'higher power' or reason for existence other than reproduction and continuity.
my favourite quote from Waking Life:
"Existentialism is often discussed as if it's a philosophy of despair. But I think the truth is just the opposite. Sartre once interviewed said he never really felt a day of despair in his life. But one thing that comes out from reading these guys is not a sense of anguish about life so much as a real kind of exuberance of feeling on top of it. It's like your life is yours to create."