Gary Cox is the author of several books on existentialism and general philosophy. The 10th anniversary edition of his bestselling self-help book How to Be an Existentialist was published recently. Gavin Smith talks with him about existentialism.
And the reason for this is not all that hard to discern. No God? Then "all things can be rationalized". And that's just pertaining to "what would Jesus do"? on this side of the grave. Crueler still for most atheists, however, is the part where "somehow" they have to handle the part where we die and "I" is obliterated for all of eternity.Gary Cox: Existentialism is not for the faint-hearted. Not all existentialism is atheistic, but most of it is, and as Sartre said in his autobiography, Words, “Atheism is a cruel, long-term business”
And what truth is particular might that be?Existentialism is for people who demand the truth however dark and uncompromising that truth may be.
Unless, of course, those are precisely the things that you do dwell on. Unless, of course, as an existentialist, you are yourself a cynical, pessimistic nihilist. The point being that existentialism is no less a frame of mind -- a philosophy of life -- rooted subjectively in dasein rooted in all of the many, many very, very different lives that we can sustain as individuals.It is often thought that, because it dwells on harsh realities – anxiety, absurdity, death, and so on – existentialism is a pessimistic, nihilistic philosophy, but this is to profoundly misunderstand it.
Or, perhaps, there are existentialists among us who insist that, as with IC and his True Christians, there are in fact True Existentialists as well. And I'm not one of them.
This is the part where I remind everyone that while a particular philosophy of life can be very important to some, for others what is of far greater importance is the actual day to day to day circumstances that they encounter in the course of living that life.How to Be an Existentialist seeks to show how it is possible to live a worthwhile and rewarding life on the basis of a full recognition of the tough existential truths.
So, philosophically, you can be cynical and pessimistic. You can champion nihilism. But if you have a fantastic job, a fantastic family, a fantastic collection of friends, a fantastic collection of music and art...so what? If you are in good health, financially secure, and basically live your fantastic life on your own terms, how hard can it really be to put that grim philosophy on the back burner?