The Myth Of Sisyphus<\/a>, wondering how humans live for the hope that tomorrow will come, despite being subconsciously aware that tomorrow is but a step closer to death and the end of their time. The world is a strange and inhuman place that no human will ever be able to fully comprehend, but we continually strive for meaning and to attach significance to the things we can do and become. It is in embracing this absurd quality of life, that nothing will matter, and revolting against it by living authentically in spite of it, that the absurdist finds his\/her place.<\/p>\nIn The Myth Of Sisyphus, Camus elucidates the key takeaway from this philosophy, when he tells the story of Greek hero Sisyphus, who is forced to push a heavy rock up a mountainside for all of eternity. Upon reaching the top, the rock rolls back down, condemning Sisyphus to this mundane and repetitive task. Camus argues that Sisyphus must be happy and his existence is very much like the lives most of us lead; claiming that our Fate only seems horrible when we place it in contrast with something that seems preferable. If we recognized the absurdity of our predicament instead, we would truly be free to experience life wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n
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4. Existentialism<\/h3>\n
A philosophy that took root in the 1940s and 50s, existentialism is more or less summed up in the quote, \u201cexistence precedes essence.\u201d This means that the purpose and meaning of one\u2019s life is not something that one is born with or given by God (i.e one\u2019s essence) but what one\u2019s deliberate actions lead them to create. Existentialism makes you the captain of your own voyage, dispensing with superfluous external forces.<\/p>\n
Existentialists accept life as inherently meaningless and then strive to impose meaning upon it by dint of their effort. It was a radical departure from the notion of cosmic forces paving the path for individuals to follow, making the individuals responsible for the actions that they take and follow.<\/p>\n
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5. Empiricism<\/h3>\n
Empiricism is a philosophical theory that claims knowledge is based solely on what one\u2019s senses can experience and confirm. This is in contrast to the more abstract reasoning that its counterpart rationalism employs, and the two are often seen as at odds with each other, even though most knowledge in the world of today comes from a combination of the duo.<\/p>\n
As an example, in the 18th and 19th century, many women were dying during childbirth and leaving doctors at the time befuddled. This was before the advent of Germ Theory and sanitation practices and the established medical theories could not come up with a reason for this childbed fever. A Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis experimented with hand washing and disinfection in obstetrical clinics, and suddenly the death rates in the wards plummeted. His ideas were in direct conflict with established medical literature, and he had no explanation for why his methods worked. His actions were based on empirical data that was reproducible, and not the prevailing reason of the time.<\/p>\n
As Stephen Fry so eloquently puts it in his interview with psychologist Jordan Peterson, \u201c It\u2019s experimenting in the crucible of human activity and observing what people say and hear. The rationalist would say that there\u2019s no reason why \u2026 could be right. But a true empiricist would say it almost doesn\u2019t matter what the reason is. The fact is it\u2019s repeatable and verifiable.\u201d<\/p>\n
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6. Rationalism<\/h3>\n
Rationalism is a philosophy that relies on reason as the primary source of knowledge. It claims that truth does not come from the evidence of one\u2019s senses but instead is deductive in nature. Combined with empiricism, these thought processes produced rapid growth in science, mathematics, and even politics.<\/p>\n
The biggest exponents of rationalism across history are names familiar to us, with Pythagoras being one of its earliest adopters, Plato considering it the highest kind of reality, Baruch Spinoza who inspired Einstein with his discourse, and Immanuel Kant. While rationalism has plenty of positives, and has given much to the formation of the world we know today, one can\u2019t help but be acutely aware of its limitations (which one can say about empiricism as well). It is as Sherlock Holmes once said, \u201cIf the art of the detective began and ended in the armchair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived.\u201d In its most extreme form, rationalism ends up being too theoretical and bound by the knowledge of its time, too much of an armchair philosophy with few practical outlets.<\/p>\n
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7. Confucianism<\/h3>\n
In the 6th century BC in China, the philosopher Confucius instituted a way of life called Confucianism that was part philosophy and part religion. Its influence spread eventually to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, becoming a part of their developmental foundations. The marrow of what formed Confucianism predated even Confucius himself, who merely saw himself as a preserver and transmitter of past Chinese cultures and sought to reimagine and reinvigorate them.<\/p>\n
Confucianism is about correct behaviour, obedience to hierarchy, and ethics. It prioritised family over individualism, and pushed merit and intelligence as the paramount importance within the officials in positions of power over family name and wealth. It formed the bedrock of what a lot of East Asian culture and practices are derived from today.<\/p>\n
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8. Determinism<\/h3>\n
Most of us are acquainted with some version of the story \u201cThe Appointment in Samarra\u201d, in which a merchant\u2019s servant encounters Death in a market in Baghdad and hurries back home to his master. He borrows a horse from the merchant and escapes the city in haste, hoping to ride to Samarra by nightfall to avoid Death. The merchant, perplexed, goes to the marketplace and demands from Death the reason for scaring the servant. Death answers that he was merely surprised to see the servant in Baghdad, when he had an appointment with him in Samarra that night.<\/p>\n
Hard Determinism is the philosophy that believes there is no such thing as free will, merely the illusion of it. All events are caused by a chain reaction of past events in such a manner that nothing other than what does occur could occur.<\/p>\n
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9. Objectivism<\/h3>\n
\u201cDo not lose your knowledge that our proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. \u2026 Check the road and the nature of your battle. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it\u2019s yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coined by Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, Objectivism is a philosophy that envisions man as a heroic being, with his moral purpose being his own happiness, reason at his core, and productive achievement his highest form of expression. This philosophy is embedded deeply in the heroes of her novels, Howard Roark and John Galt, whose actions are always in accordance with it.<\/p>\n
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