Our Search for Meaning: A burden or blessing?
Photo of Jean Paul Sartre
In 1905, two of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century were born:
· Jean Paul Sartre (Paris)
· Viktor Frankl (Vienna)
Though their origins were separated by geography, they had much in common.
· Both were fascinated by human’s desire for meaning.
· Both identified what made humans unique: We ask “why” questions: Why do we exist? Why do we suffer? Why do we die?
· Both rejected determinism, an idea popularized by Freud and Marx that stated that humans are slaves to external and internal forces outside their control.
· Both championed that humans have the responsibility and the freedom to make choices and overcome our circumstances.
One big difference
Despite their similar perspective, they had one major difference: their belief system.
Sartre was an atheist
Frankl left room for the Divine.
Sartre: Meaning is a Burden
Since Sartre believed that there was no God, he also believed there was no design or purpose to life. According to Sartre, any meaning in our life has to be manufactured. He said it this way, “Existence precedes essence.[1]” We exist first, and then define ourselves.
From his perspective, we were “condemned to be free,” and our desire for meaning was just a burden that we had to bear.
Frankl: The Call of Meaning
Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, didn’t believe our search for meaning was a mirage. He believed that life was filled with meaning. Life itself asks something of us, and we have the capacity, freedom, and even responsibility to respond.
Our desire for meaning was not an evolutionary defect, but a signpost. It points us to something greater, and even Frankl had to admit. It pointed to the divine.
The Choice before us
Sartre and Frankl were geniuses who saw the undeniable truth that humans are meaning-seeking, purpose-driven creatures. One believed this desire was a human construct, and the other left space for transcendence, a door open to the Divine.
What about you? What do you believe?
Is your desire for meaning a flaw in the accident of your evolution?
Or do you believe that meaning is real, giving us a clue to the deeper cause and purpose of our existence?
As for me, I’m going with Frankl.
I believe I have an eternal why to live for.
I believe we are part of a meaningful story that is going somewhere.
I believe all life has a purpose.
Will you follow me down this road?
If you do, I must warn you.
If you keep pulling on the string of meaning, you will probably end up at Ultimate Meaning.
You will end up with God.
