Sartre's Genius Philosophy - Life’s Meaning Comes from Nothingness

In the absence of god and religious belief, how do you find meaning for life? What if we are born without an essence? What to do when life becomes meaningless? And how to find a purpose in a modern world?
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#sartre
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[@Fiction_Beast]

If you enjoy my videos, which take me hours, days and sometimes weeks to produce, please consider supporting me so I work less and dedicate more time to making better quality videos on literature, philosophy and psychology: ko-fi.com/fictionbeast Freudian slip: 08:16 it was the outbreak of WW2 (1939) (thanks for the correction AA)

[@moulikavelangini4074]

I am from India...I am indebted to u...ur analysis top-notch....fiction beast is like treasure for us...plz let us know ,how can we support

[@manicmode]

Love your channel! I want your library 📚 😂

[@freethinker79]

"Heed these words, you who wish to probe the depths of Nature: If you do not find within your Self that which you seek, neither will you find it outside. If you ignore the wonders of your own House, how do you expect to find other wonders? In you is hidden the Treasure of Treasures. Know Thyself and you will know the Universe and the Gods." --Oracle of Delphi

[@ReynaSingh]

Meaning is possibly best explored through literature. Seems that it’s one of humanities oldest and most persistent questions. Great video

[@indigo22284]

Ah ha paradox once again. For, is literature not “a pacifying tool…” and “…a bourgeoisie fantasy that cushions against the harsh reality of life” ??

[@fasted8468]

There were three angels that were afraid of God. One ran and came back in hope. One ran and froze in fear of God. The last Angel is still running. God embraced the first Angel, went out and found the second who hid, and is waiting for the third who was cast away and wont return. The world is simple. Shockingly simple, just like the Germans were shockingly good hosts for the French people. Shocking is only shocking for people who don't know the truth

[@silentm999]

Im just now realizing that every philosopher was a creative writer, and vice versa. Meaning is DIY, but many are not capable of figuring it out for themselves.

[@evaburnz]

@@indigo22284 literature also grates us with the harsh reality of life, depending on the scribe. Moreover, the phrase "harsh reality of life" is a subjective one.

[@parveenjoshi8423]

She is commenting on every third video I can find on internet 😂. No offences. ☮️

[@ericbrocious6047]

It’s amazing to me that Sartre and some of his contemporaries, can see human life as pointless and devoid of meaning, then rationalize that fact as a motivation for self actualization.

[@havefunbesafe]

Yes. This is helpful to young persons trying to sort out this bizarre existence they will probably experience

[@MrEitan44]

I enjoyed very much your presentation. It was brilliant, clear, precise, compact and substancial. A bit fast for me, an Spanish speaking old man. This forced me to stop from time to time, which is an advantage since I could assimilate Sartre's ideas and reasoning. I was lucky enough to meet Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir on a kibbutz in Israel during their visit and my visit to the Middle East in the mid-1960s. I was invited to participate to a meeting around 7-9 people with them. They were interested in the communal life of the kibbutz, the possibility of war with Egypt and Syria (we were in the Upper Galilee, 500 meters from the border).

[@AlexandraNevermind]

You can change the speed of the video in settings. I sometimes find it helpful, though sometimes it makes it too slow.

[@sachieasamizu4809]

I think a philosopher can be measured by his influence. Sartre’s existentialism was influential in literature in this part of the world, for example Kobo Abe, Kenzaburo Oe, Takeshi Kaiko and more. I appreciate the length of this video and I was so moved by the concluding remarks.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you! Sartre as a public intellectual wanted to be an every person's man. Proust wanted to be an artist so he wanted to create a work of art that stood the test of time. Both succeeded in their mission.

[@fasted8468]

I think the world needs the opposite. Still worth exploring.

[@user-lr2ib1cv4d]

In this world, it is not popularity but truths that, in the end, matter. Influence? Many sadly influential things are promoted and end up of little consequence. But it is true, men like Hobbes and his Social Contract reverberates even today.

[@charlessoukup1111]

I am...I AM this pain I have. It is not my body, it is ME. So it cannot be spared...this pain is me. I cannot escape me.

[@epistuos1250]

Sure you can! 😂

[@RanbirSingh-dh4ux]

MAN, i was totally immersed in this, very logical, and burdened by the responsibility of my so called 'freedom of choice'. Thank You

[@cheri238]

Definitely, meaning is best explored through literature and art, as may be explored by literature, music, paintings. Although philosophy, histories, religious divisions, science are always imperative for interpretation. I also ask myself, may God exist outside the creation of the universe ? ✨️Some intellectuals have been discussing these ideas for some time. I love your channel. It's absolutely one of my favorites. Proust, "In Time Lost," is also one of my favorite novels. The journey of reading books 📚

[@UK-jt3mw]

Thank you. My empty cup of coffee is now full of meaning.

[@marcimolnar1701]

You are actually the best KZbinr ever , you have a video on every philosopher / author that I read , your videos are perfectly structured and your explanations are fantastic. Keep it up, you are amazing

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you so much 😀

[@cheri238]

​​@@Fiction_Beast 💯 correct😊

[@johnbroadway4196]

" IF one decides to be free of yes material idealistic views, Then the Bohemian of journeys lives as to pursue the next page of wonderment ". Wonderchek ///.

[@chancerobinson5112]

There is no price too high for the privilege of owning yourself….

[@crosstolerance]

"Pretending you don't know is self-deception for the sake of self-preservation." I feel like we try to use this adage to our advantage as to gain favor from an act that doesn't deserve recognition.

[@dmtdreamz7706]

This screen has absolutely no limits it can display or render anything that you can imagine and even more. Right now it happens to be rendering and displaying what's right here. What we can do though is imagine that to this screen runs a giant wire and this wire hooks up to this giant mixing board with hundreds of knobs and each one of these knobs can be tuned and adjusted fine-tuned to change what is being displayed. It's like if you twist this knob here the colors will become more vivid, you twist this knob here the colors will dim, you twist this knob here the sounds will go wonky, they'll become louder or softer, you twist this knob here and you'll feel emotion you'll feel love or anger or hatred or jealousy or sadness, you twist this knob over here and your body morphs, your hand will morph into a tentacle, you twist a little bit more it turns into a claw, you twist a little bit more it turns into a wing, you twist a little more turns into something else and you can twist all of these and all of these knobs control everything that's being rendered and displayed on this screen called consciousness. Imagine I twist a knob of consciousness and if I twist this knob you won't be able to tell the difference between people and animals anymore and inanimate objects, there will be no difference between a table your mother and a dog if I twist this knob. Imagine other knob that I can twist, if I twist this knob time stops. Imagine that I twist a knob and you stop being human and you turn into a beer bottle. I twist the knob again and you turn into a pinecone. I twist the knob again you turn into a kangaroo. I twist the knob some more and you turn into the entire human race. Not a single person, the entire human race. I twist the knob some more you turn into the planet the entire planet. I twist the knob some more and you turn into the colour red you're not a living being anymore you're the colour red. Sounds trippy. Sounds impossible right and yet there is such a knob and many many other knobs. There are so many knobs that do so many freaky things.

[@thecapn_uk8034]

This is a brilliant exposition, and the artwork that enhances the narrative is breathtakingly well-chosen. I especially enjoyed the painting where the little girl is entranced by the magical wonder of the goldfish swimming in a bowl whilst the adults gaze at each other, and the baby, each adult with a preoccupation of some kind. Is it possible to access a list of the artwork?

[@BitterDawn]

Bloody good job on piecing together and portraying Sartre's life and ideas, really thorough and interesting. I thought the remark about knowing Sartre like an uncle made me laugh aloud and after listening to this I can appreciate that statement.

[@Boesowigo]

Thanks for this video! Sartre’s work is utterly brilliant.

[@ridehorse6341]

Hello Monsieur Beast,I have been listening to your ideas for 3 days,I'm blown away!! I am a woman,an artist,I'm living like a monk in a forest.. .I'm annoyed about the ubermeche( I don't like him),I'm relating to Kafka and Proust,I'm going to look at Siddharta again.. I think I may write my own philosophy very soon ( from a woman's point of view), ....

[@charlessoukup1111]

Spoken word is for Right Now, even if pre-recorded. Written word is for all time.

[@PURPLE_SHADE_SMOOTHIE]

Sartre’s ceaseless thinking or overthinking was his suffering. Buddhist mindfulness meditation could have provided him relief.

[@ragibshahriar187]

Brilliant work! Looking forward to what you do next...

[@wadejameskennedy4495]

thank you so much. i would find it impossible to overstate my appreciation for your valuable contribution to my understanding. 🌠🎯❤️

[@charlessoukup1111]

Easy! His eyes were looking two ways! That was his edge for his philosophy,!

[@ennuied]

This is why I put a lid on philosophy and threw it into the sea... after many years of studying, and philosophising. Like an apparition philosophy has no lower extremity, there's a torso and there's the ground and nothing in between, it is spectral, hence its enemy is existence. Since it has no body it wants to possess a body to take revenge on it by ensnaring it inside a vial of rumination and soreness. It is insane for it has no body while the body is its prime concern. Of course it will never admit that it was summoned to ease the maddening burden of envy of God in heaven.

[@janestones323]

You need to read Ward number 6 by Anton Chekhov. You might find similarities with yourself or guidance how to get out of your ill self. Sorry for been rude to you

[@derbucherwurm]

great video on Sartre. His existential philosophy is really great.

[@brunischling9680]

No. It is quite shallow.

[@idicula1979]

Out of the darkness, we grow to the light.

[@eileenoconnor391]

Thank you so much. You are the teacher I never had. I really appreciate your work.

[@rachelandrews8255]

Thank you, I love the longer videos

[@noras.9774]

I follow all your video, they are brilliant! It is difficult in our days to listen such opinions, if you are not in the field; I’m not!😂 But, as an intellectual, it is a pleasure!

[@chefaaroninsf]

Very well done. I was riveted to your narrative as I cleaned house and made dinner, all the while reconciling my own experiences and beliefs with Sartre and Existentialism in general, finally realizing that I am far more of an essentialist...and that I should read more Proust. Thanks for sharing. Really good work.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Wonderful!

[@cheri238]

​@@Fiction_Beast 🙏❤️🌍🕊🌿

[@waqarhussainmian3980]

Very insightful and amazing narrating technique🖤

[@Beesmakelifegoo]

Thank you for doing all that you do for us.

[@BeesWaxMinder]

Thought-Provoking… Thanks

[@erandeser5830]

Great video. As for Sartre the philosopher: he encouraged Soviet/Maoist styled political militantism in France 20 years after Orwell published 1984 and laid bare the road followed by dictatorial collectivism. Orwell was the visionary, Sartre was the equivalent of a holocaust denier.

[@titussamuel2440]

Existentialism versus essence is struggle of order versus freedom. As per Essentialism we are valuable because we have an Essence, without such essence or big soul we are animal and unhappy. Existentialism holds there is no such essence. We are all born into nothing. We build our meaning along the way. Essence is fiction. Man is born with choice, without choice all have one predictable destiny. How and where did man earn that ability to chose? Are we happy or sad at birth? We are free or able to chose owing to a faculty of memory, this memory helps guaranteed survival and expands our possibilities of fulfillment. A child is free not a replica of his parent, his happiness is born with him, he will use his independence to be as happy as his mother or even far more happier than his mother/community.

[@ChristianSt97]

good job man. really great analysis!

[@MrChrisjohnjay]

Hello Fiction Beast ! You are awesome, I love your videos

[@user-lr2ib1cv4d]

One of existentialism's core contentions is that potentiality is utmost from a state of nothingness from which all being erupts. However, even that thought Iis derived from language handed down to a thinker from previous generations. Descartes said, I think therefore I am." Apriori: those that are not don't ask the question if they exist. Similarly, a situation of non-existance doesn't have persons and their questions as a result of human existence. Yes?

[@seyproductions]

Although I disliked his more violent leanings and choices in his own life, I find a lot of value in his works. After all we cannot judge a person by one or two actions alone, but ought to consider the totality of his pursuits.

[@samikshakumari9783]

I love your videos...and the way you explain things...💙💙

[@michaelskinner3067]

Second go around with this vid, and I think I'll be listening to it a few times more.

[@faatuipanama7262]

Philosophy is a mirror and every philosopher becomes embroiled in narcissism.

[@Animalis_Mundana]

Not me, cuz I'm better than other people, much smarter, more aware, that's what makes me superior. I don't think, I know! Lmao, jk...

[@ruperterskin2117]

Right on. Thanks for sharing.

[@shortminute]

Thanks for the video. You’ve become my go to site for philosophy. Have we surpassed collective meaning? Or is the self determined individual meaning Sartre sought amplified by social media? I have a teenager, who’s trying to define themselves by finding like minded friends. Outside of playing video games online, they’re finding it hard to meet in person. When they are together many stay on their phone and they interactions center around what they’ve posted to social media. Perhaps the phone holds the collective meaning they all seek while trying to appear as an individual at the same time?

[@fraidoonw]

thanks for this significant summary! bravo1

[@TheCheco23]

Thanks!

[@nobodyreally]

Newton didn’t want “gravity” ascribed to him. And he states that it is “so great an absurdity that I beleive no man who has in philosophical matters any competent faculty of thinking can ever fall into it.” Original letter from Isaac Newton to Richard Bentley (1692) “Tis unconceivable that inanimate brute matter should (without the mediation of something else which is not material) operate upon & affect other matter without mutual contact; as it must if gravitation in the sense of Epicurus be essential & inherent in it. And this is one reason why I desired you would not ascribe {innate} gravity to me. That gravity should be innate inherent & {essential} to matter so that one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum without the mediation of any thing else by & through which their action or force {may} be conveyed from one to another is to me so great an absurdity that I beleive no man who has in philosophical matters any competent faculty of thinking can ever fall into it. Gravity must be caused by an agent {acting} consta{ntl}y according to certain laws, but whether this agent be material or immaterial is a question I have left to the consideration of my readers.” - Author: Isaac Newton For Mr Bently at the Palace in Worcester A 4th Lett. from Mr Newton Source: 189.R.4.47, ff. 7-8, Trinity College Library, Cambridge, UK Published online: October 2007

[@paraboko]

Superb! Thoroughly enjoying your KZbin channel. Keep up the great work. I'm not sure I understand the #philspector tag for this video.

[@kayo5011]

Can you make a list on the most influential books to read over the past 200 years or so? Getting into literature now and have no idea where to begin

[@aco-alexnikolov6741]

Exeptional excelency work [job] boy..keep up the enlightenment to is ultimate..good on ya..

[@Fiction_Beast]

Much appreciated

[@42BETWO]

‘Existence precedes essence’ makes no sense if the essence we give to existence is limited by the nature of existence itself. You can’t separate an bio/psychic organism from the environment that spawned it…they exist inseparably as one process like a wave manifests the ocean. What a thing IS, it must BE. A man can’t be a woman or vice versa no matter who you may choose yourself to be.

[@Akkodha-]

Even with nothing you can learn something

[@aayushikulsunge]

"Good-looking people rarely go against the conventional establishment." So true.

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

Thank you for this excellent video! As to human's propensity to judge others, my great - grandfather used to say : "All of life is opinion, and opinions are like a certain part of the anatomy; we've all got one, they're full of the same material and we don't need to go showing them off in public."

[@Fiction_Beast]

Well said.

[@tommyvictorbuch6960]

"Thanks to the telescope and the microscope, religion no longer offers an explanation for anything important." - Christopher Hitchens -

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

The controllers of the telescope and microscope are liars

[@tommyvictorbuch6960]

@@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc bollocks. The person who claims to know the mind of God/Gods, are the OBVIOUS liar. Well... It's obvious to those who are capable of critical thinking. Religion was invented, when the first fool met the first conman.

[@Lopfff]

Deux romans que j’avais toujours adoré sont La Nausée et L’étranger. J’aime bien ces deux cats, et leurs romans philosophiques

[@AbsolutelyNOW]

Great work!!

[@mikedevere]

Excellent analysis. Really appreciated the more personal reflections, both on Proust and throughout the summary. Thank you so much. Of course, my own comments are a perfect expression of Bad Faith, but, unlike Sartre, I embrace this bad faith as I see myself as an integral part of a social structure 😂 and not at all free to behave as I wish because I believe in moral actions and this belief is predicated on an awareness of the thoughts and feelings of those around us. It's a fine balancing act 😅

[@aguitarcalledchutzpah]

Satre says there's no meaning yet spent his life meaningly telling us so

[@kevinevans8505]

Really nice piece of work. Much respect and gratitude. I would have liked names attatched to the visual art though. Who did those pictures of little grotesques playing silly buggers with dressed up owls and cats and wot-not ?

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you! Maestro della Fertilità dell'Uovo - Grotesque Scene with Animals and Stylised Figures No. 2

[@slangster233]

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Meaning."

[@ALLANX7]

I agree that we make our own meaning, and meanings some can tell me had to be made; as long as we exist our meaning can be anything

[@dantechersi6056]

We born with emty hand arive hier and when we death we go back with emthy hand nothing to whole so Satre make meaning but actual daeth make empty agein. When we thinking of Im this is my idea my hause this I make meaning but is fragile actual like Buda exspose ther is not eny person hier not iven Im therfore Satre never take atain primary point

[@galenbywater2936]

I had read HUIT CLOS after high school many years ago but was really informed by your video. Was he not a heroin addict ? I did not think of him as a great man before and less now. I preferred Camus and his life course. Thank you for the education.

[@vicvega3614]

If you think of heroin/opiate addicts as bad people, man i have a long list for you

[@harootpashayan]

There are 2 Philoshopies, 1 for me and 1 for thee! There are two economies! 1 for me and 1 for thee!

[@frankmolnar2459]

Merci beaucoup!

[@TheArchives111]

2/2 Bad faith is where we crumble from pressures in life whether challenges, failures or future. When we have bad faith of our capabilities or when we need to change our perspectives. Where freedom to choose must be in accordance to our conscience. For without conscience we give authority to others or unacceptable influence to be God over us. JamesWhiskey

[@ericbrocious6047]

“We’re filth we’re filth.. we come from filth we’re going to filth.. we’re filth!” -Ben Edlund “The TICK”

[@dkdinesh111]

Good informative video.

[@TopLobster11]

Just a suggestion: Do put the Philosopher and/or the work's name in the title. It makes me watch the video more. It also signifies, it's based on them rather than your views only.

[@ShadowMantis702]

Great vid

[@ericbrocious6047]

“Condemned to be free”

[@63kandal]

Tack!

[@jasonroberts9788]

Imagine believing not only did the universe come from nothing, but also thinking meaning came from the same nothingness.

[@JimmyJamesJimbo]

“…so by the end of this video you’ll know Sartre as well as your uncle.” Bro lol with each video you’re getting funnier

[@yj9032]

You are awesome dude

[@fasted8468]

This is basically Tikkan Olam. Just the blending of the world, he probably took an ancient Jewish method for blending the world and hid his sources. Christ said roughly that nature is the consolidation of power. Fish into meat, grass into wheat. So the opposite would be distributing it evenly. Which is the cold death of all things

[@nolancoates4856]

Very interesting 🤔💂‍♂️⭐🎖️

[@tti2Lee]

Thank you.

[@sinethembamabaleka4903]

"unless you go the DIY route" 😂😂😂

[@bobthompson3739]

He asked for a priest on his deathbed to give him the last rites, wasn’t keen on being non-existent. Beethoven’s 9th with an ear-splitting final cacophony.

[@Lucident1]

I agree with a lot of what Sartre says, regarding existence, proceeding essence however, I don’t think Sartre considers all the variables of existence, namely, being born, disabled, or acquiring it later on in life if we are indeed free, and we can sculpt our own meaning what is to say about those who cannot do this dut to. mental or physical impairments?

[@Tom_Quixote]

If there is no higher meaning in life, what does it matter if I live an authentic life or not? I guess Kierkegaard would say that making authentic choices is the only way to truly exist in the world, but he seems to have believed we are obliged to god. To Sartre, who cares whether one "truly exists" or not?

[@mementomori6585]

Thank you

[@free..to..air..]

Hell is being in a public toilet cubicle without a door lock...I think.Graham Greene said that

[@rifolas]

Well thankfully when i die there will not be the hell of other people to judge me I personally think that sex and love making are different, however it's like going to a buffet instead of cooking a nice meal at home. I'm a firm beliver in the Beegees line "Too many lovers in one lifetime, ain't good for you" There's nothing wrong with aert, nor love, nor enjoying the finery of life. You have the ability to experience these things that are finite. What's the use in gorging on food till that nice childhood meal becomes another dish on the platter?

[@musicbyterence4655]

Pleases talk more about the point of view a the individual vs the group among philosophers

[@MiltonBalbit]

There's a mistake at 08:16 : In 1939, with the outbreak of Word war one, I'm sure you mean WW2

[@enjoynlearn]

You're the beast ;)

[@coreyroberts47]

I developed a sickness (schizoaffective) from trying to pretend my essence was not of my creation, while knowing all my ‘pain’ (not real as well) was by my own hand. Not that nothing matters in totality, but in the little slice of humanity that’s me it’s negligible. Don’t fret over anything

[@solgato5186]

Seeing things intuitively isn't closer to nature; it's human.

[@cliveadams7629]

We're pattern-recognising machines. Everything has meaning to us whether we find it or just put it there ourselves.

[@markspano3468]

FB, have you ever thought of taking on Genet?

[@Fiction_Beast]

First time hearing his name.

[@markspano3468]

Jean Genet, novelist and playwright. Sartre a biography of him called St. Genet.

[@TheArchives111]

One must understand that whatever man does with his thoughts will determine if he's evil or good. For both thoughts need positive energy to grow, positive energy isn't necessary good nor bad. Devil's and angels cannot live on negative energy as a light bulb that requires live energy to be alive. Nature has no meaning without positive energy, good, bad or evil. Where eastern philosophies are mostly on thought patterns. Meaningless are when our positive energies are drawn by whatever influences within the mind where if one does not contain darkness, darkness will control one's mind.. JamesWhiskey

[@wanderlust451]

How did the French society react when Sartre made his “open relationship” with Beauvoir public? I am sure he faced friction, didn’t he?

[@abi19gotez]

The real bums who do not want to take responsibility, are people in modern times, who feal overwhelmed with having to study so much more, than any of the previous generations did. Our task should be to make it easier for future generations, by doing serious studies which go way back, ,keep what serves humanity. That, instead of, arbitrarily deciding that people from the past were stupid, and we therefore should cut a big chunk of our own development, and its meaning, just because technology has made things so easy on us and we do not have the discipline to sit, read, and analyze, with the same love, and respect our ancestors had for us, when they strove to create these great stories to warn us about humanity;s defects. .Especially those related to ways of life which promote genocide, slavery, and other forms of self-extinction.

[@Saint.questions]

That where daria got it from 😂

[@srinp8726]

one thing is right…. satre was social justice warrior

[@ahmetdogan5685]

I'm horrified at meaning. Meaninglessness is the real freedom.

[@atiphwyne5609]

Glib 'meaningless' wordplay.

[@atiphwyne5609]

@@sentientartificialintelligence If life is truly meaningless then how can you be passionate about anything as what you are passionate about is part of life? Meaninglessness should leave you indifferent about everything unless of course there is meaning in what interests you, making you passionate about it.

[@theodoricsmith577]

So your comment is likewise meaningless. This is a formative contradiction.

[@atiphwyne5609]

@@theodoricsmith577 Your statement lacks the calibre to be called meaningless. To describe it as such would be an accolade. If you fail to understand my pointing out the contradiction in finding life meaningless on the one hand and then finding things to be passionate about in that same life on the other hand then heaven help you. A pseudo-show of intellectual capacity by using a term which you do not prove by exposing the so-called 'formative contradiction' only exposes the paucity of your non - argument.

[@jessenowells2920]

The only thing reflecting meaninglessness are in nonsensical propositions. Everything that is real means something relative to whatever else is objectively real.

[@yanbibiya]

Since when did any God actually say do good and you go to heaven ...I sometimes think almost no one actually has studied religion and spirituality