le noir / Il nero (@marnelenoir)

As a man, I am condemned to be free. Well, that’s how philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre put it, anyway. I am many things: a boss, a boyfriend, a brother, a masters graduate, an over thinker - just to name a few. Some of my features could be classified as accomplishments, some as failures, and others, accidents I come into by happenstance – lucky or otherwise. But according to the philosophical tradition of Existentialism, something is missing in this characterisation of mine. For the existentialist, I am not merely a collection of facts; I am also a self-conscious, living, caring being (the latter may come as news to some). Many philosophers, both historical and contemporary, believe that the way something is evaluated is by its essence, which generally speaking means there is no pre-defined ‘essence’ to humanity except that which we make for ourselves. If the standards are up to me, then why should I choose any one set of standards over another? How can we make sense of the idea that there is a right way to live and a wrong way to live if there is no external standard for judging whether I made the right choice? The answer (apparently) is that it is possible to find a standard within my own activities that determines whether they are being performed poorly or well. This is what existentialists refer to as authenticity; a trait which has been adopted as the religious doctrine of the vocal minorities of forums and comment sections of the internet. To the everyman, trying to live within the confines of this particular definition is a struggle. However the existentialist chooses to conduct himself in our new frontier, there’s a spanner thrown in the works when he recognises that he might just be responsible not only for himself, but for other people, too. Along with many of the other emotional states described by existentialists, this kind of anguish can be paralytic. While there is no fixed ‘essence’ to which people need to conform to qualify as a human being, surely the goal is to push forward in the face of these emotions, and not live irresponsibly with the hubris to think we can get away with it. #stayhome #staysafe #icon #iconmagazine