How Philosophy Informs Our Lives

Welcome back to WholeHeartEd, the relationship education program where we give you the tools to build healthy and God-honoring relationships. In January, we presented our annual media review where we evaluated the messages in last years most popular movies, shows, music and podcasts and saw what they had to say about relationships overall. This month, we’re digging deeper, evaluating the philosophical presuppositions that the stories we are taking in are built on. Today we’re asking the question, “What are you living for?” The Christian worldview here is that we were made by God and for God, to glorify Him in and with our lives. That’s a short answer with a long explanation, but we’ll come back to that part. Other theistic groups would answer that question according to their beliefs about the god that they worship and the doctrines of their faith, but what about atheists? What about agnostics? If you don’t believe in God, what are you living for?

For some, the belief of existence without God creates in them a sense of existential dread. It’s like that feeling a child gets when their parents are teaching them to swim; everything is fine – they are great swimmers, in fact – so long as their parents are holding onto them. Panic sets in, however, the moment their parents detach and allow their child to try to swim on their own. In that moment, they forget everything they know about paddling or kicking and nothing makes sense anymore, until they can somehow get themselves back into the safe arms of their parents. It’s that feeling, but multiplied exponentially because now they are detached from God and nothing in their lives makes sense, at all. This has largely happened throughout western culture through a philosophical occurrence Nietzsche described as the death of God. According to Nietzche, what would follow from their would be a societal plunge into nihilism – the belief in nothing. No God, means no God-given meaning to life. No designer means no intent. No creator means no purpose. Nietzche hypothesized that without the absolute bedrock of a theistic worldview, that the moral and metaphysical frameworks for society would collapse, as well. Interstingly, Nietzche believed that the darkness of nihilism would necessarily lead to the evolution of a new human – the uberensch or superman – who would save humanity from ruin.

“The man of the future who will redeem us not only from the hitherto reigning ideal but also from that which was bound to grow out of it, the great nausea, the will to nothingness, nihilism; this bell stroke of noon and of the great decision that liberates the will again and restores its goal to the earth and his hope to man; this Antichrist and anti-nihilist; this victor over God and nothingness - he must come one day.” - Friedrich Nietzsche (2009). “Basic Writings of Nietzsche”, p.532, Modern Library

So, Nietzche predicted all of this back in the late 1800’s. In the last one hundred and fifty years, how are things turning out? Some of the clear indicators that his predictions were correct could be evidenced in how our modern culture is upending nearly every structure and institution that you can think of. The Church? Check. The traditional family? Check. Governments? Economies? Healthcare? Even the sanctity of human life – not only at conception but, according to legislation currently being deliberated in Canada – even through medically assisted death? Check. Check. Check and check. Nietzsche's theories are no longer theories, but very much the reality of the world we are currently living in. I also want to point out, so far, none of what I’ve said is a value judgement or saying whether any of this is right or wrong – it's just been observational fact. If the atheistic worldview is correct, though, and there is no existential meaning, purpose or reason behind any of this, then can any of us really create objective claims about right or wrong? Not really. According to countless philosophers, religious and atheist alike, the best we can come up with is subjective truths and subjective morality. When you look at the destructive choices of another person, you can say, “I wouldn’t have done it that way,” but you can’t truly say that they are objectively wrong to do so. You may recognize this philosophy creeping into your own thoughts and beliefs with its most recent iterations of “Your truth, my truth, lived truth,” etc.

So, if the only truth you can believe is “your truth,” however you take that idiotic phrase to mean for you, then what are you living for? If you are the only one who can decide morality for yourself, if you are the one who creates subjective meaning for your own life, then congratulations, you are not an atheist, your god just looks and sounds an awful lot like you! Have fun worshipping yourself. And really, it is going to be extremely fun, the most fun you’ve ever had... for a little while. One of the interesting byproducts of nihilism in the individual is often hedonism – the belief that the pursuit and experience of pleasure is the purpose of life. If it feels good, then do it. If you want it, you should have it, in excess until you can’t stand it anymore. A recent example of this in film is the movie Babylon. In it, an array of different characters all rise and fall through the decadence and depravity of Hollywood in the roaring 20’s. Sex, drugs, fame, wealth and the gratification of any lustful desire you could conceive are on full display and that is only the trailer. The film got mixed reviews and didn’t fare greatly at the box office despite its huge star power, but one of the common critiques is the conclusion. The third act sees most of its characters hit absolute rock-bottom, losing their fame, dying or being killed – with the films message seemingly being that everyone in the end got what they truly wanted. There wasn’t really a right answer and they were all right in their own way. Life is what you make it. C’est la vie. This resolution seems to have rung hollow with viewers and critics, while there are still some who see it as a slow-burn work of art that will eventually be recognized for it’s greatness, or at least, okay-ness. The reason that nihilism and even hedonism don’t give us the satisfaction that we’re looking for is very deep and kind of tough to grasp at first, so you’re going to want to sit down for this – It's because they’re not true. They’re not true to life. They’re not true in art. They’re not true in existence. Yes, there are different types of nihilism, but even optimistic nihilism is denial and self-delusion, forcing us to create our own subjective reasoning for life because we know there really isn’t one. On the other hand, there are forms of hedonism which place immediate pleasure lower on the scale because greater pleasure can be attained, at times, through temporary struggle. One of the problems with that, though, is that there are some struggles in life that have no reward other than the fact that we know that what we are doing is right. Cowardice is universally despised, and yet it is often the coward who lives to see another day while the hero chooses to face immeasurable odds at their own peril. Of course, there are arguments that could be made for both of these worldviews, but in our hearts we know that they just aren’t true. When we buy into these lies, however, they will have real life consequences. That is why we need to be aware of who we are listening to and what they are actually saying -and that is what we will be covering next week.