Week 15 — Existentialism, the Meaning of Life, and the Course Synthesis

Why this matters

A nursing student who sits with patients asking what their lives have meant and a business major weighing a late career change both meet this week's question: can a life be meaningful when no one hands it a purpose?

In plain language

This week asks a question most people ask at some point: what is my life for? Three thinkers called existentialists (philosophers who start from the person who exists, chooses, and acts) give answers that begin from freedom rather than from a purpose handed down. Then you meet three wider answers to the question of a life's meaning (what makes a life worth living and part of something that matters). Finally, the course looks back at everything it has built, and you learn to defend a view of your own against the strongest objection to it. No one, the course included, hands you the answer.

• Already covered: Weeks 1 to 14 built the method and one thought experiment per week, across knowledge, mind, God, ethics, politics, and traditions beyond Europe.
• This week: Sartre, Camus, and Beauvoir; 3 answers to the question of life's meaning; and the course synthesis.
• How they connect: this week asks one last big question and then asks you to use every move the course taught.

Focus

Can a life be meaningful, and what view will you defend against its strongest objection?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• [ ] explain existence precedes essence and why the absurd is not despair
• [ ] run the 3 answers to the question of life's meaning on a case
• [ ] credit each roster case to its source
• [ ] defend a reasoned position in 6 steps

To-do

Plan your week

1. Read Chapter 15 (~50–60 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
2. Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes).
3. Do the practice exercises (15–25 minutes).
4. Do the Philosophy Workshop (about 90 minutes), discussion, and assignment.
5. Take the quiz.

This week's checkpoint: say why the absurd is not despair, and state one position with its strongest objection.

You've got this

Take it in order, and ask your instructor early if stuck. The final exam in Week 16 builds on this week.

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