Basics of Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Basics of Existentialism - Essay Example The way man lives his life is according to his desires. There are some people who live their lives â€Å"as morally and as rationally as possible.† Their intention for doing this is to be a light, an example, to their fellow men. They want others to know that it is possible to live life following what is moral, and rational. These people, however, have one time or another â€Å"been false to themselves.† Even when man gets all else he wants and desires, he will want to prove himself. The choices he will make will be far from rational in this effort. When life is lived manifesting the will of a man, it becomes worthless. Man has desires which present him with the chance to make a choice. The option that man makes is made, according to what he stands to gain from it. But, the advantage only seems, it is not real. The way we live our lives is what makes it a sorry business. When man makes a choice, it is made in order to obtain a supposed advantage. But this advantage that seems to be real is, in fact, nonsense. More so, the choice is made in foolishness. Therefore, looking at the whole business of making choices, it is driven by things that are not what they seem to be. When the options possible for explaining a certain situation are worked out on paper, the desires that drove us to them in the first place no longer exist. We make these choices nonetheless. The desires we have, give essence of our living. â€Å"Extractions of square-roots,† is a means of Dostoevsky saying that life is not a series of mathematical deductions.