Philosopher’s Corner
In our Philosopher's Corner we'll examine philosophical ideas from the past, current ideas, and possible paths for future exploration. Join us for some relevant, real and enjoyable philosophical discussions!
THE BIRTH OF NOIMETICS
By Eric Maisel
For almost 40 years I’ve thought about doing the thing that Sartre claimed needed to be done but that he himself never managed to do: present a complete, coherent, and practical philosophy of life based on the principles of existentialism.
Toward that end, I queried a dozen professors of philosophy and asked them the following question (presented more elaborately than this): who are the interesting voices in existentialism writing in the period 1990 to the present day?
Eight of the professors didn’t reply; two replied, “I don’t read that stuff”; one replied, “Nobody, ever since Heidegger discredited Sartre.” The twelfth sent me the following e-mail.
Jack (let’s call him), a professor of philosophy at a prestigious university, replied:
“I am not sure what you mean by ‘existential’ thought. It is not a simple factual matter to decide who (if anyone) is the legitimate heir of people like Sartre, Heidegger, Jaspers, etc., much less of Kierkegaard or Nietzsche. Perhaps someone has a take on this that would convince you, but I do not.
“For myself, when I have taught existentialism, I have preferred to treat it as a (rather ill-defined) philosophical movement whose heyday is entirely in the past, though like all past philosophy, we can still learn a lot from studying it.
“I fear this means that I am not only unable to answer your question, but in effect am stonewalling you on principle — simply refusing to answer it. But my refusal is based on the conviction that it has no answer, or that the question is based on a false presupposition — namely, that there are still ‘existential’ thinkers of importance in the last 20 years.
“There are no more existentialists, just as there are no more German idealists or critical realists. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people who still agree with a lot of what Heidegger or Sartre say. But to call them ‘existentialists’ or ‘existential thinkers’ seems to me a misuse of language.”
Well, I nevertheless proceeded on my merry way. I began to formulate what a “philosophy of life based on existential principles” might look like. That formulation comprises the final three-quarters of my book Rethinking Depression (New World Library, 2012)—the first quarter of that book takes on the mental health industry and its way of constructing “mental disorders.” I felt quite good about that formulation—but in the process of writing that book I recognized, not for the first time, that existentialism, like all other philosophies (and certainly all religions), had far too little to say on the subject of meaning.
It especially had too little to say on the subject of meaning as a psychological experience. I began to see what was needed: a new philosophy of meaning. I’ve been formulating that, chatting about it with like-minded souls, and now I am introducing it in a class I’m teaching with the Academy for Optimal Living. Take a look at the class listing—it will give you a good sense of how this new philosophy of meaning, which I’ve dubbed noimetics (from noima, the Greek word for meaning), provides a true-to-life vision of our meaning-making skills and needs.
