Western Civilization II / Unit 18 WC2 1727 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Existentialism: Condemned to Be Free, Bad Faith, Authenticity
Captions available
The idea
Sartre, Beauvoir and Camus held that life has no inherent meaning: we are condemned to be free. Bad faith pretends a higher power dictates our choices; authenticity owns them. Its heyday ran from nineteen forty-five to about sixty, in Left Bank cafés, before turning to Marxism and the third world.
In practice
Pessimism amid prosperity.
Where people slip
Anchor-only; Beauvoir is read at 1730.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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