Existentialism, as in, the notion that reality has no objective meaning, is objectively correct. There is no god nor higher power to bestow objective meaning on to people.
What we do have is a lot of subjective meanings piled together with lots of people agreeing on them so they become basically objective.
The very phrase that encapsulates that the explanations, religions, beliefs, and deities of old have ceased to matter, and that only though the casting aside the nihilism that arises from putting our fate into a “god”, can humanity itself take its existence by the reigns and become its own god.
I’m tempted to agree in principle. But I have some questions, as existentialism seems at odds with historical materialism. These questions aren’t necessarily for you to answer, as each question would probably take a book or more to fully explore. But I’d be interested in yours and others’ views.
a. What does objective meaning mean?
b. Is objective meaning the same as objective truth or objective knowledge?
c. Is objective meaning merely the result of scientific enquiry?
a. If Marxism is scientific, can it lead to objective meaning (without the need to say that this meaning came from a higher power or god)?
b. If historical materialism presents a ‘totality’, a grand narrative that claims to accommodate all truth, does historical materialism claim to know an objective truth?
If historical materialism does claim objective truth—or perhaps objective knowledge—does it also claim objective meaning?
If alienation is the separation of human subjectivity from objectivity, and communism is intended to end alienation by allowing a reunification of objectivity and subjectivity, does communism pressuppose that objective meaning is attainable, just not until it becomes objective-subjective meaning?
If communism does presuppose some concept of objective meaning, does this mean reality has (an/some kind of) objective meaning?
If the answer to 5 is, ‘yes’, does that mean any definition of ‘objective meaning’ cannot be universal? Perhaps it is historically contingent.
If there is no possiblity of a universal, ahistorical ‘objective meaning’ does that allow for non-historical materialists to lay claim to objective meaning in different eras?
If the answer to 7 is, ‘yes’, does that mean that religious claims of objective meaning could be objective (even if it came from humans rather than was bestowed by a higher power)?
I suppose this is why Marx told us to go beyond philosophy. We could go round in circles all day without improving the world one jot.
All of these are, like you said, pretty hard to answer, except for
2 b. Is objective meaning the same as objective truth or objective knowledge?
No. Objective meaning refers to the idea of objectively correct goals to life. “Meaning of life”. This can’t exist unless there is a god or designer that created the universe
Existentialism is a reaction towards materialist reality from an idealist perspective.
Existentialism, as in, the notion that reality has no objective meaning, is objectively correct. There is no god nor higher power to bestow objective meaning on to people.
What we do have is a lot of subjective meanings piled together with lots of people agreeing on them so they become basically objective.
God is dead and we killed him.
The very phrase that encapsulates that the explanations, religions, beliefs, and deities of old have ceased to matter, and that only though the casting aside the nihilism that arises from putting our fate into a “god”, can humanity itself take its existence by the reigns and become its own god.
I’m tempted to agree in principle. But I have some questions, as existentialism seems at odds with historical materialism. These questions aren’t necessarily for you to answer, as each question would probably take a book or more to fully explore. But I’d be interested in yours and others’ views.
I suppose this is why Marx told us to go beyond philosophy. We could go round in circles all day without improving the world one jot.
All of these are, like you said, pretty hard to answer, except for
No. Objective meaning refers to the idea of objectively correct goals to life. “Meaning of life”. This can’t exist unless there is a god or designer that created the universe
I think that clears up some of the other questions, too, as I don’t think Marxism does offer a ‘meaning of life’ in that way.
As are a host of ideologies.