Existentialism
Simone De Beauvoir explains, “But it is also claimed that existentialism is a philosophy of the absurd and of despair. It encloses man in a sterile anguish, in an empty subjectivity. It is incapable of furnishing him with any principle for making choices. Let him do as he pleases. In any case, the game is lost. Does not Sartre declare, in effect, that man is a “useless passion,” that he tries in vain to realize the synthesis of the for-oneself and the in oneself, to make himself God? It is true.” The illogicalness which is inherent in existentialism contributes to the hopelessness. A man who embraces the philosophy is bound to be distressed and his objectivity will diminish due to overemphasis of his free will. Existentialism is not helpful when one is required to make unbiased and rational decisions. Accordingly, such an individual will settle for options that are in line with his subjective desires.
Marxism
Simone De Beauvoir observes, “in Marxism, if it is true that the goal and the meaning of action are defined by human wills, these wills do not appear as free. They are the reflection of objective conditions by which the situation of the class or the people under consideration is defined. In the present moment of the development of capitalism, the proletariat cannot help wanting its elimination as a class. Subjectivity is re-absorbed into the objectivity of the given world. Revolt, need, hope, rejection, and desire are only the resultants of external forces.” Marx demonstrates that the proletariat’s actions are predominantly objective. They are driven into revolutions due to the evident demerits of capitalism which disadvantage them. External factors motivate the oppressed to reject structures that are oppressive such as those which promote classicism. Therefore, revolutions are not attributed to subjectivity.
Unhappiness
Simone De Beauvoir expounds, “Man's unhappiness, says Descartes, is due to his having first been a child. And indeed the unfortunate choices which most men make can only be explained by the fact that they have taken place on the basis of childhood. The child's situation is characterized by his finding himself cast into a universe which he has not helped to establish, which has been fashioned without him, and which appears to him as an absolute to which he can only submit. In his eyes, human inventions, words, customs, and values are given facts, as inevitable as the sky and the trees." Childhood encounters shape a man's happiness; sad experiences would trigger unhappiness in a man's adulthood. Moreover, a child's world is full of happiness and play. A happy child would not imagine that there is negativity in the world. However, when a man exits the childhood world, and faces reality; he discerns that the world is absolutely different from what he had envisioned as a child. Divergence between childhood expectations and the real world could trigger unhappiness.
