The Meaning of Life in Millennials Suffering from Eco-Anxiety Group 7 Supervisor: Erik Bendtsen

The Meaning Of Life In Millennials Suffering From Eco-Anxiety Group 7 Supervisor: Erik Bendtsen

Christoffer Gottlieb, Frederik Larsen, Hjalte Børglum, Line Astrup, Paula Hincenberga, Phileas Le Quang Huy, Zina Raad

This paper seeks to investigate how millennials struggling with eco-anxiety, while attempting to find meaning in their lives. More specifically, it seeks to answer the following problem formulation “How do millennials find meaning in their lives, while dealing with the existential crisis and eco-anxiety, that they experience as a result of climate changes?”. This is done through the analysis of the existential aspects of two different sources, followed by a discussion seeking to present a wider array of different solutions to the problem.

Table of Contents: 1. The Problem 4 1.1 Introduction 4 1.2 Problem Area 6 1.2.1 Why are we interested in the topic? 6 1.2.2 Philosophy & Science 7 1.2.3 Theories and Terms 7 1.2.4 Methodology 9 1.2.5 The Sources 9 1.2.6 Assumptions & Uncovered Topics 10 1.2.7 What do we hope to gain from doing this project? 11 1.3 Problem Formulation 12 2. Terminology 13 2.1 Millennials 13 2.2 Eco-Anxiety 18 3. Theory 22 3.1 Theories on Needs 22 3.1.1 Maslow 22 3.1.2 Erik Bendtsen 24 3.2 Existentialism 26 3.2.1 Theory of existentialism 26 3.2.2 Existential crisis 29 Existential Anxiety 29 Impotence 30 Existential Meaninglessness 31 Existential Nihilism 31 Absurdism 32 3.2.3 Existential Solution Theory 33 Accepting the Absurd 33 Susan Wolf 35 4. Analysis 42 4.1 Victoria Barrett 42 4.2 Reddit Thread 46

4.3 Comparative Analysis 50 5. Discussion 54 5.1 Internal solutions 54 5.1.1 Meditation/yoga 54 5.1.2 Living Authentically 56 5.1.3 Eco-Friendly Behavior 57 5.1.4 Accepting The Absurdity in Eco-Anxiety 58 5.2 Eco-Activism 59 5.3 Neglect 61 5.4.1 Analysis Findings 65 Discussion Findings 66 Evaluation of the Findings 68 Further Research 69 6. Conclusion 72 7. Bibliography 74 References 74

1. The Problem 1.1 Introduction

What is the meaning of life? The answer to this ancient question might be beyond the human mind to fathom. It is easily imaginable that humanity has been searching for meaning for a long time, because we have a natural need for orientation in life, in order to make our existence purposeful and fulfilled. The question of the meaning of life has been a riddle to us for the entirety of human history. While philosophers have only presented their own personal answer to the question of the meaning in life, there has yet to be set a ‘true’ answer. This, in turn, has made these people’s existence more meaningful, whether it is to find their true purpose here on Earth, or if it is just to achieve a long, happy and blissful life. In other words, while all of humanity may not be able to find the same meaning in life, some may have been successful in finding their own personal meaning to their life specifically. The meaning of life is truly individual. In very much the same way, this project seeks to record and analyse some of the answers that individuals find in their search for a more meaningful life. In the modern world, however, the path to the answer is not necessarily clear. There can be many obstacles that have to be overcome before a person can attain a full and purposeful life. For example social, psychological or economic problems. As a premise of this paper, some of the industrial changes in the modern world, have caused the younger generation known as 'millennials' to struggle with one obstacle specifically. This obstacle is known as ‘Eco-Anxiety’. A condition in humans caused by their perception of negative changes in the environment as a result of global warming. Throughout the last century, humans have made great advancements in technology and science. A lot of these technologies have also become more and more accessible to a larger part of the world. But while these inventions have helped push forward development in some countries and have drastically improved the quality of life for large parts of western populations, they also have consequences. Their influence on climate might be hindering our young population in their search for meaning.

Many products of the modern world can take a high toll on the environment around us throughout the processes of production, use and repurpose. The release of CO2 in the atmosphere is slowly heating the globe, resulting in higher sea levels by melting the polar ice. Wildfires, extinction of species and drought are all products of global warming. In the meantime, the pollution of the oceans caused by plastic waste is making the waters less and less habitable for underwater wildlife, among many other disasters and changes in the Earth’s natural ecosystems. Most people in developed countries have, of course, greatly benefited from these trends in technological developments. Information has become easily obtainable through mobile devices and satellites. Travel has become a lot faster and easier. However, it is not all positive. In some parts of the world, people live next door to landfills full of trash and waste. Others have their home and family taken away by rising sea levels, or live with the everyday fear of it happening. While people of the developed world are not at all the ones that are suffering the worst consequences of climate change, they too can suffer from despair, impotence, and grief. These are some of the symptoms of the condition called ‘Eco-Anxiety’. So how does the current generation of people deal with this condition? They may all be wandering through life, looking for whatever makes it meaningful. Eco-anxiety poses as quite an obstacle for this process. In many situations, it can cause great distress, and make it difficult for people to feel like their lives carry meaning. Most of the people experiencing these symptoms may very well be the generational group dubbed ‘Millennials’. These are the people born at the high rise of technological advancements, growing up with things like cell phones and computers. Being attached to this net of information streams throughout most of their lives have arguably made them even more exposed to the true effects of climate change across the globe, even before they were old enough to really do anything about it. This problem is one millennials all faced with on a daily basis, and one that only becomes more and more relevant as the climate worsens and a growing number of millennials try to fight off their eco-anxiety, while on their personal pursuit for a meaningful life. This is the problem that the paper will address. In the following chapter, we’ll go more into how the problem will be approached.

1.2 Problem Area

1.2.1 Why are we interested in the topic?

The topic of millennials suffering from eco-anxiety, became interesting to us after we started looking into the difficulties of young people, like ourselves, that are having trouble finding purpose or meaning in their lives. It is a topic we could easily relate to, and something we may even have experienced ourselves, at some points. At first, we were looking into a lot of different factors that could make it more difficult for a person to find meaning in their life. Though, after we started discussing climate changes and how a generation as young as the millennials don't yet have a lot of power to change these things, we encountered the frustration and absurdity that saturates the topic. Here, we learned that this sense of frustration and helplessness caused by a concern of the environment fits in a term called ‘Eco- Anxiety’. From this point on, we narrowed down the scope of the project to solely focus on the millennials suffering from eco-anxiety and existential crisis, while also trying to find meaning in their lives.

Climate change is a current problem that needs to be more recognized. Writing this paper might give us deeper insight into the area, and researching how some people handle it, will maybe inspire us into taking action or simply more consideration to the topic. Writing the paper through a philosophical perspective lets us use some of the theories that we have learned throughout this semester and some new theories, that we have been researching to specifically use in this paper. Other than that, as mentioned before, we hope to gain more experience with academic, university level project work in cooperation with other students.

1.2.2 Philosophy & Science

For this project, we have chosen to base our research, analysis, and discussion on the dimension of Science and Philosophy. According to the International Bachelor Program within the Humanities (Global Humanities) at RUC (Roskilde University), the Science and Philosophy dimension concerns two partly overlapping areas of study and associated concepts, theories and methods. The two areas of study share the question of humans as cognitive beings but go beyond this. Even though we are not going to concern ourselves excessively with the scientific studies and the so-called metascientific questions about science in general, our main focus is going to lie on philosophical reflections. However, we are going to use science in the epistemological sense in order to apply philosophical theory to our actual cases. Here we'll use blog posts to give a form of representation on the philosophical theories we are concerning ourselves with in this project. we'll use philosophical literature while applying philosophical reflection to our problem that is stated in the problem formulation. Therefore, our project is embedded in the dimension of Science and Philosophy because the philosophical aspects of the problem, play an essential role in the project. Working with how people can find a meaningful life despite feeling eco-anxious, a philosophical perspective is undeniably essential for our project in order to find solutions and theories for our analysis.

1.2.3 Theories and Terms

Throughout the project, we'll be using a couple of different terms and theories, that we’ll explain more deeply in the following chapters, Terminology, and Theory. One of these, is the term ‘Millennials’, broadly referring to westerners born between 1980 and 2000. This term is a central point in the project since it revolves around analyzing and discussing the tendencies and possibilities of millennials.

Another is the term ‘Eco-Anxiety’. The idea of people becoming anxious as a result of climate change. This is a crucial part of the project, as it is one of the greater obstacles that have to be overcome when millennials seek a meaningful life. The project will also utilize Erik Bendtsen’s theory about the need of needs. This theory states that every human being has a need for meaning, what Bendtsen calls a ‘need of needs’. This theory will be used as a foundation from where we'll build the rest of the project since it states that humans have a deep need for meaning. It is relevant for this paper, since an existential crisis would not exist, if humans didn’t have a need for meaning. If this premise was false, people would have no problem with feeling meaningless or being in an existential crisis. Existentialism is a relatively modern view of how people can find meaning in their lives. Since existentialism focuses on individual existence and freedom of choice, it has proven to become a foundation for how we have proceeded with the analysis as well as the discussion. The focus has been centralized on how individuals are experiencing eco-anxiety and how solutions are deeply depending on the circumstances, the individuals live under. On top of this, numerous of terms within existentialism been applied throughout the project. For example, the concepts of ‘the fulfillment view’, ‘living authentically’ and ‘absurdism’ offers their own solutions on how people can cope with eco-anxiety and at the time find meaning in life. Albert Camus was a prominent philosopher, who deals with the concept of the absurd. Throughout his whole career, he deals with this concept of ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’1 being the essay where he explains the concept thoroughly. Susan Wolf is a modern philosopher who presents her own theories on how people can find meaning in their lives, and suggestions on how to accomplish it. Her modern view on what a meaningful life is and her theories on how to achieve it is quite useful for our project. This is quite relevant since this paper focuses on how millennials can have a meaningful life, despite dealing with eco-anxiety. Societies and social values change over time, and it is therefore logical to assume that her modern view would be beneficial for our project. According to an article from the UN, climate change was first deemed a problem after the fifth assessment report in 20112 Therefore, previous philosophers’ theories on the meaning of life would be unaware of

1 (Camus, A., & O'Brien, J., 1991) 2 (“Climate Change”, 2018)

this phenomenon and its threat to finding meaning in life. Throughout our project, we have applied her theories of ‘fulfillment view’ and ‘larger than oneself’ both in the analysis and in the discussion, in order to either understand our chosen sources’ actions or in order to provide possible solutions to how people can cope with eco-anxiety and find meaning in life. As a result of this, her theories have become an essential part of our project.

1.2.4 Methodology

In this project our main methods have been based upon interpretivism and phenomenology to understand and explore how eco-anxiety affects how people can find meaning in their lives. Interpretivism is described as follows, “interpretive researchers assume that access to reality (given or socially constructed) is only through social constructions such as language, consciousness, shared meanings, and instruments”3 It is highly arguable that the concept of the meaning of life does not cohere to a universally tangible answer, but it is instead dependable on the individual being. Accordingly, “Phenomenology research focuses on experiences, events and occurrences with disregard or minimum regard for the external and physical reality.4 The method of phenomenology focus on working with conceptual philosophy, or working with phenomena. This project use phenomenology actively, when discussing and applying philosophical theories and concepts. This is being used both in the analyses and discussion, with the theory part being explaining these phenomena. Therefore, this paper contains the basis of phenomenology as a form of methodology.”

1.2.5 The Sources

Since the problem of eco-anxiety is a mental state, everyone can't possibly be experiencing it the same way. Because of that, we decided it would be better to approach the problem by analysing qualitative sources over quantitative sources. If successful, this should more deeply

3 Dudovskiy, J. (Interpretivism) 4 Dudovskiy, J. (Phenomenology) 9

explain people’s personal experience of the problem and show some unique reflections we can use.

In the analysis, we'll first analyse an article written by Victoria Barrett, a 19 year old activist living in the United States. In this article Barrett gives an introduction on her background and her family. The main focus of the paper is people that have developed what she calls ‘resilience’. A group of people she is clearly a member of. By resilience, she means people that are more resistant against difficulties, in other words fighters, change makers or leaders. This paper is relevant for our problem question since it shows us a young millennial activist that have found meaning in her life through fighting and taking actions against climate change. The second analyses will have a focus on an anonymous post on the social media reddit. This post is a personal problem of a person, who are getting negative feelings when it comes to climate change. It is basically a question on how one would solve problems of anxiety, with a greater focus on climate change. The focus of this analysis will be concerned with looking on his existential problems, and seeing what crisis he might be involved in. This post is relevant to the paper since it shows a person who might have existential crisis, because of climate change. This precise person is the among the group of people we are trying to find solutions for, on a philosophical existential level.

1.2.6 Assumptions & Uncovered Topics

For this project, we wanted to focus on the generation called ‘Millennials’. Though, while the term was coined by William Strauss and Neil Howe back in 1981, the definition of the term has been a bit uncertain. A lot of other people have also written books and articles on millennials, but with slightly different definitions. Because of this inability for us to refer to simply use a tried and true definition, we decided to compile the terminology for millennials ourselves, so that it would be directly relevant to the project. Our way to do this, is by analysing the circumstances around millennials, that may have resulted in some of their general characteristics. Though, instead of writing about every single characteristic of the generation,

we focused purely on three major ones, that we suspected would be the most relevant in context with the rest of the project. This means that throughout the project, we'll assume that millennials generally fit our description of their characteristics. Though we are aware that not every person that would fit another’s description of the term ‘millennial’, will fit into the one presented in this project. Along with somewhat generalizing millennials, this project utilizes another assumption about human nature. Since the project concerns itself with finding meaning in life, we'll assume that humans in general have a need for meaning in their lives, even though that meaning may come in many different forms. For many scientists studying climate change, it is considered a fact that human activity is the main contributor to negative changes in the world’s climate. This project will also assume that this is a fact. This meaning, that one shouldn't expect this project to present arguments for why we believe this to be true.

1.2.7 What do we hope to gain from doing this project?

From this project, we hope to gain extended knowledge of not only how to write and work with the Science and Philosophy dimension but also on how to write a project on a university level. This is for all of the group members, their first time writing a project on a university level. This alone will contribute to an immense learning experience and both an actual academic level but also teamwork wise. We wish that by the time we have finished writing this project, we'll have become more confident as university students, and that this confidence and knowledge will contribute to improvements in future projects. We hope the project will widen our personal horizons, specifically in the department of philosophy and science and how they intertwine as humanistic arts, as well as our general knowledge on the topic. We also hope that the project will continue to inspire us in the future. Seeing as it is a thought provoking topic, it is our wish, that it will have the same effect on the readers as it has had on ourselves.

1.3 Problem Formulation

In order to have a clear goal throughout this paper, we’ve devised the following problem formulation, which we'll attempt to answer:

Problem formulation: “How do millennials find meaning in their lives, while dealing with the existential crisis and eco- anxiety, that they experience as a result of climate changes?”

Along with the problem formulation, we’ve also devised the following problem questions, that we'll attempt to answer throughout specific chapters in the paper:

Problem questions: Analysis: “How can meaning in life be viewed, in context of the problems created by climate change?”

Discussion: “What are some solutions that millennials suffering from eco-anxiety can utilize in order to deal with their condition, and possibly find meaning in their lives?”

2. Terminology

2.1 Millennials

Millennials. As defined by Neil Howe and William Strauss, millennials are people born roughly between year 1980 and 2000.5 But that’s not all. Howe and Strauss developed a theory called ‘The Fourth Turning’, which claims that every generation has common personality traits, but that these traits are deeply influenced by the occurrences happening in a specific era. If we choose to think about it this way, the characteristics of the millennial generation, are not as much about the millennials themselves, but rather what age and environment the millennials have grown up in. Because of that, the way we talk about millennials throughout this project, will mostly be coloured by the events happening around them. For this project, the characteristics being used will be 1) the effects of participation trophies, 2) impatience through technology, and 3) climate change and lack of power. We’ll also be focusing our definition of millennials on those born in the modern world. According to the web page ‘studylecturenotes.com’, the modern world is defined by a combination of urban and industrialized areas with high population growth.6 The modern world has many urban facilities such as schools, shopping malls and hospitals. The infrastructure is highly developed - roads, railway networks, water supply system, electricity and telecommunications are all fundamental parts of the modern world to sustain the economic activity and improve the living conditions of people. Because of the economic development, people of the modern society are more exposed to advanced technology and have more opportunities regarding education, job and entertainment. The vast spectrum of opportunities also allows for some amount of social mobility in terms of changing jobs, educational choices and other accommodations.

5 (Sharf, S., 2018) 6 (Farooq, U., 2014) 13

By the common discourse, Millennials have been known as a generation with a lot of confidence, being used to constant approval. This has been expressed and used as the term ‘Trophy children’ in the United States. It concerns itself with the tendency for event planners (schools hosting sports events for example) to grant the children trophies or medals just for participating in the event, even though they didn’t make as big an effort as the winners did. Often, the claim is that these participation trophies have given children unrealistic expectations,and that they’ve gotten used to always being rewarded, even without making an effort. Founder of ‘Social Marketing Solutions’ John White, for example, writes the following: “Many Gen Xers and Baby Boomers believe that participation trophies have caused Millennials to be entitled brats that are incapable of working independently or having as good a work ethic as past generations.” 7 Andrea Hershatter and Molly Epstein mentions how this can also have caused the millennials to more frequently seek approval and affirmation for their efforts in other contexts.8 So according to Hershatter and Epstein, the trophies millennials may have received while growing up, have had quite a big impact later on in their lives. Another relevant point on this topic, is an argument by sports psychologist Jonathan Fader (Ph.D.). In one of his articles he writes the following: “The science suggests that we need to be praise our kids on process, not results.” 9If this is true, it might mean that while growing up, many millennials have been taught to focus very much on getting good results, rather than having an enjoyable experience while working towards these results. However, in John White’s article ‘The Participation Trophy Generation is a Lie and I Can Prove it’, he also describes his experience as a football coach, where they sometimes awarded the kids with participation trophies. White doesn’t believe that this has significantly harmed the generation and their values and competences: “Are some Millennials inherently flawed people? Of course they are, but you see that in all generations. I certainly haven't seen enough evidence to suggest that Millennials are any less competent than Gen X or Baby Boomers were at their

7 (White, J., 2017) 8 (Hershatter, A & Epstein, M., 2017) 9 (Fader, J., 2014) 14

age. In fact, as a whole, I find Millennials to be highly intelligent, resourceful, innovative, and fast learners.”10 From these arguments, it is not completely clear whether millennials have actually been significantly harmed by being awarded with participation trophies. Or whether they’re any less capable than the other generations. A greater effort could probably be put into researching the topic to try and find a ‘true’ answer, but this is only a small part of the project - not the focus. So we can’t necessarily conclude that millennials as a generation have been characterized by participation trophies. However, what we can see, is the discourse, that have shaped the environment that that young millennials have grown up. Ever since the older generations began doubting the effectiveness of participation trophies as a parenting strategy, the media have been used to express negative opinions about it, and the kids that were presumably affected by them. This means that many millennials have grown up in a society that doubted their capabilities, being called, as John White puts it, “entitled brats that are incapable of working independently”.11 In short, and environmental effect that might have influenced the characteristics of millennials more than receiving participation trophies, could possibly be the fact that older generations have been doubting their capabilities. Technology has also been on the rise, at the same time millennials were growing up. Using the following quotation by Andrea Hershatter and Molly Epstein, you can even argue that the Internet itself is Millennial; “By birth year, the Internet itself is a member of the Millennial generation. e TCP/IP suite that enables the Internet as we know it was established in 1982—the same year the first Millennials were born”12 They have become a generation of modern technology, but this doesn't necessarily mean that no other generations could touch new technology. The millennials were simply the first generation that have barely ever known a world without cell phones and have had regular use of the internet. Millennials have arguably been shaped by these things throughout their childhood. Things like being able to find the answer to your question without going to the library, without even getting up out of your chair. Or being able to call your friends from

10 (White, J., 2017) 11 (White, J., 2017) 12 (Hershatter, A. & Epstein, M., 2017) 15

wherever you are. It may even feed into some of the discourse we see concerning the millennials nowaday. Here, we often hear that their ability to solve most of their problems in a couple of second just by use of their mobile devices, have made them impatient and always seeking instant gratification for their needs. The ‘Studybreaks’ article “The Culture of Impatience and Instant Gratification”13 gives a couple of examples on where we can see this characteristic reflected in the way industries cater to our behaviors. 14 “Walmart and eBay have challenged Amazon in a battle of which company can deliver the fastest, because consumer habits have made it clear that they will pay big bucks to avoid the wait, leading places like Disney World to profit off of passes that allow consumers to skip the line.” 15 These technological advancements are another characteristic of the era we live in, that have affected the millennial generation. According to the article, this is simply a result of living in a society in which we experience fewer and fewer waits. And who to be more affected by this, than the people that never knew a time before instant gratification? By this logic, the younger you are, the more impatient you will also be, and this will most probably carry over to the coming generations too. However, we shouldn’t expect quick feedback in all of our experiences when we enter the adult world, where bigger accomplishments might also take longer. As the article argues, people that are just entering their first career after graduating might have a hard time staying motivated, when they can no longer expect the instant feedback, that technology and automation gives. Instead, we have to be patient in order to see the positive outcome, like raising a child. So this might mean that some of the characteristics we can attribute the millennial generation to, is a relatively low impatience and an expectation of instant gratification. Throughout recent years, the effects of climate change have also become more and more apparent. Things like floods and drought heavily affect the environment. This also goes for the animals and people living in vulnerable areas. Some of the big frustrations about climate change seems to come from the fact that our infrastructure was not built with the welfare of the environment in mind. Carbon emissions from cars and factories, the production of plastic waste among others, are some of the things that wasn’t a problem when humans started

13 (Taubenfeld, E., 2017) 14 (Farooq, U., 2014) 15 (Taubenfeld, E., 2017) 16

harming the environment. Since then, industries that produce these wastes have become a necessary part of our economy, which in turn, has made it more difficult for us to become more economically friendly, without risking to shut down our businesses and have jobs disappear. Because of this, the laws needed to change these habits are long underway, and have continued to make matters even more pressing. For people of the current age, and especially millennials growing up in this reality, this poses a problem for them. The generations before them, started the process of polluting the Earth, and when they are gone, Millennials and the following generations will be the ones responsible for cleaning everything up, if climate changes are not to get worse. While every single millennial isn’t set on trying to stop climate change, the ones that are, face a difficult problem. Since the oldest of them are only around 37 years old, which means only very few of them have had the opportunity to seize positions of political power, where they can make a greater effort to help the environment. In some sense, one of the millennials’ best chances of changing the way we treat the environment, depends on them being able to persuade the older generations. Arguably the same people that put them in this position in the first place. In conclusion, the environments that have characterized the millennials, come down to three points: The discourse concerning them, technology and their impatience, and climate change and lack of power. Through the discourse concerning participation trophies, we can see how millennials are largely discredited by their older peers, when it comes to their values and capabilities. Though, whether these claims are true or not is inconclusive. They’ve grown up with advanced technology at their hands since they were very young, giving them access to lots of information and products on very short notice. This, in turn, has resulted in them not developing the same patience that older generations had to have, before the use of cell phones and the internet. They’re also the inheritors of a world with huge climate problems, and those of them that want to try and fix these problems, don't yet hold the political power to make drastic changes to the system.

2.2

Eco-Anxiety

Millennials live in an era full of various global problems and the one that is recognized by millennials the most is the climate change.16 From melting glaciers, rising sea-levels, extinction of species to rising temperatures, extreme drought and wildfires, Earth is undoubtedly being harmed by human-caused activities and the consequences are already observable all around the world.17 According to the United Nations, humanity only has 12 years

16 (Loudenback, T., 2017) 17 (“What Is Global Warming?”, n.d.) 18

to increase their efforts, before global warming reaches a very dangerous level.18 This global issue can affect people’s mental health by producing panic, fear and grief concerning the future of the Earth. On top of this, it can raise post-traumatic stress19, hopelessness and increase suicide rates.20 In other words: cause eco-anxiety. To further elaborate on this form of anxiety, it can be divided into three of the following categories: The first category is a type of paralysis caused by observing the climate change and feeling powerless or unable to prevent it. The second category revolves around the sorrow and grief of seeing the nature being destroyed. The third category revolves around the fear of being involved in one of the natural disasters generated by the climate change or the trauma caused by experiencing one. According to an article published on the web page ‘Ethical Corporation’, global warming is caused by humans therefore humans are the only ones who can solve the problem21. It can create a large amount of pressure in millennials, since the future of the Earth is now depending on them.22 In order to resolve the problem, environmentalists suggest to stop practicing activities that are harmful to the environment, even though they may be widely accepted by our societies. This could be done by changing our eating habits23, using less plastic24 and even by having fewer children.25 Every individual has to practice many challenging actions to prevent the global warming, but climate change can often seem quite distant and complex, since it is not always clearly visible on a local scale. Therefore, it can be quite difficult to fully comprehend the global consequences, and still believe, that the climate-friendly practices of a single individual, truly can make a difference. The difficulty of making a difference yourself can, in turn, lead to a feeling of powerlessness. Doing as much as one can to prevent the issue, but still observing the increasing threat of global warming, can cause a loss of hope and result in eco- paralysis. According to the analysis by Glenn Albrecht, a renowned professor on Sustainability, eco-paralysis is defined as the mindset that taking environmentally friendly actions as a single individual, will not resolve the problem on a grander scale. This can further develop into apathy

18 (Watts, J., 2018) 19 (R. Kessler, S. Galea, M. Gruber, N. Gruber, N. Sampson, R. Ursano, S. Wessely, 2008) 20 (R. Kessler, S. Galea, M. Gruber, N. Gruber, N. Sampson, R. Ursano, S. Wessely, 2008) 21 (Ethical Corporation, 2018) 22 (Carrington, D., 2018) 23 (Andersen, K. & Kuhn, K., 2014) 24 (“Plastic Bags and Climate Change”, n.d.) 25 (Carrington, D., 2017) 19

because people that are affected by eco-paralysis can stop understanding the purpose of sustainable living, if they don't clearly see the result of their efforts. 26 Many people that are deeply worried about climate change, encounters the powerlessness, hopelessness, eco- paralysis and become eco-anxious. Human-caused actions are constantly influencing the natural processes on Earth. Since the beginning of the industrial period and urbanization, Earth is experiencing the biggest transformation in biological, ecological and hydrological processes. 27 The aftermath is seen as a massive reduction of the global biodiversity. For instance, half of the world’s largest coral reef system have died since 2016. Islands such as Fiji, Maldives, Tuvalu and many more are endangered of being flooded due to rising sea levels 28 and extreme wildfires are destroying the forests and its biodiversity. 29 The second category of eco-anxiety includes the term ‘Climate Grief’. Climate grief is experienced as sorrow and pain about the outrageous loss of significant parts of Earth’s flora, fauna and the natural world itself. 30 The sorrow in people can be triggered by an emotional connection to a place that is destructed and create an effect called ‘Solastalgia’. Glenn Albrecht described solastalgia as: "Pain or sickness caused by the inability to derive solace from the present state of one's home environment. It is the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change to one's sense of place and existential well-being. Feelings of powerlessness and a loss of hope about the future. Solastalgia is a form of homesickness one experiences...when one is still at ‘home.’ " 31 Climate grief can also be exacerbated by eco-paralysis, because the state of powerlessness can increase the negative emotions of loss. Global warming can seriously harm the natural world along with the mental health of people. The third reason for feeling eco-anxious is direct and more relatable to people living in the disaster-prone areas. Natural disasters can affect the mental health of many people, and lead to another type of eco-anxiety, more grounded in the lack of control over the power of nature. Climate change can expose human security to a serious risk and generate the fear of

26 (Wood, L., 2009) 27 (C. Waters, J. Zalasiewicz C. Summerhayes, A. Barnosky, C. Poirier, A. Gałuszka...Alexander P. Wolfe, 2016) 28 (Willis, A., 2015) 29 (Trenberth, K., 2018) 30 (Pihkala, P., 2018) 31 (Wood, L., 2009) 20

being involved in natural disasters, for instance, hurricanes, floods and wildfires. People can also encounter deep mental trauma after becoming victims of the natural catastrophes. The mental trauma can be caused by injuries, loss of loved ones and property. According to the research of Harvard Medical school, after the devastating hurricane Katrina in the United States of America, numerous people encountered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 32 The mental health worsened and the suicidal rates increased amongst people that experienced it. 33 Things like panic and shock are self-evident consequences after natural disasters. Global warming doesn’t only affect our planet either, but the mental health of people as well. Observing the serious and extreme damage that climate change has done to the living world of the Earth can be emotionally hard for many people. Sorrow, pain and hopelessness are all natural reactions in human beings that are experiencing their home being destroyed by an environmental disasters that takes more than one person to stop. The growing number of eco- anxious people only proves how important human relationship with nature is, in order to promote good mental health. Eco-anxiety, just like any other type of anxiety, can also result in existential crisis. After encountering the feeling of insignificance and impotence, people can start to question the meaning of life.

32 (R. Kessler, S. Galea, M. Gruber, N. Gruber, N. Sampson, R. Ursano, S. Wessely, 2008) 33 (R. Kessler, S. Galea, M. Gruber, N. Gruber, N. Sampson, R. Ursano, S. Wessely, 2008) 21

3. Theory

3.1 Theories on Needs

3.1.1 Maslow

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory that describes the five stages of human needs that Maslow believe determines our behavior. The theory was proposed by the American psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943. Stage one of the hierarchy is categorized as the physiological needs, such as the need to eat, sleep, breathe and rest. After having these needs fulfilled, the human gets motivated to move onto the next stage, which is safety. Safety can vary from being personal security, as having a stable job, having a property, resources, to health and security. The third stage is called love and belonging. Here is where humans seek closure and intimacy via friends, family or a group of people who make them feel welcome and comfortable, such as a gang for instance. After having that sense of connection, we reach the fourth stage of the hierarchy, which is esteem, also called the ego. Humans have a desire to get respect from others, have self-confidence, status, recognition and even freedom. After building up their character in their environment, we reach the fifth and last stage. That is self-actualization. In this stage humans try to reach the self-fulfilling needs by achieving one’s full potential, including creative activities and deciding one’s morality.34 These five stages can be divided into three main categories. The first two are the basic, fundamental needs. Stage three and four are the psychological needs and the last stage is the self-fulfillment needs. People with eco-anxiety can be placed in every stage of the hierarchy. Normally you would think that it is mostly the people who already have the basic fundamental needs fulfilled who have eco-anxiety, since they have excess time to take action and participation to prevent the climate changes. But the eco-anxiety can also be seen as a part of the second stage; the basic safety need, because it affects the mind thus rest and peace of mind can't be a thing

34 (McLeod, S., 2018) 22

when knowing that the world around is slowly ‘dying’. The pressure of the climate changes, increasing the possibility of a sooner death can scare the people, thus they don't feel safe and content. Some people might even take part of activism groups only to look for comfort in stage three. It can make them feel like they belong somewhere. Even if they only show slight signs of eco-anxiety, being in a group of people who are passionate about the same goal will affect the person by the group polarization. People in stage four, might even use activism to boost their ego or create their character in society. Being an activist might gain a person respect and recognition from other activists and environmentalists; thus using the eco-anxiety to create themselves. Being in the fifth stage of the hierarchy might be difficult for some people, because they might not feel fulfilled and content because of the eco-anxiety, and therefore not free enough to start the self-realization. On the other hand, you can say that people on stage five are deciding their morality by fighting for the environment, because they believe that it is right to do so, and wrong not to take action. To sum up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs relation to millennials with eco-anxiety, we can conclude that humans can be in any of the five stages whilst experiencing eco-anxiety since it can be affecting every need, as it is such a major impactor and humans can't move onto the next stage in the hierarchy without being fully content in the previous one. Thereby, eco- anxiety affect the quality of the lives of people.

3.1.2 Erik Bendtsen

Before discussing the need for meaning, an explanation on what the lack of meaning is and what emotions are involved will be presented. Emotions are inner instruments of the mind. They create awareness of the reality by using a process in which is learned to distinguish between what should be aimed for and what should be avoided. According to the philosopher Erik Bendtsen, emotions ”hold shared nuances and can overlap, influence, support each other and be in mutual conflict”35. Both culture and personal experiences, shape the way humans feel about specific things. In other words, both of those aspects determine the way of experiencing pain and pleasure. Because of this, meaninglessness can be experienced in multiple different nuances and dimensions. It can be through pain, fear, anxiety, loneliness or despair. But no matter what, it always shows a lack of satisfaction concerning both one’s basic needs as well as the need for meaning. One of the main factors in the experience of meaninglessness, is the fact that it is not understood why it is experienced. As Nietzsche said in his book ‘Zur Genealogie der Moral’: “What actually revolts against suffering is not suffering itself, but the senselessness of suffering“36. This leads to a belief that human beings truly do have a need for meaning; or in other words, a general need for orientation in life. The next paragraph will have a brief explanation on what needs are, in order to continue the theory. According to Bendtsen, needs are always characterized by two facts. First, the satisfaction of your need will not make you suffer. And the second one is that satisfaction of your needs will preserve your well-being. From another perspective, these characteristics can be looked at conditions for something to be a need. The first one is the non-harmful condition, and the second one is the well-being condition. Thus the satisfaction of a need is a thing that has the possibility of limiting or to prevent the absence of a person’s well-being. In the next paragraph, the need for meaning will be discussed. When dealing with the need for meaning, it is categorized as a central need. Meaning that the person with the need has an object that can't be separated and distinguished from the

35 (Bendtsen, E., 2017) 36 (Nietzsche, F., 1887) 24

need or the content of the need. It is due to this fact that needs are interconnected and influence each other. The object of the need doesn't only determine the content of the need, but the content of the need also determines the object of the need. According to Bendtsen: ”the conditions for satisfaction of the need for meaning, are always coupled to other needs as a need to experience non-contradictive coherence between the mutual relationship of needs”37 However, this aspect of the need can't be fully satisfied, but it can be partially satisfied. Meaning that, human beings, have multiple needs that wants to be fulfilled. Unfortunately some of them can be contradictory. Since a ‘non-contradictive coherence’ between the different needs, is what is ideal to experience, it is impossible to fully satisfy this need for meaning. It can only be satisfied more or less. The dynamic need mentioned above is actually a sort of need of needs. It is a need for the ‘right’ satisfaction of other needs. More precisely, it is the need for the ‘right’ satisfaction of the relationship between one’s other needs. It is ”the need for experiencing one’s own activities and their objects and interrelations as right – the need for experiencing one’s life as something that succeeds as understanding of and acceptance of what doesn't succeed”.38 Because of this, the content of the need, and the condition needed to satisfy it, might vary greatly, depending on both the general and individual context. In addition to this, it also more or less depends on the reflected attitude towards a person’s own personal experience. To conclude on Erik Bendtsen’s theory about the need of needs, it could be summed up as the following: Every human being can experience meaninglessness in different ways through different emotions like fear, pain or despair. And the most frustrating part of this experience, is the fact that human beings don't understand why they feel meaningless. They desperately want to understand why they have a need for meaning. This need for meaning is obviously a central need. Moreover, it is not a static need, it is a dynamic need. Finally this dynamic need could be called a need of needs. In other words we have a need for the right satisfaction of other needs.

37 (Bendtsen, E., 2017) 38 (Bendtsen, E., 2017) 25

3.2 Existentialism

3.2.1 Theory of existentialism

In this chapter, the conception of ‘meaning of life’ will be based on the philosophical viewpoint called ‘Existentialism’. First of all, this paper uses existentialism as one of its core theories, because existentialism offers an explanation on how we, as human beings, can obtain meaning in our lives. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence and freedom of choice. It is the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. It asserts that people actually make decisions based on what has meaning to them, rather than what is rational.39 This philosophy strives away from everything the previous philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle thought. According to Plato and Aristotle, everything in the world has an essence. Meaning that everything possesses a core property that is necessary for the thing in question, to be what it is. An essential property. For example, a spoon can have a wooden handle or a plastic handle or be made entirely out of bamboo but the essential part is the bowl-like tip. If spoon doesn't have a bowl-shaped tip, it would not be a spoon because that is its defining characteristic. This philosophical viewpoint is called ‘Essentialism’. According to essentialists, humans also possess an essence that defines our function and therefore gives people meaning. A meaning that is predetermined before we even are born. The changing point from essentialism to existentialism started with German Idealism giving inspiration to Kierkegaard and the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre who presented the idea of ‘existence precedes essence’. ‘Existence precedes essence’, means that, as human beings, we were born without any essence. Instead of being born with an essence and therefore meaning, Sartre believes it is our own duty to fulfill our essence and create our own meaning. It can be anything as long as it come from our own conscious choice. In other words, we are finding meaning by creating it ourselves and by being who we are and who we want to be. Who we are is not defined by where we come from or our nature, it is define by the actions we

39 (‘’Existentialism’’, n.d.) 26

take ourselves, whereas other entities such as spoons would be defined by their essence. Sartre argues that other entities are existing ‘in themselves’ whereas human being are existing ‘for itself’. This is what Sartre define as living ‘authentically’. ‘Authenticity’ as the norm of self- identity, is tied to the project of self-definition through freedom, choice, and commitment.40 However, an existentialist would also argue that by living authentically, freedom entails responsibility, as you are responsible for your own actions. “Thus, when I exist as an authentically free being, I assume responsibility for my whole life, for a ‘project’ or a ‘commitment’. “41 According to Nietzsche and Sartre, we find the notion that human existence is action and that the human being is all and only what that being does, “My existence consists of forever bringing myself into being – and, correlatively, fleeing from the dead, inert thing that is the totality of my past actions.”42 Certainly, if authenticity involves 'being on one's own', then there would seem to be some kind of value in celebrating and sustaining one's difference and independence from others. However, many existentialists see individualism as a historical and cultural trend (for example Nietzsche), or dubious political value (Camus), rather than a necessary component of authentic existence. Individualism tends to obscure the particular types of collectivity that various existentialists deem important.43 The key point in existentialism and what you need to keep in mind for the following points, is that someone’s identity is not constituted by their nature nor their culture. Instead, it is the fact that they are and will exist, that constitutes their identity. One of those core notions of existentialism is the facticity. Facticity is all the properties that a third-person view can establish about an individual. Properties such as weight, skin color, class, nationality, character traits or family background. As an example, I may not be aware of those properties in this third-person perspective. But I can adopt this third-person view. And then those aspects of my facticity may appear to me, as what defines me. However, this would be a mistake from an existentialist point of view because the kind of being that I am can't be determined by those facts. It makes no sense to attribute this facticity to yourself, since your

40 (‘’Existentialism’’, 2015) 41 (Burnham, D & Papandreopoulos, G., n.d.) 42 (“Existentialism”, n.d.) 43 (“Existentialism”, n.d.) 27

existence is also defined by the position you take toward your facticity. This is what existentialist call ‘Transcendence’. Transcendence corresponds to your behaviour toward yourself, regarding of your engagement in the world. So, for example if you were writing an article and it appears that your pen is suddenly empty, you can see that as an impediment to finish your article or an occasion to do something else. Depending on how you behave in this situation, and to your own factic properties, you can either be lazy, or hard-working.4445

Kierkegaard proposed the idea because human existence is so dependent on the facts that their actions corresponds to their engagement in the world and the fact that humans are 'on their own', despair is the consequential outcome of this fact. Despair, according to Kierkegaard, has two important implications. “First, many existentialists tended to stress the significance of emotions or feelings, in so far as they were presumed to have a less culturally or intellectually mediated relation to one's individual and separate existence.”46 and “Second, anxiety also stands for a form of existence that is recognition of being on its own. What is meant by 'being on its own' varies among philosophers. For example, it might mean the irrelevance (or even negative influence) of rational thought, moral values, or empirical evidence, when it comes to making fundamental decisions concerning one's existence.”47 However, the German philosopher Martin Heidegger and Sartre argued that, “being on its own might signify the uniqueness of human existence, and thus the fact that it can't understand itself in terms of other kinds of existence.”48 To briefly sum it up, authentic decision-making exceeds rationality from an existentialist perspective. It is through these authentic decisions that people create meaning in their lives, since the decisions are based on what is meaningful to them. This way of thinking contrasts to what the previous essentialists believed in. Instead of being born with an essence and therefore meaning, the viewpoint has now changed to believing that it is our own duty to fulfill our

44 CrashCourse. (2016). Existentialism: Crash Course Philosophy #16 [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaDvRdLMkHs

45 (Crowell, S., 2015) 46 (“Existentialism”, n.d.) 47 (“Existentialism”, n.d.) 48 (“Existentialism”, n.d.) 28

essence and create our own meaning in our lives. Both facticity and transcendence are both essential terms in existentialism in that facticity is your outward characteristics that presents yourself towards the world, while the position you take toward your own facticity is your transcendence. Therefore, your transcendence corresponds to your behaviour toward yourself, regarding your engagement in the world. This, however, also means that your existence is dependent on the facts that your actions corresponds to your engagement in the world and therefore leads your actions to define how you are represented in the world. The consequences of this can lead to humans being or feeling that they are alone by being 'on its own' and despair is a possible outcome.

3.2.2 Existential crisis

Theory of existential crisis is used in this paper to show what consequences millennials with eco-anxiety experience on an existential level49. Existential crisis should be understood as a when an individual is having philosophical problems regarding one’s existence. The term should be understood through the concepts, which is outlined in this theory part. This project will analyse through the use of theories that deal with existential crisis concepts such as meaninglessness; nihilism; the absurd; impotence. The discourses surrounding these four concepts are highly interconnected, in addition, they are described through a large number of different philosophers that understand them on different basis. The philosophers we'll use to describe these concepts are Albert Camus; Friedrich Nietzsche; Erik Bendtsen, which have writings dealing with crisis through different terms and concepts. What the paper will elucidate is term existential crisis, and how the paper will use philosophical theories to analyse the existential crisis that comes from eco-anxiety.

Existential Anxiety

The concept of anxiety is surrounded by discourses understood as a negative feeling humans possess in certain situations, which are understood in the context of existentialism. It is

49 This is excluding the clinical psychological consequences, because of the focus will only be philosophical. 29

a feeling that can be compared to fear, as it is the feeling of something threatening, that an individual is unable to control. In contrast to fear, anxiety is the feeling of being threatened by an inconceivable object. Thus an object the human brain sees as simple and non-abstract.50 The concept of anxiety is coherent to existential crisis, because of the inability to find meaning, coherence or orientation in a given situation. This anxiety on a existential level is the feeling of being threatened from an uncertain object51 To understand it more specifically concerning this paper, and with connection to climate change. Eco-anxiety and existential anxiety should be understood differently, one is clinical and the other is philosophical. However the basis is the same, with climate change being the factor of fear. Climate change is highly complex and abstract, which makes it extremely difficult to understand this fear. This is what makes anxiety concerning climate change.

Impotence

Impotence is a term used by Erik Bendtsen, which deals with the general concept of having inability to control situations (etc. problems, crises). This term is highly connected to power and being powerless over certain situations, that makes an individual have this feeling of complete impotence. Bendtsen states “Therefore is the fight for power over climate conditions still in process. First, to gain immediate control over these conditions and satisfy our dreams. Secondly, to gain control over the possible negative consequences that regarding the climate either in concrete practical sense, or in the sense of human perceived conditions.”52 Bendtsen uses the situation of climate and describes the human need for power and control over their own lives and well-being, which can be seen in coherence with climate and nature. When there is a point where humanity feels threatened, humanity will react with trying to gain control over this situation. If this need is not fulfilled and humans perceive the situation as powerless with no control, we have this sense of impotence. Therefore this is a philosophical concept that

50 The understanding of Anxiety should be considered in a philosophical sense. The confusion between psychological anxiety is well understood, with the interconnection regarded as existent. 51 (Crowell, S., 2015) 52 (Bendtsen, E. 2000) 30

views people with the need for control, coherence and power, and when not fulfilled humans feelings of powerlessness and impotence is shown.53

Existential Meaninglessness

Meaninglessness is a word used to explain a specific state of mind. it is a word that many philosophers use different terms and concepts to elucidate. Meaninglessness can be described as the lack of coherence, with the individual being unable to grasp the meaning or coherence of a certain situation or life in general. The existential problem of feeling meaningless is understood through different theories and terms, with the basis being lack of control or understanding. This paper will focus prominently on two famous theories, nihilism and absurdism that are often used when individuals talk about having a meaningless existence.54 The two terms are highly interconnected, with them defining the same existential crisis.

Existential Nihilism

The word nihilism comes from the Latin word ‘nihil’, which means nothing. Often when discussing nihilism, it is in association with the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The way Nietzsche described nihilism was essentially that there is no meaning in life. That morals, purpose, values or truth doesn't exist, because all of them are a simply constructs of humankind. There is no universal truth and there can't be objective morality. Nothing truly has meaning since all meaning is man-made and artificial, therefore it is pointless. The only reason humans tell themselves that anything matters is to have a distraction from the inevitability of death. Death is the only certain thing and life is inescapable through any other means except for death. Therefore, humans are desperate for a sense of meaning, truth or purpose to their existence; something to strive for and achieve. This could be through faith in religion. 55

53 (Bendtsen, E. 2000) 54 For individuals to feel their existence is meaningless is not necessarily a negative state of mind. However, if of not treated philosophical, it could lead to negative consequences. 55 (Pratt, A., n.d.) 31

There are a few different branches of nihilism, but this paper will mainly focus on the most relevant one, which is existential nihilism. The term existential nihilism has different meanings depending on its use in philosophical subjects.56 Friedrich Nietzsche and the famous ‘God is Dead’ quote can be used to describe nihilism as understood today. “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”57 What Nietzsche is saying in this quotation is, with the absence of God, who will now give us morality and meaning. When there is no God a lot of philosophical problems will arise and cause crisis for individuals. The reason for this is, believing in God creates an objective truth, so in absence of a God, all truth is subjective. Existential nihilism in a individual is when there is no God, this is because of the lack of objective truth. When there is only subjective truth, there is no objective meaning in life. If an individual believes in God, they will most likely believe that a virtuous life is the same as a meaningful life. However, when an individual is not having faith in a God, either in the existence of one or believe in a God that have no objective meaning, life is in general meaningless. Subjective meaning is the same as no meaning at all, which is the general idea of existential nihilism.

Absurdism

In his theory called 'absurdism', Albert Camus further illustrates the idea of a meaningless existence. In the text ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’58, Camus quotes where he refers to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, “The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought

56 This paper will elucidate existential nihilism, however thoughts of moral, metaphysical and epistemological nihilism is taking into consideration. The interconnection between these are deeply, therefore, avoiding these other branches of nihilism is almost impossible. 57 (Nietzsche, F., & Common, T. 2006) 58 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., 1991) 32

with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor. ”59 The idea of what happened to Sisyphus and his punishment is, in its core, the punishment of doing the same dreadful thing for eternity. He would roll the rock up the mountain and let it fall, with no meaningful purpose for this kind of labour. Through this metaphor what Camus tries to state is the meaninglessness of the life of Sisyphus, with no purpose of no greater meaning to roll the rock to the top of the mountain, the dread is not the rolling itself but the meaninglessness by doing so. Albert Camus explains how the greek myth of sisyphus, can be compared to the lives of the everyday person. If the premise is existential nihilism, and that there is no God giving objective meaning. “The workman of today works everyday in his life at the same tasks, and his fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.”60 Camus argues that Sisyphus and the ordinary workman are the same, even though we see them working on different things. In theory, the work that humans do everyday is just as absurd as at what Sisyphus are doing, they are just as meaningless. In addition, Camus argues that when it is not given a thought, it would not be a problem. The existential crisis comes from the realization that life is meaningless and completely absurd, if one not doesn't think about it, it would not become a problem. The concept of absurdism is in general that life is an absurd reality, just like sisyphus, and the only way to avoid that realization is not to think about it.

3.2.3 Existential Solution Theory

Accepting the Absurd

According to Albert Camus when an individual realize that one’s life is absurdly meaninglessness, there is only one way to deal with this, accepting the absurd. The premise is using the theory part of existential meaninglessness. In the text ‘The Myth Of sisyphus’61 Camus explains what living an absurd life is and what happens when one experience this, in addition,

59 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., Ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 60 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., Ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 61 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., Ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 33

Camus explain what the solution is to dealing with this existential crisis is. Therefore, this theory part will deal with how Albert Camus would deal with an existential crisis, while taking the premise of absurdism. To understand Camus and his views on how man would solve this uncomfortable anxious feeling of the absurd, it should be explained how Camus thought it shouldn't be solved. According to Camus it shouldn't be solved through the concept of suicide, which is the core question in ‘The Myth Of Sisyphus’. Camus explains two kinds of suicide regarding the concepts, physical and philosophical. Physical suicide is the idea of killing one’s physical self, which should be disregarded as a solution because it lacks one. There is not a true solution to physical suicide, only thing is the individual ignores the problem by giving up. This is considered by Camus non-logical, and in a sense ignorant to commit. In this ‘solution’ you get rid of anxiety by removing yourself from the world, which according to Camus shouldn't be considered af solution at all. The other type is philosophical suicide, which is more complex. The most prominent example Camus use for this is religion, which is used in reference to other philosophers. “That existence which, suddenly and through a blind act of human confidence, explains everything...”62 Camus sees ‘leap of faith’63 as an absurd act for the same reason as physical suicide, it is not a solution as it ignores the problem. By believing in a god you disregard logic and rationality, in addition to not facing the absurd. “That existence which, suddenly and through a blind act of human confidence, explains everything”. The general idea is that you shouldn't try to get rid of the anxious feeling that meaninglessness creates, but embrace it. Camus is stating that you should disregard religion and acts that have a ‘solution’, which ignores the absurd existence of man. On the opposite, understanding what Camus thinks of the way to solve this anxious feeling of the absurd, is to accept the absurd and be an absurd hero. “You have already grasped that Sisyphus is the absurd hero.”64 is what Camus writes in the end the essay, positively explaining Sisyphus as a hero of the absurd. The idea behind being a hero of the absurd is regarding your own existence as meaningless and absurd, with no suicide committed in any

62 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., ch. An absurd reasoning,1991) 63 This is a term famously used by Kierkegaard. 64 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., Ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 34

sense. According to Camus, one should live by the absurd and engage themself in accepting this concept, where it is impossible to understand a greater meaning, in addition to trying not to find a greater meaning or avoiding the question in general. But how would one avoid anxiety when being an absurd hero? “Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth.”65 How Camus would avoid existential crisis is through what we already established, accepting the absurd existence and embracing that fact. Camus writes “All Sisyphus’ silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing. Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates his torment, silences all the idols.”66 When truly accepting the absurd situation an individual is in, one truly finds happiness and removes anxiety. In addition, Camus argues when you have accepted this fate, the only reaction is to engage oneself in actions and thoughts that are in a modern sense mindful. The last two sentences in the essay ‘The Myth Of Sisyphus’ is “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”, where he states that acceptance of the absurd or meaninglessness is the way to avoid anxiety.

Susan Wolf

One of the primary existentialists that will be referred to in this project, is the American moral philosopher Susan Wolf. In her book ‘Meaning in life and why it matters’67 she offers a way people can find meaning in their lives. She clearly distinguishes ‘meaning’ from two other categories; happiness and morality. Whereas, happiness is associated with rational egoism, morality is associated with the impersonal concern with human well-being68. These two terms are inspired from previous philosophers. ‘Happiness’ is inspired by philosophers like Aristotle who had a monistic view on reason and what is a good life. Which means that according to him, the best possible life is the happiest life and the only ultimate reason for doing something is that in the long run it will make you happier.69 To sum it up, happiness is the goal. While on the

65 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., Ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 66 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., Ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 67 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J., Introduction, 2010) 68 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J., Introduction 2010) 69 (Dr. Susan Wolf [Video], 2017) 35

other hand, other philosophers, like Immanuel Kant and Henrick Sidgwick have a dualistic view. Even though they agree with Aristotle that pursuing happiness gives you one kind of reason for your action, they would say that morality, duty or the impersonal good for the world gives you another. This means, that your actions might not always lead to your own happiness but you pursue them for the sake of others or something other than yourself. They act because they are convinced it is morally right. 70 Wolf argues in her book, that meaningfulness doesn't fall into either of these categories. According to her, finding meaning in life happens when, “subjective attraction meets objectives attractiveness, and one is able to do something about it or with it.”71 You could argue that these two different reasonings for taking actions can be classified as ‘egoistic reasons’ and ‘altruistic reasons’ or ‘personal reasons’ and ‘impersonal reasons’ or maybe even ‘subjective reasons’ and ‘objective reasons’. Here, Susan Wolf’s point is that neither of these classifications are enough to stand alone so she introduces a third category. This is what Wolf argues to be ‘the reason out of love’. This encompasses a loved one, an ideal or an activity. Something that thrives us to take actions that fall neither within the category of our own happiness, nor of duty or morality. Simply because we love. Susan argues that by taking actions that follow this idea, our lives have the best chances of becoming meaningful. That we have the best chances of creating meaning in our lives by doing things out of love rather than morality or self-interests, “My claim then is that reasons of love - whether of human individuals, other living creatures, or activities, ideals or objects of other sorts - have a distinctive and important role in our lives. They are not to be assimilated to reasons of self-interest or reasons of morality”72 She argues that humans have a need for meaning and that the need is often connected to the sense that one’s life feels empty or shallow.73 She then presents a solution to filling out that empty feeling and create meaning through loving something worthy of love. This is what she calls ‘objective attractiveness’ and she encourage people to pursue loving the love-worthy objects and engage with them in a positive way, “This conception of meaning specifies that the relationship between the subject and the object of attraction must be an active one. The

70 (Dr. Susan Wolf [Video], 2017) 71 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J., Introduction, 2010) 72 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 5-6, 2010) 73 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 7-8, 2010) 36

condition that says the meaning involves engaging with the worse the object of love in a positive way it's meant to make clear that mere passive recognition and a positive attitude towards an object’s or activity’s value is not sufficient for a meaningful life. One must be able to be in in some sort of relationship with the valuable object of one's attention- to created, protect it, honor it, or more generally, to actively affirm it in some way or other.”74

One of the views that create meaning through finding that objective attractiveness is what she calls ‘The fulfillment view’. In this view, the subject is to find their own passion in life and pursue it in order to find joy and happiness, “Doing what one loves doing, being involved with things one really cares about, give us a kind of Joy in life that one would otherwise be without. No reason one should find ones passion and go for it, then, is because doing so will give one's life a particular type of good feeling.“75 This view makes you feel like you have a meaningful life and a happy one. This is a subjective point of view that argues that you alone have a feeling that your life is valuable, while others might think that you don't. Furthermore, “someone whose life is refuelling has no guarantee of being happy in the conventional sense of that term. Many of the things that grip or engages makes us vulnerable to pain, disappointment, and stress.”76 By this, Susan Wolf explains that when people treasure something dearly it makes them more vulnerable to pain and suffering. However, She still encourages people to pursue their passion because she believes that it is worth it, “Moreover, to the extent that one source of fulfillment or also sources of exciting and suffering, that pleasure one gets from pursuing these things may be thought, at least from a hedonistic perspective, to be qualified or balanced by the negative feelings that accompany it.”77 On the other hand, she presents what she calls ‘The Larger-than yourself view’. This view works as a contrast to the previous view of fulfillment in that, you are not asked about how you feel about the object but to find something larger than yourself. It works as a contrast in that, instead of looking towards yourself and find what makes you happy, you look outside and find meaning in your surroundings. That we involve ourselves in something that we

74 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 9-10 2010) 75 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 13, 2010) 76 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 14, 2010) 77 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 14-15, 2010) 37

claim is more important than ourselves, “We might rather understand the view as one that recommends involvement in something more important than ourselves- something, in other words, that is larger than ourselves not inside but in value.”78 The point of this view is that one should involve themselves with something not necessarily larger than oneself by simply something other than themselves. Susan Wolf argues again, that the best optimal solution would be a combination of the two views. Both including a subjective and an objective view of how to find meaning, “a meaningful life is a life that is a.) the subject finds fulfilling, and b.) contributes to connects positively with something the value of which has its source outside the subject.”79 This again points back to her formula: “subjective attraction meets objectives attractiveness, and one is able to do something about it or with it.” Wolf’s conception of meaningfulness sees subjective and objective elements fitting together in a coherent feature that a life might or might not possess and it is here she recommends people to get involved with something larger than themselves, “it is offered in the hope, if not the expectation, that if one does get involved, it will make one feel good. The thought is that if one tries it, one will like it, and one will I get in part because of one's recognition that one is engaged with a person or an object or an activity that is dependently valuable”80 This combination of the ‘Fulfillment view’ and the ‘Larger-Than-Oneself view’ is what Wolf calls ‘The fitting fulfillment view’. According to this view, meaning arises from active and loving engagements with projects of worth or value. Additionally, Wolf believes that humans have a need to think well of themselves and need for self-esteem, “If one is prone to imagine oneself from an external point of view, to see oneself as if from without, they wished quite naturally follows that from that point of view one will be able to see oneself and one's life is good, valuable, and a rightful source of pride.”81 She then further explains that the need to feel valuable and appreciated stems from our social nature and our need for company, “Still, the strength of that wish, and the peculiarly poignant feelings that can accompany it seemed to me to involve something further, that, I suggest, is related to our social natures, and to our need or wish not to be alone.”82 That is why she encourages people to engage in projects of

78 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 18, 2010) 79 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 20 2010) 80 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 21-22, footnote 10, 2010) 81 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 28, 2010) 82 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 28, 2010) 38

independent value. If the object of our attraction is an outside source, she believes that we can satisfy our fear of loneliness by involving ourselves with others. We then create our own meaning through someone else. How else could we satisfy them? This is why she stresses her proposal that meaningfulness it is a matter of active and loving engagement in projects of worth and her claim that this view, distinct from both happiness and morality, is a solution to a fully successful human life. With this, it has been established that according to Wolf, one must have a subject- independent value to live a meaningful life. However, this subject-independent value still lies uncertain. Wolf offers two kinds of subject-independent value in her book. For the first subject-independent value, Wolf argues that if there is value in other people’s life, there must be value in one’s own: “certainly, taking care of oneself, seeking happiness, and avoiding pain, or sensible and worthwhile things to do.”83 and that a meaningful life is one that would not be considered pointless or gratuitous, even from an impartial perspective. With this perspective, you live a life in a way that connects positively with objects, people, and activities that have value independently of oneself. According to this kind of subject-independent value, one’s own perspective and existence have no greater meaning or higher status in the universe. This is why engagement with things that have value independent of oneself can contribute to the meaningfulness of one’s life in a way that activities directed at one’s own good and value don't. By this, Wolf means that activities that are not only beneficial for yourself but is beneficial independently of yourself create more meaning exactly because it for a cause greater than yourself. On the other hand, the second subject-independent value represents not only that the activities and projects must be independent in the sense that it is for a greater good than oneself but also that the what determines the value must be partly independent too, “To contribute to the meaningfulness of one's life, not only must the locus or recipient of value my partly outside of oneself, the standard of judgement for determining value must be partly independent too.”84 The focus here is not on the actions nor on the project of worth, it is on the judgement of rather or not it has any value at all. Wolf presents an example of which a person who has

83 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 42, 2010) 84 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 43, 2010) 39

been looking back on a past phase of his existence, “The judgement that what seemed worthwhile wasn't really so may be made by the person himself, looking back on a past phase of his existence. One might even wake up more or less certainly to the realisation that an activity one has been pursuing with enthusiasm is shallow or empty. As these examples make possible that idea that a person may find meaning in an activity that really isn't there”.85 However, according to Wolf a person may think that his or her actions seemed to be pointless or worthless but the point is that the some might judge their activity to be worthless, while others can might see them to be valuable. Wolf questions is the meaning of our actions are determined by ourselves or by the people around us. That is why, in the second kind of subject- independent value that the judge of the meaning of those actions should be partly independent as well. In conclusion, Susan Wolf first distinguishes her perception of meaning from two other terms; happiness and morality. Whereas she states that happiness is associated with rationality and egoism, and morality is associated with the impersonal and objective concern with human well-being. She argues instead that ‘love’ is the core to finding meaning. Whereas it is important to note that ‘love’ is not meant in a romantic sense but that it could be of a loved one, an ideal or an activity. Wolf argues therefore, that by taking actions that falls into the category of love, that our lives have the best chances of being meaningful. As follows, she then presents ‘The fulfillment view’. In this view, the subject is to find their own passion in life and pursue it in order to find joy and happiness. According to this view, love is that passion and drive for you to move forward, your meaning in life. However, as this is a subjective point of view that argues that you alone have a feeling that your life is valuable, it might mean that others might think that you don't. In this view, you find meaning by looking inwards toward yourself. On the other side, Wolf offers a different view called ‘The-Than-Oneself View’ where the meaning and ‘love’ is of something other than yourself. Something that you can do that makes you feel like you contribute to a bigger cause and there find purpose and meaning. Where people involve themselves with something that we claim is more important than ourselves. At last, Wolf introduces a view that is a combination of both views. ‘The fitting fulfillment view’. According to this view, meaning arises from active and loving engagements

85 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 44, 2010) 40

with projects of worth or value. The combination view fits perfectly into her formula for finding meaning; when subjective attraction meets objectives attractiveness, and one is able to do something about it or with it. If the object of our attraction is an outside source, then we can satisfy our fear of loneliness by involving ourselves with others. We then create our own meaning through someone else. If we are only trying to create meaning for ourselves them we'll not feel important and meaningful on a bigger scale that goes beyond ourselves.

4. Analysis

4.1 Victoria Barrett

Victoria Barrett is a 19 year old activist and a plaintiff on Juliana v. United States, which is a lawsuit brought around by 21 young Americans against the U.S. government, for abusing their constitutional authority by causing climate changes86. According to what has been established in the millennials definition, Victoria Barrett is a millennial since she is 19 years old and lives in the United State of America. She wrote a blog post where she explains why and what she is fighting against. As mentioned earlier in the theory chapter, every human being has a need for meaning, this theory is further illuminated by Bendtsen’s theory ‘The need of needs’. Through the blog post, it is clear that Victoria Barrett has a constant need for meaning and understanding, which is being expressed through her passion for humanitarian work. Barrett describes herself as a “Young activist trying to understand and build a world sustainable for my generation and ones thereafter”87. Through the quote, we can see that Barrett possesses an intrinsic desire to understand and find meaning in the world, by eventually making it more sustainable for the generations to come. This is connected to the theory that every human being has a basic need for meaning. She is not only fighting for environment or human rights. She also deeply desires to understand the world around her and why humanity is destroying the world. What can we do to stop that? As she says: how can we “build a world sustainable”88 for the next generation? As human beings, we have a deep need for meaning, we want to understand what is surrounding us. And that is why she is so involved, she want to understand what surround her. But even if she has this ‘need for meaning’ it would be way more difficult for her to satisfy it if she did not benefit from a certain level of freedom. Victoria Barrett is a young girl that have the chance to have a lot of opportunities, she has a certain level of freedom of choice.

86 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 87 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 88 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 42

During the 19th century existential philosophers such as Sartre thought that in order to live a meaningful life, you have to live it ‘authentically’. Nowadays, contemporary philosophers such as Susan Wolf use notions such as the ‘fulfillment view’ and the ‘larger than oneself view’ which are deeply interconnected with what existential philosophers thought about how to live a meaningful life. According to Sartre, this freedom of choice, was one of the main components in order to live an ‘authentic’ life. In the paper Barrett entrusts that her family are immigrants from Honduras. They came to a country where they did not know anyone, at a time were xenophobia, racism and sexism was commonplace. As Victoria Barrett says, they gave “up their own comforts to protect a life not even introduced to them yet”89, just to give her the “mobility to be happy”90. This mobility to be happy is what we’re referring to when Sartre writes about freedom of choice. The fact that she has the choice and the freedom necessary to get involved in what she likes such as fighting for environment or human rights. Or the fact that she can express her queer sexuality, and be proud of it. All those factors give her some kind of freedom of choice which is essential for her to satisfy this need for meaning, but also essential to live an ‘authentic’ life and be meaningful. When Sartre expose the concept of living ‘authentically’ he also add another condition under this term, in addition to benefit from a certain freedom of choice, you have to be committed to your life. Victoria Barrett is a perfect example of someone living their life ‘authentically’. By Sartre’s definition of ‘authentically’ Barrett is a pure product of someone who has been self- defined through commitment and freedom of choice. Therefore, as someone who is living ‘authentically’, she is obviously deeply committed to her projects as it is shown in the article. As a 19-year old girl, Barrett is already an activist involved in different movements. For example, she was one of the youth observer at the COP21, which was an international conference about climate change that took place in Paris in 2015. However, Susan Wolf would say that to be so committed for something, you’d have to love it, which is what she call the ‘fulfillment view’. “Doing what one loves doing, being involved with things one really cares about, give us a kind of Joy in life that one would otherwise be without. No reason one should find ones passion and go

89 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 90 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 43

for it, then, is because doing so will give ones life a particular type of good feeling.“91 Doing something you love, gives you a sensation of joy which you would be without otherwise. Barrett don't clearly state in her paper that she is being an activist and fighting the government because she loves to do it, but it can be interpreted that she feels proud which contributes to the ‘good feeling’ that Wolf’s talks about in her theory. It is clear from the paper that she is proud of who she is and what she identify as, and that she get a feeling of fulfillment when she helps others. It is also obvious that all the resources that Barrett put into her works helps her to gets motivated, E.g. Family, saving the world, fighting racism, standing up for queers. All of these subjects are filled with sadness and is not always a medium for happiness, but fighting for a course or a project with such a magnitude gives a sense of fulfillment. Another important aspect of Wolf’s fulfillment view is the definition of what fulfillment is, it is not only something that leads to happiness and pleasure. It also carries the exact opposite such as pain, stress and disappointment. Wolf states that something that really engage a person makes them vulnerable and open, but it is also an indication that fulfillment is an important aspect of a meaningful life. “Still, the fact that most of us would willingly put up with a great deal of stress, anxiety, and vulnerability to pain in order to pursue our passions can be seen as providing support for the idea that fulfillment is indeed a great and distinctive good in life”92 For an activity to contribute to a life of meaning, it not only has to give the individual a sense of fulfillment, which was discussed earlier in the text, but it also have to fall under the category of being a project which is ‘larger than oneself’. Through the article, we can clearly see that Barret finds some sense of meaning and fulfillment in the work she is doing. Barrett’s activist work seems to have a huge impact ethically speaking. The reasons Barrett seem to find meaning and fulfillment in her work, instead of despair and meaninglessness, can be explained by Susan Wolf’s theory on what a meaningful life is. Susan wolf states in her theory, that there are few criterias that have to be met. The criteria’s that she states is taken from her book ‘Meaning in Life and Why It Matters’ is that to live a meaningful life, one has to be engaged in an activity this is ‘larger than oneself’93.

91 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 13, 2010) 92 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p 14, 2010) 93 (Wolf, S., & Koethe, J.,p.18 2010) 44

According to Susan Wolf, the entire idea of doing something that is larger than oneself, is often related to love for either a person, an object or an activity. This means that the action carrying meaning, doesn't depend solely on self-interest or morality, but that the action is connect to something bigger. Through the article, it is clear that Barrett has a strong desire to help and change the current future, which she clearly believes the current world leaders have no intention of. “This concept is so foreign to them that our leaders still act in ways that could cause irreparable damage to youth and generations to come. ”94 In Susan Wolf’s theory on what a meaningful life is, she argues that one has to be active and engaged in projects of worth in order to find meaning. Wolf states that a project of worth is project which has independently value. Climate change can be seen as project which has a clearly independently value and don't lie on the persons itself. Through the article, it is clear that Barret is drawn into this project for the sake of helping others and to save the planet. It gives her project - being an activist - the independent value that Susan Wolf states is important for a meaningful life, which is deeply connected to the commitment we were referring to with Sartre. “Climate change impacts all humans in the way that it puts our main life support - our earth and her resources - at risk of degrading to a point of no return.”95 To conclude, Victoria Barrett has a deep need for meaning. As an american millennials, she have a certain freedom of choice. It allows her to be committed to what she loves, which is the environment and human rights. This freedom of choice and commitment results, according to Sartre, in Barrett living her life ‘authentically’, which is a way to live a meaningful life. Susan Wolf speaks about the ‘fulfilment view’ which is deeply related to the commitment. When Wolf refers to ‘fulfilment’ she means activities, projects or individuals in which people are engaged in and which produces a sensation of fulfilment and compliance, like environmental activism in Barrett’s case . Finally, Susan Wolf gives the idea of the ‘larger than oneself view’ that refers to the fact that individuals can and should be engaged in an activity, not only out of personal interest, but for a greater cause that involves more than just one own. In Barrett’s case this ‘view’ is clearly shown through her engagement in the environment, which is clearly not only a personal interest, but one there is based on the idea of contributing to a greater cause. She is

94 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 95 (Barrett, V., n.d.) 45

trying to open people’s eyes and save the world. Through this analysis it is clear to see that Victoria Barrett is a example of an individual that has found meaning in her life through activism and more specific environmental activism. She shows us that despite the current condition of the Earth and the eco-anxiety that millennials face it is possible to find meaning.

4.2 Reddit Thread

The Reddit96 post with the title “How do you people deal with extreme anxiety over climate change?” is written by a person, that seems to be in the midst of an existential crisis whilst also being eco-anxious. This post will be analysed from the basis of existential crisis, and looking at which existential problems climate change could raise in individuals, but also through Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs to show which stages of the hierarchy a person could be in in order to be able to feel eco-anxious. In addition, looking at eco-anxiety as a concept and making a connection to existential crisis, through this specific post. The author of the post is considered a millennial living in the modern world. We see that in the beginning of the post, where the author writes “I'm 19 years old, living in a mildly polluted Croatian town.”97. Moreover, the author lives in Croatia, which is considered as a somewhat western orientated world. The author is concerned about climate change, however he try to avoid information about the issue, “I've been avoiding news, articles and other sources about the environment for years now.”98 Therefore, it is concluded that this anonymous person is a millennial, from what is described in the terminology in our paper. To analyse this source through the theory of existential crisis, this paper will start by implementing the theory of impotence; this theory should elucidate the more concrete problems concerning eco-anxiety. In the post it is stated that “Nobody knows how to fix these global issues, nobody wants to think about it and I just don't know what to do.”99 Here, the individual makes a statement with implications of the situation of climate change, whilst saying

96Reddit is a social media with anonymous posts, where individuals can write their thoughts and feeling. It is divided into categories called subreddit, with the source this paper uses is under the subreddit climate. 97([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 98([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 99 ([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 46

that the knowledge to solve this problem is non-existent. Here, the indications of impotence is extremely present because of the author thinking that the problem is too large a scale to be solved. What can be understood by this, is that we no longer have a grip of control, and we don't have any power to prevent the extreme environmental changes. Bendtsen’s theory of impotence would argue, that we have a need for control, even over things as the climate; and in this case, that need is not fulfilled. The person really states their perception of the subject with the use of the word “Nobody”, here is meant the humanity as a whole. Therefore, we can conclude this person has no trust in humanity to have current control over the problem of climate change, which is the impotence. This impotence, if not accepted, is highly likely to lead to anxiety on an existential level, because of the problems the individual faces. The idea, that humans have a need for power and control over situations, will in addition, mean that it will lead to some consequences if not achieved. This consequence is the feeling of being threatened or a fear of something, which can be directly explained as anxiety. A part of the anxiety that the author of this Reddit post faces, is from the impotence, because it is a fear of a complex object. It is not easy to perceive as a human being. The abstract object, that is feared, is the climate change and the powerlessness over it. This makes climate change and this exact impotence about climate change an object that leads a human being to anxiety in a existential sense. A different way to understand it, would be analysing the post with the optics of existential meaninglessness, as how it would be viewed in the context of absurdism and nihilism. These two concepts of life, is used to understand the person and the situation the person is in. The author has problems finding existential meaning, which creates this crisis in the context of the climate change. Therefore, this paper will try to figure out how a crisis concerning meaninglessness is being shown in this individual, through the concepts of nihilism and absurdism. The nihilistic tendencies can be seen in the author, by the way that they ask questions about a way to live, whilst only seeing meaninglessness as they search for answers. “I just don't know what to do, whom to turn to.”100 This sentence gives a ‘sense’ of panic and a search for answers, or someone who has the answers. The reason he doesn't know what the meaning

100 ([Deleted User] Reddit post. 2016) 47

could be is because of nihilism. How he perceives the world is with the lack of an objective truth, which is a concept that nihilism agrees with. If the author of the post was religious, one would might think that there is an objective truth and that this objective truth is already known. A religious person would act out of virtue, with the focus on God, as being the one controlling the climate and the lives of individuals. But when one is not basing their acts with a God in mind, they act out with no objective meaning. The author sympathize with what is described in this condition and is searching for a subjective meaning, that they think others in the Reddit community might have the answer to. Therefore, the writer of the post seem to be living in a nihilistic world, with the awareness of being in one, that has no objective truth and must find his own meaning to deal with this existential crisis. This person's situation can, in addition, be seen in the eyes of absurdism, in connection with the, already established, nihilism as a premise. The author writes “I've been avoiding news, articles and other sources about the environment for years now, but this morning I gave into my curiosity…”101 The statement the writer explains can be directly compared to when Camus refers to the working man, “But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.”102 It is shown in both quotations that tragedy comes from consciousness, and the writer is well aware of that. The author is aware that when getting more knowledge about climate change, they will see the tragedy surrounding it; in addition the author’s world starts to seem more absurd. If we assume Camus is correct, then the writer is living the same kind of life as Sisyphus. Furthermore, the person already sees that there is no objective meaning, the person might also discover even further that life is absurd and completely meaningless. Therefore, the absurd situation that the author is situated in gives the them a stronger feeling of his existential crisis, especially when investigating the writers existential situation further. The writer's existential anxiety is connected to their sense of meaninglessness, because of their lack of meaning in life is threatening. The anxiety the writer is experiencing is presented as a context of existential meaninglessness. This paper offers the possibility of the individual as someone that has problems in finding meaning, through the understanding the concept of nihilism. That people are searching for a subjective meaning in life, because they have accepted there is not an objective alternative. In addition, this project analyse the individual

101 ([Deleted User] Reddit Post. 2016) 102 (Camus, A., & O'Brien J., ch.The myth of sisyphus, 1991) 48

and its situation, and them being aware of the absurd situation of complete meaninglessness. With the person not visibly indicating of accepting the absurd life, however understanding that discovering this would put the writer in more of an existential crisis. Putting this together, a connection to a sense of existential anxiety, can be found, because of the two factors. The reason for anxiety is the complicated fear that the author is experiencing, and the lack of coherence and meaning which is also in connection. The fear is coming from the existential meaninglessness, because it gives the author nothing certain and lack of control over his life. If the author would find a subjective meaning or believe in an objective one, the coherence and control over their life would be much greater. With that in mind, the reason why anxiety is difficult to deal with, is because one have to understand this abstract concept of existential crisis. The writer understands the problems with eco-anxiety, but not on an existential level. This makes the situation as a whole very complicated and abstract, in addition of being very threatening, which creates anxiety. On the other hand, the situation of the author can be discussed from the perspective of the Abraham Maslow’s theory about the hierarchy of needs. Starting from the beginning of the post, knowing that the author has the opportunity and resources to express themselves through a Reddit post on the internet, tells us that they have the first two stages of the hierarchy fulfilled. That being the basic physiological and safety needs such as a property, food and resources. The author also mentions that he has a family, which is also a part of the basic needs being fulfilled. Stage three is where the author’s needs are not met. That being ‘Love and belonging’ including friendships, romantic relationships, sexual intimacy: “I have some typical problems as well, such as loneliness, romantic frustrations and lack of friends.”103 We can see that is a major problem for the author as they also mentions that they are “desperate for emotional contact, verbal contact, physical contact, human contact.”104 Not being able to fulfill those needs means that there is a problem in the stage prior. The eco-anxiety makes them doubt their safety. The cause of that being the fear of the climate change ending their and their loved one’s lives. “I want to spend some time with them while our society still exists.”105 Having

103 ([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 104 ([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 105 ([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 49

those fears is affecting the quality of the author’s life and is preventing them from being rested, giving them the traits of an existential crisis. In conclusion, this individual is experiencing existential anxiety in connection to climate change and eco-anxiety, because existential crisis through impotence over the situation of climate change and through feeling existential meaninglessness. These two factors have an overwhelming power and control over the author, because it creates less coherence, less feeling of control and power, which threaten the author.

4.3 Comparative Analysis

This chapter seeks to confront the two analysis in order to draw a better understanding of the results. The two millennials have a lot of differences. The way both millennials deal with climate change is completely opposite. However, if we are taking a closer look we can also spot similarities between them. The comparative analysis will primarily focus on differences and similarities, after which the implications of the two authors will be discussed in order to get a better understanding of what eco-anxiety generate for both millennials and how they handle it. Victoria Barrett and the anonymous person who wrote the reddit post both seem deeply concerned about climate change - millennials express fear of the irreversible consequences global warming can leave on Earth. More specifically, Victoria Barrett highlighted how the natural disasters caused by global warming can influence the diverse communities living in disaster-prone areas. Whereas, the anonymous person is seriously frightened of the increasing danger of climate change and how it can destroy Earth’s ecology and all of humanity. The concern about global warming is not the only similarity both millennials have in common. Barrett and the author of the Reddit post want to understand the world and referring to Bendtsen’s theory have the need for power and control over climate. Therefore, Barrett takes actions and is engaged in solving the issue, however, the anonymous author suffers from anxiety, because he is feeling impotent. Victoria Barrett is certain that her impact on preventing the issue still matters whereas the author of the reddit post thought that humans are too ignorant about the issue anyways. Since Barrett and the anonymous person are both living in the modern societies they have the freedom to choose whether to make an impact through

sustainable living choices or give up the fight for a ‘green’ world. The biggest difference is seen in the actions both millennials undertake to tone down the problem and apprehension. The two distinctive reactions to global warming therefore influence their path to a meaningful life. Victoria Barrett chose to be an activist and stand for her beliefs. Barrett is pursuing an ambitious plans to stop the environmental crisis and have created a purpose for her existence through being an activist. According to Susan Wolf, Barrett is doing something bigger than herself by being actively engaged in preventing one of the biggest world problems that influence all 7.7 billion people living on planet Earth. The completely opposite attitude can be observed in the analysis of the Reddit post. The anonymous person admits his anxiety is caused by global warming and the lack of power to change the situation. He chose to avoid surrounding himself with the information about the global warming for years, because the combination of threatening news about the issue and the impotence he was feeling stepped up the struggle with his possible eco-anxiety. According to the theory of eco-anxiety, he also shows the symptoms of eco-paralysis, because the feeling of impotence is leading him to disengagement in solving the problem. He was concerned about the issue, but he did not choose to become an activist or change his habits to make an impact. When the author wrote, "For a long time I've had unwanted thoughts about this sort of thing (at certain times almost everything I saw, felt or did triggered a dire thought about climate change or something similar)", he is certainly proving that disengagement and avoidance will not solve the anxiety. If the reddit post author would have a similar attitude as Barrett has, he would probably overcome his possible eco-anxiety. Barrett demonstrated that doing the best one can to make an impact is a way to deal with the possible eco-anxiety and negative emotions followed by it. Victoria Barrett and the anonymous author of the Reddit post both encountered emotional burden caused by the same issue, but used two completely distinctive methods to cope with it. The methods could be further described as internal and external. For instance, the anonymous person tried to solve the emotional cluster by practising meditation to release his anxiety. The author felt too impotent to change the large scale problem, but at least he has enough power to change the way he reacts to the environmental crisis. He wrote: “I've tried meditating, a few times it made me feel relief, but I can't be concentrated on meditation for too

long”106, which means that the author can use meditation to escape the problem for a short period of time, but not end the general anxiety, because global warming will still continue to be a present issue. On the other hand, Barrett approached a very external way to cope with the concern about the climate change by becoming a committed activist. Barrett is doing the best an individual can to prevent the increasing threat of global warming. She is using her voice to spread the word and inspire others as well as taking actions to fight for a more sustainable world. Victoria Barrett is truly an uncommon millennial and she has found an effective way how to cope with the emotional obstacles and make her life meaningful. The author of the Reddit post continued to neglect the issue and tried to change his emotional reaction to it by internal practise, however Barrett turned to external approach by being the change and believing in a more positive future of the planet Earth. To compare the analyses further, we can contradict two philosophical theories. The theory of absurdism and the theory of Susan Wolf highlight the difference how the meaning of life can be possibly influenced for both millennials after practicing the internal and external methods. The anonymous person is deeply worried about the climate change but suffers from impotence and fear of something that is beyond his ability to control. The author wants to solve the problem but the feeling of powerlessness makes him avoid the topic to reduce his anxiety. The more he knows about the danger of the climate change, the more the whole world starts to look like an absurd and meaningless tragedy. However, the opposite can also be seen when Barrett’s practicing her external method to deal with the climate crisis. Victoria Barrett can be used as an example to comprehend Wolfe’s advice to a meaningful life. To summarize: the comparative analysis between Victoria Barrett and the author of the Reddit post brings to light a common concern about climate change. The author of the reddit post is possibly suffering from eco-anxiety and eco-paralysis which could further develop into an existential crisis and absurdism. With the help of internal methods the author was trying to deal with his anxiety, but it did not help. However, Victoria Barratt found her life meaningful by being an activist and doing something bigger than herself. Climate change can indeed lead an individual to an existential crisis, but on the other hand, the issue can be the starting point for a more meaningful existence. The two analyses can be a great example on how one problem and

106 ([Deleted User]. Reddit post 2016) 52

two completely different approaches to it, can lead people to a fulfilled and meaningful life or complete existential crisis. It depends on what way an individual choose to solve the problem. However, the results of internal and external methods are deeply personal and the outcome can vary depending on everyone’s inner response to them.

5. Discussion

The discussion chapter of this paper will attempt to answer the following question: “How can millennials deal with the existential crisis they experience as a result of eco-anxiety?” In order to explore this question, the discussion presents some ideas on possible solutions, and looks at them in conjunction with the theories and terminologies that have already been established, in an attempt to figure out to what extend the solutions would be useful. In this part of the project, we have divided the discussion into three main categories; Internal solutions, Activism and Neglect. Under each category is one or more possible solutions presented as well as discussed. These three categories have been chosen in order to get a well- rounded discussion from multiple perspectives and thus increasing the possibilities of reaching solutions for more than one type of people. It is stated in these categories that not all the solutions are suited for everybody and therefore a wider range of possibilities are presented in these categories. We are also aware that some of our solutions have pros and cons and those are presented to our best abilities as well.

5.1 Internal solutions

5.1.1 Meditation/yoga

Meditation and yoga are two possible solutions that could help people overcome their anxiety. According to an article on Psychology Today, mindfulness meditation has long been known as an antidote for anxiety. 107 Meditation and yoga are often used as methods for relaxation and to create inner peace. Therefore, one could imagine that this peace can calm anxieties, at least while in the process of meditating or practicing yoga. The article then explains exactly how meditation reduces anxiety through what is described as emotional responses and regulations, “Anxiety is a cognitive state connected to an inability to regulate your emotional responses to perceived threats. Mindfulness meditation strengthens a person’s cognitive ability

107 (Bergland, C., 2013) 54

to regulate emotions. Although we've known that meditation can reduce anxiety, we hadn't identified the specific brain mechanisms involved in relieving anxiety in healthy individuals”, said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., postdoctoral research fellow in neurobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study.108 This means, according to D. Fadel Zeidan that anxiety is cause by the inability to regulate emotional responses and it is through mindfulness meditation that people can strengthen that ability. However, it is arguably only a temporary solution, an escape gate that allows you to suppress your anxiety in that moment and it is not guaranteed that it is a valid solution for everyone. As mentioned in the Reddit post used in the analysis, the author stated, “I've tried meditating, a few times it made me feel relief, but I can't be concentrated on meditation for too long.”109. Since it is impossible for many people to practice meditation or yoga for an excessive amount of time on a daily basis, this solution might not be one that would work for many people. According to a blog post on ‘Zenfulspirit’, the key for using meditation to help with anxiety in the long run and not just as a temporary in-the- moment solution, is to practice the art of meditation regularly and even daily.110 If it is required that practicing meditation daily, in order for it to be useful, that means that it is incredibly time consuming and requires a lot of energy. In this case, it might be considered more than a hobby and meditation should be an essential part of your lifestyle. Therefore, in order for meditation and yoga to be percepted as a long-term solution, one must find a way to obtain fulfillment alone from meditation or yoga. This creates a connection to the Susan Wolf view ‘The fulfillment View’. As mentioned in the Susan Wolf theory part above, the fulfillment view can give people the feeling of meaning through a project or a passion in life. Therefore, if meditation or yoga becomes something that could fall into either of those categories, then Susan Wolf would argue that obtaining meaning through overcoming anxiety is possible. However, this means that it is necessary to consider meditation or yoga as a passion or a lifestyle which again means that dedicating a tremendous amount of time is required. In conclusion, if meditation or yoga could be a possible solution for overcoming anxiety and finding meaning in life, one would have to prioritize it as either passion in life or a lifestyle, which for many could be too time-consuming.

108 (Bergland, C., 2013) 109 ([Deleted User] Reddit post. 2016) 110 (Patel, D. 2017) 55

5.1.2 Living Authentically

According to existentialism, living authentically means that their actions are driven by what they find meaningful. It is therefore possible to argue that living an authentic life alone is reason enough to live a meaningful life. Existentialists would argue that if someone is coping with eco-anxiety, then whatever action they make in order to overcome or deal with it, must be authentic. No matter if it is ignoring their anxiety, becoming an activist or seeking professional psychological help. By doing what seems more helpful or meaningful for them would be the most fulfilling way according to this perspective. On the other hand, if they don't take it for granted that meaningful action equals to a general meaning in life, this perspective might not solve the problem of eco-anxiety. Even though they might make their decisions according to what they find meaningful, it is easy to argue that those decisions may not contribute to making themselves feel meaningful nor solve their problems. For example, imagine that persons who is dealing with severe eco-anxiety and completely isolate themselves in their room. They refuse to talk to anyone about their anxiety or seeking professional help. These actions are completely authentic in the sense that nobody have interfered nor told them what to do. The persons made those decision by themselves. Even though the persons might have made undeniable authentic decisions, it is difficult to argue that the decisions contributes to help coping with their eco-anxiety or finding meaning in their lives. If authentic decisions would classified as a beneficial solution, then the authentic decision would have to be aimed towards that. If the person decided to open the door to their room, sit down and talk to whomever they feel comfortable being vulnerable with, the decisions would still be authentic and arguably have a bigger chance of solving their problems. The key for living authentically and making authentic decision for beneficial outcomes, is the feeling of self-empowerment. In short, living authentically may contribute to coping with and overcome anxiety and finding meaning in life but those authentic decisions have to be aimed towards solving

problems. It is arguably only then, that you gain the feeling of actually helping yourself and self- empowerment of doing so.

5.1.3 Eco-Friendly Behavior

Self-empowerment comes in many different ways and for people who are dealing with eco-anxiety, small changes in their lives might give them the encouragement they need to make themselves feel important. By doing small things for the climate in your daily life, that make you feel like you are contributing with solving climate change might help them feel meaningful even in the big picture. Small manageable things like recycling, buying organic products and eating less meat, may for many people feel like they are ‘doing their part’. Those small actions and successes are one way of dealing with eco-anxiety. In this case, it is possible to apply what Susan Wolf describes in her book as how one obtain meaning through happiness or morality. One one hand, Susan wolf mentions in her book that people can find meaning by pursuing their own happiness. By this, your actions may or may not be out of selfish or egoistic reasons but it is easy to argue that people can find happiness despite suffering from eco-anxiety by taking small actions in their lives that helps the environment. They might feel happiness from the small achievements they manage to do in their daily lives. Of course, it means that the people are already accepting that they are eco-anxious and they are already in the process of approaching their problems in the hopes of solving it. It is important to note that the reason of their actions are because they are seeking their own happiness and dealing with their anxiety. From this perspective, finding meaning in life depends on what would make them feel most happy about their decisions. In this case, people who are dealing with eco-anxiety are including small eco-friendly actions in their daily lives because they feel more content doing so that not. On the contrary, this perspective could also mean that for some people, not prioritizing to save the environment and dealing with their anxiety, would would make their lives more meaningful if it makes them more happy. On the other hand, Susan Wolf mentions that people can find meaning in their lives by taking actions in the name of justice and by making decisions according to what they think is

morally right. With this perspective, it is possible to argue that people are changing their behavior to be more eco-friendly out of moral reasons. They might feel like they have a moral duty to approach this problem with small actions that makes them feel like they are doing ‘their part’. This might also help them with their eco-anxiety because they can become their own ‘small-time heroes’.

5.1.4 Accepting The Absurdity in Eco-Anxiety

In the context of millennials suffering from eco-anxiety, one could also look at it, as if they are experiencing philosophical issues, which could be further described as an existential crisis. As mentioned in the theory chapter, the issue of existential crisis can be understood through the feeling of impotence and meaninglessness. This is also directly interconnected to existential anxiety. All of these factors are connected, as causes or consequences, to eco-anxiety. According to Albert Camus, one thing that could be viewed as a solution, is suicide. Either physical or philosophical suicide. If looking at this from the perspective of Camus, there are a couple of things to take into consideration. Firstly, when committing physical suicide, Camus assumes one is not thinking rational and logical. Suffering from eco-anxiety in addition to existential anxiety, might lead a person to thinking physical suicide is the only solution.111 This is something the author of the previously analysed reddit post could be considering, since it might be seen as an easy solution, when not being able to find another one. However, Camus would probably advise against this, arguing that in order to properly face the problem, one should act out of rationality and logic. From this perspective, physical suicide is an act of ignorance towards the problem of climate change. In other words, the climate situation remains a problem, even though the individual is removed from the equation. As stated in the theory chapter, from the perspective of Camus, philosophical suicide is almost the same as physical suicide. With philosophical suicide you ignore the logic and rationality of the problem, on the same basis as physical suicide. These actions might be viewed

111 An issue here would also be the feeling of impotence of the climate situation, here the lack of control/power is a big factor, that comes in mind when thinking about physical suicide. 58

as neglecting the problem112. While this idea of Camus’ also borders on the topic of religion possibly ignoring the rationality and logic of the problem, it is a topic that is extremely large one in and of itself. The short version is that methods of ignorance should be disregarded as solutions to eco-anxiety. An alternative solution would be to accept the absurdity of climate change, rather than ignore it. According to Camus, an individual could instead accept climate change as an absurd situation113. When an individual accepts a situation as absurd, one would find that dwelling about the situation becomes non-productive. Camus would argue that when doing this, one would stop worrying and becoming anxious. In addition, Camus believes that your anxiety would disappear, if one stops trying to find the coherence of it and instead accept that it is meaningless. By removing the factor of anxiety, other negative consequences would pass away, as long as the person in question keeps accepting the absurd. This concept should be understood, as people still believe in climate change. However, one shouldn't engage in meaningful activities and find existential meaning through solving climate change, instead they should accept the absurd and then eco-anxiety would never be a problem. Another way to handle eco-anxiety, could also be through activism.

5.2 Eco-Activism

Earlier in the paper, the difference between two millennials have been explored. As viewed from the perspective of Erik Bendtsen’s theory, they both have an urge to find meaning in life,. The first millennial, an activist called Victoria Barrett, have found meaning through her work. The anonymous reddit poster on the other hand, is an example of the exact opposite. This is a person who lacks existential meaning, and is experiencing helplessness. Both of these examples originate from the same problem: Climate change. Climate change is not only a genuine crisis, but also poses as an existential threat for many millennials. It requires that they take some sort of action. This section will focus on how ‘activism’ can be used as a stepping

112 The idea of neglecting the problem of climate change to bypass eco-anxiety, will be delved more deeply into further down in the discussion. 113 This also relates to the idea of Sisyphus being an ‘absurd hero’ 59

stone for millennials to handle this existential crisis and lead them on a path where life has meaning, instead of eco-paralyzation. Earlier in the paper we analysed how and why activism can be seen as a project, that is worth engaging in to find meaning in life through Susan Wolf’s theory on the meaning in life and why it matters. The criterias such as the ‘Fulfillment view’ and ‘Larger than oneself view’ of Wolf’s theory, is essential for living a meaningful life, and as illustrated in the analyses, these criterias are met through activism, which implies that activism can be used as a medium to find meaning in life. For activism and in this case environmental activism, to actually function as a source for finding meaning, it could be argued that the existential crisis has to originate from the environment, and more specifically, climate changes. Most of the people that are engaged in eco activism have a strong desire to help save the planet. This motive is probably what gives them the fulfillment of human needs. As explained by Bendtsen, every human being has need for orientation: a need of needs. This need is what drives us to create an understanding of our surroundings and create some sort of meaning. Existential crisis which is caused by eco-anxiety will develop this need for meaning which can, in this case, be solved through activism. When people have this need for meaning they want to give meaning to what surrounds them, they don't want to stay a simple spectator of what is happening. And in the case of the paper, this need will be focused on the climate change. The easiest way to fulfill this need for meaning would be to become an activist, since it will allows you to have a better understanding of what is happening around you and become an actor instead of a simple spectator. Being an activist will help you get rid of the eco- anxiety and therefore help you to find meaning in life as we'll be mentioning later. Being an activist seems to be a method that creates meaning in life as proven through various theories. It is an activity which is larger than oneself and creates fulfillment. It also satisfies the need for orientation and gives the individual a purpose/need. But if it is such a great and meaningful course, why do all individuals who lack meaning not adopt this strategy and become activists? Well arguably, finding meaning in general is not so easy, which could be why the philosophical question of the meaning of life, has been left unanswered for so long. As Wolf stated, it has to be an activity of love - which then leads to fulfillment. The reason eco activism seems to work for some individuals, is because it is exactly that - an act of love. This is also what makes it so hard to find a project in which you can truly invest yourself,

and why being an activist is such a personal solution in general, but can be a good solution for people suffering from existential crisis generated by climate change. Another aspect of activism that isn’t linked to Susan Wolf, but has a stronger connection to the millennials, is what the eco activist Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez does. He talks about the power you get from being a activist “When people come up to me, especially young people, and say, You’ve inspired me to do these things, and to make these changes, that’s like, Damn, my voice has that power? And to see that I’m making that difference inspires me to continue to touch other people’s lives and to try to make a difference in even bigger ways. “114 This also illustrates that as an activist one doesn't necessarily have to see the fruit of the effort, but the impact creates enough fulfillment and proudness. The fact that you can have this power through activism make you realize that you have power, you do exist in some ways. As explained in the existential crisis theory, it could help you as an activist to erase the feeling of impotence, this feeling of not having control over a situation. If you realize the power that you have, even as a young millennial you realize that you have some sort of control over the situation and it is up to you to decide to try to make changes, or not. It can even be argued that environmental activism is going to be an even greater source for generating meaning in the millennials, as it is a cause that unites an generation across the world. Even though participating in the debate or acting on climate change seems to be a solution for some individuals, it is not certain that it would work the same way for everyone. The reddit post, previously analysed, is a great example of this. The topic of refusing to participate in this area, will be further discussed in the following segment.

5.3 Neglect

While it may be a very controversial way to deal with the effects of eco-anxiety, some people might also see neglect as a solution. This can manifest in a lot of different ways, but for the most time, they can be categorized under Absurdism and Denial. The idea being, that absurdism refers to the

114 (Martinez, X., 2017) 61

people that believe that climate change is true, yet they also believe trying to solve it is a completely hopeless endeavour. Denial on the other hand, would refer to the people that straight out don't believe in climate change. This segment will mainly revolve around the people that decide to neglect the effects of climate change, and decide to try and find meaning in life while navigating around the problem of eco-anxiety.

‘Absurdist’ could easily refer to the people that have lost all hope in saving the environment. Or maybe even to just try and slow down the effects of climate change. Now, first of all these people carrying opinions of hopelessness around them may very well already be suffering from eco-anxiety, and their nihilistic tendencies may just be a reaction to the overwhelming feelings they encounter through this condition. And more importantly, are there any ways to reach a point where you feel like your life has meaning, if you’re suffering from eco-anxiety, and you don't think the environment can be saved? Well, arguably, you would still be able to find purpose and meaning in your life115, though it would probably be difficult to find meaning through activism, a solution the previous segment have already mentioned. It seems quite clear that it is possible for some people to find meaning in their lives through activism. You may even argue that activists can find that their job gives them meaning even though they don't directly see the fruit of their efforts. This may be because they still believe that they’re making an impact, however tiny and obscure it may be. But if an individual found the efforts applied against climate change completely absurd, would they still be able to find meaning in their life through activist work? If we utilize Susan Wolf’s ‘larger than yourself’ view, then that would be quite difficult. Presumably the cause greater than oneself is the idea of saving the environment. If that seems absurd to an individual, it would be quite difficult to find meaning. In order to do this, they would probably have to do it through Albert Camus’ method, as presented in the ‘internal solutions’ segment. Another so-called solution to the problem could be the one to be presented below; Denial.

One way to bypass the obstacle of eco-anxiety could be denial. This group encompasses the people that refuse to face the problems produced by climate change. It could be that they either don't believe that climate change is as bad as people say it is, or maybe they do believe in it, but they just sweep it under the rug. As great example of people in denial about climate change could be the american population, since only 48% of them believe that climate change is caused by human activity, according to a study by

115 As mentioned in the chapter 5.1.4 62

the Pew Research Center in 2016.116 And while finding out how this can possibly be true is not the goal of this project, it may be worth mentioning how it may just be another side-effect of our technological development. As mentioned in the terminology on millennials, living in an age where knowledge is always at the tip of your finger can be extremely educating. Though, maybe we should keep in mind, that the internet doesn't take into account whether or not this knowledge is actually true. When determining whether or not this can be considered a solution, the internet is a very important factor to count in. Not only, can people decide what information they want to listen to, the internet also connects us all. This means that almost no matter what kind of person you are, or how controversial an opinion you hold, you can theoretically always find a similar person with the same opinion. This can lead to people enforcing each other’s opinions, which in turn means that they may become even more resilient when confronted with opposing information or arguments. If this happens, and a person manages to be fully convinced that climate change is not a problem, or is not their responsibility to fix, then it can't be claimed with certainty, that they would not be able to live a happy and blissful life, with no fear of climate change. A factor that may also be relevant to point out that many of these people consciously choose to neglect believing in climate change, or simply prioritize something different, because they don't believe it will affect them in their lifetime, since it is a psychologically distant threat. As ‘The Verge’ delicately puts it: “If I have to worry about paying my hospital bills, I’m less concerned about melting sea ice in the Arctic.”117 While this attitude is quite alarming regardless of who says it, it may be even more dangerous, if it is one mostly adopted by the older generations. Cause while focusing on more imminent problems may let the older generations bypass the obstacle of eco-anxiety, you could also argue that it is significantly worsening the conditions of millennials or other young generations suffering from eco- anxiety. Again, this can be attributed to their lack of political power, since the oldest millennials by now are about 37 years old, and that many positions of political power is presumably held mostly by people by some of the older generations. This would mean that if millennials wanted the government to act on climate change, they would first have to persuade many of the politicians that it is even an actual threat. But can the denial that these people show towards climate change truly be used as a way to bypass eco-anxiety? If we take another look at the reddit post on earlier analysed “How do you people deal with extreme anxiety over climate change?”, it seems clear that the user that wrote this post back in 2016, clearly suffered from eco-anxiety. Though, the more important point is this: neglecting the problem did not help them get over their eco-anxiety.“I've been avoiding news, articles and other

116 (Funk, C., & Kennedy, B., 2016) 117 (Potenza, A. 2018) 63

sources about the environment for years now, but this morning I gave into my curiosity and decided to check out multiple posts on subreddits such as r/climate, r/environment, etc. Needless to say, it left me extremely depressed, frightened and anxious.”118 This is first and foremost a basic example of eco-anxiety, and how it is making it more difficult for people to make their life more purposeful. Because of their eco-anxiety, it seems, this person decided to avoid news on climate changes, presumably because they knew that it would trigger their eco-anxiety. But does that mean that they can find meaning in their life while also running away from their condition? Now, this probably depends on the specific person, and how severe an anxiety they can encounter through climate changes. If they can truly forget about climate change, they may be able to find a meaning in ignorance. However, climate change is becoming more and more of a pressing matter, and at one point, it seems safe to assume that it will also start affecting the developed world on a larger scale. So trying to ignore climate change sounds like a short term solution, and even if it is effective, it seems the growing threat of the environment will eventually make it impossible to ignore the problem. Here, it is also relevant to highlight the argument, that this solution may be viewing the entire problem of eco-anxiety wrongly. As earlier described in the problem area of this project, eco-anxiety can be viewed as an obstacle on the path to meaning. In this model, in order to make your life meaningful, you have to get around eco-anxiety in some way. In other words, ignoring the obstacle and actively trying to forget that it is even there will not help you get past it. Instead you can expect to walk into it repeatedly, without ever getting past it, not unlike absurdity illustrated in the myth of sisyphus pushing his rock up the mountain, only to have it roll all the way back down, for all eternity. In other words, you’d simply be stalling yourself. Though, keep in mind that this way to view the problem is still very much simplified as well as subjective.

118 ([Deleted User], Reddit post 2016) 64

5.4 Project Findings

5.4.1 Analysis Findings

We analysed two distinctive ways how millennials cope with eco-anxiety and the analyses resulted in two drastically different outcomes. Millennials practised internal and external methods to handle the negative emotions caused by climate change and both practises influenced the general perception of the meaning of life. The analyses of the anonymous reddit poster presented an internal method to resolve the eco-anxiety by meditating and neglecting climate change. The individual encountered panic and fear of the unknown because he was too concerned about the future of the Earth. To escape the depressive state of mind he decided to evade information about global warming, because he felt too impotent to solve the large-scale problem. However, neglecting the global problem did not help him to cope with the eco-anxiety. In fact, the reddit poster was showing signs of existential crisis. The more informed about the threat of climate change he was, the more tragic the whole world started to seem, but on the other hand, avoiding the issue and giving up all the hopes to save the environment can possibly result in an absurd life. Impotence can make it even worse, because insignificance can lead the millennial to question the meaning of life. However, Victoria Barrett presented an external way to cope with global warming - she created her life meaningful by being an activist. Barrett is actively engaged in solving the climate change and by not giving up on the issue she inspires people to practice sustainable living. By trying to solve one of the biggest issues that affects all the living world, Victoria Barrett puts herself in the second place and pursuits a goal that is much bigger than herself. Through Susan Wolf’s theories, you could interpret that she was acting out of love. A love for the world, nature and humanity. Victoria Barrett did not let the global problem affect her inner peace. She found her meaning in life through the problem. From both analysis we learned that doing as much as oneself can to make an impact is an effective way how to handle eco-anxiety. The feeling of being a solution rather than cause

for the problem is positive. Even if believing that the results of an individual’s actions make a difference might be hard sometimes, neglecting the issue will help to solve the problem.

Discussion Findings

Personal or internal solutions are focused on how people can deal with eco-anxiety themselves and find meaning in life through through dealing with their crisis. Furthermore, meditation or practicing yoga are solutions presented in this project. Even though, it is arguably only a temporary solution unless it is practiced daily and considered more than a hobby and more like a part of your lifestyle, it is not guaranteed that it is a valid solution for everyone. Another solution would be living authentically, as existentialists would argue that living an authentic life, makes life meaningful enough in itself. It is through an authentic life that one’s own values are represented by their actions and what seems more helpful or meaningful for them would be the most fulfilling. However, even though the actions are based on authentic decisions, it might not necessarily mean that the decisions contributes to coping with their eco- anxiety or finding meaning in their lives. In order for authentic decisions to be able to solve one’s problems, the authentic decisions and mindset would have to be aimed towards solving the problems. On a different note, you can try being more eco-friendly, but while this might help you cope with your eco-anxiety, it will not necessarily add more meaning to your life. By doing small things for the climate in one’s daily life and contributing with solving climate change, one may feel more meaningful in the bigger picture. They might feel happiness from the small achievements they manage to do in their daily lives but that happiness could easily be obtained by ignorance or neglect. The goal here is not to solve your problems, but it could just as easily be to prevent oneself from existential crisis or anxiety, by not dealing with it. From this perspective, finding meaning in life depends on what would make them feel most happy about their decisions. Unlike seeking one’s own happiness, another way for people to deal with eco- anxiety and finding meaning is out of moral reasons. They might feel like they have a moral duty to approach this problem with small actions that makes them feel like they are doing ‘their part’.

While Internal solutions might be one way to deal with eco-anxiety and finding meaning in life, this paper also focused on the solutions presented by Susan Wolf and how activism and specifically environmental activism. This solution as discussed earlier can be a great solution for some people, as it as project which is current, urgent and connected to a larger group. The whole aspect of activism is working for a course in which you believe you can make a difference and contribute to a project which is bigger than yourself, this is an important aspect if you wanna find meaning in life through the philosophy presented by Susan Wolf. For activism to work as a resource or a stepping stone to generate meaning in life, the mentality of the individuals dealing with it has to correspond with the pressure created by the world's current status. They have to accept and still believe that they can make a difference and that it is still salvageable. Instead of directly solving or handling eco-anxiety, some of the people may see it as a solution to neglect climate change and through that, avoid eco-anxiety. This may be because that feel hopeless about saving the environment, find it more difficult to deal with their eco- anxiety. And while working in activism could normally be seen as a solution for people suffering from this condition, people that see the movement as absurd, would probably not find it fitting. Nor would it help them find meaning in life. One solution that maybe would work, is the internal solutions. These solutions don't require you to necessarily try and work towards solving the problem. Instead, it focuses on the individual being able to accept and handle the feeling that may pose as a problem. This can, for example be done through things like yoga and meditation. Another thing that might be seen as a solution could be simple denial of the problem. You could either decide that climate is not an actual problem, or that it is a problem, but that it is not your responsibility to solve it. This can lead to a couple of different outcomes. One outcome, is that you can feel good about this decision for a while, mostly because modern media is almost equally good at spreading false information, as it is at spreading true information. This way of connecting people means that almost any person can find others with the same viewpoints, and they will have the ability to enforce each others’ opinions. This could

make it really difficult to persuade such a person that they are wrong, letting them fully avoid eco-anxiety, even though the climate may clearly be affecting the environment around them. Another one is that you can be in denial of climate change for a while. However since the effects of climate change is worsening, in terms of floods, hurricanes and extreme weather, at one point, it might become difficult to ignore the problem. If this leads to the person suddenly realizing that they were wrong about climate change all along, it would not be difficult to imagine, how this could lead to a quite severe case of eco-anxiety. If this is the viewpoint of politicians, it might make millennials even more eco-anxious, because it makes it harder for them to affect the environment politically.

Evaluation of the Findings

Throughout the project we seeked to answer the problem of how millennials find meaning in their life, while also dealing with the consequences of eco-anxiety. In the end, we managed to answer this to some extent. There has been given numerous examples not only for the methods millennials already use to deal with it, but we may also have presented some and alternative ways to solve the problem. However, in terms of applying all of these ideas and perspectives to real life, it is important to remember that most of this is only hypotheticals. On top of that, this paper may have given the impression that eco-anxiety is the only problem between millennials and the meaning of life. In many, if not most cases, this is false. Simply bypassing, accepting or otherwise dealing with one’s eco-anxiety will not necessarily lead to a meaningful life, and there may be many more unrelated problems in life, that one will also have to overcome.

Further Research

Throughout the project we also encountered a couple of topics that we either deliberately decided not to fully include in the project, or in other cases we uncovered them so late in the process, that it would be difficult to implement them. However, if we had more time, or the focus of the project had been slightly shifted, some of the following things could very possibly have been implemented. An example of this is the contrast between some of the main theories and their views on how to find a meaningful life. How would the solution raised by Albert Camus of accepting the absurd compare with Susan Wolf and her theory of finding meaning in life in the modern world? These two theories speak very much against each other. On one side we have Albert Camus, who comes up with a solution on accepting life as meaningless. On the other side, Susan Wolf and her theory, which is raising a solution where an individual should find their own meaning and fulfillment. Susan Wolf’s theory has been applied to the work of activism, and more specifically to the eco activism by Victoria Barrett. There’s a clear coherence between the two. The theory of Camus speaks against Victoria Barrett and her engagement as an activist. Barrett has not accepted the absurd situation, which would be seen by Camus as non-heroic. Barrett should accept the situation and not believe there is meaning in what she does, in addition, she shouldn't be considered an absurd hero. This theory should be considered highly critical, even when taking the premise, that accepting the absurd is the only solution to eco-anxiety, according to Camus. When accepting a situation of climate change, the individual loses all motivation for changing the current status quo. Accepting the absurd situation of climate change might be a solution to eco-anxiety and the existential crisis it brings, but with that conclusion comes other more practical problems of life such as no motive to fight climate change. But which of the solutions is most valuable in the modern society where climate change poses a real threat to humanity? When accepting Camus and accepting the absurd situation of climate change as a solution to eco-anxiety, one might bring up another problem. The motivation to fight climate change. Therefore, with accepting the absurd as a solution, the problem of not fighting climate change arise. On the other hand Susan Wolf’s theory on how to

find meaning in life through a grand project - a project of worth which is larger than oneself. In the case presented in the paper, the theory is applied to environmental activism, and in that case the whole situation that arises with Camus, is not a problem if Wolf’s theory is applied to eco-activism. Another topic to do further research on could be millennials and participation trophies. A conclusion on whether or not participation trophies actually affected millennials negatively was never reached. A couple of different opinions were represented in the paper, but it would take a lot more research and investment in the topic as well as the psychological domain, to reach a real and fully trustworthy conclusion on the effects of participation trophies on young minds. The opposite side of eco-activism, which we haven't dealt with in this project, because it is such a huge topic, which could be a project on its own is the side effects of activism. The side effects are clearly visible and are illustrated through the way climate scientists react to climate reports.119 It’s also expressed in the Reddit post in the sense that he is avoiding news articles about how bad the world is deteriorating. Working as an activist or climate scientist you are on the forefront of everything that is happening to the planet, and thereby presented with news of the current situation and forecasts of how the future will look if the people living on the planet continue their current living habits. Another way to go through eco-anxiety and solve the problem would be to get help from professionals, psychiatrists. People suffering from anxiety can be healed by psychiatrist who are experts in mental health. However, sometimes taking medications can have negative effects on people, “Anti-anxiety medications work fast, but are some of the most addictive substances around and are not intended for long-term use”.120 Taking pills to cure anxiety might work as a short-term solution, but on a long-term view this can have a lot of negative effects on people’s health. Moreover, it is not a complete solution to our problem since using the help of psychiatrists and taking medications will only help you to solve your anxiety. It however, might not be help to find meaning in life. Religion could also be a thing to turn to, in order to try to deal with eco-anxiety, as well as make one’s life more meaningful. This could also be interesting to elaborate further upon

119 (Holmes, J, 2015) 120 (Alban, D., 2018) 70

through the perspective of Albert Camus, since he views it as a non-solution, that completely ignores the problem. How would the solution raised by Albert Camus of accepting the absurd argue against Susan Wolf and her theory of finding meaning in life? These two theories speak very much against each other. On one side we have Albert Camus, who comes up with a solution of accepting life as meaninglessness. Arguing against, Susan Wolf, which her theory is raising a solution where an individual should find own meaning and fulfillment. Both theories can't coexist as solutions to eco-anxiety and the existential crisis it brings. But which of the solutions is most valuable in the modern society where climate changes poses a real threat to humanity? When Camus and accepting the absurd situation of climate change as a solution to eco-anxiety, one might bring up another problem. The motivation to fight climate change. Therefore, with accepting the absurd as a solution, the problem of not fighting climate change arise. On the other hand Susan Wolf’s theory on how to find meaning in life through a grand project - a project of worth which is larger than oneself. In the case presented in the paper, the theory is applied to environmental activism, and in that case the whole situation that arises with Camus, is not existing with Wolf’s theory.

6. Conclusion

To conclude: In the two different sources analysed, and the numerous examples of solutions explored in the discussion, the problem formulation can be answered as followed: In the article written by the young activist Victoria Barrett, it is evident that she has a deep need for meaning. Through some of the theories and ideas expressed by Jean-Paul Sartre, this behaviour can be defined as living one’s life ‘authentically’. When Barrett writes about finding meaning in life through activism, one can see how this reflects in Susan Wolf’s theories of ‘fulfilment’ and her ‘larger than oneself’ view. Two essential ideas on how to find the meaning of one’s life, according to Wolf. Victoria Barrett is a clear example that it is possible to find meaning in one’s life through fighting as an environmental activist. The anonymous individual that wrote the reddit post “[Long Post] How do you people deal with extreme anxiety over climate change?”, is an example of a person suffering from severe eco-anxiety. Through impotence and a lack of coherence, it seems they have reached an existential crisis. This, in turn, have led to a feeling of existential meaninglessness, which the author struggles with. Some solutions to eco-anxiety revolve around changing one’s own circumstances and practicing one’s ability to cope with the meaninglessness and impotence that may be experienced through eco-anxiety. These solutions come in the forms of meditation, psychiatry, eco-friendly behavior among others. The idea of finding meaning in life through environmental activism is further elaborated upon in the discussion. Here, the notion of utilizing one’s eco-anxiety as a stepping stone into the world of activism can be seen as a way to make one’s life meaningful. This is because it not only let’s a person avoid the existential crisis of eco-anxiety, by actively working against it. However, this might also give a person a greater purpose to fulfill. Neglect of climate change is also discussed as a way to avoid eco-anxiety. This can be done through attempting to ignore the problem, or decide that it is not a problem that is pressing enough to solve right away. In general, these methods may seem to solve the problem of eco-anxiety on short term. In the long term, however, climate change will presumably be too big a problem that these methods will be considered solutions. On top of that, neglecting climate change, can lead to a greater affliction of eco-anxiety among one’s peers. A 72

contradicting view to this, would be Camus’ theory, that accepting the absurd, and the meaninglessness of fighting climate change, could lead to the disappearance of one’s eco- anxiety, and make it possible to live a meaningful life without actively working against eco- anxiety. Many coping methods for eco-anxiety, and paths to meaning in life have been presented throughout this paper, and the effectivity of those possibilities have also been thoroughly discussed. However, it is also crucial to be aware that not all of these solutions will be useful for everyone. After all, not every human on the planet lives under the same circumstances and seeks the same meaning in their lives. In the same sense, every different meaning, may require different approaches according to the individual person.

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