Summary

Though the age of existentialism is over, modern culture still carries its influence. Conversational topics of anxiety, freedom, choice, and authenticity are commonplace. Technology, corporations, and governments of today threaten privacy, identity, and freedom from every direction. Though there is no general agreement on what level of a threat is reasonable or even necessary, each person should remain vigilant.

An increase in empiricism and reliance on scientific progress in the forms of artificial intelligence, biological research, and statistics shows a transgression on human freedom as well. Suddenly, “we amount to a mass of irrational but statistically predictable responses” and have lost our own wills to choose (318). Research in psychology and cognitive science in particular seem to tell us that we are products of our genes and our environment, and that nothing is up to us. This is why existentialism is more necessary than ever...