The Paradox of Authentic Happiness and Existential Suffering

Citation

Liaw, Sarah (2024) The Paradox of Authentic Happiness and Existential Suffering. Other, California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/nrma-mj91. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechThesis:07172024-184031599

Abstract

[Introduction] Is the apparent connection between happiness and authenticity as straightforward as it seems? Intuitively, if we are ‘true to ourselves’ or, colloquially, if we ‘follow what our heart desires’, we should experience more positive feelings, or ‘happiness’. However, why does existentialism often invoke negative feelings like suffering and despair when a big part of it focuses on being ‘true to ourselves’? Why is there such an incompatibility between happiness and existentialism? To explore this paradox, I will briefly review the discord between authenticity and existential suffering. I then argue that current scholarship on well-being and happiness does not satisfactorily address this perceived incompatibility. I will do so by demonstrating that widely accepted normative theories of subjective well-being—particularly those steeped in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures—are potentially emblematic of projects of bad faith. Counter-intuitively, I posit that the existentialist can attain happiness by demonstrating proportionality between the experience of suffering and the experience of being authentic. I will also substantiate this by showing how components of existential concepts, including suffering as a catalyst and self-concordance, significantly influence well-being.

Thesis Files