EXISTENTIALISM: MYSTIFICATIONS, MANIPULATIONS, CONTRADICTIONS
Abstract. The article delineates and regards numerous intellectual speculations associated with an existential concept «meaning of life». In particular, we deal with the statements, which talk about the existence of the «exterior meaning», separate from the individual consciousness. We also regard the so-called human mass need for life meaning as well as the idea that filling up life with meaning is more important than life’s longevity. The above-mentioned mystifications open the road to various manipulations, which may be pursued with a client in the process of existential psychotherapy. In addition, the author of the paper detects and explores multiple contradictions, which are commonly prone to existentialism.
Key words: positive illusions, psychological manipulation, death, life meaning, existentialism.
Levit Leonid – Doctor of Psychology, Associate Professor, independent researcher, Minsk, Belarus
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