Existentialism and Co-Existence with COVID-19
Updated: Aug 13
Our ultimate ambition in life is survival, since life itself is predetermined and has an irrevocable end. To do so, we must co-exist with our fellow human beings and surroundings. Those who intentionally separate themselves from others and the immediate, concrete world inadvertently initiate a de-escalation toward extinction. Therefore, we must coexist with COVID-19, as we have with other viruses in previous decades or centuries.
We cheat our brains by creating perfect images of beauty. In the classic film by Paolo Sorrentino, “La Grande Bellezza,” the main character, Jep Gambardella, played by Toni Servillo, concludes, ” È tutto un Trucco!” “It is All a Trick.” We throw ourselves in the vortex of life with passion and intensity to forget that there is an end to our survival. Indeed, a ‘beautiful trick.’ Yet, death is always around the corner: see COVID-19.
The present is the past; viruses such as the Black Death in the Middle Ages have exterminated vast numbers of people and will continue to do so indiscriminately in the future. In ensuring our survival, are we willing to coexist with our fellow human beings, near and far?
We had better listen to visionaries like Albert Camus, who, metaphorically speaking, wrote about the infestation of our human condition in “The Plague,” published a couple of years after the end of WWII.
Alain de Botton’s opinion, “Camus on the Coronavirus” in the New York Times of March 20, 2020, nails our human condition: “Being alive always was and will always remain an emergency. We are all ‘plagued’ with the suddenness of death. We are not immune to ‘dying’. We must coexist with our fellow humans to alleviate the burden of living.
De Botton stresses a central maxim from the Plague:
“This whole thing is not about heroism,” Dr. Rieux says. “It may seem a ridiculous idea, the only way to fight the plague is with decency.” When asked what decency is, Dr. Rieux replies, Doing my job.”
'Doing our job' means supporting our fellow humans with their frailties and opening our hearts to their simultaneous co-existence on our fragile planet.
