Investigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Contemporary Human Religiosity in the Three Fields of Anthropology, Value Theory, and Epistemology

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Islamic Education, Faculty of Theology, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Theology, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

3 PhD in Islamic Studies, Qom University and Seminary

Abstract

The question of life’s meaning remains a fundamental practical inquiry in both analytical and continental philosophy. This article critically examines and compares the perspectives of Thomas Nagel and Jean-Paul Sartre on this existential issue. Nagel approaches the absurdity of life as an inescapable conflict between an external, objective viewpoint—rendering life trivial—and an internal, subjective standpoint that asserts its profound significance. He proposes confronting this absurdity through irony, enabling a pragmatic persistence in life. Conversely, Sartre rejects the existence of predetermined essence or objective, external values, arguing that human beings are endowed with absolute freedom. For Sartre, meaning and ethical frameworks are not discovered but are actively forged through individual agency. By critically evaluating these contrasting frameworks, this study highlights the tensions between Nagel’s ironic confrontation with the absurd and Sartre’s existentialist assertion of radical freedom, ultimately assessing the implications of these theories for contemporary existential discourse.

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