The hottest Existentialism Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Philosophy Topics

'Do You Believe Jesus Died for Our Sins?’ Richard Dawkins Confronts Jordan Peterson

The Poetry of Reality with Richard Dawkins • 933 implied HN points • 29 Oct 24
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Existentialism
  1. Richard Dawkins challenges Jordan Peterson about his beliefs on the Bible and whether Jesus died for our sins.
  2. Peterson compares the truths of Christianity to the complexities of quantum physics in a recent conversation.
  3. They discuss how Christianity has influenced human progress and what it means to believe in its truths.

The pitfalls of abundance

Jeff Giesea • 399 implied HN points • 29 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Having too much can actually be a problem. It's easy to get overwhelmed with food, social media, and entertainment all around us, making it hard to find balance.
  2. We need to be smart about what we let into our lives. Just like a chef carefully chooses ingredients, we should select our experiences and connections wisely.
  3. It's important to set limits. Finding moderation in abundance helps us focus on what truly matters, like love, relationships, and personal joy.

You Have Only X Years To Escape Permanent Moon Ownership

Astral Codex Ten • 52721 implied HN points • 02 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. The “permanent underclass” fear mainly targets well-off tech people’s status anxiety rather than the real problems of poor people, so don’t let panic about becoming a future oligarch drive your life.
  2. We may be living at a rare historical hinge where small, timely actions can make you remembered for millennia, so choosing to help shape broad prosperity can matter far more than hoarding wealth.
  3. Use this moment to create, donate, join important conversations, or take bold moral risks instead of chasing safer status symbols like owning a bigger moon—even imperfect efforts can leave a lasting legacy.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Civic Renaissance with Alexandra Hudson • 299 implied HN points • 28 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Bad things can happen to good people, and it’s a question that has troubled many. Boethius believed that suffering is part of life, and how we respond to it matters.
  2. Suffering can teach us important lessons, like gratitude and empathy. It can help us appreciate the good in our lives and understand others better.
  3. Instead of letting hardship make us bitter, we can use it to grow and change for the better. Reflecting on our experiences can help us find meaning and build resilience.

The rare people who are solid

Sasha's 'Newsletter' • 15679 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Congruence means your inner feelings, self-image, and outward behavior line up, and people who have it are rare but easy to spot because they don’t seem to be pretending.
  2. Becoming truly congruent requires accepting all parts of your life, including painful truths and past mistakes, so the path can be hard even though it leads to a quieter, clearer inner life.
  3. Congruent people make others feel safe and seen without needing anything in return, but congruence is a practice not a finish line — imitation won’t work and some temporary incongruence is a normal part of change.
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The Keepers of the Secret

Orbis Tertius • 230 implied HN points • 17 Mar 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. True freedom is a personal, lived state rather than a set of rules, and it’s usually hinted at indirectly in works of art or writing. Once you begin to sense that freedom, it changes how you live.
  2. The Keepers are elusive and non‑organizational, and many who claim the title are distractions; the secret can’t be passed intact, only glimpsed through careful study of many sources.
  3. Acting as if you’re ungoverned can itself reveal the secret more effectively than learning techniques; technique is just a personal style, not the essence of the freedom.

The Symbolic Metabolism

Anima Mundi • 103 implied HN points • 13 Mar 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. People 'eat' symbols: ideas, images, and signs get processed like food and can be absorbed into the self or passed out as waste.
  2. Meaning isn’t just thinking — it’s a form of nourishment that shapes our inner life when it’s properly integrated.
  3. Modern society has a crisis of symbolic nutrition: we are overloaded with meaningless information yet starving for deep, nourishing meaning.

There is no next

Silentium • 939 implied HN points • 15 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Embrace the present moment. Focusing on now can bring peace and clarity.
  2. Silence can be powerful. Taking time to be quiet helps you connect with your thoughts and feelings.
  3. There’s no need to always look for the next big thing. Appreciate what you have instead of constantly wanting more.

The forest years

Silentium • 539 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Silence can be a powerful tool for reflection and personal growth. Taking time away from noise helps us understand ourselves better.
  2. Spending time in nature can greatly benefit our mental health. The forest offers a calming environment that promotes peace and tranquility.
  3. Embracing quiet moments allows for deeper connections with our thoughts and feelings. It's important to make space for stillness in our busy lives.

A sunlit absence

Silentium • 619 implied HN points • 17 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Finding moments of silence can be really beneficial for the mind. It helps to clear thoughts and allows for better focus.
  2. Embracing quietness encourages deeper reflection. This can lead to personal growth and understanding.
  3. Taking time away from noise can enhance creativity. A peaceful environment often sparks new ideas and inspiration.

A well-lived life means wasting some time

Wondering Freely • 1468 implied HN points • 08 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. It's okay to waste some time in life. Taking things slow can actually help you enjoy life more than just rushing through every moment.
  2. Living life to the fullest doesn't mean doing everything on a checklist. Sometimes, just relaxing and being yourself is more fulfilling.
  3. Feeling guilty for not being constantly productive is normal, but learning to rest and take breaks is important for your happiness.

Toward a Shallower Future

Noahpinion • 43471 implied HN points • 17 Aug 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Embracing technology can improve human life by reducing suffering and challenges. Many people instinctively resist this idea, valuing suffering as a part of the human experience. However, advancements can lead to happier, healthier lives without the need for struggle.
  2. As society evolves, we learn to tackle and overcome hardships that once defined our existence, like high maternal mortality rates. The decline of such tragedies marks real progress and allows us to enjoy safer and richer lives.
  3. Celebrating modern comforts and happiness doesn't diminish the importance of past struggles. It’s essential to understand that a life without constant adversity can still be meaningful and can unleash new potentials in who we can become.

Inner looking

Silentium • 579 implied HN points • 10 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Silence can help us see ourselves more clearly. It gives us a chance to reflect and understand our thoughts better.
  2. Taking time for inner looking can lead to personal growth. Being quiet allows us to explore our feelings and motivations.
  3. Embracing silence is an important practice. It can improve our mental health and help us find peace in our busy lives.

To sweep our own path

Silentium • 639 implied HN points • 04 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Silence can be a powerful tool for self-reflection and clarity. Taking time away from noise helps us understand ourselves better.
  2. Creating our own path requires intentionality. We should actively choose how we want to live and what we want to achieve.
  3. Embracing stillness can foster creativity and ideas. When we quiet our minds, inspiration often finds us more easily.

Meaning in life can be found in death

Disaffected Newsletter • 2497 implied HN points • 03 Aug 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Caring for the dead can be a deeply meaningful experience. It connects us to our loved ones and reminds us of the significance of life.
  2. Many people are surprised to learn they have the right to care for their own deceased family members. Understanding these rights helps empower individuals during tough times.
  3. The practice of home funerals allows families to be active participants in the grieving process, which can be more healing than relying solely on professional services.

Chronological Displacement Syndrome

Anima Mundi • 721 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Many people now feel "chronological displacement": a persistent sense of not belonging to the present, an inability to imagine a stable future, and exhaustion from constant adaptation.
  2. This feeling comes from rapid technological change combined with the weakening of anchors like religion, tradition, and stable place that used to give lives continuity across generations.
  3. The response must be collective, not just personal: acknowledge the structural problem, reconsider the pace and incentives of change, and build new practices, communities, and identities that make living in permanent flux more bearable.

How Nietzsche Influenced My Life

Richard Hanania's Newsletter • 2121 implied HN points • 02 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Thus Spoke Zarathustra promotes the ideal of an individual who transcends the crowd, encouraging solitude, self‑overcoming, and a willingness to face social isolation.
  2. Nietzsche’s writings are easy to appropriate for many different causes, so his aphorisms are often twisted to justify everything from tech hubris to far‑right politics.
  3. His insights about inequality and resentment can aid personal understanding, but turning heroic struggle or the will‑to‑power into a public governing philosophy is dangerous and likely to end in disaster.

There's Still Time Enough

Everything Is Amazing • 1425 implied HN points • 31 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. The cosmic calendar shows human existence is just a tiny sliver of deep time, making our place in the universe feel shockingly small.
  2. Thinking about deep time can provoke awe and humility, but it can also be oddly comforting and help you feel part of something much larger.
  3. Even though our lives are fleeting on that scale, our ability to look back, imagine, and search for meaning makes our brief appearance remarkable and worth celebrating.

Maxi's Toolkit Vol.10: The Social Sublime and the Empathic Sublime

Heir to the Thought • 139 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. The social sublime is the feeling of sadness knowing there are countless people we could connect with but never will due to time and circumstances. This awareness can motivate us to cherish our current relationships more.
  2. The empathic sublime occurs when we deeply connect with another person, sometimes through powerful experiences like art or shared hardships. It allows us to see the world from someone else's perspective, enriching our own lives.
  3. Both sublimes challenge us to find a balance in our relationships. We need to appreciate those we know while also longing to understand others, making active effort to connect and grow from those interactions.

Fyodor and the Foxhole

Subtle Digressions • 259 implied HN points • 02 Sep 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Finding meaning in life is challenging, especially when facing death. People often struggle with understanding their existence and seek connections with others.
  2. Acts of kindness and empathy can provide comfort and hope. Building relationships and supporting each other helps people feel less alone during tough times.
  3. Believing in something beyond ourselves, even if it's not tied to God, can inspire actions and enrich our lives. Love and compassion can be guiding principles.

The last thing human hands will build

antoniomelonio • 99 implied HN points • 02 Mar 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Tools tend to become invisible extensions of ourselves, and AI is the first tool that can build other tools without human hands, so machines can increasingly replace human labor and craftsmanship.
  2. Our hands and bodies evolved for making things, but as machines take over work and process, people risk becoming appendages of machines; what remains uniquely human is public action and the creation of shared meaning.
  3. If usefulness and productivity stop defining our worth, humans can turn toward expressive, nonfunctional creations—art, relationships, and meaning-making—which machines cannot fully replace and which can become the new center of human purpose.

a new sun — how to prepare for the singularity

antoniomelonio • 173 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Don’t let your job be your identity. Become someone by cultivating deep, genuine interests, reading difficult things, and developing your own taste.
  2. Invest in real friendships and community outside of work, because strong relationships are the main predictor of happiness and will support you when work structures change.
  3. Learn to use leisure well: figure out what you would do for free, build skills and desires that aren’t tied to pay, and prepare emotionally for abundance while staying sensible about money.

What should I do? What would you do?

Disaffected Newsletter • 1039 implied HN points • 04 Jun 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. It's common for people to look to experts for answers to their problems, but often there isn't a clear right answer. Many issues are complicated and need thoughtful discussion rather than a simple solution.
  2. Conversations can help people clarify their thoughts and feelings about difficult situations. Talking through problems can lead to better decisions that fit their unique lives.
  3. While some coaches or consultants may not have formal training, they can still provide valuable support. They can help clients understand their problems better and explore possible outcomes.

The Asymmetry

Secretum Secretorum • 656 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Goodness has depth and creativity, while evil is shallow and static. This means that being good allows for growth and new experiences, whereas evil lacks this potential.
  2. The Bodhisattva vow represents an endless commitment to caring for all beings, showing that true compassion grows when we focus on helping others instead of just ourselves.
  3. Evil requires constant effort to maintain, while goodness is naturally present when we release our struggles. Goodness is about simply being and letting go of negativity.

PfU VIII: Optimising for vibes

The Lifeboat • 275 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. If scientists ever fully map and predict human desires, people would lose real agency and start to feel like programmed bots because wanting something predetermined would seem meaningless.
  2. Irrational desires and messy impulses give people personality and life, and sometimes choosing something stupid or harmful protects individuality more than always acting optimally.
  3. People often rebel against total optimisation by doing chaotic or self-destructive things to prove they aren’t just code, and history shows repeated patterns of irrational behaviour despite better options.

Cruel to be kind

Disaffected Newsletter • 1438 implied HN points • 30 Apr 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Sometimes people need to face pain or harsh truths to make real changes in their lives. Hitting rock bottom can help someone start fresh.
  2. It's okay to feel conflicted about wanting others to experience hardship. That struggle can lead to deeper understanding and personal growth.
  3. Facing difficult realities, like unhealthy relationships or addiction, can lead to positive transformation. Growing through pain often brings clarity and strength.

My Rule of the 6 Spheres

The Honest Broker • 23072 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. The rule of the 6 spheres focuses on balancing six key aspects of life like vocation, community, family, mind, body, and spirit.
  2. Balancing these spheres is crucial for a fulfilling life, and neglecting any one of them can lead to feelings of imbalance and quiet desperation.
  3. Constructing a personal worldview based on your own values and virtues is important for guiding your daily life and decision-making.

Multitudes

lcamtuf’s thing • 3060 implied HN points • 14 Jul 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in multiple states at the same time, but when we observe them, they seem to decide on one state. This idea is often illustrated by the famous Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
  2. The many worlds interpretation suggests that every possible outcome actually occurs in separate, parallel realities. So, when something happens, it doesn't just happen once — it creates multiple versions of reality.
  3. Death may not be the end of existence in these parallel universes. While one version of you may die, others may continue on, raising questions about the nature of life, consciousness, and even potential suffering in those alternate realities.

new beginnings — on leaving the pavement behind

antoniomelonio • 135 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Sustained critique and constant anger can hollow a person out, so it's healthier to step away from living inside rage and reclaim curiosity.
  2. AI is becoming a real trajectory, not just a gadget, and could end many forms of artificial scarcity and obsolete "bullshit" jobs, but the transition will be turbulent with job loss and institutional strain.
  3. Rather than performative doom, it's better to orient toward possibility — to write and work on building and exploring futures while honesty about the risks remains central.

The Hunger Beneath the Hunger

Anima Mundi • 288 implied HN points • 07 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Most people who feel lonely also feel their lives lack meaning, so loneliness is often about feeling insignificant rather than just wanting more friends.
  2. Modern life gives us lots of surface-level connections that scale, but not the scarce, unscalable communion that makes us feel witnessed and real.
  3. Meaning can’t be manufactured alone; it emerges when you participate in something larger than yourself, and quiet, attentive practices or simply being present with others can help that remembering and ease the hunger.

Don't Take Instruction On How To Live Your Life From A Stark Raving Mad Society

Caitlin’s Newsletter • 2635 implied HN points • 13 Jul 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Don't let society dictate how you should live your life. It's often filled with crazy ideas that don't lead to real happiness.
  2. Success shouldn't just mean money or status. Take a moment to find what truly matters to you and define your own version of success.
  3. It's okay to be different and break away from traditional expectations. Trying new paths can lead to a more fulfilling life.

Can You Hate Everyone In Rome?

Astral Codex Ten • 7020 implied HN points • 03 Jan 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. It's possible to feel a strong dislike for a whole group of people in a certain place. This often happens when we don't connect with others' beliefs or actions.
  2. People can feel frustrated with societal norms and expectations, leading to a sense of isolation. This happens when individuals feel out of place among the crowd.
  3. Understanding and empathy can help bridge these feelings of alienation. Finding common ground with others can ease negative feelings.

Your Inner Citadel

The Stoic Journal • 66 implied HN points • 07 Feb 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. You have an inner citadel — a part of you that decides what events mean, and it remains yours no matter what happens outside.
  2. Other people can hurt your job, money, reputation, or feelings, but they can’t force your interpretation or control how you respond.
  3. Choosing how to interpret hard experiences isn’t denial; it’s exercising calm, personal freedom and deciding what you’ll do next instead of letting others dictate your state.

PfU VI–VII: The Based and Meaningful

The Lifeboat • 252 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. People crave a simple, positive identity they can be proud of; adopting a label like “an idler” or someone who celebrates what’s "based and meaningful" gives comfort and self-respect.
  2. Humans don’t act purely to optimise measurable goals—there’s an unquantifiable ‘North Star’ of independent desire and whim that often overrides rational self-interest and breaks predictive models.
  3. Civilisation, data, and AI won’t fully fix human unpredictability or cruelty; they can create boredom, new forms of harm, or provoke backlash from people who value acting on their own will.

Roots of Generational Depression

Unstable Orbits • 67 implied HN points • 31 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Indefinite optimism—hoping for a better future without a concrete plan—leads to caution, indecision, and emotional drain as people hedge and avoid commitments.
  2. The pervasive uncertainty undercuts politics and social life and is more damaging than any specific ideology because it quietly saps energy while beliefs can still be noticed and changed.
  3. The remedy is to find and commit to a clear, ongoing vision and actively shape the future instead of oscillating between hope and fear.

5 Quick Things #317 🐌

The Commonplace • 1611 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Existentialism
  1. Focus on doing things well from the start and mastering important tasks in proper sequence.
  2. Consider the deeper meaning behind adopting a good-enough approach to housekeeping.
  3. Engage in important conversations about sex education for adolescents and married adults.

The Tragic View of Life v. Spirituality

Castalia • 499 implied HN points • 01 Jun 24
📖 Philosophy Existentialism
  1. Spirituality suggests there's a guiding intelligence in life, making events feel purposeful. Many people express spiritual ideas even if they're not religious.
  2. The tragic view of life sees meaning in the absurdity of existence, emphasizing courage in facing life's challenges without relying on a higher power.
  3. There's an ongoing debate between believing in spiritual guidance or accepting life's chaos. It can be more fulfilling to find strength in life's struggles than to search endlessly for meaning.