The question of life’s purpose arises only when routine unexpectedly breaks down

Evidence

Like Sartre in Nausea, he points out that mostly we don’t see the fundamental problem of life because we don’t stop to think about it. We get up, commute, work, eat, work, commute, sleep. But occasionally a breakdown occurs, a Chandos-like moment in which a beat is skipped and the question of purpose arises. At such moments, we experience ‘weariness tinged with amazement’, as we confront the most basic question of all: why exactly do we go on living? — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 485

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Chandos moment referenced in earlier chapters; connects to Sartre’s concept of nausea and Heidegger’s ‘why is there something rather than nothing’ as the fundamental question. — connects to: The question of life’s meaning arises only on the reflective level — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 620; Philosophy begins where everyday smooth functioning breaks down. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 232
• SEED: The ‘routine breakdown’ formulation of existential awakening could fuel a piece on modern workplace burnout as a philosophical event rather than a medical one.