From Reason to Emptiness: The Crisis of Meaning in Liquid and Consumer Soci

Abstract

This study addresses the crisis of meaning in contemporary society, starting from the central problem of the emergence and exacerbation of existential emptiness. This phenomenon, formalized by Viktor Frankl as noogenic neurosis, has its roots in the rise of rationality and Humanism. The main objective of this research is to analyze how the search for filling this void manifests itself in postmodern social structures. The methodology consisted of an interdisciplinary theoretical analysis, anchored in references from Contemporary Sociology and Philosophy, especially the works of Byung-Chul Han, Zygmunt Bauman, and Gilles Lipovetsky. The results demonstrate that emptiness is structured by the performance society, where self-exploitation and multitasking lead to exhaustion, and by liquid modernity, in which narcissism weakens relationships. The incessant search for identity and satisfaction in consumption and social doping only highlights and perpetuates the emptiness. It is concluded that overcoming this cycle requires a rediscovery of meaning that transcends the imperative of productivity and consumption.

Keywords: Existential Emptiness; Crisis of meaning; Narcissism; Liquid Modernity; Consumerism; Performance Society.