Impossibilitude

 

Human existence is a constant negotiation between the choices we actively make and the constraints that shape our lives. This awareness of our limitations often evokes a deep sense of melancholy – a longing for paths not taken, experiences forever beyond our reach. I propose the term impossibilitude to describe this specific emotional and existential response to those unreachable realities.

Impossibilitude is more than simply acknowledging that something is impossible; it's the felt experience of those impossibilities. It's the unease and melancholy that arises from contemplating the absolute nature of what cannot be.

To understand this, consider Sartre's concept of facticity. Facticity describes the inherent limitations that define our existence – the circumstances into which we are 'thrown,' such as the year we were born, and where, and how we were raised. Within this framework, impossibilities represent the paths, decisions, and experiences that remain perpetually out of reach. Impossibilitude is the yearning triggered by the realization that these potentials could have materialized, had our facticity been different.

Heidegger's existential analysis further illuminates this concept. Our sense of being is shaped by the interplay of past, present, and future. Impossibilitude exists in the temporal gap between past possibilities and a virtual, unachievable future. It's the echo of unchosen paths, reverberating through our present. Heidegger's emphasis on authenticity – living in accordance with one's potential – amplifies this feeling. The awareness of irreversibly lost possibilities, especially when viewed through the lens of our authentic selves, intensifies the unease of impossibilitude.

Essentially, impossibilitude is the emotional weight carried by the individual who grapples with the realization of infinite, unrealized potentials. It's the profound sense of yearning and melancholy that arises from contemplating the stark reality of these forever unattainable experiences. Unlike Kierkegaard's 'dizziness of freedom,' which addresses the overwhelming possibilities of the present, impossibilitude focuses on the dread associated with the constraints of our situatedness. It's the deeply felt experience of the absolute, unchangeable nature of those unreachable realities, and the longing for what might have been.