King Lear is often considered one of Shakespeare's best literary masterpieces. One of the reasons this is true is because Shakespeare single-handedly shows the reader what the human condition looks like as the play unfolds. Shakespeare lets the reader watch this develop in Lear's decisions and search for life's purpose as he is unable to escape his loneliness and ultimately his own death. Examining the philosophies that Shakespeare incorporates into King Lear's language and actions allows the reader to better understand the play and why the play is relevant to life today. Because Lear is rooted in a flawed epistemology, in attempting to find the meaning of life, he can only create corrupt actions and policies. Not only does Lear's epistemology only cause him more problems, but this epistemology also ties into the political nature of the work. Politics must be understood as a manufacturing process in which the utopian end goal justifies and supports government, control and domination (Saurette). Nowhere is this shown better than when Lear decides to step down from the throne and give up his place on the throne to the daughter who "loves" him most (Damrosch 1361-1363) and when he does, the two daughters who fabricate their “love” ” as their father ruled his former kingdom through authoritarianism and totalitarianism. This article seeks to analyze King Lear's distinct philosophies, such as existentialism and nihilism, to allow the reader to better understand why certain actions occur in the play and why these political philosophies push Lear further into his problems. philosophy, it seems almost impossible to find an exact definition of the term “existentialism”. This is especially true because there is...... half of the paper ......inia Military Institute. 2012. 8-10. Network. November 21, 2013. Kain, Philip J. “Nietzsche, the Eternal Return, and the Horror of Existence.” Journal of studies on Nietzshe. vol. 33.2007.49-63. Press.---. “The eternal return and the categorical imperative. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. vol. 45 Number 1. 2007. 105-116. Print.Nighan, Raymond. Meditations. Dr. Nighan's AP and British Literature page: http://stjohns-chs.org/english/Seventeenth/Sev-bk.html. Network. November 18, 2013.Pratt, Alan. "Nihilism." Encyclopedia of philosophy on the Internet. 3 May 2005. Web. 18 November 2013. Saurette, Paolo. "I distrust all systematizers and avoid them: Nietzsche Arendt and the crisis of the will to order in the theory of international relations". Journal of International Studies. vol. 25. No. 1. 1996. Print.Yalom, Irvin D. “Yalom's Ultimate Concerns.” Existential psychotherapy. 1980. Network. November 19. 2013.