The founders of existentialism such as Sartre, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Camus exemplify the philosophy of existentialism in their writings because they focus on absurdity in life and lack of definite meaning. Throughout history some people see themselves as just someone who is put on Earth just for “no reason” these people believe that there is no meaning to them. What is right could mean that it is wrong in society. What they might think is wrong might mean it is right in society. There is no meaning to Existentialism other than that those people do what they want whenever they want. This doesn’t mean that they are bad people; they just see life on a different perspective in which they don’t really know why they are put on Earth. Existential …show more content…
Existential people are usually independent due to the amounts of people in the world with different perspectives about themselves and their life in general. Many philosophers have studied existentialism along with studying their interaction they have with it. Along with stating that existentialist often make the same logical points against rationalism with different points of view that are argued. “Existentialism is not easily definable. Its protagonists have traced it back to Pascal, to St. Augustine, even to Socrates. (MacIntyre, Alasdair)” This shows that even back then they were studying how this came about and what made it start. No one really knows how it came upon these people acting the way they were. The people just like them see them as to be normal and just like everyone else who is Existential. But to others, they may think they are …show more content…
Sartre's philosophy is taken as an existentialist philosophy; other people are considered “existentialist” people who focus themselves as an individual type of person who may even mention that they have more freedom than others. “Existentialism today has weathered thirty years of post-modernism and a shift of the center of philosophy from Europe to America. Enthusiasm for Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre is as great as ever […] would not recognize their debt to the existentialists. (Soloman, Robert)” It is still spoken about today with the change of existentialism whether if the number of existentialist people has either dropped, or
Many Christians rejected the philosophy of existentialism on the grounds that it denies “the reality and seriousness of human affairs” and that man will “be incapable… of condemning either the point of view or the action of anyone else.” (Sartre 1). Sartre denies this claim later in Existentialism is a Humanism by rejecting the misconception that an existentialist holds no conviction. Rather, he states, existentialists have the most conviction of anyone, because in “choosing for himself he chooses for all men.” (Sartre 4) Sartre claims this to be the “deeper meaning of existentialism.” It is the subjectivity of what is good or evil, the essence that man decides for himself, that has an impact on everyone else; within this subjectivity lies the responsibility for bettering mankind, a responsibility few men would choose to ignore.
Known as one of the first existentialists, he conceived the notion of “life-affirmation.” “Life affirmation”
Existentialism is a branch of philosophy mostly concerned with the ideas of choice, meaning, and the limits of existence. Existentialism denies any form of predetermined systems, for they generally imply an external source of meaning, or power. Existentialism is often misconstrued of being nihilistic (if there is no predetermined meaning, then the world is completely meaningles...
Existentialism as a distinct philosophical and literary movement belongs to the 19th and 20th centuries. Although existentialism is impossible to define, some of its common themes can be identified. One of the major theme is the stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice. 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, was the first writer to call himself existential. He wrote in his journal, "I must find a truth that is true for me . . . the idea for which I can live or die.
One of the main critiques of Sartre’s view is that it is overly pessimistic and gloomy. Sartre attacks the critics head-on by claiming that they are actually the pessimists, while the existentialist are optimists. The main critics of
Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will. To Sartre, saying that som...
The common stereotype that comes to mind when one thinks of an existentialist seems to be a moody philosopher locked in a dark room drinking tea and reading while listening to music from a record player. What people do not realize, however, is how common and widely accepted existentialism has become in our everyday lives. Books, songs, magazines, and billboards display existential ideas; existentialism is plastered across our world. “Imagine all the people, living for today”, sings John Lennon. This is existentialism in its purest form; it is a rejection of hollowness and a call to action for all of mankind. This is why existentialism is so important for our world today; in the midst of social media, terrorism, inequality, and every other significant or trivial issue that we face, we lose our vision. We hope for world peace or good health, but we, ourselves, bully or steal or lie or judge or take our health for granted. We are hollow because we are not choosing mankind; we are not setting an example that we hope every man will follow, so we are met with the despair of a passive hope in a world that we feel we cannot fix. What no one realizes, however, is that our job is not to fix the world, but to fix ourselves so that the world may follow suit. We have acknowledged our rock; we have experienced our hour of consciousness; what we need now is our night of Gethsemane, the moment when each
Existentialism is a Humanism, written by French philosopher Jean- Paul Sartre, was written in 1946 based on a lecture that Sartre gave at Club Maintenant in Paris in 1945. Existentialism is defined as “a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of will” (Merriam- Webster Dictionary). In Existentialism is a Humanism, Sartre portrays existentialism as an essentially optimistic philosophy. He uses key existentialist terms such as anguish, abandonment, and despair to defend his view as well as provide examples that help us to analyze his claim. After doing so, we can conclude that Sartre’s claim is wrong and existentialism
The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good example of existentialism is Woody Allen’s movie, Deconstructing Harry. A man is haunted by his past and his past has followed him into the present. He is a wreck not because of the things that happened to him, but because of the choices he made. He is consumed by regret and insecurity and he tries to find blame in his situation with someone other than himself, however he cannot (Barnes, 2011). Throughout the rest of this paper I will be discussing two of the most prominent existentialists, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
The Existential Approach stands for respect for the person, for exploring new aspects of human behavior, and for divergent methods of understanding people (Corey, 2013). Existentialists do not focus on instinctive drives or internalized others but on the person's unavoidable confrontation with the givens of the human condition. Yalom (1980) described those givens as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. (Bauman, & Waldo, 1998).
Existentialism is a very broad topic with no exact definition, and it has been interpreted in many different ways by various philosophers. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, existentialism is defined as “a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad”. Existentialism has influenced many authors works and lives, such as the novelist Hermann Hesse. A particular work by Hesse that was heavily influenced by his existentialist beliefs was his book, Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf
Existentialism is the epitome of the unknown. There is no straightforward explanation of what exactly it is, there is only certain characteristics and behaviors that describe existentialist views. Throughout today’s world, there are examples of it everywhere, it’s found in movies, books, songs, and just people in general. Existentialists are known to think and do for themselves only. They believe that to understand what it means to be human requires understanding of themselves first. Some very well known pieces of entertainment existentialism is found in are: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Breakfast Club by John Hughes. The Stranger is a book written about a young man whose mother dies, which soon leads him to becoming acquainted with the feeling of not caring about what his actions do to others or himself. The main character Meursault starts helping his friend Raymond, carry out ways to torment his mistress. Out of nowhere while at the beach, Meursault shoots Raymond’s mistress’s brother. He is thrown into jail and tried, but he seems to not be affected as much as he should about his actions. He first finds it hard to live without cigarettes, women, and nature, but he soon finds out he doesn’t need any of those. After being sentenced to death, he is suggested to turn away from his atheism but later realizes that human existence has no greater meaning. This realization and acceptance is what truly makes him happy (Camus). Next, The Breakfast Club is a very relatable movie about high school students suffering the consequences of their actions in detention. The kids are all of ...
Moreover, existentialism deals with different aspects of human existence. As stated by Sartre, “existence precedes essence.” What Sartre means by that is man exists as nothing before the essence of what he is can be defined; it is his choices and actions, what he “wills himself to be”, that defines his identity (Existentialism is a Humanism, pg. 22). In other words, the fact you exist precludes any reason of why
Existentialism is defined as a philosophical movement that human beings are completely free and responsible for their own actions. Existentialists will try not to cause waves and remain completely uninvolved with anyone because they do not want to hurt anybody. There is absolutely no such thing as an existentialist because he would have to be so uninvolved to the point where he would not be able to live at all. Although the two stories: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Stranger by Albert Camus are very different in approach, their endings are similar in that they both support the basics of existentialism.
Existentialism is a phiosophy which revolves around the central belief that we create ourselves. External factors are not important. It is the way that we let external factors affect us that determines who we are. As individuals we all have the freedom to choose our own path and that is what life is all about. Along with the freedom of choice comes the responsibilty of one's actions which can make some people anxious but give others meaning to their lives. To overcome this anxiousness and accept responsibilty is to meet the challenges of life and to truly live it. I can adopt the existentialist approach which states that to live life is to experience happiness and absurdness and to appreciate both as a part of life.