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Merits and demerits of existentialism
Merits and demerits of existentialism
Existentialist theology
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writings where people as humans struggle to find purpose and ask themselves what is the meaning of life to which the universe responses by simply showing a complete and utter disregard for such a question or any questions as a matter of fact. It is “This paradoxical situation, then, between our impulse to ask ultimate questions and the impossibility of achieving any adequate answer, is what Camus calls the absurd.” Existentialism essentially deals with the absurd which had been “cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s.” and besides Albert Camus there was other Philosophers who adopted such ideas like “Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Martin Buber in Germany, Jean Wahl and Gabriel Marcel in France, etc.….. [with] …show more content…
But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.” This build on the essential idea of existentialism being in “a world that is stripped of all comforting illusions, explanations, and guidelines, and an existence that is essentially solitary and personally challenging. The absurdity arises in the paradoxical confrontation between the human hunger and yearning for meaning, purpose, and explanation and an awareness of the meaninglessness or the meaning-neutrality of a universe that cannot provide a grand design or a set of directions for living.” Albert Camus, defends his theory and writings by accepting the fact that many of existentialism questions are unable to be answered due to the nature of the philosophy understanding that it’s not comprehendible through reason. He even argues towards other existentialist who seek to answer the questions proposed by using transcendence through God as a cure for …show more content…
This is the same with other paths of life with existentialism questioning the authenticity of using things such as religion to fill such void leading to many nihilistic tendencies as well as alienation for oneself and the world around them. What is their left for some who comes to terms with these ideas perhaps suicide. Camus explores the effect of this dilemma which can be seen in his first novel A Happy Death where the two characters are have a conversation about what it is to love life with one of them proposing that for him” Loving life is not going for a swim. It's living in intoxication, intensity. Women, adventures and other countries.” To which the other responds by saying “To think the way you do, you have to be a man who lives either on a tremendous despair, or on a tremendous hope.” Representing that either that the character has embraced life’s meaninglessness and carried on by living life to its fullest or being so hopeful to the point where he’s blind to the cold truth of
Daru initiated the Arab morning commute from the schoolhouse an accompanies him on the road for several hours—Until the road divided into two directions. Daru hands him a package of food and money for two days. Daru turns the Arab around and points to two possible directions. If he goes east, he will reach the police headquarters and be punished. If he goes south, he will find the nomads, who will protect him in accordance with their laws of hospitality. Daru starts his return journey and turns to see which direction the Arab has chosen. In the end, given the choice between the road to the prisoner where he would surly be punished or the road to the nomads and freedom, the Arab chooses the road, toward the prison headquarters. Daru returns to his schoolhouse and finds a warning written on the blackboard: “You've handed over our brother. You will pay for this.”(Camus 109.)
Solitude and oversoul, two of the twelve components of transcendentalism, can be represented in the comic Peanuts on Life. The comic shows the beloved character Charlie Brown laying in bed and asking the question “Why am I here?”. He then receives a response from a unknown voice asking him “Where do you want to be?”. This small comic represents transcendentalism in more ways than one. For example, the idea that everyone is born god-like, and contains a part of god within themselves, is represented in the subtext of the two questions asked in the comic. Because everyone is god-like, and their fate is already written, the question of “Why am I here” can be simple answered by the word fate. This can be also interpreted in the quote “Accept the place the Providence has found for you.”, in Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This quote means that everyone is where they our suppose to be, and god has led them there for a reason. The second concept, solitude, can be derived by the comic simply by Charlie Brown
When French Noble Prize winning author, journalist, and philosopher, Albert Camus, died in 1960 at the age of 46 his literary works that incorporated ideas of existentialism and absurdism were still studied and interpreted by scholars and his colleagues. Existentialism was one of the two philosophies Camus believed in and used in his works; existentialism is philosophical movement that focuses on the importance of the individual experience and self responsibility. The individual is seen as a free part of a deterministic and meaningless universe. The second philosophy Camus used and believed in was absurdism; a philosophy based on the idea that life and work are meaningless and looking for order causes inner and outer chaos. Camus had a dual culture as he was born in Algeria and lived most of his life in France, his cultural duality also is expressed in his works.
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.
Camus’s huge philosophy was the absurd and one’s existence in life. It is natural for humans to seek the meaning behind life and many sometimes turn to religion to answer that question.
Camus establishes in his argument that life is meaningless. He believes that people following the same regiment repeatedly for years will eventually ask themselves the point of this endless behavior. For Camus, there are two ways to approach this dilemma. People can either just ignore the thought continuing on the usual path, or they can encounter the definitive
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 ...
In the subject of Philosophy there seems to be a common goal to take ordinary entities within the world, and essentially take a deeper look at all aspects of whatever may be in question. With that said, one theory in particular within this realm follows those same guidelines of dissection, as the simple idea of individualism is broken down and evaluated to the core. The term existentialist is key when referring to the value of being an individual, as this philosophical ideal revolves around the person, and how they go about life itself. According to Dr. Madeline Clemence, “Existence needs essence to support it, and nonexistent essences are unthinkable, hence absurd.” This passage highlights the principles of existentialism, bringing up the question, “without the concept of meaning within life, why live at all?” Keeping this in mind, the film known as, “The Big Lebowski,” take the idea discussed, and turn this aspect of philosophy into entertainment. The intertwinement between the term existentialism, and The Big Lebowski, is seen throughout the entirety of the movie, and its portrayal is key
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.
Albert Camus posed the question, "Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?" It was in this question that my intellectual curiosity was truly awoken as a tenth grader. My fascination stemmed both from the absurdity of the question and upon further insight from the absurdist interpretation. If everything results in death what is the meaning in our daily actions? My response to this question changed twice before I came to a personal conclusion to Camus' seemingly rhetorical question. At first I conveniently believed that having a cup of coffee was the correct answer. However, after exploring absurdism I began to understand Camus' viewpoint and quickly switched to having no response, because even though I began to comprehend the 'meaninglessness'
Existentialism is defined as "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”. In other words, existentialism it emphasizes individual freedom. Throughout The Stranger, the amount of existentialism views is abundant. The use of Mersault’s experiences covey the idea that human life has no meaning except for simple existence. The idea of existentialism in Albert Camus' The Stranger reflects through Mersault's life experiences with his relationship with Marie, the death of his mother Maman, the murdering of the Arab, and Mersault's trial and execution, all these events show that Mersault’s life of no meaning.
In our society, The Bible is considered one of the most famous written literatures, and within this book there is over a thousand pages explaining christianity entirely. However, Albert Camus is able to explain existentialism and absurdism theories in just a hundred and twenty five pages. But how does he manage this? Within the works of The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Exit by Jean Paul Sartre, the authors help explain the meaning of existentialism through style, setting, and the characters in the story itself.
opinion on existential nihilism. Existential nihilism is the philosophy that life has no intrinsic meaning, and rejects all religious and moral conformity. The main character meursault, displays all of these traits throughout the book. Camus gives the reader an alternative outlook on the life and how there is no right or wrong way of living because in the end, whether that be sooner or later everyone is going to have the same end fate. Camus demonstrated his belief of existential nihilism through the external and internal
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.
To say human existence is absurd is to say human beings have a tendency to seek value and meaning in life but are not able to find any. According to Camus, we want to find meaning in the world but the world is silent and doesn’t give us any answers. As human beings we want an understanding of the world. We are all driven to find that greater meaning of life and if we did...