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The themes of existentialism
The themes of existentialism
The themes of existentialism
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stating, “this is McCarthy’s metaphysic: none, in effect; no first principles, no foundational truth; Heraclitus without logos” (32). What Bell affirms in this passage is that during McCarthy’s novels. Bell’s The Achievement of Cormac McCarthy is the idea that McCarthy’s books are essentially nihilistic. This is a skin-deep interpretation as that is not nihilism. Nihilism is the acknowledgement of the absurdity of the universe.
Existentialism was accused of being overly pessimistic in Existentialism is a Humanism. “Others have condemned us for emphasizing what is despicable about humanity. For exposing all that is sordid. While ignoring beauty and the brighter side of human nature…that the fundamental reproach brought against [existentialists]
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Existentialism is a Humanism was published to give the general public a clearer understanding of existential philosophy.
Previous Western philosophical thought often asserted that all human activity was either divinely preordain or predestined prior to birth. Man does not have any specific nature. Man is the culmination of his choices or – as Sartre states – “man is nothing other than what he makes of himself” (Existentialism 22).
He has run away from home at the age of fourteen when the reader first meets the kid. The kid is also leaving behind the past in leaving his home in Tennessee for the West, all the things that he was, making the choice to recreate himself. McCarthy writes, “His origins are become as remote as is his destiny and not again in all the world’s turning will there be terrains as wild and barbarous to try whether the stuff of creation may be shaped to man’s will or whether his own heart is not another kind of clay” (Blood Meridian 4-5). In writing this, McCarthy is not only eviscerating the past for the kid, but he is also presenting the reader with a protagonist who lacks defined characteristics. The kid does not have a home, a name, a family, or a clear backstory. For the reader, the kid is essence-less.
McCarthy uses precise diction to emphasize his plot and accentuate imagery throughout the novel. Creedless literally means without a creed, without any belief, without any faith. Shell portray that the men are simply empty, there is nothing inside the “shell”. This means that the men are empty, without any beliefs or hope, emphasizing how cold-hearted and inhumane these men are during the post-apocalyptic era.
Several characters through the course of Steinbeck's novel East of Eden demonstrate a lack of self-knowledge or corruption of the soul. A gap is created between some the character's actions and their true essence as a person. The disparity between a character's conduct and their identity as a human being is often a demonstration of the fight between good and evil within the character's own soul. Caleb, one of Adam Trask's twin boys embodies this struggle vividly throughout his life. This search for self-identity plays into a key theme of the novel, which is that of free will. Despite the fact that there is a variance in the way a character wants to act or the person who they truly are at heart and the way that they actually carry out their lives, free will offers hope. Steinbeck pushes the idea that a person's life and fate is never out of their control and that it is never too late to change the road that you are on. It can be argued either way that this break up of fundamental identity, expression and self-knowledge is the nature of man or simply provoked by the events in the character's lives. It becomes apparent through Caleb's life that the nurture of the individual seems to be the larger factor in causing this separation. Caleb Trask's character demonstrates how the struggle between good and evil within an individual can affect one's self-knowledge, which is catalyzed mainly by the nurture of the character and, ultimately, is amendable through free will.
In other words, the man's thirst for survival is fueled by the love for his son. While the man may anticipate his own death, he continues to ignore it and lives in order to seek life for the boy. McCarthy portrays the father as not wanting kill the boy preemptively to save him from a society of destruction, rape, murder, and cannibalism unlike the mother who thinks it’s better to go the easy route. To the father, suicide is only an option for the son if he is to be imminently harmed. McCarthy provides the theme of one person sacrificing or doing anything humanly possible for the one they love by depicting an idea of love even in a world of nothing.
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...
There is a second sense of nihilism that appears as an outgrowth of the first
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.
John Paul Sartre is known as one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. He wrote many philosophical works novels and plays. Much of his work is tied into politics. The essay Existentialism is a Humanism is just one of his many works. Existentialism is a Humanism is a political essay that was written in 1945. Its purpose was to address a small public during World War II in Nazi occupied France. This essay stressed the public not to conform. Sartre introduced a great number of philosophical concepts in Existentialism. Two of these concepts are anguish and forlornness. They are simply defined, as anguish is feeling responsible for yourself as well as others and knowing that your actions affect others and forlornness is realizing that you are alone in your decisions. These two concepts are interwoven throughout the essay and throughout many of Sartre's other works. Sartre's view of anguish and forlornness in Existentialism is a Humanism addresses his view of life and man.
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
Cormac McCarthy’s critically acclaimed 2005 novel No Country for Old Men, centers around three major characters (Llewellyn Moss, Anton Chigurh, and Ed Tom Bell) whose lives intertwine after a chain reaction occurs related to a drug deal gone bad near the Mexican-American border in 1980. While hunting antelope to bring home for dinner, protagonist Llewellyn Moss stumbles upon the bloody aftermath of a messy drug deal. After investigating the area and searching for who he thought would be “the last man standing” (McCarthy, 15), Moss finds another dead body lying next to a satchel containing 2.4 million dollars in cash. He makes the critical decision to pick
With the son’s fear amongst the possibility of death being near McCarthy focuses deeply in the father’s frustration as well. “If only my heart were stone” are words McCarthy uses this as a way illustrate the emotional worries the characters had. ( McCarthy pg.11). Overall, the journey of isolation affected the boy just as the man both outward and innerly. The boys’ journey through the road made him weak and without a chance of any hope. McCarthy states, “Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all” (McCarthy pg. 28). The years of journey had got the best of both, where they no longer had much expectation for
Nihilism- Original Writing Nihilism as a philosophical position is the view that the world, and especially human existence, is without meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. It is more often a charge leveled against a particular idea than a position to which someone is overtly subscribed. Movements such as Dada, Deconstructionism, and punk/black metal/ death metal/ metal/goth have been described by various observers as "nihilist". Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Baudrillard has called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of authority assert that modernity and postmodernity represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilist.
The date was May 21st, that was the day that I had a philosophical epiphany. I had come to the realization that I was a Nihilist. What’s even more ironic is that two days prior to this realization my ignorance of this very philosophy was abundant to say the least. It all started with a thread I created on a Philosophy forum titled the Nihilist Paradox. The gist of my thread was that if Nihilists believe in nothing then is it not contradictory that they uphold Nihilism? A friend of mine from the forums was quick to point out that this was a common misconception that people held about Nihilism which consequently would become a stereotype ascribed to all Nihilists. He stated that Nihilists (He was referring specifically to Existential Nihilists as he debated me & others in the thread.) do not believe in nothing but rather, believe that life has no objective meaning, purpose, or value. Needless to say that the thread gained much momentum and an intense discourse ensued. This ultimately led to my friend urging me and every other participant in the thread to do the appropriate research and to empower ourselves.
Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion. The themes of this story are important to show the growth of the young boy into a man. Without alienation, he wouldn't have understand the complexity of his feelings and learned to accept faults. With transformation, he would have continued his boyish games and wouldn't be able to grow as a person and adolescence. And finally, without understanding the religious aspects of his life, he would go on pretending he is somebody that he's not. He wouldn't understand that there is inconsistency between the real and ideal life (Brooks et al.).
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.