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Existentialism into the wild
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Existentialism into the wild
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Bill Watterson is an American cartoonist, author of the famous comic strips “Calvin and Hobbes” syndicated from 1985 to 1995. In these short-stories, Calvin is a creative kid full of childish pranks, and together with Hobbes, a deep-thinking stuffed tiger, they both stand as examples of existentialism in comic strips. Through Calvin’s desperate choices and decisions over many circumstances in the stories, he struggles against a continually changing world. The characters’ actions portray the humanity disorder; people who are controlled in a worthless way of life against a ruthless nature, a cruel world, and inevitable death.
All through these modern comic strips, Bill Watterson created Calvin as a unique character contrasting with any six-year-old and average-age kid. Likewise, John Calvin is the character’s full name, a reference to the Protestant John Calvin, who led the Christian Reform in 1536, breaking away from the tradition to more unorthodox doctrines, such as, predestination and justification by faith alone. In any case, the Calvin character becomes a mischievous and self-indulgent boy, who is forced into making desperate choices to rebel against the world. Calvin wants to explain to people that problems of life and multiple philosophies don’t actually matter, but the type of people we are. Making a choice on how people act and respond, against the world majority – represented by his Dad in the comic – is way more important than simply agreeing to take, or just keep on thinking (The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book).
“Each person is totally free and entirely responsible for what he/she becomes, or does” said Jean-Paul Sartre, an existentialist (Existentialism Is a Humanism). People started to sympathize with Ca...
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... ways, and Bill Watterson’s work of “Calvin and Hobbes” sets a real example of the existentialism (Calvin and Hobbes and the Moral Sense: A Farewell).
Works Cited
Mairet, Philip. “Existentialism Is a Humanism.” Jean-Paul Sartre, 1946. Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre, ed. Walter Kaufman, Meridian Publishing Company, 1989. February 2005. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
May, Rollo. “Existential Psychology.” New York: Random House, 1961. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Official Website for Calvin and Hobbes comics from 1985 to 1996 by Bill Watterson. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
Watterson, Bill. “The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book.” Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1995. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Wilson, James Q. “Calvin and Hobbes and the Moral Sense: A Farewell.” 1995. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
Zunjic, Dr. Bob. “The Humanism of Existentialism II.” Jean Paul Sartre, 1946. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
The foremost aspects to consider from the Leviathan are Hobbes’s views on human nature, what the state of nature consists of, and what role morality plays. Hobbes assumes, taking the position of a scientist, that humans are “bodies in motion.” In other words, simple mechanical existences motivated solely to gain sati...
Killinger, John. "Existentalism and Human Freedom." The English Journal 50 (1961): 303-13. JSTOR. Web. 12 Aug. 2008.
In his lecture, Existentialism is a Humanism, Jean-Paul Sartre discusses common misconceptions people, specifically Communists and Christians, have about existentialism and extentanitalists (18). He wants to explain why these misconceptions are wrong and defend existentialism for what he believes it is. Sartre argues people are free to create themselves through their decisions and actions. This idea is illustrated in the movie 13 Going on Thirty, where one characters’ decision at her thirteenth birthday party and her actions afterwards make her become awful person by the time she turns thirty. She was free to make these decisions but she was also alone. Often the idea of having complete free will at first sounds refreshing, but when people
Guignon, B. C. and Pereboom, D. (eds). (2001). Existentialism: Basic Writings. Indianapolis, IN: Hacket Publishing.
classicmoviescripts/script/seventhseal.txt. Internet. 4 May 2004. Blackham, H. J. Six Existentialist Thinkers. New York: Harper, 1952. Choron, Jacques. Death and Western Thought. New York: Collier Books, 1963.
Gerassi, John. Jean-Paul Sartre: Hated Conscience of His Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Existentialism, which spread rapidly over continental Europe after the First World War, is essentially the analysis of the condition of man, of the particular state of being free, and of man's having constantly to use his freedom in order top answer the ever- changing and unexpected challenges of the day. According to the Existentialists, the starting point of every philosophical investigation is concrete human existence. That means that human personality in itself should point the way to the absolute value of reality. A single definition of existentialism is impossible. Definitions, provided by dictionaries are only part of what existentialism is about. …central to each definition is the assertion that existentialism is a theory or statement about the nature of man's existence. (1) The term is so difficult to define because, unlike other terms, existentialism is not universal. In other words, there are no two existentialists, which share exactly the same values or beliefs. Although, here is one major theme: a stress on individual existence, subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice.
“We are left alone, without excuse. This is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free” (Sartre 32). Radical freedom and responsibility is the central notion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy. However, Sartre himself raises objections about his philosophy, but he overcomes these obvious objections. In this paper I will argue that man creates their own essence through their choices and that our values and choices are important because they allow man to be free and create their own existence. I will first do this by explaining Jean-Paul Sartre’s quote, then by thoroughly stating Sartre’s theory, and then by opposing objections raised against Sartre’s theory.
Ross, Kelly L. "Existentialism." The Proceedings of the Friesian School, Fourth Series. Kelly L. Ross, Ph.D., 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Sadigh, Micah. "The Foundation of Existentialism In The Oldest Story Ever Told." Existential Anaylsis: Journal Of The Society For Existential Analysis 21.1 (2010): 76-88.
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 term that was coined specifically by Jean-Paul Sartre in regards to his own life. Sartre had adopted the Atheistic approach to life and its meaning, and while he was not the first or only one to do so, was the first and only one to come up with a way to describe it. Under Existentialism, man lives without higher power or guidance and must rely solely on himself and what he is aiming to do in order to lead a fulfilling life. This can be anything. Critics of Sartre propose that, because such a vast array of options exists within the meaningfulness of life, this philosophy is obsolete and trivial in nature. This is not true, as it is seen in everyday examples – celebrities, namely – that a thirst
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism is Humanism.” Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman. Meridian Publishing
abilities. By these two ideas, Hobbes asserts that it is to the advantage of every individual’s duty to self-
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism is Humanism.” Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman. Meridian Publishing