Existentialist Views on Death

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Existentialist Views on Death

What is Existentialism?

Existentialism is a philosophy developed chiefly in the 20th century that attempts find meaning in a seemingly meaningless world. The central theme of existentialism is that an individual must assume all responsibilities for his or her acts of free will without any absolute knowledge of what is right or wrong. Existentialism analyzes this somewhat dismal situation mankind has been thrown into, and produces a model for how an individual should live his or her life. However, why should someone attempt to live a life of morals and meaning in a cold and indifferent world? An analysis of existentialist views on death may lead to an answer to this question.

A Brief History of Existentialism

Existentialism developed from the ideas of Rene Descartes and his contemporary Blaise Pascal. Pascal rejected the rationalist attempt of Descartes to explain God and humanity, seeing that a systematic philosophy presuming this knowledge was a form of pride. He instead described life, like later existentialist writers, in terms of paradoxes (Akram).

Soren Kierkegaard, the first philosopher to refer to himself as existential, developed a philosophy in reaction to the absolute idealism of G. W. F. Hegel. Instead of claiming a rational understanding of the human situation, Kierkegaard stressed the ambiguity and absurdity of it. He asserted that the only way to survive in this situation is for an individual to lead a totally committed life, where this commitment could only be understood by the individual. A person must be prepared to defy social norms in order to serve the higher authority of a personally valid way of life. Being a Christian, Kierkegaard advocated that this commitment sh...

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...s are lacking. One fears his or her inevitable finiteness for fear of being unable to transcend existence. These fears cause anxiety, which eventually leads to the reality that ultimate despair means necessary existence. This gives mankind courage to realize its finitude and mobilizes it into action. By fighting death, man will eventually find a satisfactory way to transcend it.

Works Cited

Akram, Tanweer. Existentialism. 18 January 1991. 6 March 2001. http://www.columbia.edu/~ta63/exist.htm.

Green, Celia. The Human Evasion. 6 March 2001. http://www.deoxy.org/evasion/toc.htm.

Kemerling, Garrth. Philosophy Pages. 1997-2001. 6 March 2001.http://www.philosophypages.com/.

Koestenbaum, Peter. The Vitality of Death. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company, 1971.

Pratt, Alan. Nihilism. 1999. 6 March 2001. http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/n/nihilism.htm.

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