The sources found were focused on the topics of existentialism and nihilism. As previously mentioned, existentialism 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 the will. Nihilism is the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. The first article found was by Leah Jacob. She wrote her article on the topic of nihilism and different philosophers that introduced nihilism that came to a summary that nihilism is the philosophy centering on the denial of meaning. From that source, there are different philosophies that ties into nihilism helps give a better understanding …show more content…
Lewis claims that it undermines religion and people who are nihilist don’t see a purpose in life. That is essentially true, but he argues that although these values and meanings may not be absolute nor a part of the fabric of the Cosmos nor mandated by a God, they still exist and are acted out by conscious agents. In this sense, the results from this source is that the universe does have values and those values are, at least, the ones humans have created. The article that contradicts the first two is the one by Bryan Ye, who founded his own personal meaning in a meaningless world. Ye too, was a nihilist and negotiates what is truly the meaning of being human and living in this universe. He provides an optimistic response by encouraging people to embrace their freedoms because humans live in a world that is filled with new things to explore. This optimistic response comes from his own experience of nihilism being a central part of his life and how it has accepted him to face harsh realities to find joy in the things around him (Ye, …show more content…
But it is also shown how these necessities in the human nature affects the world and if they are morals and standards that people don’t really have to look up to to coordinate their lives. In the article of existentialism by Tricia Smith, she focuses heavily on the role of teachers, the learners, and the environment to "analyze the basic character of human existence and calls the attention of [people] to their freedom." Her focus on the education aspect of existentialism plays a very dominant role on what we are as humans and how we think because the way we behave, and think is through teachings—teaching of morals, speech, standards, etc (Smith, 2013). As a result, all of these teachings that people learn from their parents, teachers in schools, and through their life obstacles, helps determine of what it truly means to exist in this world as
While nihilism is often discussed in terms of extreme skepticism and relativism, for most of the 20th century it has been associated with the belief that life is meaningless. Existential nihilism begins with the notion that the world is without meaning or purpose. As given this explanation to this type of Nihilism, existence itself--all action, suffering, and feeling--is ultimately senseless and empty.
Man had to believe in something. That something was an ordering principle. And this was essential; it appeared, because the scientific temperament appeared not to assure man but to trigger him to drift even more aimlessly. Mankind needed a new book of lessons and a teacher as well. Humanity required it. What had occurred to produce such a yearning? Where was Reason? Where was God? With all the gods dead and buried, with nobody to believe in, the existentialists turned to humanity itself to unearth new values. While they acknowledged the nihilistic tendencies of bourgeois civilization, they were not themselves nihilists. They preserved a faith in humanity; a faith that guided them to the belief that only man could comprehend and resolve the tribulations of mankind. Existentialism sketched on a number of earlier ideas and one of its lasting strengths was that it survived to take in nearly two centuries of European thought into one composition. It was a perennial philosophy. It was the fundamental Nietzcsheanism. As Sartre once wrote, "existentialism is an attempt to draw all the consequences from a consistent atheist position."(Sartre, 1962) According to Sartre, it had been Dostoevsky who had created that if God did not exist, and then anything would be allowed. This, in a nutshell, is the starting point, not the consequence or objective, of existentialism. If one really comprehends the sense of modern godless man's plight, one is at first condensed to nausea and despair. All of the human kind must go through that awful sense of depression that escort’s ones’ insight into the human condition and ourselves. Man is alone because he cannot be in contact with others. He finds himself in a world in which he is completely alien to othe...
Existentialism then stresses that a person’s judgment is the determining factor for what is to be believed rather than by religious or secular world values.” (all about philosophy)
Nihilism, as defined in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy further articulates nihilism as “the recognition that life has no intrinsic meaning.” There is no such thing as right and
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).
According to world renowned French existentialist philosopher, political activist and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre, “man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself”. This idea forms the foundation of existentialism, a philosophical movement originating in France and Germany, and rising to popularity after World War II. Existentialism emphasizes the individual’s freedom of choice, which solely gives life its meaning. Existentialism holds the individual responsible for their own creation and development, and the consequences that arise from their choices and free will, or lack thereof. Franz Kafka, considered by many to be an existential writer, heavily focused on the meaning of life and how actions create the individual, especially in his
Nihilists are people who have adopted a variety of negative philosophical beliefs and political views, often times to the extreme. Originating from the Latin word meaning Nothing, Nihilist tend to believe that is no point to our existence, and extremist some even argue that our existence isn’t real (Nathanson).This form of thinking may appeal and encompass the way a lot of people might feel, but the concept really limits one’s full enjoyment of life. While we all are living with a very limited amount of time, microscopic in the big picture, the impact one can make in that time is tremendous. Living with the idea that our existence doesn’t matter at all will only hurt a person’s potential to do great things.
In this assignment, I will discuss what I have learned to perceive is the relevance of Nietzsche and Heidegger for theorizing religion. I will place great emphasis on Nietzsche's concept of the "Death of God," and how this concept is a challenge to modernity and religious consciousness. With the rise of science and empiricism, Nietzsche argues that it is practically impossible for a modern person to realistically believe in a Christian conception of God. However, the morality of Christianity lingers in the background, and, while still influencing people, Nietzsche predicts that the Europe of his time was soon to see a nihilistic sickness. However, contrary to a superficial reading of Nietzsche, he was not endorsing nihilism, but rather diagnosing it within a societal context. As is exemplified by his concepts such as Ubermensch and "Will to Power," Nietzsche held an anti-nihilist attitude towards nihilism, and predicted the human ability to sublimate nihilism through a controlling of this Strife. After this, I will shift my attention to Heidegger. As I shall explain, Heidegger was post-Nietzsche, and thus wrote after the "Death of God." To explain Heidegger’s philosophy, I will summarize his working out of what are, in Heidegger's opinion, the fundamental questions of our times. Unlike Nietzsche, Heidegger does not delve on the "Death of God" because that has already happened, although, as I shall explain, the "Death of God" for Heidegger is more of an absence of God. Heidegger asserts that we live in a sort of in-between state where we cannot truly know God. Also, this has profound ontological and metaphysical implications, as Heidegger speaks lengthily on the difference between Being and being, a co...
Existentialism is a contemporary trend in the sphere of Philosophy. It lays stress on the existence of man. Existentialism was a protest against the traditional notions of man. It purports to form a 'just' concept of man, rejecting underestimation or overestimation of Man's personality. The Chief tenate of existentialism is "Existence precedes essence". It thinks that the existence of the individual is the highest truth. To it existence is m...
Existentialism is part of my philosophy because the student is the main focus in the classroom. The more confident students are with the teacher, the more confident they can be with themselves. (add more here)
Education is a tool that a person acquires through many years of development and learning, and will be continuously employed throughout the duration of their existence on Earth. The educational process in today’s society makes a great impression on the future of all of the individuals that pass through this system. An education should not only teach a person the basics in which they need to survive and have a successful career, but should also teach students to think logically, investigatively, critically, and help them to find who they are. Having a philosophy of teaching is very important in the fact that it will help me to understand and articulate decisions I will make in the classroom and in the school. An effective teacher’s philosophy will reflect the situations and realities of the classroom.
Existentialism emerged as a movement in twentieth century literature and philosophical works. It described the belief that took the human subject, not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual and his or her conditions of existence. According to Kafka’s personal beliefs on existentialism, people have both an individual side of themselves and a side with the responsibility of society. If a person chooses themselves before society, they wont have the support of their community. However, if an individual picks society before themselves, their individuality will be lost. At the beginning of ...
In the beginning, there were basic schoolhouses to fulfill the needs of an industrialized society. The subjects taught were aimed at securing a job, creating a stigmatization that any subject that will not help get a job is useless. Today, the basis of classical higher education has been fighting its way into primary education while trying to destroy the previously mentioned stigmatization created against non-career-oriented subject matter. Only after hundreds of years, humans as a whole are figuring out that the only subject of education is life and all of its manifestations. Because of this, the main ideas of education should be few, but very important. They should be applicable to many scenarios and students should be thoroughly taught their application in life. A student should also be able to experience the joy of discovery when general ideas taught to him give him an intimate understanding of the chain of events that is called life (Whitehead 3). In all forms, education should simply be...
In this paper, I will demonstrate what my teaching philosophy is based on two different philosophies; they are progressivism and existentialism. Using these two philosophies, I will focus on the student rather than myself as the teacher. The focus is to create a flexible, responsible, and understandable environment for my students. In order to follow the Olivet’s School of Education slogan, “Professionals Influencing Lives”, I need to uncover my virtues in order to give students the best learning experience when I teach Math, Sunday school, or other subjects. In order to determine how to work with students and how to increase students’ interest in learning in the classroom, I will describe the two philosophies separately.
Nihilism, as well as existentialism and a host of other philosophies are boldly explored in Grendel, a novel by John Gardner. The antagonist Grendel travels on a journey of self-discovery, eventually becoming a nihilist, only to be gallantly disproved by the hero Beowulf. In the end Gardner proves that the virtues of individuality and meaning triumph over meaningless violence and destruction.