The individual is naturally comprised of a conglomeration of cumbersome and distressing emotions, such as fear and distress. It is within inane circumstances that human beings are able to experience inherent fear. In moments of fear, people are able to apply existentialist thought, for it is through fear in which people decide to act. Existentialism is a philosophical theory that is governed by authenticity, which is that the existence of a person is determined through the acts of their own will (“Existentialism”). Throughout literature, existentialist theorists are able to portray the capacity that inherent fear plays upon the human condition.
Fear is the capital reason humans choose to act. People are biologically programmed to respond to fear-inducing situations. Human beings act out of emotion, motivating them to act. An emotion such as fear is stimulated through the thalamus, which then sends a signal to the cerebral cortex that produces the feelings associated with events, whether those be feelings pertaining to sadness or glee (Klein, Stephen B. and Michael Thorne 424). Humans, of all around the world suffer from the biological and spontaneous reactions that fear, or rather most emotions, creates. No one is omitted from the unconscious actions that the mind establishes. It is not only emotion that allows the mind to control the will, but it is through feelings that the individual truly breaks away from the subconscious need to fit in with society and discover themselves in a world where existence itself is a questionable idea.
As individuals experience emotions, emotions lead to feelings that are the true thoughts that motivate the single person to act further than their emotional state’s abilities. People are, in...
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Gardiner, Patrick. Kierkegaard: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford. Oxford University Publishing. 1988.
Klein, Stephen B., and Michael Thorne. Biological Perspective. New York. Macmillan. 2006.
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Sartre, Jean-Paul. Nausea. New York. New Directions Publishing Corporation. 1964.
One of the most complex emotions in existence, fear is the primary emotion that triggers any kind of change, as it is capable of linking with any existing emotion to create entirely different lives upon lives. For any change that happens, fear is always present to turn the tide whichever way it pleases.
Fear motivates many people to act upon matters, right or wrong. This emotion has been important in many events in both works of literature, and in the real world. It has forced military geniuses into retreat, and influenced them to plan another method of attack. Fear can be both a positive and a negative acting force in one’s life, a quality that can motivate one to success as well as to downfall.
It is believed that fear is a feeling which humans try to control, but they
We may nevertheless say that existentialism is a form of phenomenological philosophy that relies on certain reflective methods of studying human consciousness instantiated in the individual, society, and culture, which emerged as a popular general movement characteristic of 20 century European thought represented thought represented across many disciplines including literature, the humanities, and the social sciences. Existential psychology rejects the mechanistic views of the Freudians and instead sees people as engaged in a search for meaning (Trull & Prinstein, 2013, p. 382), therefore an existential psychotherapist may attribute the cause of the person’s anxiety to lost meaning of life. As Trull and Prinstein (2013) stated, the ultimate goal of existential psychotherapy is "to help the individual reach a point at which awareness and decision making can be exercised responsibly" (p. 383). The role of an existential psychotherapist is to enable the client to come closer to experience. By experiencing self, the client can learn to attach meaning and value to life. Sometimes the therapist will confront the client with questions “that force the client to examine the reasons for failure to search for meaning in life” (Trull & Prinstein, 2013, p.
Guignon, B. C. and Pereboom, D. (eds). (2001). Existentialism: Basic Writings. Indianapolis, IN: Hacket Publishing.
In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.
There are many genres in music. Today, people see the charts dominated by pop, rock, and hip-hop, but there are numerous genres that fill bottom cultures of music. For instance, jazz music is not booming like it was in the 1930s. However, the culture still fully exists. It is still being performed and experimented with by musicians. It is even arguable that jazz was a starting root to music today. Literature also holds an abundance of genres. From fantasies to lectures, news to philosophies, literature is also a constant part of human life. Now, if there were a genre of literature that works as an analogy to jazz, it would certainly be existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophical movement that was birthed post-World War II. It is a deep study of the existence of life, and revolves around the idea that we create our own nature. The absolute internal freedom humans own is only beat down by the anxiety humans create from their freedom. That is why life is absurd. With such a deep, complex philosophy, it is important that it is studied, investigated, and explained. The same can be said for jazz music. The complexity may be why existentialism is still being explored today. There are many modern works that set up existential experiments, attempt to define the existential character, and display consequences of the philosophy being ignored. Existential investigation is important because on the surface, it seems like a dark philosophy, but through understanding it becomes powerful.
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...
Ross, Kelly L. "Existentialism." The Proceedings of the Friesian School, Fourth Series. Kelly L. Ross, Ph.D., 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
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.
Kreis, Steven. Lecture 12: The Existentialist Frame of Mind. 25 July 2002. The History Guide. 27 Nov. 2002.
Existentialist discuss these ideas of Nothingness, Indifference, Absurdity, and Ambiguity in all forms of Art - Visual, Musical, and Written. Existentialist portray the small importance of humans; even to critique the attitude of men towards women as a way to feel better, or the questing for God and hope. It is this frightful awareness that gives Mankind the harsh reality: life, our importance and decisions, are in the end utterly meaningless. Through Sartre’s belief that existence precedes essence, many of the things held dear, and valuable, by society suddenly become worthless; Beauvoir restates Sartre’s ideas of Nothingness and Being, and proposes the cause for the historical inferiorization of women. The two go hand in hand with one arguing for the lack of an essence, and the other arguing for the desperate pursuit of an essence, or a way to feel meaningful and not indifferent to the world. Camus then adds with the philosophy of the Absurd, and how the guilt of humanity outweighs the mirth they attain when the murky truths are masked. To him, all are guilty and the condition of a concrete human existence is clear: there is little humans offer to the world, and each other, but each one wants everything all the same. Together with the modern day ideas in Music, and the eyebrow-raising paintings of Post-War Artists, Existentialism defines what is a concrete human existence. Shield away in a shell of things that seem valuable, and live happily in ignorance; however, only when the weight of the emptiness of the world envelops you, and you accept is, only then can you truly be
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 ...
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.
Emotion is an essential part of human life which commonly used in dictating moods. 1 In psychology, emotion is considered a response to stimuli that involves characteristic physiological changes—such as an increase in pulse rate, rise in body temperature, greater or less activity of certain glands, change in the rate of breathing—and tends in itself to motivate the individual toward further activity (Emotion para 1). People need to pay close attention to their emotions in order to carefully deal with it. 2 Our emotion is often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation. (Emotion para 1). The society plays a large role in developing people’s feelings as it teaches an individual on how to deal with the emotion