ESSAY
DR1997
existentialism.pptEXISTENTIALISM
BACKGROUND OF EXISTENTIALISM
- ORIGINATED IN THE 19th CENTURY PHILOSOPHIES OF DENMARK’S SOREN KIERKEGAARD (1813-1855) AND GERMANY’S FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE (1814-1900)
- DEVELOPED AND WAS POPULARIZED AFTER WORLD WAR II BY FRANCE’S JEAN PAUL SARTRE (THE FIRST TO USE THE TERM EXISTENTIALISM) AND NOVELISTS FRANZ KAFKA (1883-1924) AND FRANCE’S ALBERT CAMUS (1913-1960), WHO REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE CATEGORIZATION THAT HE WAS AN EXISTENTIALIST
THE PRINCIPLES OF EXISTENTIALISM
- “EXISTENCE COMES BEFORE ESSENCE” – SARTRE
ESSENCE: THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF SOMETHING
HUMAN BEINGS ARE DIFFERENT FROM INANIMATE OBJECTS WHOSE ESSENCE IS CREATED BEFORE THEY COME INTO EXISTENCE
INDIVIDUALS ARE BORN FIRST, AND COME TO DEVELOP WHO THEY ARE (THEIR ESSENCE) AFTERWARDS
HOW DO WE DEVELOP OUR ESSENCE?
- BY THE CHOICES THAT WE MAKE (OUR ACTIONS)
- “MAN IS NOTHING ELSE BUT THAT WHICH HE MAKES OF HIMSELF” – SARTRE
THUS THERE IS NO HUMAN NATURE (MAN IS NOT PREDEFINED, PREDESTINED, OR DETERMINED)
- WE ARE, IN ONE SENSE, THE SUM TOTAL OF ALL OF THE CHOICES WE HAVE MADE IN LIFE
THE PRINCIPLES OF EXISTENTIALISM
- “EXISTENCE COMES BEFORE ESSENCE”
- “MAN IS NOTHING ELSE BUT THAT WHICH HE MAKES OF HIMSELF”
- “WHEN WE SAY MAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIMSELF, WE DO NOT MEAN HE IS RESPONSIBLE ONLY FOR HIS OWN INDIVIDUALITY, BUT THAT HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL MEN” – SARTRE
(EVERY ACTION HAS CONSEQUENCES FOR OTHERS)
EXISTENTIAL TERMINOLOGY
- FACTICITY: THE “FACTS” ABOUT OURSELVES; THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR PAST ACTIONS; PART OF WHAT DEFINES OUR ESSENCE
- TRANSCENDENCE: OUR HOPES, DREAMS, ASPIRATIONS, AND FUTURE GOALS; WHAT WE ARE BECOMING; PART OF WHAT DEFINES OUR ESSENCE
- BAD FAITH: REFUSAL TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS AND WHO WE ARE; THE TERM THAT SARTRE USES TO DESCRIBE HIS CHARACTERS IN HIS PLAY, NO EXIT
EXISTENTIAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
EXISTENTIAL PRINCIPLES HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR HOW THEY PERCEIVE THE HUMAN SITUATION IN LIFE
HUMANS SHOULD ALWAYS DEFINE THEMSELVES AS INDIVIDUALS AND ARE NOT DEFINED BY SOCIETY
THEY THEREFORE HAVE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEMSELVES AND WHO THEY ARE
EXISTENTIAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
THE EXISTENTIALISTS BELIEVE THAT THE HUMAN CONDITION OF EXISTENCE IS MARKED BY:
THE HUMAN CONDITION
- ANGUISH: COMBINING THE EMOTIONS OF SADNESS AND ANXIETY; WAS DESCRIBED BY KIERKEGAARD IN HIS RETELLING OF THE STORY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
THE HUMAN CONDITION
- ANGUISH
- ABANDONMENT: THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD BECAUSE “MAN IS CONDEMNED TO BE FREE” AS SARTRE SAYS
THE HUMAN CONDITION
- ANGUISH
- ABANDONMENT
- DESPAIR: LIFE IS A SERIES OF OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES THAT OFTEN SEEM NEVER ENDING; THIS IS PERHAPS NOWHERE BETTER CAPTURED THAN IN CAMUS’ “MYTH OF SYSIPHUS”
