Existentialism

Like “rationalism”( In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that

"regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge or "any view appealing to reason

as a source of knowledge or justification") and “empiricism,”( empiricism, in philosophy,

the view that all concepts originate in experience, that all concepts are about or applicable

to things that can be experienced, or that all rationally acceptable beliefs or propositions

are justifiable or knowable only through experience) “existentialism” is a term that belongs to

intellectual history. Its definition is thus to some extent one of historical convenience. The term

was explicitly adopted as a self-description by Jean-Paul Sartre, and through the wide

dissemination of the postwar literary and philosophical output of Sartre and his associates—

notably Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Albert Camus—existentialism

became identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s.

Among the major philosophers identified as existentialists (many of whom—for instance Camus

and Heidegger—repudiated the label) were Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Martin Buber in

Germany, Jean Wahl and Gabriel Marcel in France, the Spaniards José Ortega y Gasset and

Miguel de Unamuno, and the Russians Nikolai Berdyaev and Lev Shestov. The nineteenth

century philosophers, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche came to be seen as precursors

of the movement. Existentialism was as much a literary phenomenon as a philosophical one.

Sartre’s own ideas were and are better known through his fictional works (such

as Nausea and No Exit) than through his more purely philosophical ones (such as Being and

Nothingness and Critique of Dialectical Reason), and the postwar years found a very diverse

coterie of writers and artists linked under the term: retrospectively, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, and Kafka

were conscripted; in Paris there were Jean Genet, André Gide, André Malraux, and the expatriate
Samuel Beckett; the Norwegian Knut Hamsun and the Romanian Eugene Ionesco belong to the

club; artists such as Alberto Giacometti and even Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson

Pollock, Arshile Gorky, and Willem de Kooning, and filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and

Ingmar Bergman were understood in existential terms. By the mid-1970s the cultural image of

existentialism had become a cliché, parodized in countless books and films by Woody Allen.

Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It is

the view that humans define their own meaning in life and try to make rational

decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. It focuses on the question of human

existence, and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation at the core of existence. It

holds that, as there is no God or any other transcendent force, the only way to counter this

nothingness (and hence to find meaning in life) is by embracing existence

Thus, Existentialism believes that individuals are entirely free and must take personal

responsibility for themselves (although with this responsibility comes angst, a profound anguish

or dread). It therefore emphasizes action, freedom and decision as fundamental, and holds that

the only way to rise above the essentially absurd condition of humanity (which is characterized

by suffering and inevitable death) is by exercising our personal freedom and choice (a

complete rejection of Determinism(Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every

event, decision and action is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences)).

Main belief

Unlike René Descartes, who believed in the primacy of consciousness, Existentialists assert that

a human being is "thrown into" into a concrete, inveterate universe that cannot be "thought

away", and therefore existence ("being in the world") precedes consciousness, and is

the ultimate reality. Existence, then, is prior to essence (essence is the meaning that may be

ascribed to life), contrary to traditional philosophical views dating back to the ancient Greeks.

As Sartre(Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (1905 - 1980) was a French philosopher, writer

and political activist, and one of the central figures in 20th Century French philosophy) put it:

"At first [Man] is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made

what he will be.

If you’ve ever pondered the meaning of existence or questioned your purpose in life, you’ve

partaken in existentialist philosophy.

Essentialism

• A book's essence, for example, is its pages.

• Aristotle claimed essence is created prior to existence.

• This idea seems to imply, whether you are aware of it or not, your purpose in life has been

gifted to you prior to your birth.

• If you agreed with this thinking then you really didn't have to challenge the meaning of life or

search for your purpose.

Existence precedes essence

• While philosophers including Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Friedrich Nietzsche

questioned essentialism in the 19th century, existentialism was popularised by Jean-Paul Sartre

in the mid-20th century following the horrific events of World War II.

• The existentialist movement asked, "What if we exist first?"

• You were created as a blank slate, and it is up to you to discover your life's purpose or

meaning.
• While not necessarily atheist, existentialists believed there is no divine intervention, fate or

outside forces actively pushing you in particular directions.

• You create your own purpose through your actions

So, what’s the meaning of life?

If you’re now thinking like an existentialist, then the answer to this question is both elementary

and infinitely complex. You have the answer, you just have to own it

• If you're now thinking like an existentialist, then the answer to this question is both elementary

and infinitely complex.

• You have the answer, you just have to own it

Søren Kierkegaard

HIS LIFE

Born on May 5, 1913 in Copenhagen. He entered the University of Copenhagen in 1830 to

pursue a course of studies in Theology and Philosophy. He finished his formal studies in 1840

was awarded a Magister (Doctoral) degree in Theology. Considered as “The Father of

Existentialism”. Died on November 11, 1955 at the age of 42

HIS WORKS

Christian Discourses

Fear and Trembling

Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions

Works of Love
HUMAN NATURE FOR KIERKEGAARD

human beings stand out as responsible individuals who must make free choices. According to

him the deepest "inwardness" of the human being is the place of passionate choice wherein one

must take a "leap of faith" despite one's finitude, the fact that we can never know with certainly

the outcome of our choices despite our accountability for them.

There are three modes of existence that can be chosen by an individual.

aesthetic = a redefined hedonism, consisting of the search for pleasure

ethical = involves intense commitment to one's duty in faith and social obligations

religious = submission to God, and only God's will.

"Christianity is therefore not a doctrine, but the fact that God has existed."

"...the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which can live and die"

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

HIS LIFE

born on 15 October 1844 in the small town of Röcken bei Lützen, near Leipzig in the Prussian

province of Saxony. He was born with severe myopia and was always a delicate and sickly child.

Taught Philosophy at University of Basel and worked as Independent Philosopher. Died in

August 25, 1900

HIS WORKS

Master/Slave Morality

Nihilism
Ubermensch

Will to Power

Eternal Reccurance

HUMAN NATURE FOR NIETZCHE

human beings constitute a transitional, not a final, stage of development. Consequently, human

beings cannot become too complacent about, or satisfied with, their achievements without

endangering their claim to be human. “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the

process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will

gaze back into you”

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre

HIS LIFE

Sartre was born in Paris, France on 21 June 1905. He is best known as the main figurehead of the

Existentialism movement. Along with his French contemporaries Albert Camus and Simone de

Beauvoir. He was a confirmed Atheist and a committed Communist and Marxist, and took a

prominent role in many leftist political causes throughout his adult life.

HIS WORKS

His major works include "No Exit," "Nausea," "The Wall," "The Age of Reason,"

"Critique of Dialectical Reason," "Being and Nothingness," and "Roads to Freedom," an allegory

of man's search for commitment, and not, as the man at the off-licence says, an everyday story of

French country folk.

HUMAN NATURE FOR SATRE

Sartre doesn’t believe in a human nature or essence that precedes individuals. Rather our

existence precedes our essence; we have to create our own essence. Nothing, not god or

evolution, created us for any purpose other than the purposes we choose. “Every existing thing is

born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance. Life is a useless

passion. Politics is a science. You can demonstrate that you are right and that others are wrong”

Is there a God?

According to Sartre, “Existence precedes essence”, that in all the actions of human, they are

solely responsible for their actions because we choose what we are. It just like the tabula rasa; we

are a blank space that we are the one who will fill that blank space. “Essence precedes existence”

it means that a certain phenomenon, event or element can only when there is a purpose for it. We

can say that in order for you to exist, you must know your nature of being and also if you have a

purpose and nature of being, therefore you are existing. It also connotes that there is no God or

any transcendent force. The only matter is that what we see, what we smell, what we feel, what

we hear is what the existence means. The man is defined in negative terms for Sartre, as opposed

to what he is not: thus, an ashtray has been designed for a specific function, predetermined. The

essence of the ashtray lives before its existence. The same thing happens if we consider God as

the creator of the universe. If the concept of man is in the mind of God, man becomes an ashtray,

that is to say an object, not a subject. That’s why, for Sartre, God does not exist, God cannot

exist because it would ruin the human life. Because the existence would mean that man has an

essence, so is not free, nor responsible for his actions: “The man first exists, occurs, arises in the

world, and it is defined after […] The man is nothing, he will then, and he will be such that it

will be done. So, there is not likely, since there is no God to conceive”.

Subjective arguments
Similar to the subjective arguments for the existence of God, subjective arguments against the

supernatural mainly rely on the testimony or experience of witnesses, or the propositions of a

revealed religion in general.

• The witness argument gives credibility to personal witnesses, contemporary and from the

past, who disbelieve or strongly doubt the existence of God.

• The conflicted religions argument notes that many religions give differing accounts as to

what God is and what God wants; since all the contradictory accounts cannot be correct, many if

not all religions must be incorrect.

• The disappointment argument claims that if, when asked for, there is no visible help from

God, there is no reason to believe that there is a God.