EXISTENTIALISM

TO BE
OR
NOT TO BE
MAIN TENET
• HUMAN CREATE
MEANING
• THE HUMAN
PERSON IS A
LIVING
INDIVIDUAL
HUMAN CREATE MEANING
Existentialism holds that outside
human existence, reality or the
physical world has no meaning and
that the universe is absurd, with
emphasis on the phenomena of
anxiety and alienation.
EXISTENCE DETERMINES ESSENCE
It is up to humans to create their
personal ethos or meanings outside of
any known philosophical system or
standard; thus meaning is subjective
and dependent upon the individual.
HUMAN CREATE MEANING
• For existentialism, absolute freedom
and choice take precedence over
external standards.
• The meaning of life depends on
whatever meaning the individual
chooses to ascribe to it.
• By putting a premium on FREEDOM
AND CHOICE, existentialism rejects the
imposition of any philosophical system
and insist that the burden falls on
every individual to determine or give
meaning to their lives
THE HUMAN PERSON IS A LIVING INDIVIDUAL
• Emphasizes: human existence and distinctive
qualities of human life (individual human
experience)
• The AUTHENTIC HUMAN is a self-made, free
spirit who opts to live and love as he/she
chooses without feeling encumbered, boxed
in, or forced to do what everyone else does
or go where everyone goes.
• As a philosophical system, existentialism
rebels against or opposes traditional or
totalitarian system , that tend to
DEPERSONALIZE OR DEHUMANIZE human
persons by forcing them to be they are not
by curtailing their freedom of choice ( Zulueta
2010, 178)
 THE HUMAN PERSON IS A LIVING INDIVIDUAL
• Existentialism is a movement of those who
refused to belong to any school of thought,
repudiating the adequacy of any body of
beliefs or systems and claiming them to be
superficial, academics, and remote from
life. ( Martin 2008)
• It is important to note that SOME
EXISTENTIALIST are also ATHEIST who
believe that the concept of God is obsolete,
like Friedrich Nietzsche. Others like Soren
Kierkegaard, were religious, even if they
did not feel able to justify it. What is
important for existentialists is THE
FREEDOM OF CHOICE TO BELIEVE OR NOT
TO BELIEVE
 SOREN KIERKEGAARD
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
MARTIN HEIDEGGER

EXISTENTIALIST
PHILOSOPHERS
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
Born in Copenhagen Denmark
Studied Theology at the University of
Copenhagen
REGARDED AS THE FATHER OF
EXISTENTIALISM
Saw rationality as a way by which
humans could respond positively to
their existential anxiety or their fear of
being in the world. Through the
exercise of their rationality or freedom
of choice, individuals can counter their
ANGST on their own, outside of any
Philosophical System or standards.
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
• For Kierkegaard only the human person is capable of comprehending
their own existence, this is in effect brings to the fore a person’s
mode of becoming, which is choice. An Authentic choice is a product
of passion and zealous intention (Zulueta 2010)
• Raised his objection against a science –oriented world, which has
brought about the HUMAN PERSON’S OBJECTIFICATION. This
contributed to the lonely state of human existence as the person
freely embraced this DEPERSONALIZATION.
Described three stages on life’s road
1. Aesthetic Stage: where one lives in sensuous enjoyment and where
emotions are dominant
2. Ethical Stage: when man arrives at the “universal human” and
achieves an understanding of one’s place and function in life
3. Religious Stage: which is the highest, and where one stands alone
before God.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Born in the Prussian village of Rocken, Germany
Obtained his education at the University of Bonn.
Criticized how the rationalistic Philosophy. The
prevailing condition of his time, and traditional
morality contributed to the disregard for the
weaking of humans (Pojman 2004, 236)
Nietzsche believed that these human weakness
were exploited by these aforementioned factors, a
situation that he wished to rectify in order to
produce a superior race.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
• As NIHILIST , he claimed that the
universe lacks meaning and
purpose , nature is beyond good
and evil, all men are unequal;
that morality is an invention of
the weak to limit and deter the
strong; that power is the
supreme virtue and supreme
human desire; and that all
forms of government, the wisest
and most natural is aristocracy .
( Zulueta 2010)
Jean-Paul Sartre
• Born in Paris and was a
playwright and a novelist
• In the aftermath of World War II
Sartre believed that people must
take it upon themselves to make
a choice and be responsible for
their lives.
• In the midst of anxiety,
loneliness, and chaos, human
freedom shines out and people
become responsible for their own
action
Jean-Paul Sartre
• “there is no creator of man,
therefore he is responsible for
determining his essence. Man first
is, then he defines himself”
• Individuals must determine the
essence of their existence. And
because there is neither God nor
any philosophical system or
standard that would dictate human
essence, they are free to be what
they choose to be, without any
limits , in the same way that if they
fail, they only have themselves to
blame (Ozmon and Craver 2007,230)
 Martin Heidegger
• Born in Messkirck, Germany and studied theology and
Philosophy at the University of Freiburg.
• Martin Heidegger was a key German philosopher of the
20th Century. He is best known for contributions to
phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. In
Heidegger's fundamental text Being and Time, "Dasein" is
introduced as a term for the type of being that humans
possess. 
• Heidegger began his class with his discussion of “being-
in-the-world”, which focused on the mode of existence or
lived experience of the individual in the world.
Martin Heidegger
• According to Heidegger there are three fundamental features that characterize human
existence:
FACTUALITY: Wherein the human person is already involved in the world.
Facticity is a part of what he calls “Geworfenheit” or “thrownness”. We are all thrown or projected into the
world, arbitrarily born into a given family, within a given culture and at a given moment in human history,
these “givens” are facticities.
EXISTENTIALITY: Which sees the human person as a project and a possibility
The second term is existentiality, the possibilities that we have at our disposal. The reality of  being a Dasein
is to be a being that has possibilities, and that is what distinguishes us from every other being, that is why
we are part of Dasein.
FALLENNESS/ FORFEITURE: Which look at the human tendency to become mere presence in
the world, failing to make the most of their possibilities because of gossip, curiosity, and
ambiguity.
The final term that Heidegger uses is “fallenness”. It refers to the inauthentic existence of Dasein. As
human beings, we fall into certain tasks by default. Because of social expectations and people telling us how
we should be behaving, making us fall into a herd mentality. We have all fallen into tasks as it is part of our
nature.
Martin Heidegger
• To understand deeper the meaning of human existence in the world,
according to Heidegger, three aspects constitute individual existence:
1. UMVELT: which refers to how the individual experiences the world in
the sense of active participation and involvement. (Environment)
2. MITVELT: Which underscores the intersubjective or the human’s
experience of their fellow individuals. (people around us)
3. EIGENVELT: which looks at how individuals coming to awareness of
their own existence, realize that they are a distinct and subjective
existence. (self within us)
In the world where we live, we must not be a passive recipient or thing;
we must on our own, discover things for ourselves even in the face of
dread and anxiety.