Existentialism Essay Research Paper Existentialism refers to

Existentialism Essay, Research Paper

Existentialism refers to the philosophical movement or tendency of the

nineteenth and twentyth centuries. Because of the diversity of positions associated

with existentialism, a precise definition is impossible; however, it suggests one major

theme: a stress on individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual

freedom, and choice {3}. Existentialism also refers to a family of philosophies

devoted to an interpretation of human existence in the world that stresses its

concreteness and its problematic character. Existentialism is often seen as an

irrationlist revolt against tradiational phylosphy. Although this may be true to a

certain point, existentialism has played a key role in the way people look at the world.

Existentialism, for several reasons, rejects epistemology and the attempt to

ground human knowledge. First of all,existenalist believe, human beings are not

solely or even primarily knowers. They also care, desire, manipulate, and, above all,

choose and act. Secondly, the self or ego, required by some if not all epistemological

doctrines, is not a basic feature of the prereflective experience. It emerges from one’s

experience of other people. The cognizing ego presupposes rather than infers or

constitutes the existence of external objects. In other words, you are not born with an

ego, or thought of ones self, but it is created through experiences with other people.

Finally, man is not a detached observer of the world, but in the world. He exists in a

special sense in which objects suck as stones and trees do not; he is open to the world

and to objects in it. There is no distinct realm of consciousness, on the basis of which

a person might infer, reason why project, or doubt the existence of external objects

{1}.

Most philosophers since ancient Greek thinker Plato have held that the highest

ethical good is universal. Nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard

{4, 333} reacted against this tradition, insisting that the individual’s highest good is to

find his or her own unique vocation. In terms of moral choice, existentialists have

argued that there is no objective, rational basis for decisions; they stress the

importance of individualism in deciding questions of morality and truth. Most

existentialists have held that rational clarity is desirable wherever possible but that

life’s most important questions are not accessible to reason or science.

The first to anticipate existentialism’s major concerns was seventeenth-century

French philosopher Blaise Pascal, who denounced a systematic philosophy that

presumes to explain God and humanity. He saw life in terms of paradoxes: The

human self, combining mind and body, is itself a contradiction. Later, Kierkegaard

rejected a total rational understanding of humanity and history, stressing the

ambiguity and absurdity of the human situation.

Nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche espoused tragic

pessimism and life-affirming individual will. Heidegger argued that human beings can

never hope to understand why they are here; instead, each individual must choose a

goal and follow it with passionate conviction, aware of the certainty of death and the

ultimate meaninglessness of one’s life. Twentieth-century French philosopher Jean

Paul Sartre first gave the term existentialism general currency by using it for his own

philosophy. Explicitly atheistic and pessimistic, his philosophy declared that human

life requires a rational basis but the attempt is a “futile passion” {2, 99-106}.

Nevertheless, he insisted that his view is a form of humanism, emphasizing freedom

and responsibility.

Freedom of choice, through which each human being creates his own nature, is a

primary theme. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, they must accept

the risk and responsibility of their actions. Kierkegaard held that a feeling of general

apprehension, which he called dread, is God’s way of calling each individual to commit to

a personally valid way of life{1}. The twentyth-century German philosopher Martin

Heidegger {3} felt that anxiety leads to the individual’s confrontation with the

impossibility of finding ultimate justification for his or her choices. There are many other

themes in existentialism, here are just a few. First, there is the basic existentialist

standpoint, that existence precedes essence, has primacy over essence. “Man is a

conscious subject, rather than a thing to be predicted or manipulated; he exists as a

conscious being, and not in accordance with any definition, essence, generalization, or

system. Existentialism says I am nothing else but my own conscious existence.”

{4,21-22}. A second existentialist theme is that anxiety, or the sense of anguish, a

generalized uneasiness, a fear or dread which is not directed to any specific object.

Anguish is the dr

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