Existentialism

1. Existentialism Here we have one of the most debated and disagreed upon intellectual movements in the Twentieth Century. Interestingly, this seemingly amorphous and obscure philosophy was spawned by a very real and thoroughly modern mindset, the disillusionment of many in Western Europe after the carnage and destruction of WWI & WWII

2. Existentialism Roots of Existentialism. Nietzsche and Kierkegaard Soren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher of the mid 19th century felt that to understand Christianity on must examine the lives of those who are suffering; Only through the man�s ability to deal with pain and loss can we asses the validity of Christian beliefs, not through the understanding of Christian dogma, creeds or Church structure

3. Existentialism Kierkegaard also felt that reason, and philosophical structure did not reveal any truth; mankind is only understood through the �conclusions of his passions.� It was the devastation of WWII that brought many back to the ideas of both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

4. Existentialism The Big question that was being considered was whether mankind was in control of their destiny at all. It would seem that mankind�s modern proclivities toward wanton destruction and the invention of the modern tools of warfare, all products of the rational society, called into question any reason to believe in reason!

5. Existentialism We see the nineteenth century ideal of the pride of human progress lay in ruin after the �Great War of 1914 � 1918 Was this Human Progress? It was enough to make a person think about their own existence! It was enough to spawn Existentialism!

6. Existentialism Hence, we can see existentialism as the questioning of Rationalism, and the inherent belief in Western European thought that mankind naturally progresses as one historical epoch leads to another. With the onset of WWII, this movement gains ground, and will be highlighted by some major thinkers.

7. Existentialism Existentialism is largely a revolt against traditional European philosophy, which reached its apex during the late 1700s and early 1800s in the impressive systems of the German philosophers Immanuel Kant and Hegel.

8. Existentialism/Contrast w/past Traditional philosophers tended to consider philosophy as a science. They tried to produce principles of knowledge that would be objective, universally true, and certain. The existentialists reject the methods and ideals of science as being improper for philosophy. They argue that objective, universal, and certain knowledge is an unattainable ideal.

9. Existentialism Existentialism became influential in the mid-1900s. World War II (1939�1945) gave rise to widespread feelings of despair and of separation from the �established order.� These feelings led to the idea that people have to create their own values in a world in which traditional values no longer govern.

10. Existentialism Existentialism insists that choices have to be made arbitrarily by individuals, who thus create themselves, because there are no objective standards to determine choice. The most famous of the Existentialist philosophers is the French author Jean-Paul Sartre

11. Existentialism:Sartre Existentialism maintains that in man, and in man alone, existence preceded essence. This simply means that man first is, and only subsequently is this or that. In a word, man must create his own essence: it is in throwing himself into the world, suffering there, struggling there, that he gradually defines himself. And the definition always remains open ended: we cannot say what this man is before he dies, or what mankind is before it has disappeared

12. Existentialism Many people wrongly quote "existence precedes essence" as if that summarizes existentialism. Sartre was merely stating that man, as the only sentient (thinking) being on earth, was forced to define who he was through living, while objects are what they are until destroyed.

13. Existentialism With our ability to think, grow, and change, mankind is in the unique position of defining itself. We are each in charge of defining our own lives. In a certain sense, Sartre's definition of existentialism simply radicalizes a view that is very common among most social scientists: that there are no instincts that cause specific actions.

14. Existentialism/Roots? We see in the Romantics of the Nineteenth century a questioning of the impact of Reason. Remember our discussion of William Blake�s �Newton�, and how the figure of the great mathematician seemed burdened and careworn by the weight of his craft? Remember the carefree exuberance of Wordsworth�s �Daffodils�, and the joy that memory, nature and dreams can being to humans?

15. Existentialism Yet, the Romantics were not ready to dispense with reason all together� Romantics still relied on the impact of imagination and intuition of the human condition� Existentialists dwelled on the impact that the extremes of human experience can have on someone; or, better put, can define someone, anyone, all of us! Death, fear and anxiety were their themes while the Romantics dwelled in nature, emotion and beauty

16. Existentialism Simply put, it is the burden of a modern society that had become so torn by conflict, death and destruction that mankind can only rely upon their own experience, their own essence, which is formed not by a prescribes set of laws, traditional religious values or rational philosophy� We are what we experience; our existence is, in fact, our essence. We can depend on nothing else, because nothing else is dependable!

17. Existentialism Distilled even further, if all of man�s prior philosophy, religion an science have brought us to a point where Western Europe lay in ruins, with cities leveled and death camps constructed, it is possible that there is nothing to be learned from man�s previous existence. We are left to struggle through life on our own, and cannot know who we are until we are gone. None of us can!

18. Existentialism How can mankind have �faith� in any institutions when we see the genocide in Europe and the tools of war honed to a fine point? All that we can be certain of is the uncertainty of life.

19. Existentialism Sartre based his existentialism on human free will. As individuals are free, from the moment of conception, they define their essence throughout their existence. A person's nature is what he or she has done in the past and what that person is doing at the moment.

20. Existentialism No one is complete until death, when self-definition ceases. Then, how others interpret the individual is based upon the individual's accomplishments and failings.

21. Existentialism Existential morality arises from the fact that all choices affect others, physically and emotionally. Social responsibility results from the interdependencies of individuals. Since any living person is engaged in the process of defining self and others, ethics develop accordingly. There are no moral absolutes, no universal concepts of right and wrong, no religious truths. You can see how this might shake up society.

22. Existentialism A major problem for Sartre was the lack of purpose to human existence. As a result, he developed the theory of "Being of God" -- the idea that individuals seek to be like or as the mythical God. Sartre wrote:

23. Existentialism To be man means to reach toward being God. Or if you prefer, man fundamentally is the desire to be God.... Every human reality is a passion in that it projects losing itself so as to found being and by the same stroke to constitute the In-Itself which escapes contingency by being its own foundation, the "Ens causa sui," which religions call God.

24. Existentialism:Sartre: Quotes �At the root of humanity I see only sadness and boredom.� �Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them.� �Hell is other people.�

25. Existentialism: Sartre: Quotes One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one's death, one dies one's life.

26. Existentialism