Understanding Philosophy-Existentialism

Source: Wikipedia, http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/, edited excerpts

Existentialism is a viewpoint that is centered upon the study of existence and of the way humans find themselves existing in the world. According to this theory, the focal point of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person & his emotions, actions, choices & responsibilities. The early 19th century philosopher Kierkegaard, posthumously is regarded as the father of Existentialism. He believed that human beings are solely responsible for giving a meaning to their lives through the choices they make despite the external distractions & obstacles including angst, boredom, despair, absurdity etc.

There is a wide diversity of philosophical, religious, and political ideologies that make up existentialism so there is no universal agreement in an arbitrary set of ideals and beliefs. Politics vary, but each seeks the most individual freedom for people within a society.

Existentialism – What It Is and Isn’t
Existentialism takes into consideration the underlying concepts:

• Human free will


• Human nature is chosen through life choices


• A person is best when struggling against their individual nature, fighting for life


• Decisions are not without stress and consequences


• There are things that are not rational


• Personal responsibility and discipline is crucial


• Society is unnatural and its traditional religious and secular rules are arbitrary


• Worldly desire is futile

Existentialism is broadly defined in a variety of concepts and there can be no one answer as to what it is, yet it does not support any of the following:

• wealth, pleasure, or honor make the good life


• social values and structure control the individual


• accept what is and that is enough in life


• science can and will make everything better


• people are basically good but ruined by society or external forces


• “I want my way, now!” or “It is not my fault!” mentality

A central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the actual life of the individual is what constitutes what could be called his or her "essence" instead of there being a predetermined essence that defines what it is to be a human. Thus, the human being - through his consciousness - creates his own values and determines a meaning to his life. Although it was Sartre who explicitly coined the phrase, similar notions can be found in the thought of many existentialist philosophers, from Kierkegaard to Heidegger.

In Music, many solo artists and bands have released existentially themed works ranging from single songs to entire albums. Some of these artists have focused and built their entire careers exploring these themes. Notable examples include Jim Morrison of The Doors, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Trent Reznor of the industrial band Nine Inch Nails.

Existentialism – Impact on Society
Existentialistic ideas came out of a time in society when there was a deep sense of despair following the Great Depression and World War II. There was a spirit of optimism in society that was destroyed by World War I and its mid-century calamities. This despair has been articulated by existentialist philosophers well into the 1970s and continues on to this day as a popular way of thinking and reasoning (with the freedom to choose one’s preferred moral belief system and lifestyle).

An existentialist could either be a religious moralist, agnostic relativist, or an amoral atheist. Kierkegaard, a religious philosopher, Nietzsche, an anti-Christian, Sartre, an atheist, and Camus an atheist, are credited for their works and writings about existentialism. Sartre is noted for binging the most international attention to existentialism in the 20th century.

Each basically agrees that human life is in no way complete and fully satisfying because of suffering and losses that occur when considering the lack of perfection, power, and control one has over their life. Even though they do agree that life is not optimally satisfying, it nonetheless has meaning. Existentialism is the search and journey for true self and true personal meaning in life.

Most importantly, it is the arbitrary act that existentialism finds most objectionable-that is, when someone or society tries to impose or demand that their beliefs, values, or rules be faithfully accepted and obeyed. Existentialists believe this destroys individualism and makes a person become whatever the people in power desire thus they are dehumanized and reduced to being an object. Existentialism then stresses that a person’s judgment is the determining factor for what is to be believed rather than by arbitrary religious or secular world values.

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