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Unit 30: Existentialism

Subjectivity is also important to Existentialism. Passionate choices and actions are important. Notes
Personal experience and acting on one’s own convictions are essential to arriving at personal
truths. A better understanding of a situation is gained when one is in the middle then watching
from the sidelines with a detached view. Systematic reasoning and acting is avoided at all costs
in Existential thought. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are noted for their random, unsystematic way
of exploring their ideas, using many different literary styles to express themselves.
Choice is also very important. One learns from making choices and committing to those choices.
According to Existentialists, humanity’s primary distinction is its freedom to choose. There is no
fixed instinct that drives humanity to do what it does. Choice is inescapable; not making choices
is choosing to not choose.

30.1 Existential Themes

Existentialism is an extremely diverse and varied philosophy. Even though it is so varied, there
are some themes that can be found throughout it. (1) Existence precedes essence, in other words,
you need existence to have essence. There is no predetermined “true” thing; it has to already
exist in order to become what it is. (2) Anxiety and anguish. The fear or dread which is not
directed at any specific object, it’s just there. Anguish is the dread of the nothingness of human
existence, the meaningless of it. According to Kierkegaard, anguish is the underlying, all-
pervasive, universal condition of man’s existence. (3) Absurdity. “Granted I am my own existence,
but this existence is absurd.” Everybody is here, everybody exists, but there is no reason as to
why. We’re just here, that’s it, no excuses. (4) Nothingness. There is nothing that structures this
world’s existence, man’s existence, or the existence of my computer. There is no essence that
these things are drawn from, since existence precedes essence, then that means there is nothing.
(5) Death. The theme of death follows along with the theme of nothingness. Death is always
there, there is no escaping from it. To think of death, as everybody does sooner or later, causes
anxiety. The only sure way to end anxiety once and for all is death.
Existentialism is the term applied to the work of a number of philosophers since the 19th century
who, despite large differences in their positions, generally focused on the condition of human
existence, and an individual’s emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts, or the meaning
or purpose of life. Existential philosophers often focused more on what they believed was
subjective, such as beliefs and religion, or human states, feelings, and emotions, such as freedom,
pain, guilt, and regret, as opposed to analyzing objective knowledge, language, or science.
The early 19th century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard is regarded as the father of existentialism.
He maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving his or her own life meaning
and for living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and
distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.
Subsequent existentialist philosophers retain the emphasis on the individual, but differ, in varying
degrees, on how one achieves and what constitutes a fulfilling life, what obstacles must be
overcome, and what external and internal factors are involved, including the potential
consequences of the existence or non-existence of God. Many existentialists have also regarded
traditional systematic or academic philosophy, in both style and content, as too abstract and
remote from concrete human experience.

Did u know? Existentialism became fashionable in the post-World War years as a way to
reassert the importance of human individuality and freedom.

Existentialism is sometimes referred to as a continental philosophy, referring to the continental
part of Europe, as opposed to that practiced in Britain at that time, which was called analytic
philosophy, and mostly dealt with analyzing language.

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