Definition of Existentialism and beliefs of proponents
- Existentialism: a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
- Etymology: Translates from Danish meaning “Condition of existence.”
- Albert Camus’ ideas: the concept of the Absurd and the notion of Revolt. The concept of the absurd: Human beings are caught in a constant attempt to derive meaning from a meaningless world. This is the ‘paradox of the absurd’. Existential revolt – to affirm the absurdity of life and continue.
- Sartre’s ideas: There are two types of reality that lie beyond conscious experience: the being of the object and conscious.
- Sartre believed in the idea that it is more important to understand human existence rather than the existence of the world.
- Sartre set out to find what it means to be human
- Self choice can lead to bad faith
- The only way to escape self-deception is choosing in a way that reveals the existence for-itself as both factual and transcendent
- Soren Kierkegaard ideas:
- "...the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die"
- Father of existentialism. Primarily believes that people live within 2 spheres that they can choose from: Aesthetic and the Ethical.
- Aesthetic lives are lived within spheres of pleasure, novelty, and romantic individualism, which he believes is an inevitability meaningless lifestyle.
- Ethical lives are concerned with having a sense of duty and commitment to societal obligations. He sees value in this lifestyle but admits that living in this sphere may require compromising/sacrificing genuinely human (more emotional) faculties.
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