Chapter 6: Beyond Nihilism
June 20, 2009
Existentialism
Existentialism is not a full-fledged worldview, therefore it takes on two basic forms; atheistic existentialism and theistic existentialism.
Basic Atheistic Existentialism
Atheistic existentialism begins by affirming all the propositions of naturalism except those related to human nature and our relationship to the cosmos. Existentialism is interested mostly in humanity and how we can be significant in an otherwise insignificant world.
1. The cosmos is composed solely of matter, but to human beings reality appears in two forms – subjective and objective.
The first type of reality, objective reality, is the world around us and how it works. It just is. The second type, subjective,
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Atheistic existentialism is only nihilism wearing a mask of value, a mask that is stripped away at death.
Basic Theistic Existentialism
Theistic existentialism begins with acceptance of all the propositions of theism. It’s main differences concern human nature and our relationship to God and the cosmos.
1. Human beings are personal beings who, when they come to full consciousness, find themselves in an alien universe; whether or not God exists is a tough question to be solved not by reason but by faith.
Theistic existentialism’s most important difference from theism is that it does not start with God. Theistic existentialists choose to believe in God even though all the absurdities of the universe point in a different direction.
2. The personal is the valuable.
Existentialists find value in a personal point of view (thou rather than it). Like atheistic existentialists they hold a distinction between the subjective and objective worlds.
3. Knowledge is subjectivity; the whole truth is often paradoxical.
Full knowledge is subjective because it involves thou and not it. God’s sovereignty and human significance are supposed examples of a whole truth that is paradoxical. Of corse God’s word encourages some paradoxes and discourages others.
4. History as a record of events is uncertain and unimportant, but history as a model or type or myth to be made present and lived is of supreme importance.
As defined in The American Heritage College Dictionary, existentialism emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards existnece as unexplainable, and stresses free choice and responsibility for one's actions. Existentialism is personalized from other schools of thought by its embodiment of three important criterion; 1) the emphasis of the individual as the centerpoint of his domain; 2) an accentuation of human choice and freedom; and, 3) a critique of social norm and its aim for individuals to congregate as merely part of a herd. These three standards of action are present in all works defined as existential, and are absorbed in Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
Existentialism is a philosophy that puts emphasis on the existence of a person’s freedom or life. In a human point of view, it means to believe in oneself, not a group or religion. (33)
Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre, was published in 1945 at the height of Existentialism's cultural resurgence. As Sartre states in his opening line, his purpose is to “offer a defence of existentialism against some charges that have been brought against it.” (Sartre, 1945) At a time where Existentialism was heavily associated with wearing black and smoking (Fahlenbrach, 2012) Sartre felt the need to draw attention to its philosophical and more meaningful aspects, beyond it simply being a passing trend. Sartre outlines, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle of existentialism” (Sartre, 1945) This is rooted in what Sartre believes to be the basis of all Existential
The world is a simple place, but often at times, it seems more complicated than it really is. People exist in a world where others do not know about them because the world is so big. Existentialism is the belief that a person creates one’s self with the influence of external factors. However, more importantly, it is how a person is able to cope with these factors that allow a person to live their life. Existentialism is a key factor that is prominent throughout the story. The main characters in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, are all influenced by outside factors that include a pregnancy substitute to make babies and pre-plan their futures, living in a controlled environment and by making the citizens live in a constant hallucination of “happiness”.
Existentialism is often defined as a philosophical movement that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes a few main points, such as the freedom to choose and how the choices you make should be made without the assistance of another person or standard. From the existentialist point of view, you must accept the risk and responsibility of your choices and follow the act and result to wherever it takes the individual. Someone that is put in a certain situation understands it far more than someone looking in on that same situation; one commonly used situation that appears often in existentialist works is
So Nihilism’s problem for me is that it creates an objective world view of meaninglessness that is supposed to strip all meaning from everything and everyone, but it fails to address the fact that people are still evidently living life with a purpose, and however meaningless that subjective meaning might be, it no one has the authority to argue that it negates the meaning it has for the individual who still lives life. So Nihilism for me is ironically void of meaning to people who still live life with meaning though their subjective perspectives, and in turn for becomes a problematic philosophy because it does not convey utter meaninglessness to everyone as it suggests it should. With Nietzsche’s purposed problem of a chaotic and standstill meaningless world that he suggests Nihilism creates, is what existentialism answers, existentialist agree with the meaninglessness of the world that Nihilism suggests, however they differ in the sense that existentialism then argues that because live has no intrinsic meaning. It is now up to the choices and actions of the individual that creates subjective meaning, and in turn creates a purposeful life for the individual. I think this does in fact solve the problem that Nihilism established by voiding intrinsic meaning, because it is the fact that a meaningless world causes a problem for individuals to
Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz
It is useful to acknowledge that Buddhism and existentialism differ significantly in their views on individuality. While existentialism focuses entirely on the individual, Buddhism rejects the concept of
The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.
Atheism and, to a lesser degree, agnosticism is the belief that there is no higher power that exists or can be known to the limited human mind. These two ideas are the complements of the idea of religion, as proved by Newton’s third law of motion, “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.” Atheistic existentialism is, in the simplest definition possible, the philosophy of mere existence. It tries to find the meaning of life without a higher power, somewhat like realism. However, atheistic existentialism has its problems as seen with Friedrich Nietzsche’s and Albert Camus’ views on it (eventual nihilism and absurdism). Yet, it is an accepted idea
The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good
In his 1946 essay Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre undertakes the task of defending existentialism against what he defines as “charges” (341) brought against it. Sartre begins to outline the “charges” brought against existentialism and further, existentialists. Following the medieval quaestio-form, Sartre begins with the statement of the objection, a short discussion, and then his reply to each.
Sartre’s atheist existentialism presented in his lecture mainly states that there is no human nature in which man can place his trust; therefore, man is free to choose and is the definer of himself through his own choices and actions. Sartre begins by listing some prevalent oppositions against existentialism. For example, the Communists blame it for inducing “quietism and despair,” because the idea that there is no code of ethics to tell man what he ought to do and become generates fear that might discourage people from committing themselves to action. Christians reproach existentialism for
The faith is individuals are looking on figure out who and what they are all around existence concerning illustration they settle on decisions. In view of their experiences, beliefs also personal decisions turn into interesting without those need about a objective structure of an existentialist puts stock that an individual ought to make compelled with decide. Furthermore be answerable without those help for laws, ethnic rules, or conventions. Fundamentally those existentialist expects that the huge truth will be that a distinct. Furthermore things as a rule exist, anyway that these things have no implying to them but as particular case experience acting upon them would make significance.
I consider myself an existentialist. There are two basic approaches to this philosophy: either one rejoices in the freedom of the idea that a higher power is not imposing rules and purpose onto our existence, or, one sinks beneath the burden of responsibility that this bequeaths. Existentialists like Sartre, who can only see the bleak and meaningless aspects of living, have missed the opportunity that this philosophy gives to structure and guide their lives based on their own inner moral principles. I think that the inability to cope with inherent absence of meaning points to a dependence on the guidance of a higher power: in effect, a reluctance to take responsibility for oneself. I see existentialism as an incredibly liberating