Essay on Existential Philosphy

Nihilism, a philosophy in which the doctrine itself implies that all values and beliefs are meaningless, this ideology is defined by the internet encyclopedia of philosophy as: “the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence.”[2] Nihilistic theory is often associated with German Philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, who popularized the idea that Nihilism is a widespread phenomenon of western culture in the 1880’s. The concept of Nihilism is that rather than meaning, all

Nihilism which comes from the Latin word, Nihil means nothing, to destroy completely, as seen in it being the base of the annihilation. Nihilism is the idea that all beliefs and ideals are without foundation and that nothing can truly be identified or known. "Every belief, every considering something-true, is necessarily false because there is simply no true world" (Nietzsche). Nihilism tends to be related to skepticism and pessimism by many people. A person who was truly a Nihilist would have no desire or belief and anything, they would probably be led by a compulsion to destroy. Nihilism is often associate with the Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche contended that nihilism

Nihilism has evolved around the central theme that the world is meaningless. French philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte, argued that in absence of illusions, life is nothing. Albert Camus compared humanity’s existence to Sisyphus’ punishment. Therefore, Nihilism found a home in the heart’s of existentialists in that life held no inherent meaning at that it is up to an individual to find their own meaning. As it stands today, modern philosophers approach Nihilism in two ways.

However, it is clear that he believed life is without meaning and everything lacks purpose. Unlike other nihilist though, he drew meaningfulness from life without meaning. Additionally, he created reasons for living, such as seeking new ways to enjoy oneself and seek out impossible challenges. Nietzsche stressed that one should affirm life with his or her actions. For instance, Nietzsche said in section 283 of Book Four of The Gay Science, “[f]or believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and greatest enjoyment is – to live dangerously!” Even though everything lacks meaning, life is worth living for the sake of living

Nihilism has no solid belief to why we are here. They will challenge anyone who tries to justify the fact why we are here, because they see the flaws in the institutions and refused to accept their answers as accurate. Nihilist have no binding moral values, and challenge traditional institution, because they believe it coerce and interferes with human potential. Furthermore, nihilist do hold a view of the

On the contrary, Nietzsche argues that when an old God dies and his shadow is fading away, the grand unity between people and their previous faith will be interrupted, which will generate a sense of “valuelessness” in people’s mind. Thus, nihilism will be prevalent for a while. However, when a new faith will somehow be established someday, and a new God and new morality will appear with the restored order and unity as Nietzsche describes, “one understands that the old and the new are basically opposite, the old values born of declining and the new ones of ascending life. (Nietzsche

Nietzsche and Kierkegaard are both considered to be the top existentialists for solely different reasons, as well as being very different from each other. They have different philosophies when it comes to their thoughts on religion and it is important to see exactly how they line up in this regard. The best way to do this is to start from the beginning of each’s work, their history and how they grew into their respective roles in their fields. It is also important to note exactly what existentialism is. It is the theory of exercising the idea that the individual has the freedom and free will to develop their own path and existence in a responsible manner. It is a very interesting subject that is debated on the concepts of thinking in absolutes. The need to compare and contrast these two is a volatile understanding of this particular philosophical theory. It is also important to review their thoughts and critique them in the sense of saying what makes sense, and what does not make sense.

The beginning of the nineteen century was characterized philosophically by the dominance of a new philosophy stream, Nihilism. This philosophy movement was characterized by its defeatist attitude towards life. The Nihilist’s portrayal of life was focused on its suffering and meaningless nature, a pessimistic attitude that shared by the Romantic society of the time. For the Nihilists, like Schopenhauer, the solution and attitude that man should take towards life’s suffering nature was the rejection of life itself, removing yourself from life and desire was the only way of escaping man’s painful destiny. On this philosophical and historical context Nietzsche developed his philosophy.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said “There are horrible people who, instead of solving a problem, tangle it up and make it harder to solve for anyone who wants to deal with it. Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.” This quote made me think more about his study of existentialist.The meaning of 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.To me existentialist is a deeper means of life,meaning it break down life into many details and also look at life and a different view and from a different Perspective.

Nihilism is a philosophy often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher. The main idea of Nietzsche’s nihilism is to separate from all of one’s values. This basically means to leave all of one’s knowledge behind and start from scratch. This kind of thinking could also be compared to Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil.” A part of Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” is the free spirit of the soul. This means that the mind should never become too attached to one point of view and must often jump from viewpoint to viewpoint. This is similar to Nietzsche’s view of nihilism because Nietzsche repeatedly tells the reader that in order to become nihilist, one must separate from their values completely, and start with a clean slate. The

Tacitly, this philosophy, nihilism, seems new to most people and to philosophy as a whole. Especially from a Western standpoint. But Nietzsche conducts an unapologetic attack on what society has deemed as conformist morality. And at the end of the 19th Century (when he died) this could have struck many as more progressive rather than conservative. Many during that time, however, saw it as pure sacrilege. The entrenched on both sides have made it difficult

Friedrich Nietzsche had a profound effect on French existentialism, and his influence is readily apparent in the works of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre. Nietzsche's teaching that reality is open to human making and imagination is nothing new; but Nietzsche's contention that nearly the whole of human existence is "framed" by whatever stamp human beings place on it is a radical break with past classical and Enlightenment philosophy. Indeed, the fact that Nietzsche's philosophy teaches that all morality and ends of human striving are constructs of the human mind lends itself to nihilism. Nevertheless, since ends and purpose of life are a result of man's making, it is plausible that men and women can set whatever goal they wish for themselves to give life meaning. Take for example, Albert Camus' Myth of the Sisyphus.

Existential crisis is a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose, or value. Sometimes there are men who will accept their fate graciously. Two works that depict these ideas are “The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy and “The Metamorphosis” by Kafka. In both works by Tolstoy and Kafka, the main characters at some point question their lives’ and what life means to them. In order to question one’s life, it would be necessary that one evaluate the decisions they make. A person’s life can change in any event that has happened to them. Moreover, the

The understanding of Friedrich Nietzsche’s argument suggests that we can overcome nihilism. Nihilism suggests that all values are untrue and nothing is justifiable, and Nietzsche believes one can overcome it by “revaluating our values” (Nietzsche et al. 1887). From the following quote, I understand that Nietzsche has two main arguments, one of which is a cultural debunking argument which refers to a social selection and the other is a consequence-based argument which is the bad consequences of us subscribing to the slave morality. Considering these two arguments, Nietzsche notions that by devaluating our values, one could start seeking power and answers. One final argument Nietzsche mentions is that we are all incomplete nihilists and we need to become complete nihilists by creating our own values. All in all, Nietzsche claims that cultural debunking arguments, consequence-based arguments and devaluating our values will help one overcome nihilism.

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