Existentialism : The Belief Of Individualism And Choice

The Word existence comes from the Latin root “ex” out, and sistere from stare, which means to stand (rise up). Existentialism literally means pertaining to existence or in logic, predicating existence. Philosophically existentialism applies to a vision of the condition and existence or lack of one, with God. According to Kierkegaard, Christian existentialism is all meaning and serenity which comes through one’s relationship with God by putting our selves in his hands and finding freedom from tensions and discontent and also praying to him in order to be bless and find peace within our selves. Jean Paul is the hierophant of modern atheistic existentialism and believes that fate is determined by human action, meaning that the individual

Thomas Nagel states that human beings have a “natural expression” for the sense that life is absurd (Nagel 29). In his essay, simply titled “The Absurd”, Nagel argues that this natural presumption is true, but not for the reasons commonly given: the smallness and brevity of our lives. Instead, our lives are absurd because they feature an inevitable conflict between our feeling that life lacks justification and our inability to disengage with life despite this feeling. I argue that Nagel mistakenly includes awareness in his philosophical definition of absurdity. Nonetheless, his essay is an insightful read about the nature of human life.

“I took a test in Existentialism. I left all the answers blank and got 100”. This quote was said by Woody Allen, a comedian and actor. This quote explains existentialism well because through this philosophy people have their own free will to make any decision they want. The idea that the individual, not society or religion, is responsible for giving meaning to life is true as well as logical. Existentialism is the approach to understanding human existence, based on the assumption that individuals are free and responsible for their own choices and actions. It supports this statement because its saying that humans can think and choose whatever they want to be and it allows humans to understand that they have unlimited potential.

I am existentialist at heart but still believe in a God. Faith does not always mean going to church. Faith is like a difficult and private journey that requires a personal relationship with God. I tend to make path to faith and redemption. (44)

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

In 1971, Thomas Nagel wrote a paper titled ‘The Absurd.’ He argues that the nous of the absurd arises from two belligerent propensities in us: the first is explained as, ‘we take our lives’, or at slightest the ventures we take on in our lives, and that we cannot circumvent. In addition, the second propensity is that we are capable, upon undermining or reflecting, the explanations for any of our ventures in life. Furthermore, from a radical point of view outside people’s interests nothing can be justified; however we are skilled enough in taking up such a perspective reflection. What more can be said is that this absurdity is an ailment we are predestined to by virtue of our reflective nature. Though in general understanding to the idea,

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

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.

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

What is the absurd? Camus categorized as the “belief in the absurdity of existence must then dictate his conduct” (Camus, 6). What Camus means is feeling of absurdity goes hand in hand with having a meaningless life. We get so used to doing the same routine that, we as people don’t think we just act like a robot. Camus asks “Does its absurdity require one to escape it through hope or suicide? And does the absurd dictate death” (Camus, 9). Camus says, “An objective mind can always introduce into all problems have no place in this pursuit and this passion” (Camus, 9). The problem with this is if we were always based on facts then we would not be able to base our opinions on experiences. Camus also relates the feeling of absurdity to exile, we as people what to have meaning and or purpose in our own lives. The absurdity displaces us from having a meaning life. Camus says, “Mean who die by their own hand consequently follow to its conclusion their emotional inclination” (Camus, 9). Camus considers this an absurd reasoning because this feeling of exile can turn anyone crazy leading into suicide which both the absurd and suicide are linked together.

Existentialism can be defined as a branch of philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It focuses on the question of human existence and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation for existence. Although they never used the term existentialism in their works, Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered two of the first and significant philosophers to the existentialist movement. They focused on subjective human experience and were interested in the struggle to escape boredom and find meaning in life. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche also stressed the importance of making free choices and how these choices change the identity of the individual. Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche felt that life is

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.

The world we live in is an odd one; some cope with its absurdities through intensive faith, others through utter disregard of all its meaning. Existentialism, however, leads us down a peculiar path that blurs these concepts into one unique belief system. While we might be faced with situations beyond our complete control, we do have the power to control how we handle said situations and whether or not we choose to cultivate significance from them. The search for significance is very primitive and so are the answers that have accompanied it throughout human history. Obviously, life doesn’t have a clearly stated purpose to it; it is up to each individual to create their own relative purpose and find their own happiness in a life of suffering. This is exactly what Existentialism proposes, that it is not possible to know the truth, so it is up to the individual to create his or her own, and then create their own purpose. Merriam-Webster defines the philosophy theory of Existentialism as a “…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.” But Existentialism is not a concept that can simply be defined in one fell swoop. Throughout our studies of philosophy, I found there to be two main concepts that act as the foundation for the basic

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