EXISTENTIALISM_1
Introduction
It happens to us all. In our adolescents, our young adulthood, and most notoriously
during middle age. Maybe you think about it after you’ve just climbed a beautiful
mountain and are looking out across a delightful view. This is a question that has
haunted humans for thousands of years.
What is my purpose?
Why am I here?
Existentialism is a European philosophy that began in the mid-19 th and 20th centuries
and became popular following the horrific years of World War II, when many began
to doubt the traditional idea of a moral deity based on the terrifying atrocities
committed during the war. There was a spirit of optimism in society that was
destroyed by World War I and its mid-century calamities. This despair has been
articulated by existentialist philosophers well into the 1970s and continues on to this
day as a popular way of thinking and reasoning.
Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus were the proponents of this movement. The
nineteenth century philosophers, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, came to
be seen as precursors of the movement.
Nature of Existentialism
Like “Rationalism” and “Empiricism,” “Existentialism” is a term that belongs to
intellectual history.
Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life
through free will, choice, and personal responsibility.
It does not deny the validity of the basic categories of physics, biology, psychology,
and the other sciences (categories such as matter, causality, force, function,
organism, development, motivation, and so on). It claims only that human beings
cannot be fully understood in terms of them. Nor can such an understanding be
gained by supplementing our scientific picture with a moral one.
In addressing the human conditions, Existentialists tend to vehemently reject
systems or theories, be it philosophical, religious or scientific. They believe that
adhering to systems which espouse absolute and all-embracing answers to the
existential problems of life is actually detrimental to one’s development into an
authentic and free human-being. One major problem with these systems that the
existentialists have identified is that they do not adequately take into account what it
is like to be human. Often such systems will see the meaning and purpose to life as
somehow emanating from an alternative objective realm, such as heaven or Plato’s
world of Forms for example. In doing so, they lose sight of the perspective of what
life is like for an individual living on this Earth and experiencing all the fears,
anxieties, hopes and disappointments that are a part of the human condition.
Existentialists have asserted that it is essential for one to face up to their impending
death, and must accept the fact that the only existence we can be certain of is that of
a temporal nature. This realization can help give us the strength to stop living in
conformity with the masses, and instead take control of our own lives.
Existentialism is opposed to any doctrine that views human beings as
the manifestation of an absolute or of an infinite substance. It is thus opposed to
most forms of idealism, such as those that stress consciousness, spirit, reason, idea,
or oversoul. Existentialism is also opposed to any form of Necessitarianism; for
existence is constituted by possibilities from among which the individual
may choose and through which he can project himself.
**include footnote for Necessitarianism**
“Existentialism”, therefore, may be defined as the philosophical theory which holds
that a further set of categories, governed by the norm of authenticity, is necessary to
grasp human existence.
Jean-Paul Sartre
The French thinker, Jean-Paul-Sartre, raised the question: ‘What if we exist first?’
This question was put forth by him in a 1945 lecture titled “Is Existentialism a
Humanism?”, which then became the framework for what we now know as
existentialism.
Its mantra is the claim that
“Existence precedes essence.”
To understand this statement better, it will be helpful to examine the meaning of the
term ‘essence’.
The concept of essence is put forward most famously in the work of the ancient
Greek philosopher, Aristotle. He believed that every independent substance, be it a
person, a rock, or a tree, has an essence, which existed in us before we’re even born.
Essence can be seen as the necessary properties or characteristics which are
essential for the thing to define itself. Aristotle had a teleological or a goal-oriented
view of nature, as he believed that all substances in nature tend towards the
actualization of their essence. Aristotle then asserted that essence gives you a
purpose, since you are born to be a certain thing.
However, according to Sartre, our existence-our birth happens first and then it is up
to us to determine who we are and what our purpose is. He conveyed that there is
nothing that is intrinsically essential to being a human being. Human beings, through
their own consciousness, create their own values and determine a meaning to their
life. This was the fundamental principle of existentialism and provided the basis for
all other arguments.
We are all born into a world where our actions lack any coherent purpose, a world in
which we are searching for meaning in a meaningless world. The Existentialists
referred to this as Absurdity. The fact that the world is meaningless means there are
no guidelines or moral code to live by.
Sartre faced meaningless head-on and explored one of the most agonizing aspects of
existentialism: the world’s terrifying abundance of freedom. Sartre said that we are
“condemned to be free’ and refers to the “angoisse”, or anguish, of existence, where
everything is terrifyingly possible because nothing has any pre-ordained, God-given,
sense of purpose.
Therefore, humans should strive for authenticity. By authenticity, the existentialists
mean that one has to create him or herself based on their true self, rather than the
external pressures of the world, and then live accordingly. Our purpose is not what
others place on to us, but instead ours to create through our own consciousness.
While we may believe we are of a certain essence, we are in fact defined by our
actions, and hence responsible for them.
Sartre thus concluded that the only injustice you can do to yourself is to live in-
authentically, against your own essence.
The idea of Existentialism was therefore radical, since it focussed on finding one’s
own purpose, which at that time, was believed to have been pre-determined by God.
It is important to note that Existentialism is not synonymous with Atheism. Plenty of
existentialists are atheists, but some are theists, like the famous Danish philosopher,
Kierkegaard. However, all Existentialists deny any sort of teleology, that is, they
refute the notion that God made the universe with any particular purpose in mind.
Existentialism vs Nihilism
Although Existentialism and Nihilism are two distinct philosophies, often people
mistakenly view all existentialists as nihilist.
Nihilism in its broadest sense is the view that there is no meaning or purpose to life.
While an existentialist could certainly be a nihilist, Nihilism is not a necessary
characteristic of existentialism. Existentialists, have in fact stressed the ability for
humans to create personal or subjective meaning for their lives.
While Nihilists are sceptical of everything, even their own existence, Existentialists
are interested in more closely examining existence, especially human existence.
Existentialism today
The central idea that the existentialists preached was that society should not restrict
an individual's life or actions as these restrictions inhibit free will and the
development of that person's potential. Existentialism is still prevalent in today’s
society and can be seen in the form of simple gestures: from taking responsibility for
your own actions to determining your career choice based on what YOU think is an
important way to spend your future.
Outside philosophy, the existentialist movement is probably the most well-known
philosophical movement. Though the movement has ended, existential thought can
still be found in many contemporary mediums of art and rhetoric today, such as
television, movies, and even in song. Films in particular have taken particular
inspiration from the ideologies of existentialism, influencing genres from science
fiction, to action flicks, and even to comedies. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries
existentialist ideas have become common in mainstream cinema, pervading the work
of writers and directors such as Woody Allen, Richard Linklater, Charlie Kaufman and
Christopher Nolan.
