๐Ÿ“š Agora node [[existentialism]] โ˜†
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๐Ÿ“œ File Existentialism.md by @binnyva โ˜† ๐Ÿ“Ž โ›ถ

Existentialismยง

Existentialismยง

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that focus on the meaning or purpose of life.

[[Soren Kierkegaard]]ยง

It is thought to have began with Soren Kierkegaard(Danish philosopher in the 19th century). He saw life as the tension between the infinite(possibilities) and the finite(here and now).

  • Infinite: the ability to create new things, capacity for new thoughts and ideas, changing oneself, etc.
  • Finite: What is necessity or what exists in the here and now.

One should find a balance between the two - you should explore your possibilities - but also choose an action appropriate to one’s here and now. This requires vigilance, constant effort and much courage - and possibly the greatest task. This is called achieving self-hood.

This task can give you anxiety - there are not much guidelines. You’ll have to walk this path alone - for this path will be different for each individual. This Existential Anxiety is the awareness of your freedom. You have to look at the abyss of options available to you - and intentionally chose one. It forces you to accept that you are responsible for yourself and your future. This is simultaneously attractive and repulsive - this state is "Dread".

The anxiety might cause some to give up on this path - by choosing to be not their true self. This might bring about despair or "sickness of spirit". This happens when someone tries to rid oneself of oneself - so as to escape being their true self. But you can be unconscious of this type of despair. That is very dangerous. Way more dangerous that people who are aware of the despair.

The truth Kierkegaard was seeking is not an Objective truth - but a subjective, personal truth - expressed thur a passionate idea or a style of living. Objective truths can be "known". Subjective truths can be "experienced or lived".

[[Jean-Paul Sartre]]ยง

One of the main 20th century existential philosophers is Jean Paul Sarte. He has this famous quote "existence precedes essence". Essence of a substance(or nature of a substance) is its necessary properties or characteristics with are required for the thing to be what it is. Aristotle and other older philosophers thought that everyone has an innate essence(given by the creator - this line of thought is called essentialism).

But Sarte said thought that we don’t come with a predetermined essence - but our ability to make free choices gives us a chance to create a unique essence for our-self though out our lifetime.

This freedom is a burden to many - we are "Condemned to be free". So, many chose an easier option - adopt one of the pre-existing ideals. This Sartre calls ‘Bad Faith’.

[[Albert Camus]]ยง

According to Camus, we seek meaning in a world that has no meaning. This is called the Absurd. We will encounter the absurd whenever we try to analyze any situation from a different perspective(eg. dinner is people sitting around a dead tree putting dead things in their mouth).

Camus draw from the absurd three consequence…

  • my revolt (I revolt at the idea that life has no meaning - I will make one)
  • my freedom
  • my passion (I live meaning to my life - and that makes it my meaning. I’ll be passionate about it)

[[Heidegger]]ยง

I give my life meaning thru projects I choose. This is freedom - but a limited freedom. My range of choice is not decided by me.

"I’m thrown into the world". And because of that, I will feel alienated from the world.

Tl;drยง

Existentialism is the Question "what is the purpose of my life" - and a few answers to that question.

Earlier, this was not a problem - because everyone had a God given purpose - or the Essence as [[Aristotle]] would have called it.

But as long as there is a problem, there will be philosophers there to solve it. Many philosophers took a crack at this. Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Soren Kierkgard, etc. This is what they said…

  • World has no meaning - but man has a tendency to search for meaning.(The Absurd)
  • Existence precedes essence.
  • It is your responsibility to find your purpose
  • When faced with this freedom, people get anxiety. (Condemned to be free)
  • To solve this anxiety, people adopt external answers(religion, ideology) - this is bad. Bad Faith/Despair/Philosophical Suicide
  • You have to find your own meaning. That is "not an Objective truth - but a subjective, personal truth." Living without Appeal. Be happy with your existence (imagine Sisyphus smiling.)

Tagsยง

#philosophy #philosophers #existentialism #concept-notes
๐Ÿ•’ Last updated 2021-03-28 22:31:16

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๐Ÿ“š Agora node [[introduction to existentialism]] (pulled by the Agora)
๐Ÿ“œ File Introduction to Existentialism.md by @binnyva โ˜† ๐Ÿ“Ž

Introduction to Existentialismยง

Source

What Existentialism is not..

  • it is not a philosophical system
  • non a set of doctrines
  • its best classified as a movement

Historyยง

The Existentialism movement arose in 19th Century Europe. Founding fathers are

It became very prominent in mid-20 century(esp after the war). This wave brought people like…

"[Existentialism] is an attitude that recognizes the unresolvable confusion of the human world, yet resists the all-too-human temptation to resolve the confusion by grasping toward whatever appears or can be made to appear firm or familiar…The existential attitude begins with a disoriented individual facing a confused world that he cannot accept." (From Hegel to Existentialism, Robert Solomon)

All philosophers in this movement has shared a common concern with the "Human Condition". They are concerned with these questions…

  • Why am I here?
  • What does it mean to be human?
  • How should I live my life?

But everyone defines these very differently - but they agree on a few things. They reject all-encompassing systems(like religions). These all encompassing system try to give a meaning or purpose to life in an absolute manner. These are systems which profess to have answers to such questions(often seen as definitive and timeless) - but also seen as applying to all human beings, whether one is willing to accept such answers or not. Best example of such a system is Christianity.

The problem with such system is it largely removes the burden to create meaning and purpose from the individual. This also makes them very attractive to many. Adapting such a system will restrict your growth as a free human being.

One problem with such system is that they don’t take into account what it is like to be human. In such systems, the purpose and meaning comes from an external realm(eg. heaven/god). This might lead to them losing sight of the human perspective on life.

An example of how this is a problem is that most of the answers to human problem given by religions are from the perspective of a divine god. Existentialists think that a human perspective is much more useful. A good example of this problem is the idea of human mortality. Most religions/divine perspective comes with a belief in immortality.

Many Existentialists say that accepting our mortality will help us to stop living in conformity with the masses - and take control of our own lives - and live by our own standards and values.

Existence Precedes Essenceยง

According to [[Aristotle]]…

  • Essence of a substance(or nature of a substance) is its necessary properties or characteristics with are required for the thing to be what it is.
  • He had a teleological(or Goal oriented) view of nature - all substances in nature tend towards the actualization of their essence.
  • He thought human essence was acting in full accordance with reason. For this reason he thought of man as the "rational animal".
  • Acc. to him, humans act against their essence(act without reason) - but they can’t make their own unique essence.

According to this thinking, if humans are made by a god, their "essence precedes existence". As the essence will be made/given by the creator.

Sartre did not agree to this. Acc. to him, we come without a predetermined essence - but our ability to make free choices gives us a chance to create a unique essence for ourself though out our lifetime.

Existentialism vs Nihilismยง

Nihilism says that there is no meaning or purpose to life.

Existentialism Nihilism
Life has no Objective Meaning Same - life has no meaning
One can create their own personal/subjective meaning No personal meaning possible

Nietzsche, who thought of Nihilism as a disease, made the idea of becoming who you are to overcome Nihilism. This was not done thru clinging to an all encompassing system - but rather by creating meaning, purpose and value for one’s self. But he knew that this would be difficult.

Tagsยง

#existentialism #literature-notes #philosophy #sartre
๐Ÿ•’ Last updated 2021-03-28 22:31:16