11/23/2010 EXISTENTIALISM I EXISTENTIALISM. Existentialism is primarily interested in the following:

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1 EXISTENTIALISM I Existentialism is primarily interested in the following: The question of existence What is it to exist? (what is it to live?) Questions about human existence Who am I? What am I? How should I live my life? What is the purpose of human existence? Why should we do anything? How do I become who I am? Questions about human psychology (phenomenology) What does it feel like to be a human? Why do people do the things they do? Why are people afraid of freedom? Why do people commit suicide? Questions about human society/culture/religion If God exists or does not exist, then what? What is it to be an x? (Christian, member of society, musician, policeman etc.) To what degree am I free within my society? EXISTENTIALISM Existentialism covers a diverse variety of thinkers, film makers, writers, philosophers, scientists, psychologists and more! Many existentialists take a phenomenological approach Phenomenology attempts to investigate the world subjectively o Takes a First-Person approach to exploring the world o Phenomenology is concerned with the phenomena of human experience o It investigates the appearance of human consciousness and experience o It is primarily interested in the subjective features of the human world o Often challenges the motivation behind a theory rather than the theory itself For example: What kind of being am I? How does it feel to be a human? What am I aware of in experience? What is it to be? EXISTENTIALISM 1

2 Outline Lived An influential German philosopher Influenced by Kierkegaard and Nietzsche Concerned with investigating the Question of Being ; what is a human being? Sought to find an ontology of human beings A controversial figure for his associations and membership in the Nazi party in WWII MARTIN Heidegger s Project Heidegger sought to investigate and examine the nature of human beings Humans are a unique type of being which Heidegger names Dasein (Being) Heidegger tries to draw out an ontology of Dasein by examining what makes this being unique Heidegger s investigation is hermeneutical and phenomenological, not theological, biological or scientific He is searching for an understanding of human being from the inside Heidegger is careful to distinguish between ontic and ontological features of Dasein 2

3 Some views on Human nature: Humans are: A reflection of God Descended from apes Naturally social Naturally anti-social Naturally rational Naturally good Naturally evil A mix of both good and evil and many many more Some preliminary findings: Humans are very different from Animals Animals are, they do not exist Humans are and they exist Dasein is concerned with and aware of its own existence Dasein always finds itself existing in a world Dasein s world is full of other beings Dasein cares about is own existence Dasein s experience is temporal and always concerned with the future HUMAN EXISTENCE Human beings are immersed in a world (Being-in-the-world) This world is full of objects, other beings, equipment etc. some with distinct purposes Ordinarily we live in and navigate through this world and its objects with little need for reflection This world is public and full of other beings like myself All of the equipment in this world gets its purpose and function from Dasein THE WORLD 3

4 Part of Dasein s being is defined by being-with (living in a world with others) In its basic (and most influential form) Dasein is defined by its relationship to das man (the They): There is constant care as to the way one differs from them, whether that difference is merely one that is to be evened out, whether one s own Dasein has lagged behind the Others and wants to catch up in relation to them, or whether one s Dasein already has some priority over them and sets out to keep them suppressed. We take please and enjoy ourselves as they take pleasure; we read, see, and judge about literature and art as they see and judge; likewise we shrink back from the great mass as they shrink back; we find shocking what they find shocking. The They, which is nothing definite, and which all are, though not as the sum, prescribes the kind of Being of everydayness. Textbook, p. 512 DAS MAN AND BEING-WITH Given, for Heidegger, that our being is determined by the They there are three modes of Dasein s relation to itself 1. Authenticity Dasein takes responsibility for itself and its future Individuality 2. Inauthenticity Dasein hides from itself and its possibilities in the They 3. Indifference Dasein has no consciousness of its immersion in the They or its relationship to itself AUTHENTICITY Dasein, according to Heidegger, also discovers itself and its world through Throwness, Fear and Anxiety Throwness Fear Dasein simply finds itself existing and being-in-the-world Facticity Fear arises in response to situations and dangers that are out of our control and threaten our future Anxiety Has no object Reveals Dasein s possibilities for authentic and inauthentic existence Also reveals Dasein s essential homelessness THROWNESS, FEAR, AND ANXIETY 4

5 [I]n [Anxiety] there lies the possibility of a distinctive disclosure, since [Anxiety] individualizes. This individualizing fetches Dasein back from its falling prey and revels to it authenticity and inauthenticity as possibilities of its being. The fundamental possibilities of Dasein, which are always my own, show themselves in [Anxiety] as they are, undistorted by innerworldly beings to which Dasein, initially and for the most part, clings. Being and Time, p.191 ANXIETY Being-Towards-Death is also an essential feature of Dasein: My death is the one thing I can be absolutely certain of Often we hide from Being-towards-death in the They (inauthentic) Or we imagine it as a far-off future event (inauthentic) An authentic anticipation of my death individualizes me Being-towards-death takes us away from the They It forces Dasein to come face to face with itself without fleeing Being-towards-death is essential for an authentic existence (and vice versa) DEATH 5