LECTURE 19: EXISTENTIALISM

LECTURE 19: EXISTENTIALISM

Existentialism is primarily interested in the fllwing: The questin f existence What is it t exist? (what is it t live?) Questins abut human existence Wh am I? What am I? Hw shuld I live my life? What is the purpse f human existence? Why shuld we d anything? Hw d I becme wh I am? Questins abut human psychlgy (phenmenlgy) What des it feel like t be a human? Why d peple d the things they d? Why are peple afraid f freedm? Why d peple cmmit suicide? Questins abut human sciety/culture/religin If Gd exists r des nt exist, then what? What is it t be an x? (Christian, member f sciety, musician, pliceman etc.) T what degree am I free within my sciety? EXISTENTIALISM Existentialism cvers a diverse variety f thinkers, film makers, writers, philsphers, scientists, psychlgists and mre!

Many existentialists take a phenmenlgical apprach Phenmenlgy attempts t investigate the wrld subjectively Takes a First-Persn apprach t explring the wrld Phenmenlgy is cncerned with the phenmena f human experience It investigates the appearance f human cnsciusness and experience It is primarily interested in the subjective features f the human wrld Often challenges the mtivatin behind a thery rather than the thery itself Fr example: What kind f being am I? Hw des it feel t be a human? What am I aware f in experience? What is it t be? EXISTENTIALISM

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE

Jean-Paul Sartre Lived 1905-1980 in Paris, France One f the mst famus and influential philsphers f the 20 th Century Famus fr his philsphy f Existentialism Sartre was a P.O.W. in WWII Used literature, plays, and academic wrks t express his philsphical views Immensely cncerned with a subjective inquiry int freedm SARTRE

Søren Kierkegaard Lived 1813-1855 Cnsidered t be the father f existentialism Was interested in investigating the relatinship between freedm, the individual, sciety and Christianity Used a literary methd Edmund Husserl Lived 1859-1938 Endrsed a philsphy f phenmenlgy Martin Heidegger Lived 1889-1976 Taught by Husserl Interested in phenmenlgy and the relatinship between the individual, sciety and freedm Investigated the key questin: what is a human being? SARTRE S INFLUENCES

EXISTENTIALISM

Sartre s existentialism is based n tw imprtant themes: 1. The nn-existence f Gd Sartre funds his existentialism n the principle that there is n Gd This is simply a fact abut ur wrld N matter hw terrifying this idea may be, we must accept it This means that humans are alne in the wrld There is nthing mre t human existence than what humans create Sartre was interested in explring the cnsequences f this fact n human experience SARTRE S EXISTENTIALISM

Sartre s existentialism is based n tw imprtant themes: 2. Fr humans, Existence Precedes Essence Because there is n Gd, humans are free t define their wn existence Essence precedes existence (Being in itself) Essence Cut fd Cunt time Write things Run prgrams existence knife watch pen laptp Existence precedes essence (Being fr itself) Existence Essence Human being? SARTRE S EXISTENTIALISM

The Cnsequences f these tw facts are as fllws: A: Persnal Freedm Sartre claims that humans are Radically (uncnditinally) Free There are n limits r restrictins n ur freedm Everything we have dne, are ding, will d was a free persnal chice N ne r n thing can frce us r make us d smething we dn t want t d N ne r n thing can make ur decisins fr us But this freedm is terrifying SARTRE S EXISTENTIALISM

The Phenmenlgy f Freedm (anxiety) The experience f radical freedm is cnnected t anxiety (angst) Fr Sartre and Kierkegaard this feeling f anxiety is prf that we are radically free Fr example: In sme situatins we might feel fear In thers we feel anxiety We feel anxiety when we becme aware f the pssibilities f ur freedm I realize that if I s chse, I culd jump ff the cliff All that stps me is a persnal chice SARTRE S EXISTENTIALISM

Kierkegaard and Anxiety Kierkegaard uses the myth f the fall t illuminate hw freedm and anxiety are related Adam is happy and at peace in the garden f Eden Gd cmmands Adam nt t eat frm the tree f knwledge Gd s cmmand makes Adam aware f the fact that he has a chice and Adam feels anxius Adam is anxius because he realizes he culd eat frm the tree f knwledge (if he chses) Adam then realizes he prbably will eat frm the tree f knwledge KIERKEGAARD AND ANXIETY The rest is histry...

Bad Faith Bad-Faith ccurs when an individual attempts t hide frm r deny their freedm Because radical freedm is true we are cmpletely respnsible fr everything we d Bad-Faith cmmnly ccurs because radical freedm is s terrifying and we want t avid the respnsibility f ur chices Examples f Bad-Faith include: Psychlgical determinism Making excuses Hiding behind nes jb r a set f rules Asking a friend fr advice Fllwing rders in times f war SARTRE S EXISTENTIALISM

Because there is n Gd and human existence precedes essence B: The meaning f Human Existence Each human being is respnsible fr inventing themselves We are cmpletely free t define urselves and ur lives hwever we chse We must each find ur wn meaning and purpse t ur lives Only humans give value t themselves and the wrld Mankind is cnstantly searching fr meaning and cmmitment Wh we are is a matter f chice, thugh we ften hide behind Bad-Faith, rather than living an authentic existence Yu are free, therefre chse, that is t say, invent. (Jean-Paul Sartre) SARTRE S EXISTENTIALISM

ALBERT CAMUS

The atheist philspher Albert Camus (1913-1960) draws n the Myth f Sisyphus fr inspiratin Sisyphus is cndemned t push a bulder up a muntain nly t find it falls back dwn and he has t start again We humans face the same dilemma Camus asks, why d we cntinue t strive when it all seems t be fr nthing? Fr Camus, philsphy shuld nly cncern itself with the questin: Why d we carry n living? Why d we nt cmmit suicide? I leave Sisyphus at the ft f the muntain! One always finds ne's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gds and raises rcks. He t cncludes that all is well. This universe hencefrth withut a master seems t him neither sterile nr futile. Each atm f that stne, each mineral flake f that night filled muntain, in itself frms a wrld. The struggle itself tward the heights is enugh t fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. CAMUS Albert Camus