ExistentialismSome main points.

Mostly Sartre’s views.Adapted from Ms. Moon’s

Existentialism Power Point.

Background

• Popular philosophy between 1940-1965• Reaction to disillusionment felt from WWII• After WWII, many people thought life seemed

meaningless• This is similar to what movement after WWI?

• Existentialist philosophers thought that only by exercising freedom of choice and taking responsibility for one’s own actions MAYBE we could make meaning in life.

Definition of existentialism from “Existentialism is a Humanism” • “Existentialism denies that anyone’s beliefs and

actions are determined by a divine providence, human nature, heredity, or environment. Instead, it asserts all humans define themselves by their own actions.”

Traditional View of Human Freedom

• ESSENCE PRECEDES EXISTENCE

• Examples:▫ Gatorade: Florida realized

that their athletes were dehydrated and water wasn’t enough.

▫ Snow plow: People needed a way to get rid of snow.

But, the Existential View of Human Freedom is Different…• We have no predetermined nature• Scientific, impersonal: We are only here because

our parents gave birth to us. • Our existence happened and then our essence,

our meaning, our value came after it and this meaning was created by ourselves.

• EXISTENCE PRECEDES ESSENCE

Simplified…

• We are thrown into existence first without a predetermined nature and only later do we construct our nature through our actions.

“Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself.”--Sartre• And therefore, each of us can never be truly

understood in objective, scientific, static terms. • (Side note: According to later philosophers,

existential phenomenology follows: our understanding of everything, including one another, is subjective. There is no pen, only the idea of the pen; that is, my perception of the pen.)

In some ways this is good (we can always change) and liberating (we are whoever we want to be because we make our own life’s meaning through the choices we make)

It’s “Optimistic” because…• The point is to be individual & you can be

anything you want to be!• N.B.: Not the same as the idea of the

“self-actualized individual” • Consider Willy or Biff Loman as an example:

Is the meaning of his life defined by his choices? Or did he have a pre-determined essence he needed to (but perhaps failed to) discover and pursue?

• It helps you to explain the absurdity of life and alienation we sometimes (often?) feel.

This alienation has to do with perception• When we see something, we don’t see it as it is

(remember, existence precedes essence -- the thing does not have a defined essence)

• We see it (or each other) only as it (or we) is represented in our own subjective experience

• So… this is where existentialism morphs into phenomenology: the pen in your hand (because you should be taking notes…)• Do you really feel the pen?• Or do you feel the sensations transmitted to you by the

nerve endings in your fingers?

Existentialists are the most individual of all…• Humans are “absolute” individuals

meaning that each of us are essentially alone in the world

• Why?• Pains, pleasures, hopes, fears—only

WE feel them• Other people can only see us from

the outside and we can only see them from the outside

So, it is “pessimistic” because...

• Being so free and so unique has its consequences.▫ Isolation from others▫ No higher power or “truth” to offer security or

reassurance. ▫ Too much freedom can be scary -- there’s no one

else to blame!

• Furthermore, if life is meaningless...

Then why live, even if we are free?

This is circular reasoning…

• We live to find meaning, but life has no meaning. So why live? To make meaning.

But What about Free Will?

• No “universal” guidelines for most decisions• As individuals, we make choices

based on our experiences, beliefs, and biases, those choices are unique to us

• But, this over-abundance of free will can be agonizing

How does Bazarov exhibit existential thinking or crisis in the passage below?

Bazarov was silent for a while. "Do you know what I'm thinking about?" he said at last, clasping his hands behind his head.

"No. What is it?""I'm thinking how happy life is for my parents! My father at the age of sixty

can fuss around, chat about 'palliative measures,' heal people; he plays the magnanimous master with the peasants--has a gay time in fact; and my mother is happy too; her day is so crammed with all sorts of jobs, with sighs and groans, that she hasn't a moment to think about herself; while I... ."

"While you?""While I think; here I lie under a haystack . . . The tiny narrow space I occupy

is so minutely small in comparison with the rest of space where I am not and which has nothing to do with me; and the portion of time in which it is my lot to live is so insignificant beside the eternity where I have not been and will not be . . . And in this atom, in this mathematical point, the blood circulates, the brain works and wants something . . . how disgusting! how petty!"

"Allow me to point out that what you say applies generally to everyone.""You're right," interrupted Bazarov. "I wanted to say that they, my parents I

mean, are occupied and don't worry about their own nothingness; it doesn't sicken them . . . while I . . . I feel nothing but boredom and anger."

Existential Ethics• Must ask self: if the entirety of mankind acted in

the way I am considering doing, would that be good or bad for the world?

• Honesty with oneself is critically important.• If the honest answer is that it would be good for

mankind to do so, then that is enough to prove an act as an ethical one.

• But again, it is the individual deciding this. What if that individual decides wrong?

Existentialism and God

• Early existentialists, like Sartre, were atheists. • A number of other philosophers who were later

called existentialists, when their works were read or re-read alongside Sartre’s work, were actually theists.

• One of the most famous Existential Theists was Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813—1855)

• Kierkegaard wanted people “to take responsibility for their own existential choices, and to become who they are beyond their socially imposed identities”

(http:// plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/)

• Sartre was an atheist Existentialist. He didn’t believe in God.

• People like Kierkegaard did believe in God, but didn’t believe God guided you through life, so you could still feel as anxious, lost, and alone.

Summarizing Points1. Humans define themselves through the act of

living and dying. ▫ Existence precedes essence.▫ Living is a series of (1) making choices and (2)

interactions with other humans and their choices.2. Humans have free will and with that comes

despair. ▫ Free will implies responsibility for choices and actions.▫ Free will also means that life itself is a choice, once one

is self-aware.

Summarizing Points, cont’d3. Life is a series of choices, creating anxiety and

stress. ▫ Decisions seldom are without any negative

consequences. ▫ One must commit to decisions, or they aren’t

authentic decisions.4. Some things are irrational or absurd, without

explanation. ▫ Life either has no meaning (atheists) or the meaning

cannot be understood (theists).▫ Events are random and even cruel, as opposed to a

belief in Karma and universal justice.

In this clip from The Onion, what do the Jaguars show us about the potential consequences of existential thinking?

http://www.theonion.com/video/pregame-coin-toss-makes-jacksonville-jaguars-reali,14266/

Works Consulted

• www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/sartreol.htm

• www.thecry.com/existentialism/• www.tameri.com/csw/exist/

Fight Club…

• First 20 minutes (with some pauses)• A very basic one line summary: “The main

character becomes so bored with his life that he starts an illegal fight club where men meet just to beat each other up.”

What to think about as you watch

• What existential questions or thoughts does the main character grapple with?

• How does he attempt to make or to find meaning in his life, or of life in general?

• Does he seem to believe in fate? God? How do these beliefs (or lackthereof) influence his behavior and thoughts?

• Where do we see aspects of existential angst/anxiety, loneliness, or isolation reflected in the film?

What else to write down

• As we watch, write down moments, lines, scenes that show moments of Existentialism. You will need this for our discussions.