Existentialism

[Jim_Baur]

In simple language, what is it?

Thanks!

 

[Christy_Beth]

I remember the word coming up in a College Ethics class I took many years ago, but I can’t remember right off what it means. You might want to take a look at a dictionary. That is a brief “summation.” The problem with words like that, everything we studied basically, is that you could go round and round the subject, and never come to a consensus on the matter.

 

[strngrnrth]

It means that life doesn’t mean anything but we need it to mean something, and we have no particular nature, but we need to see ourselves as standing for something. We solve the problem by inventing whatever essence and meaning we want for ourselves, the world around us and our lives. However, because deep down we know whatever meaning we give it all, we made it up, we never feel secure that our meaning and essence are real. We spend our lives striving to make our lives mean so much that the final deep pointlessness of living up to a meaning we made up doesn’t overwhelm us until the very end. It’s an atheistic attempt to answer the need for meaning we all have.
I find it irrational. To me, if we supposed to be evolved super survival machines, why would we be burdened with such a needless desire to do things unrelated and sometimes dangerous to our survival? Why wouldn’t that instinct fade out, eliminated by natural selection? The only reason we have a need for meaning is that our lives in reality have a meaning and we cannot fulfill our purpose until we learn what it is.

 

[Cajetan]

Some Neo-Thomists, such as Etienne Gilson and his many followers (Vernon J. Bourke, Josef Pieper, Mary T. Clark, et al) propounded the notion that St. Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy was deeply “existentialist”… in fact, Gilson’s school within Thomism is sometimes called existential Thomism. They claimed this because St. Thomas’ philosophical writings are so heavily imbued with the subject of existence – being and essence, form and matter, act and potency, etc.

But “Existentialism” as generally understood in philosophy circles refers to a movement in Continental philosophy rooted in the work of twentieth-century thinkers like Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus (although Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered important historical forerunners). Says the decent article on the subject on Wikipedia, "Their work focused on such themes as ‘dread, boredom, alienation, the absurd, freedom, commitment, and nothingness’ as fundamental to human existence. Walter Kaufmann described existentialism as ‘The refusal to belong to any school of thought, the repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs whatever, and especially of systems, and a marked dissatisfaction with traditional philosophy as superficial, academic, and remote from life.’ "

My own thought on the subject is that it is what immature (and usually atheistic) philosophy heads spend their time on before they grow up and recognize the perennial value of traditional “scientific” philosophy.

 

[Cajetan]

It’s an atheistic attempt to answer the need for meaning we all have.

Interesting point. A professor of mine described it as the Atheistic intellectual’s version of religion or mysticism. (I’d say that gives religion and mysticism a bad name.)

 

[Christy_Beth]

I think it is more accurate to say that it gives atheistism a bad name.

 

[DixiesFinest]

In simple language, what is it?

Thanks!

In simple languate, what exists, is, and what is, is devoid of innate meaning or purpose. It is up to humans to make choices that either give meaning to their lives or not. Existientalism places heavy value on the power of choice. Sure life may not be grand, but I can choose to make something of it.

I heard it described somewhere as “Nihilism with a backbone”…sorry I dont have a reference for that.

 

[KingAlfred]

Well…it can be as simple as disbelief in anything transcendental, and belief in only the observable, e.g., the material. It can be viewed as pure, ordinary logic:

“Only that which I can experience physically exists. Everything else is theory, speculation, conjecture. Therefore, I will only accept as ‘true’ that which I can personally experience.” In other words, life is limited to the material, the ‘here and now’, and there’s nothing else to it. When we die, it’s *over. *

I can’t blame anyone for arriving at such a conclusion. Religion is a personal choice.

 

[Cajetan]

“I think it is more accurate to say that it gives atheistism a bad name.”

That too.

As a philosophy student who rubs elbows with a lot of young atheists in my department, I’m often perplexed/amused by their strong attraction to Existentialism and Continental philosophy in general. These kids are members of the “Secular Alliance,” “Rational Response Squad,” “Science and Reason Forum,” etc., whatever, and yet their big philosophical interest is in thinkers whose singular mission seems to be to undermine the rational and scientific understanding of the world. Frankly, it makes them look silly.

If anything, as self-professed science-minded atheists, their heroes should be figures like Spinoza and Hume. (Granted, the atheistic students who are really serious about philosophy sooner or later tend to drop Existentialism and gravitate toward these philosophers. But they are few.)

 

[KingAlfred]

PS, some existentialists put a positive spin on life, such Camus and Nietzsche (sp). They concluded that since material existence is all there is to life, we should make the most of it.

 

[DixiesFinest]

PS, some existentialists put a positive spin on life, such Camus and Nietzsche (sp). They concluded that since material existence is all there is to life, we should make the most of it.

Camus said we should make the best of life.

Nietzsche moved from existentialism to nihilism and went insane.

 

[BlaineTog]

“Nothing matters, so it doesn’t matter if I say something matters, and I will live my life caring about that little lie because it’s more pleasant to care than to not care.” Kinda like spineless nihilism. Though keep in mind that Existentialism is more of an anti-movement than a movement and every one of its philosophers will have a different take on it.

 

[ilovekittens]

I think existentialism should not be so easily dismissed, especially by anyone who claims to have a Catholic faith. To me, existentialism is about the importance of the subjective - i.e. what I experience in my own life which gives it meaning - rather than the cold, detached, objective world of traditional philosophy. To someone who claims to have Christian faith, that person is relying on the same kind of subjective experience. That is why it’s called “faith;” we don’t discover God through a logical proof, QED, or after a series of laboratory experiments, but rather through our own experience with living our own life, perhaps aided by something called grace (an equally subjective phenomenon). The Christian God is not just the author of mathematical truths and physical laws but rather someone with whom we claim to have a personal, constant interaction and who gives our life meaning, direction, and purpose.
Remember that Kierkegaard was a devout Christian.

 

[KingAlfred]

Camus said we should make the best of life.

Nietzsche moved from existentialism to nihilism and went insane.

I don’t think so. He was slimed posthumously because of the connection some made between his ‘Super Man’ and Hitler’s ‘Blond Beast’. I believe N.'s sister was responsible for some this destructive work. I can’t remember the details.

 

[KingAlfred]

I think existentialism should not be so easily dismissed, especially by anyone who claims to have a Catholic faith. To me, existentialism is about the importance of the subjective - i.e. what I experience in my own life which gives it meaning - rather than the cold, detached, objective world of traditional philosophy. To someone who claims to have Christian faith, that person is relying on the same kind of subjective experience. That is why it’s called “faith;” we don’t discover God through a logical proof, QED, or after a series of laboratory experiments, but rather through our own experience with living our own life, perhaps aided by something called grace (an equally subjective phenomenon). The Christian God is not just the author of mathematical truths and physical laws but rather someone with whom we claim to have a personal, constant interaction and who gives our life meaning, direction, and purpose.
Remember that Kierkegaard was a devout Christian.

Sure, but Existentialism argues against the existence of anything transcendental. Only the material survives. When matter vanishes, it’s gone, as in ‘all over’, ‘lights out’, ‘no mas.’

 

[DixiesFinest]

I don’t think so. He was slimed posthumously because of the connection some made between his ‘Super Man’ and Hitler’s ‘Blond Beast’. I believe N.'s sister was responsible for some this destructive work. I can’t remember the details.

I don’t imply a connection from the “Super Man” to “Blond Beast,” but it is a fact that N. had some very real mental problems near his death. I am not personally advocating what caused his “insanity” but many scholars believe his philosophy at least contributed.

 

[ilovekittens]

Sure, but Existentialism argues against the existence of anything transcendental. Only the material survives. When matter vanishes, it’s gone, as in ‘all over’, ‘lights out’, ‘no mas.’

Existentialism doesn’t deny the notion of “transcendental” truth; it’s beside the point. If you and your personal life don’t matter to the Almighty Transcendental Universe of Everlasting Mathematical Truth, then what is really the point of anything? What matters is the life I lead now and the meaning I can derive from it.

 

[BlaineTog]

The impulses involved with Existentialism are certainly very amenable to Christianity. It’s a very active philosophical position; Peter Kreeft calls it the front lines. It’s the kind of philosophical energy that Catholics could sometimes stand to take their cue from.

 

[DixiesFinest]

The impulses involved with Existentialism are certainly very amenable to Christianity. It’s a very active philosophical position; Peter Kreeft calls it the front lines. It’s the kind of philosophical energy that Catholics could sometimes stand to take their cue from.

In some ways I have great respect for existentialism. At a base level its beliefs on choice and responsibility are something we should all remember.

 

[KingAlfred]

I don’t imply a connection from the “Super Man” to “Blond Beast,” but it is a fact that N. had some very real mental problems near his death. I am not personally advocating what caused his “insanity” but many scholars believe his philosophy at least contributed.

I suspect he just succumbed to mental disease. The few works of his I read were excellent. I didn’t agree with his atheism, but I liked his ‘literary’ style of philosophy.