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Existentialism

Existentialism. Journal. What does this mean?. Whenever you think or you believe or you know, you’re a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself. -- ee cummings. Maslow’s Hierarchy. Existentialism .

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Existentialism

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  1. Existentialism

  2. Journal. What does this mean? Whenever you think or you believe or you know, you’re a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself. --eecummings

  3. Maslow’s Hierarchy

  4. Existentialism • Philosophical movement, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice, that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries • Existentialists ask: • What is life? • What is my place in it? • What choices does this obligate me to make?

  5. The Human Condition • We, uniquely conscious beings, are “thrown” or “abandoned” in the world: • There is no justification for our existence • There is no fixed human nature or predetermined direction for our lives, no “essence” • Even if God exists we are too distanced for it to make a difference • THE RESULT: There is no purpose or meaning to life

  6. What does it mean to have essence? • Principle purpose and purity of everything and anything • Having awareness of yourself and things around you • The reality of something • Things you might be remembered by

  7. Why are we doing this? • If you’ve ever asked “What does it all mean?” or “Why are we here?” or “What should I do with my life?” you’ve asked an existential question. • Existentialism is the philosophy that makes an authentically human life possible in a meaningless and absurd world.

  8. What existentialism does not claim • The good life is one of wealth, pleasure or honor. • Social approval and social structure trump the individual. • Accept what is and that is enough in life. • Science can and will make everything better. • People are good by nature, ruined by society or external forces.

  9. What existentialism does claim • Mankind has free will. • Life is a series of choices, which creates stress. • Few decisions are without any negative consequences. • Some things are irrational and absurd, without explanation. • If one makes a decision, he or she must follow through.

  10. Themes in Existentialism • Essence vs. Existence • Absurdity • Alienation • Fear, Dread, & Anxiety • Encounter with Nothingness & Death • Freedom

  11. Essence vs. Existence • Essence can be defined as “the basic nature of something that determines its shape, its activity, its defining characteristics, and possibilities of its everyday life.” • It therefore sets the ground rules for the actions and/or purpose that an object can or can’t do • Most Philosophers believe that essence precedes existence—except many Existentialists!

  12. Absurdity: life is absurd and reason is useless in dealing with the depths of human life Man seen in this light is full of contradictions. Man creates himself through the choices he makes and thus takes responsibility. Absurdity

  13. Third Theme…Alienation • The development of science has “separated man from concrete earthy existence, and forced him to live at a high level of abstraction. We have collectivized individual man out of existence, driven God from the heavens or from the hearts of men. Man lives in alienation from God, from nature, from other men, from his own true self.”

  14. Continued… • Existentialists are concerned how technology shuts man out of nature and from each other • Crowding of people into cities • Subdivision of labor • Government control • Growth of advertising, propaganda and the mass media of entertainment and communication

  15. Fourth…Fear, Dread and Anxiety • Anxiety stems from our understanding and recognition of the total freedom of choice that confronts us every moment, and the individual’s confrontation with nothingness. • Dread is a feeling of general apprehension to make a commitment to a personally valid way of life.

  16. Fifth… Encounter with Nothingness and Death. • If man is alienated from nature, God, neighbors, and self, what is left? • Death hangs over all of us. Our awareness of it can bring freedom or anguish.

  17. Existentialists write about the loss of freedom or the threat to it, or the enlargement of the range of human freedoms. Freedom is the acceptance of responsibility for choice and a commitment to one’s choice. Believers-stress the man of faith rather than the man of will. Man’s essential nature is God-like – and humans should not alienate ourselves from it. Non believers- Because there is no God, we must accept individual responsibility for our own becoming. Sixth…Freedom

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