Existentialism

Answer : Traditional philosophy held essence of a thing to be more fundamental and unchanging over time than its existence. Traditional philosophers have always given prominence to abstract universal and impersonal essence. They have almost overlooked the actual human existence. This universal human essence treats human beings its mere copies and shadows. This also connotes that human beings or for that matter beings are created according to fixed universal standard. They do not have their individuality. That ....

Answer : Dasein literally means ‘being there’, but in Heidegger’s philosophy it is employed to connote ‘man being there’. This is the reason why Dasein stands for ‘human existence’. According to Heidegger dasein is the way to reach the ontological reality ‘Being’. Heidegger make it clear that his investigation is not like Plato who holds idea to be reality and this world to be appearance. Heidegger accepts the existence of this world to be real. Then he ....

Answer : Heidegger asserts that temporality is an important key to interpreting the meaning of Dasein, for Dasein’s structures are in fact modes of temporality. The question Heidegger asks in the introduction to Being and Time is: what is the being that will give access to the question of the meaning of Being? Heidegger’s answer is that it can only be that being for whom the question of Being is important, the being for whom Being matters.

As ....

Answer : The concept of subjectivity is central to Kierkegaard, which led him to believe that while such a thing as objective knowledge does exist, it is usually perceived subjectively by human beings.

However, in order to define one’s self, it is necessary to make a choice, which is essential element of Kierkegaard’s philosophy. This choice is one which must be made by the person himself, and which is ultimately unlimited by anything external to him. While the ....

Answer : Kierkegaard believed that “to exist” meant to realize oneself through self-commitment to the choices one makes as a free subjective individual. His method is moving away from a philosophy that is searching to accumulate a set of facts about the world and goes back to the Socratic question of how to live one’s life. The way to answer this question must be completely subjective and personal, since ‘the crowd is untruth’ and that one cannot ....

Answer : One can see why Sartre is often described as a Cartesian dualist but this is imprecise. Whatever dualism pervades his thought is one of spontaneity/inertia. His is not a “two substance” ontology like the thinking thing and the extended thing (mind and matter) of Descartes. Only the in-itself is conceivable as substance or “thing.” The for-itself is a no-thing,the internal negation of things. The principle of identity holds only for being-in-itself. The for-itself is an ....

Answer : Existentialism is a western philo-sophical revolution. The roots of this philosophical revolution is linked to the thinking of 19th century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. He is regarded as the first existentialist philosopher. But the term existentialism was coined by Gabriel Marshall. In 20th century,Sartre popularized existentialism. He named his book “Existentialism and Humanism.”

In existentialism the word existence is used in a unique way. Ordinarily, the word existence denotes the presence of a human being or an ....

Answer : Given statement establishes the existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard as a theist thinker. Through this sentence, on one hand Soren Kierkegaard accepts the existence of god and on the other free existence of human being. Through this statement he also describes the nature of man.

In reality, existentialism originated as a revolution in the contemporary western philo-sophy. It is seen as a reaction against essenceism and science. Roots of this philosophy is linked to the thinking of ....

Answer : Man is “nothing” because he has no set essence. He is absolutely free. It does not mean that freedom is a property of existence. Actually existense, consciousness and freedom are same. To exist means to be free. Freedom cannot be avoided. Man is condemned to be free.

Along with freedom, man also has responsibility. Even in unavoidable situation, the freedom to choose rests with man. Man is responsible not only for what he decides but also ....

Answer : Sartre and Heidegger are existentialist where as Husserl is a phenomenologist. Sartre’s view diverges from Husserl’s on the important issue of the ego. For Sartre, Husserl adopted the view that the subject is a substance with attributes, as a result of his interpretation of Kant’s unity of apperception. Husserl endorsed the Kantian claim that the ‘I think’ must be able to accompany any representation of which I am conscious, but reified this ‘I’ into a ....

Answer : For Sartre, each agent is endowed with unlimited freedom. Freedom is rather to be understood as characteristic of the nature of consciousness, i.e. as spontaneity. But there is more to freedom. Sartre presents his notion of freedom as amounting to making choices, and indeed not being able to avoid making choices. Sartre’s conception of choice can best be understood by reference to an individual’s original choice, as we saw above. Sartre views the whole life ....

Answer : The proposition that existence precedes essence is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence or nature of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence. To existentialists, the human being - through his consciousness - creates his own values and determines a meaning to his life, for in the beginning the human being does not possess any identity or value. By posing the acts that constitute ....

Answer : Heidegger has provided the most concise definition of Dasein. To exist as Da-sein means to hold open a domain through its capacity to receive-perceive the significance of things that are given to it and that address virtue of its own “clearing”. To hold open a domain refers to Dasein, as being-in-the-world, is always already holding open a world. In other words at each moment our ideas express not only the truth but also our capacity ....

Answer : The Sartrean claim is best understood in contrast to an established principle essence precedes existence, laid down by religious tradition, or legislated by political or social authority. A typical claim for this traditional thesis would be that man is essentially selfish, or that he is a rational being. When it is said that man defines himself, it is often perceived as stating that man can "wish" to be something - anything, a bird, for instance ....

Answer : Early Sartrean philosophy is one of a pursuit of being. It is an attempt to grasp being through an investigation of the way being presents to consciousness - phenomenological ontology. Phenomenological ontology refers to the study of being through its appearances. This simplistic definition needs further clarification. First, by phenomenon Sartre refers to the totality of appearances of a thing and not simply a particular appearance. Sartre claims that the basic distinction of Existentialism from ....

Answer : The concept of freedom, central to Sartre's system as a whole, is a dominant theme in his political works. Sartre's view of freedom changed substantially throughout his lifetime. Scholars disagree whether there is a fundamental continuity or a radical break between Sartre's early view of freedom and his late view of freedom. There is a strong consensus, though, that after World War II Sartre shifted to a material view of freedom, in contrast to the ....

Answer : Existentialism may be difficult to explain, but it is possible to communicate some basic principles and concepts, both regarding what existentialism is and what it is not. On the one hand, there are certain ideas and principles which most existentialists agree on in some fashion; on the other hand, there are ideas and principles which most existentialists reject - even if they don't then agree on what to argue for in their place. It can ....

Answer : As part of his ontological project Heidegger aimed to shatter the established subject/object mode of acquiring knowledge held by the majority of philosophers heretofore, and abrogates their detached, disinterested inquiry. What Heidegger sought was a reinterpretation of philosophical beliefs, Heidegger desired to explain why and how theoretical knowledge had come to seem like the most fundamental relation to being. Heidegger's writings would so dramatically call into question the established traditions, that of phenomenology, that he ....