Existentialism Overview
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Do you think that everything happens for a reason?
Do you think that you fit into a larger, cosmic or divine plan?
When you meet someone new, do you think you were destined to meet?
When a tragedy occurs, do you think why?
Do you see troubles in life as a test or challenge that you were meant to either overcome or learn from?
Humans crave meanings
 Why do bad things happen to good people?
 Why me?
 What did I do wrong?
 What should I do with my life?
 Why are we here?
“As the scientific and industrial revolutionists came to a head in the 19th Century and society became
increasingly secularized, the traditional order underwent radical change in a very short time…people began to
feel disconnected from the traditional belief systems that had helped them make sense of the world and of their
lives” (9).
 This leads to spiritual death, suicide
 Resignation and surrender to a pointless existence
“Existentialism is the philosophy that makes an authentically human life possible in a meaningless and
absurd world” (10). “…You want to live a full and authentic human life, a rewarding and fulfilling life that
embraces your human dignity” (9).
“Existentialism is the study of existence” (13). Not everything that exists but existence itself. What it means to
exist.
Communicated via novels, poetry, and parables.
Your existential situation is your nature as an existentially existing human being. After you discover that for
yourself, existentialists want you to make choices and living in a way that accurately represents who you are as
a human being existing in today’s society (95).
There is no reason why one path is ultimately the right one. You just have to take responsibility for your
choices, period (95).
When facing an inauthentic life and not wanting to take responsibility for your choices, people tend to respond
in one of two ways: they commit suicide or they deny absurdity exists by putting their faith in a system
(philosophical, religious, or scientific) to cover up or explain away the absurdity of existence (100).
Accepting absurdity is purely intellectual. In order to represent it fully or embrace it, you accept it and create
meaning in your life willingly despite the absurdity in doing so (101). In a way, you rebel against the absurdity,
refusing to surrender to despair, creating value to your dignified life by the choices you make.
Christian Existentialism
(16-20)
Kierkegaard
Embraces the existence of God; however, it does not follow the traditional, Christian religious ways; it is faith
in real choice that faith cannot be validated or justified by reason. It focuses on the personal relationship
between people and God.
Believes existentialism is the path to self-discovery of self and the human condition which manifests itself in
several ways:
 Absurdity
 Forlornness of life
 Importance and weight of choices
 Need to live a passionate and authentic life
Religion is the lived experience of individuals rather than the systematized philosophy of the church or even the
Bible.
Rejects that faith and reason can or need to be reconciled.
Free choice to believe, to have faith, in the absence of a complete and final rational proof.
Human life, faith, the love of God are irrational and no reason to try to apologize for or cover up the fact.
Atheistic Existentialism
Nietzsche
With a living God, the universe seems orderly.
God and all major religions give meaning and purpose to our lives.
God loves you and has a plan for you. (27)
Religion gains power over the years, becoming THE source of all answers for you, not for you to discover, but
to believe.
Copernicus discovers the world is round…churches’ absolutes are incorrect, lose pious believers.
Science takes on the absolute role…the scientific method is the only way to get the correct answers, but rejects
what it wants or what does not give them the answers they seek, thus becoming THE source of all answers. (39)
“God is dead” (16). Criticized the church for falsehoods he felt he had been taught. Social critic, too.
Only after the death of God can people face the meaninglessness of the world and take responsibility for the
direction of their own lives (26).
**It is not nihilism which is the hopeless despair or belief in nothing.**
World comes to you meaningless. You create values, yourself, and meaning to your life (18).
(Heidegger: provides validity to the movement as an academic and philosopher. Irrationalism and significance
of death.)
Contemporary Existential Films:
Superbad (2007)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Stranger than Fiction (2006)
Blade Runner (1982)
Fight Club (1999)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Pleasantville (1998)
Key Concepts:
Existence Precedes Essence
Sartre’s phrase to describe the existential situation humans find themselves in. It refers to the fact that when you are born, you have no
meaning, no purpose, no defin ition. Human beings exist first, and only later define themselves. Who am I? What do I do with my
life?
Nothingness
Nothingness appears in existentialism, as the placeholder of the possibility. The awareness of anything in the world that is not my own
existence (which by the way, cannot be held in consciousness without being nihilized) is an awareness of nothingness, that is, what I
in this existence am not and in some cases I could become.
Absurdity
The juxtaposition of an irrational world with our desire for it not to be that way. We arrive from nothingness to absurd at the moment
that we ask for a meaning after we have become aware of the other (trough the prior explained negation). Absurd is a leit motiv in
existentialism, specially in Sartre and Camus. It is sometimes possible to overcome absurd, with absurd itself, as Camus says in The
Myth of Sisyphus: "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Do I
mow my lawn, only for it to grow again?
Anxiety
“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom” (Kierkegaard). You feel anxiety because you recognize that you and you alone are responsible
for your actions. This produces the two-sided feeling of simultaneous dread and exhilaration. Do I go to university? Am I smart
enough to succeed?
Alienation
The sense that you are a stranger in the world, or a stranger to yourself. Many aspects of existence can be alienating. One of the
primary sources is absurdity. Ironically, the stories and systems developed by philosophy and religion to address that absurdity can be
just as alienating. No one can really save you but you. Enabling addicted family members never works since they have to hit bottom
and save themselves. Everyone is replaceable?
The Übermensch
The word Nietzsche uses to refer to his ideal human being. Literally “overman,” the word reflects the importance in his philosophy of
overcoming—overcoming traditional values, overcoming the herd mentality, and, most importantly, overcoming yourself. You
overcome these things so that you might attain something greater. Nietzsche’s Übermensch is an unconventional creator of values, a
joyous free spirit, and one who embraces the earth instead of pining away for heaven. Miss Heffele?
The Death of God
The death of the notion that belief in God alone, or belief in any religious or philosophical system, is sufficient to provide human
beings with the meaning, purpose, and definition they crave. It’s the recognition that, because no external system can provide you
with the answers, you must take responsibility for providing them yourself. Why do bad things happen to good people?
Subjectivity
Your first-person perspective on the world, including the needs, desires, and emotions that accompany that perspective. This is the
valid and important starting point for genuine human endeavors. (Contrastingly, the scientific mindset that always starts with
objectivity sees people in impersonal, objective terms without emotion or appreciation for their individual point of view. Additionally,
our view of the world is enough to become Truth, because it is based on our facts. Miss Heffele says reading complex literature for
critical thinking skills is fun, rewarding, and helpful in life. Miss Heffele says traveling the world is the one true way to understand
your own culture by seeing others.
Choice
We always have a choice. Existentialism does not stand for any kind of determinism except the one that determines our individual
facts (existence) We choose, and in choosing (in good or bad faith) we define ourselves. Choice is a definition of an existence in the
world, towards an object outside of itself. Choice is all that we have, without confirmation of our act; we never know what was right
to choose. The doubt of our acts, together with the contingence of existence, leads to defining ourselves through choices.
Angst
The main characteristic of existence itself, when we face our contingence, and the absurdity of our acts and choices:
For Heidegger, it is that trough which fear becomes possible. For Kierkegaard is a desire for what one fears. For Sartre, it is the
immediate consequence of facing the possibility of nothingness. Do I read Moby Dick or risk the grade?
“Existentialism.” The Cry. 15 October 2009. http://www.thecry.com/existentialism/
Panza, Christopher and Gregory Gale. Existentialism for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc, 2008.
M.C. Escher’s “Waterfall” Copyright 2008 The M.C. Escher company-Holland. All rights reserved.
“The World’s Biggest Loser”
By Charles Bukowski
he used to sell papers in front:
“get your winners! get rich on a dime!”
and about the 3rd or 4th race
you’d see him rolling in on his rotten board
with roller skates underneath.
he’d propel himself along on his hands;
he just had small stumps for legs
and the rims of the skate wheels were worn off.
you could see inside the wheels and they would wobble
something awful
shooting and flashing
imperialistic sparks!
he moved faster than anybody, rolled cigarette dangling,
you could hear him coming
“god o mighty, what was that?” the new ones asked.
he was the world’s greatest loser
but he never gave up
wheeling toward the 2 dollar window screaming:
“it’s the 4 horse, you fools! how the hell ya
gonna beat the
4?”
up on the board the 4 would be reading
60 to one.
i never heard him pick a winner.
there was the big fat blonde whore
who kept touching him for luck, and
laughing.
nobody had any luck. the whore is gone
too.
i guess nothing ever works for us. we’re fools, of course—
bucking the inside plus a 15 percent take,
but how are you going to tell a dreamer
there’s a 15 percent take on the
dream? he’ll just laugh and say,
“is that all?”
i miss those
sparks.
Nirvana
Charles Bukowski
not much chance,
completely cut loose from
purpose,
he was a young man
riding a bus
through North Carolina
on the wat to somewhere
and it began to snow
and the bus stopped
at a little cafe
in the hills
and the passengers
entered.
he sat at the counter
with the others,
he ordered and the
food arived.
the meal was
particularly
good
and the
coffee.
the waitress was
unlike the women
he had
known.
she was unaffected,
there was a natural
humor which came
from her.
the fry cook said
crazy things.
the dishwasher.
in back,
laughed, a good
clean
pleasant
laugh.
the young man watched
the snow through the
windows.
he wanted to stay
in that cafe
forever.
the curious feeling
swam through him
that everything
was
beautiful
there,
that it would always
stay beautiful
there.
then the bus driver
told the passengers
that it was time
to board.
the young man
thought, I'll just sit
here, I'll just stay
here.
but then
he rose and followed
the others into the
bus.
he found his seat
and looked at the cafe
through the bus
window.
then the bus moved
off, down a curve,
downward, out of
the hills.
the young man
looked straight
foreward.
he heard the other
passengers
speaking
of other things,
or they were
reading
or
attempting to
sleep.
they had not
noticed
the
magic.
the young man
put his head to
one side,
closed his
eyes,
pretended to
sleep.
there was nothing
else to dojust to listen to the
sound of the
engine,
the sound of the
tires
in the
snow.