Ways to Answer The Big Question
Part II: Existentialism
• The Big Question this semester has been
“Who am I?” So far, we’ve seen how the
Naturalist writers (Tolstoy, Maupassant, and
Ibsen) answer this question, and we’ve begun
to see how we can answer this question for
ourselves.
– Review: How did the Naturalist writers answer this
question? What, according to them, gave
meaning or purpose to life?
What is Existentialism?
• Existentialism is a 20th century philosophy that
asks what it means to exist as a human being.
• It is concerned with a search for self and the
meaning of life through free will, choice, and
responsibility. Existentialist thinkers believe
that people are searching to find out who and
what they are as they make choices based on
their experiences, beliefs, and outlook.
– Discuss: How does this relate to Nora’s decision to
leave Torvald in A Doll’s House?
What is Existentialism?
• Existentialists reject the idea of truth as an
external idea. Each individual’s version of
truth is different.
• Existentialists value each individual’s free will,
believing that values, rules, and morals
imposed from the outside effectively negate
the individual’s existence.
So I can basically do whatever I want, right?
Existentialism:
Not Existentialism
• Human free will
• Human nature is chosen
through life choices.
• A person is at his or her best
when struggling against him or
herself.
• Decisions are not without
stress and consequences.
• There are things that are not
rational.
• Personal responsibility and
discipline are crucial.
• Society is unnatural and its
traditional religious and
secular rules are abitrary.
• Worldly desire is futile.
• Wealth, pleasure, or honor
make the good life.
• Society’s values or structure
control the individual.
• All you can do is accept
things the way they are.
• Science can and will make
everything better.
• People are basically good
but are ruined by society or
other external forces.
• “I want my way, now!” or
“It’s not my fault” thinking
Existentialist Writers
• Unlike other literary movements, Existentialist
writers did not identify themselves, did not
believe they were part of a movement or
trend, and often did not agree on matters of
politics, religion, or philosophy.
• Being part of a “movement” cancels out the
idea of the individual that is so important to
Existential thought.
Existentialist Writers
• Soren Kierkergaard was primarily a religious
philosopher who regarded his writing as a kind of
spiritual exploration.
• Frederich Nietzsche was an ardent atheist and
“immoralist.”
• Albert Camus was a humanitarian, Jean-Paul
Sartre a Marxist, and Martin Heidegger was a
Nazi.
• None of these writers would have gotten along
well given their wildly different beliefs. Each was
truly eccentric and took individuality in a different
direction.
EXISTENTIAL THEMES
ABSURDITY
• For the existentialists, life is
absurd; it makes no sense and
has no meaning or ultimate
purpose, but human beings need
it to make sense, to have
meaning and purpose.
REJECTION OF MEANING-GIVING NARRATIVES
• It isn’t enough to say that life is absurd or
without meaning; existentialists repeatedly
make the point that any attempt made by
philosophy, religion, or science to explain or
make sense of life, they always fail.
• Existentialists believe this kind of meaningmaking isn’t just false; it is dangerous because
it keeps people from examining their own
choices and exercising their own free will.
ALIENATION
• This is the feeling that you’re a stranger in
your own life, or a stranger in the world.
• Because existentialists believed that the
individual determined his or her own reality,
these realities didn’t intersect, and
connections between people become difficult
or impossible.
• No one can help you make sense of your own
existence.
ANXIETY / ANGST
• This is the feeling of unease or unrest when
you realize that life is absurd and you are
alone at the center of your own universe.
• Because who you are is determined by the
choices you make, decision-making can cause
worry and indecision.
RESPONSIBILITY
• Everyone bears responsibility for themselves.
If there is no guidebook, as the existentialists
believed, each person is responsible for
making his or her way through it and for
creating some kind of meaning for it.
• Because your decisions are what makes you
who you are, you are responsible for the
outcomes of these decisions.
AUTHENTICITY
• According to the existentialists, people want
authenticity—to live in a way that is in tune
with the truth of who they are as human
beings.
• The goal of life, they believed, is to be the
most “you” that you can.
INDIVIDUALITY
• An important part of developing an authentic
and satisfying life is individuality. Reason,
science, and systems that try to cover up the
absurdity of life often take individuality from
you.
• It is up to each person to decide what is right
or wrong, determine how to act in a way that
affirms one’s identity, and accept the
consequences for his or her actions.
PASSION
• Being passionate or engaged is an important
part of living an authentic life, and it’s under
attack from the same forces that take away
your individuality.
• Passion comes from acting in a way that is
true to your core beliefs; if you get your
beliefs from an external source, you are not
acting passionately.
DEATH
• This is the ultimate context for all human
actions. In other words, everything we do, we
do because one day we will die.
• This is an important source for the absurdity
of life.
Core Beliefs of Existentialism
• The most important struggle comes from within a
person.
• A person’s identity comes from his or her internal
struggle.
• Each person is solely responsible for giving his or
her life meaning.
• Every person is entirely responsible for his or her
own actions.
• It’s impossible for people to make meaningful
connections with each other.
• Perception defines reality. Things are the way a
person believes they are.
Assignment: Existentialism Acrostic
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