I've read the wikipedia listing, and searched a few other articles.... I just don't understand the basic concept. Can someone give me an explanation.. "for dummies" ?
2007-09-26 03:29:30 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Here's a previous "Best Answer" to the same question:
"The existentialist slogan (Sartre's) is: existence precedes essence.
What this means is:
1. There is no 'essential' human existence - that is, there is no 'human nature'. Your nature is what you choose it to be.
2. No matter how much you might want to deny it, your life is what you make it with your choices. You have free will, and thus you have nothing else to blame for the way your life turns out than your own decisions.
3. You are fully responsible for your immoral behavior.
Some existentialists have been atheists (e.g. Sartre), some have chosen religious belief (e.g. Kierkegaard).
Interestingly, existentialism did not develop in opposition to hard determinism (that is, physical science) but in opposition to the 'absolute idealism' and extreme rationalism of Hegel and his followers."
The only comment I'd add to this extremely well-thought out answer is that existentialism is also a response to the idea that existence is meaningless, and many of the existentialists (except those with firm religious convictions, such as Gabriel Marcel) posited that the individual had to construct his/her own meaning/purpose to life.
2007-09-26 03:38:51 · answer #1 · answered by johnslat 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Mother died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." Camus, from the Stranger (L'Etranger)
This pretty much sums it up. Existentialism refers to living within the moment of existence without considering the past or future. Mother died? What is her essence? Don't know. Once she is gone, there is nothing. What does it mean for the future? Nothing. She is gone so has no place in the future.
Nothing has any meaning except for what exists in the here and now. Yesterday is gone and the future has not yet occurred.
Hope I haven't over simplified.
2007-09-26 03:44:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A philosophy which stresses the active role of the will rather than of reason in confronting problems posed by a hostile universe.
2007-09-26 03:33:55 · answer #3 · answered by WC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
2007-09-26 03:33:17 · answer #4 · answered by ✿☆mkumi★✿ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Basically that you have 'free will' and that you can actually make real decisions for yourselves as opposed to 'fatalism' where everything is pre-decided.
2007-09-26 03:31:44 · answer #5 · answered by megalomaniac 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋