I still don't fully understand existentialism. I have a vague grasp of it though, I think. But just one question I have had for some time: What ethical system do existentialists subscribe to? Is it just more of that nihilism, don't-ask-me crap so many other philosophers preach? Thank you all in advance for your responses
It is the knowledge that one day we are all going to die, but we just don't really believe it until it happens.
Dictionary: "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" Hotwater
The ethical system probably varies but I can easily see some existentialists adopting humanistic principles into their ethics.
Existence is at the center of the philosopher's Idea . It provides structure ... goodness will relate to existence . Perhaps goodness may be 'honest existence' , with no dramatic or invented elaboration . Anything can be at the center of a philosophic wheel . What if it is Opposite ? Oh , very strange . Mastering the dimensions of Opposite is wizardry . Most students who try do not survive .
Sartre wrote, and I believe it was in the piece, Existentialism and Humanism, or another paper he wrote around the same time, that because we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God, that it is up to each of us to make the best of our existence for everyone. Existentialism preaches that we each have exitential freedom--that we have free choice, and that we should own up to those choices, because we choose our path through those choices. Each of us are responsible for what happens to us, and therefore we can each choose to make a better world for everyone. Existentialism was also a reaction to the long history of essentialism in philosophy. Much of philosophy, especially most of philosophy from ancient times all the way into the modern age was essentialist. This means that it held that essence was the ground of our being. In other words, that our being was based on our essence or our nature. The Platonic Form is an example of essence, for living things we could say that the spirit or soul is the essence that gives rise to being. Existentialism stated that existence is the ground of our being, and as Sartre said in the beginning of, Being and Nothingness, that there is no hidden essence or form. He explained that the essence was in the appearance of the existence, not a hidden metaphysical reality. The problem with traditional essentialism, and the reason for existentialism to be a reaction to it, is that it restricted the individual to its nature. It therefore validates racism, mysogyny, and nationalism. For example, it validated the belief that the Aryan Germans were superior because of their nature. Or that Black people are lazy, and prone to criminal activities because of their nature. Essentialism justified the holocaust. Therefore existentialism truly came of age in Europe right after World War II. This is why it is associated with nihilism--after the war the youth, particularly in France, who frequented the cafes and jazz clubs, always wore black, had a very nihilistic demeanor, mainly subscribed to existentialism. But Post-War Europe was very nihilistic---Europe was going through its existential crisis. But the existential crisis is not the goal of existentialism. The crisis is merely that struggle to come to terms with who we are. Tje goal is to move beyond the existential crisis and take responsibility for who you are, and to act out your existential freedom. Existentialism therefore liberated the individual from his/her nature. It said that anyone could be anything based on the choices he/she made. (Note: My own version of essentialism is different from the traditional essentialism. I use a generic--mind--as my essence, and if mind has existential freedom, then its essence is the source of its freedom. It is spontaneously able to change.)
My feelings towards nihilism have never changed. I still say we are living in the Age of Nihilism. While I say that Europe has gone through its nihilism, American culture now defines global modern culture, and nihilism is raising its head everywhere around the world. Even though existentialism has long been associated with nihilism, it is not of itself nihilistic. In fact, what came after it is more nihilistic---structuralism was the response to existentialism, moving away from the subjectivism of existentialism back to a more objectivist position. Then came the post-structuralists which included Derrida and his deconstruction, which has furthered nihilism. I have always seen nihilism as a cathartic of sorts--in the sense that death can lead to a rebirth. It is a cathartic of transformation. Nihilism is decadent, which comes from decay, and decay does represent a transformation. Though typically it is a transformation of finality from one object, to its basic materials to be consumed by others. In the case of living things, or the abstract constructs of living things (such as culture), decay is associated with, or represents, death. Therefore the appearance of nihilism can very well represent the death of a culture, or the death of a people. That is the major risk of nihilism. But a death from which one cannot escape is always a risk with a death-rebirth. But when one faces death, the only hope is rebirth or transformation, the only other alternative is to simply die. Rebirth or transformatin requires catharsis. Therefore as nihilism takes away all meaning, truth, value, and authenticity, and we are left with nothing, then we have a choice: we can either lay down and die, or we can stare into the void and look for what is left. If there was absolutely nothing but ourselves, we would only have being (just as Descarte's skepticism, as it destroyed all other truths, carried him to his 1st Principle, 'I think therefore I am'). The catharsis of nihilism removes all the shallow and superficial meanings and truths--which we think are everything--but then, while we think everything is gone, it is there that we find the much deeper truths, meanings and values. If we can achieve that then we have the transformation from the logical end conclusion of Modern thought, to a new beginning---the next level of human development. But to do so requires those who will stare into the void---those who will try to find those deeper truths, meanings, and values.
Oh , the anguish of freedom . It is to live without the hologram , yet the angst is illusion . Existence is kind . Punishment is abolished . And death is not punishment .
Existentialism has always seemed to me, to be the difference between objective vs subjective morality. Most people define their own meaning of life, but religious people for example believe in objective morality, and choices that lead them further away from subjective morality. I feel it's the difference between defining yourself through your own means, or defining yourself through a deity or religion.
You may know and be the authority on Existence as self-knowing Existence . This is superior to science , even though science may claim you are both lonesome and stupid .
