What is Existentialism? I hae yet to find a religion, or philisophy that conforms to my views of the world, universe and beyond... THanks for and help, and please try not to fill it up with technical jargon... Thank You... Peace be with You
I'm a little surprised that no one has responded to this thread yet. Perhaps it's because existentialism is so difficult to define. Each existential philosopher puts his own unique spin on the basic concepts. There are atheist, Christian, and, in one case, Jewish varieties. Notable existentialists include Kiekegaard (my personal favourite), Nietzsche (another favourite), Buber, Sartre (overrated), Jaspers, Marcel (another favouite), and many, many others. Most existentialists put a heavy emphasis on free will (except for Nietzsche, who was a determinist) and the terrifying amount of freedom human beings have. Life is pointless, and it is up to us to give it meaning. Hence, concepts such as angst and dread are discussed at length. Phenomenology is a closely related philosophy. But any summary I give would be insufficient. If you want to really get a grasp of existentialism, I'd read Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard, followed by Twilight of the Idols, by Nietzsche. Both are very short and shouldn't take you too long to get through.
yep, i believe its basically something that happens when thoughts, feelings an emotions become somewhat liberated from the clutch of instinctual thought. as we all know, all life is driven by a basic package of survival tools.. reproduction, health.. all that stuff. this essentially has a larger bearing on our personallity than some might like to think. for example, the concept of god and life after death is only respected by humans because we have come along so far in evolution that our instincts now require us to worry about our survival even after we are dead. this could be applied to every aspact of human thought and when you do so it doesnt leave a very pretty picture. an so i believe that existentialism could be defined as a thought process that is working outside the regular chain of presripted genetic idealisms.
ahahahahaha all your muddled up words do is add something to existentialism, but don't you get it? that's not existential, that's something more, exactly what existentialism is NOT about. you want to know what existentialism is? look around you... that is existentialism...
i disagree, hugely. i would definetly consider doestoevsky an existential novelist. didnt he use his own problems with gambling, debt, and the rest as the basis of his writings?
"Any person, existentialist or not, that believes in God is an illogical and irrational minded person" people who believe there is no higher power or entity are also illogical and irrationally minded. logic and rationality require some form of begining and conclusion in order for things to make sense. 2+2=4. you cannot take the center of a question and assume thats the answer. both sides have there own pitholes
I've checked out existensalism before, and i think the thing with it is, it's core belief is everything is pointless. Asking "why are we here?" i think you'd have to actually ask the creator to get stable answer on that one. And since we get no verbal answer reguarding how, then there just isn't an answer, so no point. If your having trouble finding a religion that suits you, why not just not pick one at all. If you call yourself one, you seperate yourself from others, a lot of people will imediatly form some sort of off view of you, based on steriotypes or whatnot, due to the name you've chosen for your beliefs (your religion). ( for me, That just more trouble than i'm willing to deal with) I haven't heard of (well yet anyway) any religion that says, you will suffer unless you call your beliefs by it's name. Peace & Love
off topic but, i have never asked myself for an overall meaning. it doesnt concern me in the slightest wether humans have eveolved for a reason, to reach a goal or point of understanding. i could never understand why this rattled people so much
okay monkey shit, i'll check again, but keep in mind, before i even gave my oppinion, i said "i think..." i don't study it exstinsively. I don't really care
