Existentialism of the 20th Century Essay

This was a philosophy that relates to the existence of human beings in regard to how life means to them. The term was invented by a French philosopher by the name Gabriel Marcel in 1943. Jean Paul later widely used the word when he wrote a book on the same. At this time, such philosophers were referred to as ‘existentialists’ and during the 2^nd world war, the movement gained more fame (Flynn, p. 16). Some of these philosophers like Friedrich and Kierkegaard were concerned with knowing the reason behind the existence of human beings and the value of life itself. According to them, human beings are passionate other than rational beings. They argued that human beings are actors in the world and hence are aware of what is in it unlike the trees and stones that just exist. To them, this means that our today’s actions and choices determine how our future will be (Tanzer, p. 52). A writer by the name Professor Wildman believes that existentialism is a new version of the nineteenth-century romanticism. He says that both movements have something in common in that they all assert that meaning of life has to be taken into account through our acts and deeds. He also points out a difference in the two saying that existentialism mostly centered on individual human beings whereas romanticism centered on the nature as a whole and only regarded human as part of other nature (Bramann).

According to Irvine, Soren Kierkegaard is considered the father of existentialism and he described three stages of human development. The first stage is the aesthetic stage which he argued that it was only interested in pleasure. The second stage is the ethical stage where he says that an individual at this stage finds existence boring and this leads to suicide and hence a desire to move from one life to another. Ethical in this case is a common goal that demands one to reunite himself with the universe. The third one is the religious stage in which he says that for one to move from the ethical stage to religious one is hard since ethical involves reconciliation (Irvine).According to Soren, the religious stage involves surrendering to God’s will through faith. He gives the example where Abraham is demanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac and he does this since he has faith (Flynn, p. 19).

Another philosopher associated with the movement is Jean-Paul Sartre. He was a writer of both plays and novels and in 1946; he published an essay ‘Existentialism is Humanism’ in which he strongly defended existentialism from the many critics it had faced. Here, he reiterated the theme of ‘Existence precedes Essence’ saying that existentialists believe that there must be existence before essence (Bramann). Sartre explains essence as inherent purpose for which something is made. He gives an example of the man made things in which there purpose or use is first foreseen before it is made and eventually comes into existence. On the other hand, in human beings, it’s the reverse in that they first exist and later define the purpose of their existence through the choices that they make in life.

We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world-and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself (Bramann).

Irvine outlines some themes that are important in existentialist which include a) Importance of an individual or humanism– this philosophy is person centered and although it does not oppose science, it mainly deals on individual’s track down on their real identity. The question here is what it means for one to be a human being. It leads to pursuit of what is viewed as right or wrong in a world full of confusion in morals. There is the concern on what a meaningful life entails and an understanding that experience counts in ones life. The other one is b) the importance of choice where they argue that it is a person’s decision to be for or against God. That our decisions make who we are and we cannot consider the set laws as directing the choices that we make in life but rather as personal decisions, i.e. that people have choices to make and are not prearranged like animals but have alternatives to choose from (Bramann). Sartre therefore believes that beings live in a different way from objects or animals since the kind of environment or culture they live in tends to determine who they really are. c) Existence precedes essence, here they say that what one is, is a result of the choices one makes. Tanzer (p. 64) adds to this by saying that essence in this case is not destiny so one becomes what they make themselves to be. d) Time is of the essence – in this case, we are bound by time and our past, present and future all differs in meaning and value. e) Freedom and responsibility. This philosophy is based on freedom in that one can stand and reflect back on their lives. According to Bramann, existentialists in this case believe that many people make mistakes by denying themselves freedom. For instance someone who is brought up in a certain culture and grows up following its believes and practices without questioning is presumed to be living like an animal since they have betrayed their freedom, a way of life that Sartre calls “bad faith”. Therefore, someone should not make an excuse for their actions that it was due to their background since this would be a sign of escapism as well. f) Ethical consideration is paramount. Here they argue that though one has freedom in their own way, it is essential that one looks deeply on the validity of their existence and that of the society.

In conclusion, existentialism can be said to have focused on human life and the meaning behind their existence. They feel hat some people do not live a real life since they do not understand whom they are and mostly tend to blindly follow the laws of their culture. The movement gained more fame after the Second World War although it had been present in the previous decades. Most of the philosophers associated with the movement have had different thoughts concerning the real definition of the movement hence no unified school of thought that has been found. Some of these are Christians and others are atheists hence it has been hard to find a single doctrine that they all agree with.

Works Cited

1. Bramann, Jorn. Sartre: Existentialism and the Modern World. Frostburg State University, n.d.
2. Flynn, Thomas. Existentialism. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2009. Print.
3. Irvine, Andrew. Extentialism. Wildman’s Weird Wild Web, 1998.
4. Tanzer, Basil. On Existentialism: Cengage Learning, New York 2008. Print.