Download Existentialism: The Philosophy of Self-Creation and Freedom - Prof. G. Schufreider and more Study notes Introduction to Philosophy in PDF only on Docsity! Existentialism One of the primary claims of existentialism is that existence comes before essence. That is to say, there is no pre-existing plan or idea that a human being is made from. The ground of being is in a human being’s existence. Since all people are ultimately free, they can choose what to do with their lives. As they so choose, their essence is created. It does not pre-exist life on earth but is created via the acts with which we habitually engage in as we live our lives. That is to say we must begin with the subjective. Man/Woman is free to choose what he or she will become. At the onset of human life, the human creature has no essence. Its essence is determined by its freedom to choose what she or he wants to become. When Runa was born she had no essence, no plan was used in her construction. By choices that she made as she was growing up, she defined her essence through her subjectivity and she acquired this essence later in life. Thus, Existentialism places a great deal of responsibility on the individual for their lives, and by extension, responsible for and to other people. Thus, one of the primary results of Existentialist belief is that man has placed upon his shoulders the burden if self-creation; it is his fate and he cannot escape from it. However in choosing what he or she wishes to become it is also a choice to choose this for all humankind; man has a vision of himself as he ought to be, and he tries to bring this view into reality by making it part of his essence. As he wills the better for himself, it cannot be so that he wills any different for other human beings. (Note: This is the weakest point in the essay.) As a human being fashions himself, so he wills to fashion all men in a similar vein; his responsibility to his freedom is thus all the more greater than the critics of Existentialism have assumed. To an existentialist, man is in anguish. This means that the second a person realizes that when he commits to something, to anything at all, he is making a choice and for all of humanity, and cannot escape form the terrible responsibility that follows such a commitment. Although some do not seem to feel this, it could be said that they are in retreat from this anguish and suffer from it nonetheless. Thus at every instant, an existentialist is bound to choose actions which would serve as examples for all mankind, that he would will everyone else to choose (Note: This is curiously similar to Kant’s Categorical Imperative, and Sartre himself did not do this unless we consider addiction to benzadrine what he would have willed for everyone). This anguish does not allow quietism or repose but insists upon action, action which you would will all others to take as well. (Sartre did take stands against racism in his life, so to an extent he did walk the talk.) A common theme in existentialism is the idea of abandonment. This is the idea that god does not exist, but also the consequences of such a realization. For example, if you realize that god does not exist, then you realize that all of the morals and values that were based on religion are also baseless. Keeping in mind the ideas that existence precedes essence, man initially has no essence, nor does he have any ultimate mind (god) to depend on to provide any values for him. That is to say, there is nothing in the inside of man nor on the outside to give him sustenance. He is, and remains, however, abundantly free, condemned to be free. Man did not create his existence, yet he is free and his freedom implies the anguish of responsibility due to that freedom. So when you are forced into a situation where you must choose one option over another, you must choose. There is no guide for you to look to in such a
