The philosophy of existence occupies a special place in the fundamental development of the 20th century. It arose as an attempt to create something new, different from the developing views of modern man. It must be recognized that virtually none of the thinkers was a one hundred percent existentialist. Closest to this concept was Sartre, who tried to combine all knowledge together in his work entitled "Existentialism is Humanism." How do existential philosophers interpret the concept of "freedom"? Read below.
The statement of existentialism as a separate philosophy
In the late sixties, people experienced a special period. Man was considered as the main object of philosophy, but a new direction was required to reflect the modern historical path, which could reflect the situation that Europe was experiencing after the wars, being in an emotional crisis. This need arose due to experiencing the consequences of military, economic, political and moral decline. An existentialist is a person who reflects the consequences of historical disasters and seeks his place in their destruction. In Europe, existentialism was firmly established as a philosophy and was a kind of fashionable cultural trend. This position of people was among the fans of irrationalism.
Term history
The historical significance of the term as such originates in 1931, when Karl Jaspers introduced the concept of existential philosophy. He mentioned it in his work entitled "The Spiritual Situation of Time". The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard was called by Jaspers the founder of the movement and designated it the way of being of a certain person. The well-known existential psychologist and psychotherapist R. May considered this trend as a cultural movement that captures a deep emotional and spiritual impulse in the soul of a developing personality. It depicts such a psychological moment in which a person is momentarily, expresses unique difficulties that he has to face.
Teaching content
Existentialist philosophers raise the origins of their teachings to Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. The theory reflects the problems of the liberal crisis, which are based on the pinnacles of technological progress, but are not able to use words to reveal the incomprehensibility and unsettledness of human life. It involves the constant overcoming of emotional feelings: the feeling of being in hopelessness and despair. The essence of the philosophy of existentialism is such an attitude to rationalism, which manifests itself in the opposite reaction. The founders and followers of the direction claimed the division of the world into objective and subjective sides. All manifestations of life are considered as an object. An existentialist is a person who considers all things based on the unity of objective and subjective thought. The main idea: a man is who he decides to be in this world.
How to realize yourself
Existentialists offer to recognize a person as an object in a critical situation. For example, with a high probability of experiencing mortal horror. It was during this period that world awareness became unrealistically close to a person. They consider it a true way of knowing. The main way to go to another world is intuition.
How the concept of "freedom" is interpreted by existential philosophers
The philosophy of existentialism gives a special place to the formulation and solution of the problem of freedom. They see her as a definite choice of personality from a whole million possibilities. Object things and animals do not have freedom, since they initially have essence. A whole life is provided for a person to study it and understand the meaning of his existence. Therefore, a reasonable individual is responsible for each committed act and cannot just make mistakes, referring to certain circumstances. Existentialist philosophers consider man a constantly evolving project for which freedom is a sense of separation of personality and society. The concept is interpreted from the point of view of "freedom of choice", but not "freedom of spirit." This is an untouchable right of every living person. But people who have chosen at least once are exposed to a new feeling - anxiety for the correctness of their decision. This vicious circle pursues a person to the very last point of arrival - the achievement of his essence.
Who is a person in the understanding of the founders of the current
May proposed to perceive a person as a process of constant development, but undergoing a periodic crisis. Western culture is particularly keen on these points, as it has experienced a lot of anxiety, despair and conflict in hostilities. An existentialist is a person responsible for himself, his thoughts, his actions, being. He must be so if he wants to remain an independent person. He must also have the intelligence and confidence to make the right decisions, otherwise his future nature will be of appropriate quality.
Characteristic features of all representatives of existentialism
Despite the fact that various doctrines leave certain imprints on the philosophy of existence, there are a number of signs that are inherent in each representative of the current trend:
- The initial starting line of knowledge is an ongoing process of analyzing an individual’s actions. Only being can tell everything about the human person. The basis of the doctrine is not a general concept, but an analysis of a specific human personality. Only people can analyze their conscious existence and must do it continuously. Heidegger especially insisted on this.
- Man was fortunate enough to live in a unique reality, Sartre emphasized in his writings. He said that no other creatures have a similar world. Based on his reasoning, we can conclude that the existence of each person is worthy of attention, awareness and understanding. Its originality needs constant analysis.
- Existentialist writers in their work have always described the process of ordinary life preceding the essence. Camus, for example, argued that the ability to live is the most important value. The human body comprehends the meaning of being on Earth during growth and development, and only at the end is able to comprehend the real essence. Moreover, for each person, this path is individual. The goals and means of attaining the highest good also vary.
- According to Sartre, there is no reason for the existence of a living human body. "He is the cause of himself, his choice and his life," the existentialist philosophers broadcast . The difference between the statement and the ideas of other areas of philosophy is that how each life stage of human development will go through depends on itself. The quality of the essence will also depend on his actions, which he performs on the way to achieve the main goal.
- The existence of a human body endowed with reason lies in simplicity. There is no secret, since natural resources cannot determine how a person’s life will pass, which laws and regulations he will comply with, and which ones will not.
- A person should independently fill his life with meaning. He can choose his vision of the world, filling it with his ideas and translating them into reality. He can do whatever he wants. Which entity will be acquired by him depends on his personal choice. The disposition of one’s existence is also entirely in the hands of a rational person.
- The existentialist is the ego. It is considered in terms of incredible opportunities for everyone.
Difference from representatives of other movements
Existentialist philosophers, in contrast to the enlightenment, the supporters of other areas (especially Marxism), came out in favor of abandoning the search for a reasonable meaning of historical events. They saw no reason to seek progress in these actions.
Impact on the minds of people of the 20th century
Since existential philosophers, unlike enlighteners, did not seek to see the pattern of history, they did not set out to conquer a large number of associates. However, the ideas of this branch of philosophy had a great influence on the consciousness of people. The principles of the existence of a person as a traveler, going to his true essence, draw their line in parallel with people who categorically do not share this point of view.