FREE ESSAY ON EXISTENTIALISM

EXISTENTIALISM

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Joseph Appleget
Mr. Helle/ IB English 12
10/18/00
The Way We Live Our Lives
In our individual routines, each and every one of us strives to be the best that we are
capable of being. How peculiar this is; we aim for similar goals, yet the methods we
enact are unique. Just as no two people have the same fingerprint, no two have identical
theories on how to live life. While some follow religious outlines to aspire to a level
of oral excellence, others pursue different approaches. Toward the end of the
Nineteenth-Century and on through the mid-Twentieth, a movement followed existentialism,
a philosophical theory of life, in order to achieve such a level. Even though the idea of
existentialism is complex, individualism, freedom of choice, responsibility, and
alienation. Certain themes are common amongst philosophers and authors: moral fundamental
to understanding existentialism is the conception of moral individualism. Existentialism
rejects traditional ethical endeavors (Barrett, William). Philosophers since the time of
Aristotle, circa Third-Century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), have held that everyone
should aim for a common peak of ethical achievement. Aristotle argued for the existence
of a divine being, described as the Prime Mover, who is responsible for the unity and
purposefulness of nature. In order for humanity to attain such a climax, everyone must
imitate The Almighty's perfect profile. Aristotle's basic philosophy deduces that
humanity strives for an identical peak of moral excellence, as judged by a higher being
(Aristotle Kemerling, Garth). 
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Existentialism declares that the individual must choose his way; there is no
predetermination. Since the universe is meaningless and absurd, people must set their own
ethical standards. The universe does not predetermine moral rules. Each person strives
toward a unique moral perfection. The Nineteenth-Century Danish philosopher Soren
Kierkegaard, who was the first writer to call himself existential, reacted against
tradition by insisting that the highest good for the individual is to find his
uniqueness. His journal reads, 'I must find a truth that is true for me ... the idea for
which I can live or die (Kierkegaard Kemerling, Garth). Existentialists believe that
morality depends on the individual, rather than a Supreme Being (Rohmann, Chris).
Next to moral individualism, the inevitability of choice is the most prominent
existentialist theory. Existentialism asserts that people do not have a fixed nature, as
other animals and plants do. Our choices determine who we are. The Twentieth-Century
French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre proclaimed that the most Important choice is the
choice of us. Each character makes choices that create his nature. Existence suggests
freedom where mankind is open to a future that is determined by choice and action. Choice
is inescapable and central to human existence; the refusal to choose is a choice. Even
when a person seems to be acting out a given' role or following given values -- for
example, by The Almighty, or by society -- he is in fact choosing to do so (Sartre
Kemerling, Garth). Individuals are free to choose their own destination. Hence, they must
accept the risk and responsibility of following their commitment.
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Since man's choices cannot be universally judged, Existentialists propose a framework for
which responsibility can be recognized. This outline does not tell individuals what and
how to choose; rather it implies that there are right and wrong ways 
of choosing. Usually through situations such as death, struggle, guilt, anxiety, nausea,
or anguish, one becomes aware of responsibility (right versus wrong). Kierkegaard
mentioned that an individual must experience dread, fear of specific objects such as the
Almighty, to recognize responsibility (May, Rollo).
Existentialists regard responsibilities as personal and subjective (existing only in the
mind; illusionary), considering people decide morality, not a Supreme Being.
Existentialists have insisted that personal experiences and acting on one's own
convictions are essential in arriving at the truth. Accordingly, truth is subjective.
Thus, the understanding of a situation by someone involved in that situation Is superior
to that of observers. Even though one person may view a situation as immoral,
existentialism maintains that only those involved can determine morality (May, Rollo).
Existential novels and short stories include themes of moral individualism, freedom of
choice, and responsibility, as well as alienation from the world. Franz Kafka, an
existential writer, expressed his views in the short story' The Metamorphosis. In this
tale, the hero, a hardworking insurance agent, awakens to discover that he has turned
into an enormous insect, four feet in length. He recognizes his familial rejection as he
is left to die alone (Metamorphosis Kafka, Franz). Many Existentialists focus on an
absurd nightmare of the world and life.
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Another major theme is the world itself specifically what can be known about it. A
pre-existentialist writer, the novelist Dostoevski, said that the universe does not make
sense. There are no underlying patterns that can be perceived by everyone, on the basis
of which everyone agrees: This is what the world is all about. Life, and the world
itself, is often unpredictable and capricious (Timur, Gunung).
All attempts to find or impose an order on the world must fail because no single human
mind nor all human minds together can adequately perceive all possible facts, make sense
of them, and put them into an ordered scheme. If there were such an order or scheme, it
would mean that everything is determined as it is for the flower and the fish. Humans
would not have free choice but would be fated to whatever course their lives take
(Edwards, Paul).
This inability to comprehend the world is compounded by individuals' inability to gain a
thorough understanding of other people or even of themselves. The meanings of their own
mental processes, emotions, and motivations are never entirely clear to them as they try
to make sense of themselves and the larger and smaller worlds in which they live. If
there is a standard of truth outside them, they must select it and commit themselves to
it, though they are unable to prove the certainty of such a truth.
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Bibliography
Sources
Barrett, William. What is Existentialism? New York, 1964.
Edwards, Paul. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York, 1967.
May, Rollo. Existential Psychology. New York, 1969.
Rohmann, Chris. A world of Ideas. New York, 1999
Kemerling, Garth. www.philosophypags.com/ph/aris.htm
Kemerling, Garth. www.philosophypags.com/ph/kier.htm
Kemerling, Garth. www.philosophypags.com/ph/sart.htm
Timur, Gunung. http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-15266/cultur/fyodor/index.htm