Transcript Introduction to Existentialism Literature and Philosophy WARNING: EXISTENTIALISM DEALS WITH INTENSE THEOLOGICAL (“RELIGIOUS STUDY”) AND ONTOLOGICAL (“STUDY OF BEING”) AS WELL AS EPISTEMIOLOGICAL (“STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE”) ISSUES.

Introduction to
Existentialism
Literature and Philosophy
WARNING:
EXISTENTIALISM DEALS WITH INTENSE
THEOLOGICAL (“RELIGIOUS STUDY”) AND
ONTOLOGICAL (“STUDY OF BEING”) AS WELL AS
EPISTEMIOLOGICAL (“STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE”)
ISSUES. THIS CLASS IS NOT ENDORSING
EXISTENTIALISM AS BEING ANYTHING MORE THAN
MERE THEORY. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
LEARNING THE TENETS OF EXISTENTIALISM AND
RELATING THEM TO LITERATURE.
EXISTENTIALISM CAN BE A BIT DEPRESSING – IT
TENDS TO PROJECT A “LIFE-IS-MEANINGLESS,
GLASS-HALF-EMPTY” VIEW.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LOVE IT OR LIVE IT – YOU
JUST HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT.
The Problem of Meaning
Humans crave meaning
A universe that makes sense
Humans create stories to make sense out of the
universe; but when the universe doesn’t
cooperate, you feel like a stranger in the world
What is
philosophy?
What does it all mean?
Why are we here?
What should I do with my
life?
Philosophers analyze, they
pick apart, and then they
try to come up with
reasons for their beliefs
and reasoned answers for
their questions.
A complex
philosophy
emphasizing the
existence of the
human being, the
lack of meaning
and purpose in
life, and the
solitude of
ANDREW
WYETH
human
Christina’s World (1948)
It was during the
Second World War,
when Europe
found itself in a
crisis faced with
death and
destruction, that
the existential
movement began
to flourish,
popularized in
France in the
1940s…
GEORGIO DE CHIRICO
Love Song
Two Different Types of Existentialists
Godly: Kierkegaard; Marcel; Maritain (Catholic); Tillich and Berdyaev
(Protestant) and Buber (Jewish)
Believe God exists, but people are alienated from Him
Man is alienated from his God-like self, and the problem of his life
is trying to close that gap
Freedom involves accepting the responsibility for choice and
committing to the choice
Ungodly: Sartre and Camus
Do not believe God exists
“Because there is no God to give purpose to the universe, each
man must accept individual responsibility for his own becoming”
In choosing for oneself, one chooses for all men “the image of man
as he ought to be.” He has to make good choices that others can
follow
Big Ideas of Existentialism
Despite encompassing a
huge range of
philosophical, religious,
and political ideologies,
the underlying concepts
of existentialism are
simple…
MARK ROTHKO
Untitled (1968)
Cogito ergo sum
Existence Precedes
Essence
“Existence precedes essence” implies that the
human being has no essence (no essential self)
Existence Before Essence
People are born like a blank slate and create their
essence or being through their unique experiences
Absurdism
• The belief nothing can explain or
rationalize human existence
• There is no answer to “Why am I?”
• Humans exist in a meaningless, irrational
universe and any search for order will
bring them into direct conflict with this
universe
Absurdism, continued
• Life is meaningless
• We have to come to terms with this
• Once we accept this, we create meaning
for ourselves to keep from falling into
despair, depression or suicide
• However, we consciously know this
created meaning is itself meaningless
• Thus, we live absurd existences but have
no choice but to continue doing so
Alienation or
Estrangement
• From all other humans
• From human
institutions
• From the past
• From the future
• We only exist right
now, right here…
EDGAR DEGAS
“L’absinthe” (1876)
Nothingness and Death
EDVARD MUNCH
Night in Saint Cloud
(1890)
Nothingness and Death
• Death hangs over all of us. Our awareness of
it can bring either freedom or anguish
• “Nothingness is our inherent lack of self. We
are in constant pursuit of a self. Nothingness
is the creative well-spring from which all
human possibilities can be realized.” – JeanPaul Sartre
Freedom: Choice and Commitment
• Humans have freedom to choose
• Each individual makes choices that create his
or her own nature
• Because we choose, we must accept risk and
responsibility for wherever our commitments
take us
• “A human being is absolutely free and
absolutely responsible. Anguish is the result.”
– Jean-Paul Sartre
Dread and Anxiety
MAN RAY
Les Larmes (Tears)
Dread and Anxiety
• Anxiety stems from our understanding and
recognition of the total freedom of choice that
confronts us every moment, and the
individual’s confrontation with nothingness
The Big Names of
Existentialism
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre and Heidegger
Some Famous
Existentialists
• Søren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855)
• Friedrich Nietzsche
(1844-1900)
• Jean-Paul Sartre
(1905-1980)
• Albert Camus
(1913-1960)
“A woman is not
born…she is created.”
de Beauvoir’s most famous text
is The Second Sex (1949), which
some claim is the basis for
current gender studies…
Nihilism is the
state of belief
in nothing
“When you ain’t got nothin’,
you got nothing to lose” –
Bob Dylan
A nihilist refuses to see this possibility. For the
nihilist, when you ain’t got nothin’, you got
nothing to win
Existential Literature
Three people to know: Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80),
Albert Camus (1913-60) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-86)
Albert Camus:
The Smiling Sisyphus
Born Nov. 7, 1913 in Mondovi, French
Algeria
•
Father dies in 1914 during World War I, only
story Albert knows is that his father became
violently ill at a public execution
•
Mother was illiterate, partially deaf, and
afflicted with a speech disorder – very poor
•
Attended elementary in a school close to a
Muslim community and saw first-hand the
idea of the “outsider” he would later develop
•
Significant Events
•
•
High school: developed a lifetime love for literature,
theater, and film
Also enjoyed soccer for sport and the life lessons it
taught him
“I learned . . . that a ball never arrives from a direction you
expected it. That helped me later in life, especially in
mainland France, where nobody plays straight”
Significant Events
•
•
•
Briefly joined the Communist Party but was disillusioned
by the mindless, even absurd, work he was assigned to
do
In the 1940s his writing began to attract international
attention
In 1957, he was awarded the Nobel Prize. He was
grateful, but he felt he had not yet achieved the fame
such an award indicated
Significant Events
On January 4, 1960, Camus died tragically in a car
accident
“THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS”
Camus publishes this non-fiction work a year after
completing The Stranger. In this retelling of the
myth of Sisyphus, he embodies his concept of the
Absurd
The story concludes with Camus’ pivotal
philosophical statement:
“The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to
fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus
happy”
To understand his point, we must understand the
themes that his writing explores
L’Étranger
(The Stranger or The Outsider)
Written by Albert Camus in 1942
Albert Camus
The Stranger
A tale of absurdity, death,
and coming to grips with
the meaning of one’s
existence
No single work by any
existentialist has reached
more people directly
The Nobel Prize for
literature in 1957
Themes of Albert Camus

The Absurd

Revolt

The Outsider

Guilt and
Innocence


Christianity vs.
Paganism
Individual vs.
History and Mass
Culture

Suicide

The Death Penalty
Camus’ Absurd World
The world of values is
never predictable nor controllable.
Revolt
“A spirit of opposition
against any perceived
unfairness, oppression,
or indignity in the
human condition.”
This idea runs counter to existentialism as it proposes that
there is a common good that is more important than one’s
destiny. True revolt is performed out of compassion for
others.
The Outsider
“The `stranger’ or the outsider
observes everything, even his
own behavior, from an outside
perspective.”
Camus lived most of his life being
in various groups without being of
them. This view requires a “zerodegree” objectivity about
everything. Camus had this with
friends and community.
Guilt and Innocence
Paganism vs. Christianity
There is no clear answer
to this in The Stranger.
The reader must decide if
the character is legally
innocent of the murder
he is charged with or if
he is technically guilty
It is the struggle between
universal guilt (original
sin) and universal
innocence (pagan
primitivism)
Camus respects the
Christianity and even uses
many Christian symbols in
his writing, but he maintains
Pagan world views
“I continue to believe that
this world has no
supernatural meaning . . .
But I know that
something in this world
has meaning – man.”
Individual vs.
History and Mass Culture
Modern life has an
alienating and
dehumanizing effect
on man. We live in an
age that is becoming
more impersonal
everyday. If anything,
modern man lives the
drudgery of Sisyphus
in meaningless jobs
with mind-numbing
repetitions.
Suicide
This, for Camus, is
the fundamental
issue for moral
philosophy as it
represents the
only possible
response to the
Absurd. In the
end, the morally
valid response is
to continue living.
Death
Penalty
Camus opposes
the death penalty
in all of his
writings. He
considered it “the
most
premeditated of
murders”
because it
causes the victim
to suffer his
death every day
until it happens.
EXISTENTIALISM?
Although Camus was
personally committed to values
such as individualism, free
choice, inner strength,
authenticity, personal
responsibility, and self
determination, he repeatedly
denied that he was an
existentialist.
Although he embraced many of
the ideas, he believed that for
one to be considered anything
one must commit himself totally
to that doctrine, yet he was
unwilling to do this.