Reese B.

Oguis December 12, 2014

Philosophy 90 (Comprehensive)

Freedom of Man as the Key to Self Realization

A Thematic Approach to Existentialism

Existentialism was a result from the radical movement of contemporary

philosophers that was later recognized as existentialist. They were convinced that truth

and knowledge is more than theories and mental constructs. Philosophy demands man

to go back to experience itself with awareness that human experience is

superabundantly rich that reason and logic cannot explain everything. This new field of

philosophy is considered radical as it gives emphasis to human sentiments and

emotions as a concrete human condition that were neglected by the ancient and earlier

western philosophers.

Existentialism recognizes freedom as a necessary element of human existence. I

consider freedom as a key for mans self-realization. But the actualization of freedom is

not conceptualized but practiced in mans day-to-day experience as man is free and

ought to be free. These will then lead us to ask: What is freedom? What does it takes to

be truly free?

Man is inherently free; he is in possession of his own will. He hopes for an

outcome and with his will he is determined to achieve what he desires. Man is

autonomous as he is the author of his own life. He governs his own life, he is capable

of deciding for himself. Freedom then helps man to achieve individuality. To be

autonomous makes man independent on reacting, responding and developing from

outside control or external conditions. As Soren Kierkegaard would say, the crowd is
untruth; that man must not become a puppet of external conditions such as the society.

Man opts to find the truth about his existence by recognizing his individuality, for the

way to freedom is to be an individual.

But man is limited; an example of this limitation is the temporality of his body and

his inherent situation. It is a common idea in existentialism to describe man as thrown

into a specific condition; be it a specific body, a specific period and place of existence.

With this, a new question arises: If man is limited how can he be absolutely free?

Man is regarded to be an author and an actor at the same time. It is not enough

for man to create and decide for his life he needs to live it. As an actor, man is on a

stage and this stage is life. He is free to act on this stage but cannot choose his own

stage. As man is born, he is caught off guard; he cannot choose his gender, his

nationality, his place of birth and so on. But to be free is to acknowledge the send forth

limitations and to make the most out of it. With freedom man can push his horizon of

possibilities, he is not stuck with his boundaries but nevertheless recognizes it. As

Nietzsche puts it, Man must be surpassed. From freedom springs the actualization of

the potentialities of man.

Now we might have an idea of freedom as mere doing what one desires and a

form of isolation from the determination of a deity, authority or society. But freedom is

not solitary, it always considers others. There is such thing as responsible freedom,

where man does not do away with the universal and conventional laws. Man recognizes

that apart from his own freedom is the freedom of others and his life is of commitments,

duties and responsibilities.

 Man is both free and responsible. He is held to be liable to the results of his

actions. And this accountability is his alone as much as his own existence as owned by

him and these makes him as an individual anxious. Man has this apprehensive

uneasiness of mind of not being able to cope up with his responsibility as a man and as

a fellowman. In his decisions in life, man is alone. It makes more painful for man to

accept the negative outcome of his choices as choosing is solitary.

But the feeling of anxiety is necessary, it makes man more cautious. Only

uncertainty is certain, and that man uses his reflective capacity to consider matters.

Anxiety arrests man; it stops man from doing immediate response, it makes man think

twice or thrice or more. To be an individual is not being lonely but to be in solitude.

In solitude, man finds himself. He recognizes the responsibilities on his shoulder

and embraces the gift of pain. Man must not avoid or run away from it; in pleasure

comes pain and man must not be partial and embrace the whole. In solitude man

accepts his inadequacy and that his reason alone does not suffice to explain the

richness of life. In solitude he finds freedom; the freedom to choose even the uncertain

and surrender in faith. To be free is not to have bondage with the fruits of the choices,

but to be free is to take the leap despite the uncertainty for freedom is choosing. No

matter what one chooses, be it the right or the wrong one, man actualizes his being as a

free individual as his soul participates in discernment.