EXISTENTIALISM

existentialism is a very confusing and ambiguous philosophy because its the combination of
many views, ideas and thoughts. it is a 19 and 20th century philosophy or one can better call it a
philosophical movement came out in the result of the great depression of the first world War, the
second World World and its consequences on human existence and belief. before the the WW 1,
Man was an optimist about the scientific revolution that it will bring change in the human society
and in this way it would elevate the sorrows of the people, but it did not happen, the WW 1
started in 1914 and it was called the war to end all the wars, but it was not too long when the
WW2 started in 1939 and in this war for the first time heavy scientific machinery like aeroplane
and the most horrifying than all, the atomic bomb was used by USA against Japan. all these
shattered the human beliefs, the notion of a combined society, religion and morality. it was the
time of suppression, alienation and absurdity. man started thinking about himself and the
universe, about the morals, religion and God. the depressed Man thought, how God can be so
harsh with the universe? that was the point which gave birth to so many philosophers at the time.
so, basically, the meaning of existentialism, search in himself, finding meaning in oneself
without the regard of any outside force (religion, law, society, morality) but through one;s free
will and free choice.
existentialists philosophers reject the notion of a combined religion, rules and laws, according to
them all these are men made to control others and man from the time of his existence on this
earth searches for the meaning of life, but actually there is no meaning of the existence, so to
satisfy his soul he embraced to these combined rules followed by all, but its an irrational decision
as he rejects his free will and gives it to other forces.
when there is no meaning of the existence so, what one should do to satisfy his soul.
existentialists suggest that, the best way is to except one;s free will, means that its an individual
responsibility to make meaning and purpose in his life not the other forces. they say that human
existence is not fully pessimistic, as he is free to make his own purpose in this world, on the
other hand its not fully optimistic as the spirit of death hover all the time over our heads.
as i mentioned above that, its a philosophical movement, so there were many writers and thinkers
of this movement like, Kierkegard, Nietzche,Sartre, Camus and some others. not all the
existentialists were atheists, as Kierkegard was a religious philosophers, who is considered the
father of this philosophy and the others were atheists.
nietzche, the most famous french existentialist philosopher wrote, "God is dead", which means
that there is no God, to farther elaborate it means that the universe is not created by God and that
man is free in his choice. according to him there is no devine religion or morality etc but man
made.
same is the case of Sartre the most famous existentialist philosopher of the 20th century;
according to him "existence precedes essence" which means, that human being is born or this
universe is created without any essence (purpose), and his this concept comes in contrast with
old philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, who wrote that everything has a purpose and devoid
that purpose a thing is nothing. as for example, there is a thing called Pen and the purpose of this
thing is writing, without this purpose this thing is nothing, so in the same way, the existence of
humanbeing has a purpose, an essence. in other words, there is God, and He created human being
for a specific purpose not without a purpose, but Sartre say nay to it.
Albert Camus is also one of the most important existentialist writers, a 20th century French
philosopher and novelist who received the Nobel Prize for his novels.he says " I am not a
philosopher, because I don’t believe in reason enough to believe in a system. What interests me
is knowing how we must behave, and more precisely, how to behave when one does not believe
in God or reason”. according to him, existence is absurd, as there is no meaning of life. man from
his birth search for the meaning of life and the creation of the universe but get failed and
pessimist as there no meaning and the world is absurd. when there is no meaning, this thinking
gives the feelings anxiety, and the man try to commit suicide, but camus says that its not a genius
option. one should embrece the absurdity, when there is no God, no ponishment, man is free in
his will then why not enjoy the absurdity than to commit suicide.
existentialism has a far reaching influence on art, as one can see its effect in different art
movements of the 20th century as Expressionism, impressionism, cubism etc, and also one can
see its effect on the drama as the plays of Herold Pinter and the other of the absurd theater.