Anti Essays :: Free "Existentialism" Essay
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Submitted by mckaye on May 28, 2008
In general, the term existentialism stands for a philosophical movement that accentuate on personal freedom, existence and choice. Though there are few different philosophical points of view on existentialism the common idea of the movement is that existence precedes essence. Existentialists claim that humans exist and by existing they define themselves and the world around them through their own subjectivity.
Besides the main idea about existence this philosophical movement has created other images and subjects concerning the doctrine. The first one is the so-called �Becoming a being�, which is also known as existential ontology. According to it, �we are what we can become� and our becoming is kind of a process where the present and the past are subordinated to the future. And again future is the key dwelling of our existence because it is the place where we can project ourselves.
The second image that existentialists develop is that of the �nothingness�. Nothingness is the place where possibility is located. It is the understanding for everything out there that is not our own existence. In other words, it is all that we are not and what we possibly might become. Fact is that the very idea of the nothingness cannot be accepted by the human mind. It is denied at once. (1)
�Absurd� takes place when we, in some way, become conscious of the nothingness and ask for an explanation. The image of the �absurd� is a leitmotif in the Sartrean existentialism where we can find absurd sometimes defeated by the absurd itself. (1)
�Ethics� in existentialism is represented by our acts. It is said that our vision of the surrounding world is enough to turn into Truth, as it is based on our facts. The decision about what we are to do with this truth relies completely on our good or bad faith. Our ability to act as if we embody the whole human race actually...
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