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Introduction To Existentialism: Literature and Philosophy

This document provides an introduction to existentialism through a discussion of its key philosophers and concepts. It notes that existentialism deals with theological, ontological, and epistemological issues and questions like what is the meaning of life. The document outlines some of the major tenets of existentialism like the belief that existence precedes essence, that life has no inherent meaning or purpose, and that people are alone and isolated in the universe. It also summarizes the works and ideas of major existentialist philosophers like Sartre, Camus, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.

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158 views

Introduction To Existentialism: Literature and Philosophy

This document provides an introduction to existentialism through a discussion of its key philosophers and concepts. It notes that existentialism deals with theological, ontological, and epistemological issues and questions like what is the meaning of life. The document outlines some of the major tenets of existentialism like the belief that existence precedes essence, that life has no inherent meaning or purpose, and that people are alone and isolated in the universe. It also summarizes the works and ideas of major existentialist philosophers like Sartre, Camus, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.

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Fitz Baniqued
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Introduction to

Existentialism
Literature and Philosophy
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
WARNING:
EXISTENTIALISM DEALS WITH INTENSE THEOLOGICAL (“RELIGIOUS
STUDY”) AND ONTOLOGICAL (“STUDY OF BEING”) AS WELL AS
EPISTEMOLOGICAL (“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 WEE BIT DEPRESSING IT TENDS TO


PROJECT A “LIFE-IS-MEANINGLESS, GLASS-HALF-EMPTY” SORT OF
VIEW ON THINGS.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LOVE IT YOU JUST HAVE TO UNDERSTAND


IT.
The Problem of Meaning
Humans crave meaning
A universe that makes sense
Create stories to make sense out of the
universe; but when the universe doesn’t
cooperate you feel like a stranger in the world
A complex
philosophy
emphasizing the
existence of the
human being, the
lack of meaning
and purpose in
life, and the
solitude of
ANDREW human
WYETH
existence…
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
GEORGIO DE CHIRICO
1940s…
Love Song
Two Different Types of Existentialists
Godly (Kierkegaard; Marcel and 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 himself, he chooses for all men “the image of man
as he ought to be.” He has to make good choices that others could
follow
Big Ideas of Existentialism

Despite encompassing a
huge range of
philosophical, religious,
and political ideologies,
the underlying concepts
MARK ROTHKO
of existentialism are
Untitled (1968)
simple…
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.
Tenant 1: 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.
#2: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)
#3: Nothingness and Death
• Death hangs over all of us. Our awareness of
it can bring 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.” –Jean-
Paul Sartre
#4: 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)
#5: 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 and Heidegger
Some Famous
Existentialists
• Søren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855)
• Friedrich Nietzsche
(1844-1900)
• Jean-Paul Sartre “A woman is not
(1905-1980) born…she is
created.”
• Albert Camus
de Beauvoir’s most famous text
(1913-1960) 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


Moslem 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 1940’s 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
(who did not sail the ocean blue)
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 “zero-
degree” 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. Camus respects the
The reader must decide if Christianity even uses many
Christian symbols in his
the character is legally writing, but he maintains
innocent of the murder Pagan world views.
he is charged with or if
he is technically guilty? “I continue to believe that
It is the struggle between this world has no
universal guilt (original supernatural meaning . . .
sin) and universal But I know that
innocence (pagan something in this world
primitivism)
has meaning – man.”
Individual vs.
History and Mass Culture
Modern life has an
alienating and
dehumanizing effect of
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 Death
Penalty
This, for Camus, is Camus opposes
the fundamental the death penalty
issue for moral in all of his
philosophy as it writings. He
represents the considered it “the
only possible most
response to the premeditated of
Absurd. In the murders”
end, the morally because it
valid response is causes the victim
to continue living. 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 themselves
totally to that doctrine, he was
unwilling to do this.

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