Before you thought about who you were, were you you? Existentialism “I think, therefore, I am.” -Rene Descartes “Good intentions pave the road to hell.” -random fortune cookie Before you thought about who you were, were you you?

Basic Premise A complex philosophy emphasizing the absurdity of reality and the human responsibility to make choices and accept consequences. Absurdity of reality: humans exist in a meaningless, irrational universe and any search for order will bring them into direct conflict with this universe. The belief in nothing can explain or rationalize human existence. There is no answer to “Why am I?” Human responsibility: Emphasis on the existence of the human being, the lack of meaning and purpose in life, and the solitude of human existence…“Existence precedes essence” implies that the human being has no essence (no essential self).

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

Particulars Values subjectivity over objectivity. Subjectivity: the property of perceptions, arguments, and language as being based in a subject's point of view, and hence influenced in accordance with a particular bias. Objectivity: based in a separate, distant, and unbiased point of view, such that concepts discussed are treated as objects. A scientist and a spiritual man have one thing in common: each seeks to understand an objective truth in the world.

Particulars Existentialism emphasizes action, freedom, and decision as fundamental to human existence and is fundamentally opposed to the rationalist tradition and to positivism. Existentialism can be atheistic, theistic, or agnostic. A reversal of Aristotelian “essence precedes existence” to “existence precedes essence. the essence or nature of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence

Particulars The human situation for the Existentialist is thus characterized by: Facticity (that which resists explanation and interpretation): We find ourselves existing in a world not of our own making and indifferent to our concerns. We are not the source of our existence, but find ourselves thrown into a world we don't control and didn't choose. Anxiety: We are faced with the lack of any external source of value and determination. We are faced with the responsibility of choosing our own nature and values, and, in doing so, we are faced we must face the awesome responsibility of choosing human nature and values for all men in our free choices. Despair: In seeing the contrast between the world we re thrown into and which we cannot control and the absolute freedom we have to create ourselves, we must despair of any hope of external value or determination and restrict ourselves to what is under our own control.

Final Thoughts Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche were two of the first philosophers considered fundamental to the existentialist movement, though neither used the term "existentialism" and it is unclear whether they would have supported the existentialism of the 20th century. They focused on subjective human experience rather than the objective truths of mathematics and science, which they believed were too detached or observational to truly get at the human experience. they were interested in people's quiet struggle with the apparent meaninglessness of life and the use of diversion to escape from boredom. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche also considered the role of making free choices, particularly regarding fundamental values and beliefs, and how such choices change the nature and identity of the chooser.