1 / 19

An Introduction to Existentialism

An Introduction to Existentialism. Context for Existentialism. Aftermath of World War II Disillusionment, loss in faith “God is dead” No predetermined meaning in life I. Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”. Basic ideas. No predetermined meaning or order in life

tieve
Download Presentation

An Introduction to Existentialism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. An Introduction to Existentialism

  2. Context for Existentialism • Aftermath of World War II • Disillusionment, loss in faith • “God is dead” • No predetermined meaning in life I

  3. Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”

  4. Basic ideas • No predetermined meaning or order in life • Individuals construct their own value systems • We create our own meaning • Individual responsibility to create meaning generates: Anxiety, despair, hopeless, nihilism

  5. Christian (Kierkegaard) Individuals find true freedom from conflict and despair in God Atheistic (Sartre) Individuals “make themselves” through free will Requires “engagement” Political struggle Two Camps of Existentialists

  6. Sartre’s Existentialism • Alienation of individuals • Loneliness, uncertainty • Meaninglessness of universe • Man’s struggle to create meaning • “Nothing can be good for us without being good for all.”-Sartre

  7. Vocabularyfor Existential Discussion

  8. Ennui • No point in doing anything • All things turn out the same • Extreme boredom

  9. Ennui (A creative response to The Great Gatsby by Sylvia Plath) Tea leaves thwart those who court catastrophe, designing futures where nothing will occur: cross the gypsy’s palm and yawning she will still predict no perils left to conquer. Jeopardy is jejune now: naïve knight finds ogres out-of-date and dragons unheard of, while blasé princesses indict tilts at terror as downright absurd. The beast in Jamesian grove will never jump, compelling hero’s dull career to crisis; and when insouciant angels play God’s trump, while bored arena crowds for once look eager, hoping toward havoc, neither pleas nor prizes shall coax from doom’s blank door lady or tiger.  

  10. The Abyss • On “edge” emotionally and psychologically • fathomlessness

  11. Black Witch • German metaphor for meaninglessness • Haunted feeling • Dark, bleak, hopeless

  12. The Absurd • efforts to find meaning in universe will ultimately fail • no meaning exists

  13. Absurdist works depict individuals as isolate and alone in a bewildering universe…

  14. “Human need for meaning” vs. “Unreasonable silence of the world” -- Camus, from “The Myth of Sisyphus” Ron Massey’s “Sentinels of the Absurd”

  15. According to Neitzsche(who opposed the philosophy), nihilism… • Rejects the real world and physical existence • Results in apathy toward life and poisoning of the human soul • Validates "the will to nothingness.”

  16. Angst • Emotional strife • Unfulfilled longing • Insecurity, despair • Kurt Kobain

  17. Moving into Camus’s The Stranger • Vocabulary to characterize Mersualt’s behavior?

More Related