There Are a Variety of Existential Believers and Beliefs

Existentialism Notes

 There are a variety of existential believers and beliefs.  Godly existentialists: believe God exists, but people are alienated from Him.  Ungodly existentialists: do not believe God exists.  Why did World War II increase the feeling of existentialism in some people?  Six major points of existentialism: 1. existence before essence:  People are born like a blank slate and create their essence, or being, through their  unique experiences. 2. reason is impotent to deal with the depths of human life:  Human reason is not that strong. Reason can’t be used to overcome all of the problems in life. Feelings and experience are as important as reason, and nothing can be reasoned away. Man must be taken in his wholeness. The emphasis of existentialism is not on the idea but on the thinker who has the idea. 3. alienation or estrangement:  Man is alienated from: 1. God 2. Nature-alienation is created by technology 3. society/other men-allows for man’s inhumanity to man 4. his own true self 4. fear and trembling, anxiety:  Man’s alienation leaves him in fear.  The greatest fear is of not creating essence. Death/the atom bomb would cause the end of an essence.  Man’s necessity to make his own moral choices on his own responsibility causes anguish. “The anguish of Abraham.” 5. the encounter with nothingness:  Alienation from God, nature, himself, and society leads to the encounter with nothingness.  Man is working to keep from falling into the pit of nothingness- not to try to reach paradise. 6. freedom:  Man is condemned to freedom. Ungodly:  “Because there is no God to give purpose to the universe, each man must accept individual responsibility for his own becoming.” (177)  Even worse, 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. Godly:  Man is alienated from his God-like self, and the problem of his life is trying to close that gap or find salvation.  Freedom involves accepting the responsibility for choice and committing to the choice.  Time is different for the existentialist. Routine Flexible Yet the same-unique to the person and the moment

Because of the existentialists’ need to continue to create their essence, their fear about decisions because of the great responsibility for every human being-when faced with a decision, a good existentialist acts in as good a manner as possible for the good of the most people; meanwhile, the godly existentialists do what they think God would want them to do.

 Existentialists never give up!