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Philosophies of Existence ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: EXISTENTIALISM Volume 6 PHILOSOPHIES OF EXISTENCE PHILOSOPHIES OF EXISTENCE An Introduction to the Basic Thought of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, Sartre JEAN WAHL I~~~o~:~!n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published as Les philosophies de l’existence This edition first published in 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1959 Jean Wahl by Librairie Armand Colin, Paris English edition first published in 1969 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd © 1969 F.M. Lory All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-138-38771-3 (Set) ISBN: 978-0-429-02432-0 (Set) (ebk) ISBN: 978-0-367-13828-8 (Volume 6) (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-02887-8 (Volume 6) (ebk) Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. Philosophies of Existence An Introduction to the Basic Thought of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, Sartre by JEAN WAHL translated from the French by F. M. LORY LONDON ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL First published as Les Philosophies de L'Existence ©Jean Wahl I959 by Librairie Armand Colin, Paris English Edition first published z969 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane London E.C,4 Typography by Keith Kneebone Printed in Great Britain by C. Tinling & Co. Ltd., Liverpool © F. M. Lory z969 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism SBN 7zoo 6229 X Contents FOREWORD vii Part One CHAPTER I Generalities 3 CHAPTER II The Traditions leading to the Philosophies of Existence 7 CHAPTER III The Traditions to which the Philosophies of Existence are opposed 12 CHAPTER IV General Evolution of the Philosophies of Exist- ence . I9 Part Two The Categories of the Philosophies of Existence CHAPTER I The First Triad: Existence - Being - Transcen- dence . 29 CHAPTER II The Second Triad: Possibility and Project - Origin-Now, Situation, Instant 50 CHAPTER III The Third Triad: Choice and Freedom - Nothingness and Dread - Authenticity 57 CHAPTER IV The Unique - The Other - Communication 76 CHAPTER v Truth-Subjectivity-Truth-Being-Multiplicity of Truths 83 CHAPTER VI Paradox - Tension - Ambiguity 87 CHAPTER VII Comprehensive View 89 V Contents CHAPTER VIII The Ultimate Problems of the Philosophies of Existence. Respective Value of Their Various Features 94 APPENDIX A Note on Dread . II l BIBLIOGRAPHY I 19 INDEX 121 vi Foreword THE philosophies of existence are no doubt of very ancient origin. They go back to Socrates, refusing to separate his thought from his life, Plato, refusing to separate Socrates' death from his thought, the prophets, answering the call of God, Job, calling out to God­ not to mention all the philosophers whose thought and existence have been intimately united: Nietzsche, for example, or William James, Lequier, Maine de Biran, or Amiel-even Hegel or Renouvier. But the fact remains that it was only in the XIXth century that certain philosophies began calling themselves 'philo­ sophies of existence', wishing thereby to distinguish themselves from other philosophies, if not in their origin, at least in their structure and approach. It is with that structure, it is with the categories of the philo­ sophy of existence that we are concerned in this book. We have attempted to show their basic articulations, their essential mo­ ments. It is hoped that a study of these categories-in spite of the dryness at times of their nomenclature-will lead the reader to reflect on his own existence. It is hoped, too, that he will see in these philosophies neither something totally new nor the restate­ ment of old ideas, but primarily a call to his own subjectivity and perhaps the transition towards a new mode of thought that will combine sharpened subjectivity with a deep sense of communion with others and with the world. vii Part One I Generalities IN approaching the philosophies of existence1 we are faced with a certain number of difficulties. The first arises from the extreme diversity of the various philosophical positions designated by that name. The philosophy of existence springs from the essentially religious meditations of Kierkegaard. And today when this 1 We prefer the name, philosophy of existence, to the name, existentialism, for the reason that several of the most important philosophers that we shall discuss -Heidegger and Jaspers in particular-refuse to be called existentialists. Heidegger in several lectures has spoken out against a doctrine he calls existentialism, and Jaspers has said that existentialism is the death of the philo­ sophy of existence. They have done so because in existentialism they see a doctrine and they are wary of rounded doctrines. On the other hand, there are philosophers-Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Simone de Beauvoir-who accept the title of existentialist. Gabriel Marcel also happens to accept occasionally the name of Christian existentialist, and Messrs. Lavelle and Le Senne do not reject the word 'existentialism'. But if we wish to refer to this philosophy as a whole, the term 'philosophy of existence' is more appropriate. Yet even that term is not wholly satisfactory, for Heidegger would no more be called a philosopher of existence than he would an existentialist. For him the philosophy of existence is mainly the philosophy of Jaspers. As for himself, he believes that the basic problem in philosophy-the one and only problem-is that of Being. And if in Sein und Zeit he has taken up the question of existence, it is because he believes that the approach to Being is by way of an inquiry into our own existence. Being, then, is the essential object of all philosophical investigation for Heidegger, and he has sought to be not a philosopher of existence, but a philosopher of Being. Thus we ought to speak of Heidegger neither as an existentialist nor as a philosopher of existence. For other reasons Kierkegaard, who is the father of all these philosophies, would decline the name of philosopher of existence: he would object not to the word 'existence' but to the word 'philosopher'. He is not a philosopher, he would say; he is a religious man and has no philosophy to call 'philosophy of existence' or to oppose to other philosophies. 3 Philosophiesof Existence philosophy is mentioned people usually think of Sartre-a non­ religious and even at times an anti-religious philosopher. One of Sartre's essays is called Existentialismis a Humanism. Heidegger, on the other hand, has written a letter, Letter to Beauffret, in which he attacks the idea of humanism. And Kierke­ gaard was certainly not a humanist. Here then, we have two examples of conflict on matters of fundamental importance between the doctrines of some of the so-called philosophers of existence. The same could be said of the ideas of inwardness and secrecy. If the philosophy of Hegel is not satisfactory to Kierkegaard it is largely because Hegel ignores the element of absolute inwardness, the fact that we cannot externalize ourselves completely. And we shall have the occasion to say that the whole philosophy of existence stems from the reflections of Kierkegaard on the events of his private life, on his engagement, for example, or on the impossi­ bility of communicating with his fiancee. But when we come to read Sartre, we are told the contrary: a man is the sum total of his acts; there is no secret inner life. On this point it is the influence of Hegel, Kierkegaard's chosen enemy, that is dominant in Sartre's thought. Bei:ngand Nothingnessends with a condemnation of what Sartre calls the spirit of seriousness. Kierkegaard, on the other hand, tells us that the category of seriousness is one of the most basic existential categories. Thus, there are not only diversities but very grave conflicts between the so-called philosophers of existence. Can we, in the light of all these divergencies, still maintain that there really is a body of doctrines which could be called the philosophy of existence? Let us rather speak of an atmosphere, a climate that pervades all of them. The proof that there is such a thing as the philosophy of existence is that· we can legitimately apply the term to certain philosophies and not to others. Therefore, there must be some­ thing that is common to these philosophies. That something we shall try to pursue without perhaps ever attaining it. A second difficulty arises if we stop to consider the fact that we are trying to find the essence of the philosophy of existence which is a philosophy that rejects the idea of essence. But, as we shall see, the philosophers of existence, and in particular Heidegger, if, as we believe, he is to be classed among them, do not reject the idea of essence.
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