Questions tagged [existentialism]

A loose title covering : the individual, the experience of choice, and the absence of rational understanding of the universe with a consequent dread or sense of absurdity in human life.

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'Meaning of life' as per Viktor Frankl's Man's search for Meaning

I recently read 'Man's search for Meaning' by Viktor Frankl. It was a very moving book and in it the author describes three ways in which a man may find meaning in his life. 1.Through some creative ...
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Are old philosophical texts worth reading for ordinary individuals?

There is no doubt that the past philosophical texts have provided very useful ideas and have contributed significantly to society. However, because these books have been around for some time a lot of ...
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Is Camus 'Outsider' an argument for, or a critique of existentialism?

I've read Camus 'Outsider' twice. And have seen it acted out in the theatre. I do not think I understand it, though I can admire Camus prose style. Its often taken as canonical in existentialist ...
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Who are some philosophers who explore the possibility/impossibility of the intimacy of understanding others?

Can one ever be understood? When people say “yeah, I feel you” do they really? Is language enough of an outlet to transmit feelings with enough exactitude?
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Does Søren Kierkegaard want people to never change?

I am currently reading a book called The Psychology Book ..the first chapters are talking about how psychology evolved from philosophy and they talked about Kierkegaard in a chapter called " Be that ...
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What is the difference between existentialism, nihilism and absurdism?

I do not have any formal training in these subjects or any of philosophy, for that matter. So, forgive me for my naive question. As I understand it, all of these take the view that "existence ...
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Refuting nihilism - why pursue happiness if it can be stripped from us by accidental events at any time?

I was encouraged to start a new question thread pertaining to a question that sprung out from this one. According to one of the users's answers: The delusion of the joys of life that had ...
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The reality of self [closed]

A person is perceived and judged by their actions. Frequently the intention or motive of a person's actions can be misunderstood or misinterpreted for a variety of factors. A few possible factors ...
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How does Stoicism relate to Existentialism?

I was wondering about the relation or influence that Stoicism had on Existentialism and Existentialist thinkers, such as Camus, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Sartre. In any of their works do they ...
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What are the Main Objections to Being and Nothingness?

I am currently in the process of reading Being and Nothingness. In the interest of getting through it, I have not been fully challenging Sartre's theory as I go along. Can someone point to the main ...
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Transcendental ego

I am reading Sartre's Transcendence of the ego and was wondering if someone could explain to me what is concretely different between Husserl's Transcendent ego and Sartre's. When I raised this ...
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To what extent can one admit that language is an adequate outlet for explicit feelings and experiencings?

If I am sharing my thoughts and another person goes “oh, that’s relatable,” or “yeah, I totally get it,” and other variations like “I feel you on that one!” Do they, really? Is language ever enough, ...
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If life is absurd, is immortality desirable?

If life lacks any meaning and we react in the way Camus wants us to then we can focus on other things and personal human projects. Does this mean that immortality becomes desirable?
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Can Something Exist in Nothing (Outside the bounds of our Universe)?

I have always been intrigued by cosmology and the idea that there is a possibility that absolutely nothing exists beyond our universe. Now I know that there are many theories regarding the universe (...
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Where exactly does the value of an individual human lie?

I mean to ask where the value of a human lies, not within the context of the universe but within the room of humanity. What exactly makes a human important? And, is it always something she puts out ...
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Is "Why do we live?" a philosophical question?

After posting a question akin to "Why do we live?" in the r/AskPhilosophy subreddit its moderators got it removed, providing as motivation "All questions must be about philosophy". ...
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How is it possible to be thankful for what you have?

Question: How can one be thankful for what he has? Details: Many religions, philosophies and self-development lectures advocate people to become grateful for what they already have so that they can ...
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The phenomenon of Négatité

I am a novice to JP Sartre's philosophy of existentialism and I came across the notion that in Being and Nothingness,The Origin of Negation where he claims that "nothingness is at the origin of ...
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What are the "crimes of passion and crimes of logic"?

There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined. Albert Camus What does Albert Camus mean by "crimes of passion and crimes of logic" in his ...
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Arendt on Factual Truth in "Truth and Politics"

I'm reading Hannah Arendt's "Truth and Politics" (1967). I thought I was getting it, but then I read two statements that to me, seem to be in conflict with one another: "Factual truth, on the ...
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In what ways are Kierkegaard and Hegel similar?

It is well known that Kierkegaard's philosophy is, in large part, a response to or critique of Hegel's philosophy. How, then, are they similar? Is there any way to reconcile their differences, or to ...
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What is existence for existentialists?

As my current work leaded me to analyse existence from the systemic point of view, I've decided it's time to read Sartre and about existentialism, which I've long time postponed. So I've started with ...
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Does existentialism rule out the existence of a rational world?

I have no grounding in philosophy, but I have just this minute been reading a few articles about existentialism. I was confused by its apparent rejection of rationalism. I understand that this ...
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Sartrian Freedom Compatible with Determinism?

In Being and Nothingness, Sartre talks about how humans are "condemned to be free". But I was wondering if, because Sartre's philosophy is phenomenological ontology, what this really amounts to is ...
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Is throwness personal?

As Dasein, I ineluctably find myself in a world that matters to me in some way or another. This is what Heidegger calls thrownness (Geworfenheit), a having-been-thrown into the world. https://plato....
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Does an Absurdist try to create his/her own meanings?

I was reading about Existentialism in Wikipedia and in The Absurd section there are two sentences that seem conflicting to me. First we have: The notion of the absurd contains the idea that there is ...
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What does de Silentio ( Kierkegaard) object to calling it a "trial" in Fear and Trembling

I'm currently going through Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling and, in particular, there is a passage at the end of Preliminary Expectations that discusses why it is wrong to call the binding of isaac ...
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From which work of Jean-Paul Sartre did he write “Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.”?

In which work did Jean-Paul Sartre write this quote?
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Criticisms on Absurdism

Camus' idea to keep the absurd alive by accepting our innate desire for meaning and even pursuing and yet not giving into hope of ever reaching a meaning to life, what he calls the revolt against the ...
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Existential authenticity (especially in Sartre) - being frustrated

I suppose that the two things that first spring to mind about Sartre's "authenticity" is Existence precedes essence (a kind of responsibility for what we make of ourselves) Inauthenticity is ...
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Sartre and Existentialism

Can we cultivate ethics or morals from Sartre's existentialist perspective? What does he mean by a world where not only God does not exist but “Man” too? Is it a different world than Nietzsche's ...
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Existentialism in relation to Roberto Unger's Beyond Nihilism

Roberto Mangabeira Unger's series of talks Beyond Nihilism sorts historical religions and other -isms (democracy, liberalism, socialism, romantizism etc.) eloquently into three orientations, namely ...
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Heidegger's "Dasein" vs. Sartre's "Being for itself"

I must admit, I am relatively new to existentialist philosophy. But I couldn't help notice the similarities between Heidegger's "Dasein" and Satre's "Being-for-itself". I was ...
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How does Martin Heidegger want us to react to anxiety?

Introduction: After the world of das Man loses its significance and becomes meaningless, one falls in anxiety and he's able to embrace other possibilities. But this anxiety is converted automatically ...
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How can I answer to the question: who am I?

Almost always when we try to answer to the question "Who am I?", we say about what we do or what we like, but how should we answering this question? If you can recommend me books or papers to at least ...
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Does philosophy ask "why am I here" to help us understand how we got here?

Does philosophy ask "why am I here" in the sense of helping us understand how we got here? Specifically, will philosophy help (I'm sure they won't answer it directly!) me understand why it is that I ...
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Does Nietzsche say, and mean, that all life is unavoidably tragic?

Does Nietzsche say, and mean, that all life is unavoidably tragic? All I know, right now, is that he had a book The Birth of Tragedy, about theater I think. And, I think, that all life is a struggle ...
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Absurdists/Nihilists/Existentialists take on as to why there is no intrinsic meaning to life

So, I just got into absurdism (formally-as a "branch" in philosophy, though I had been thinking in similar terms for a longer period now), and currently am reading "The Myth of Sysiphus" by Albert ...
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How does master morality damage the herd?

Does Nietzsche ever suggest that "master morality" is irrevocably damaging to the herd, that it can seduce them? And in what sense would that matter, either for the herd, the individual beast, or ...
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Sartre's use of the word "Transcendence" and its meaning

I have been looking into some resources explaining Husserl's idea of transcendence and they point out that Sartre's idea of transcendence is based on Husserl's. Here are the different aspects/ideas of ...
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Does Sartre deny the existence of an excuse?

In L'Existentialisme he writes extensively how since we are born free, condemned to be so in fact, we are only shaped by the actions and choices that we make. With this isolation, does he destroy the ...
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Did Heidegger claim that his "inauthenticity" was to some extent unavoidable for the individual?

Did Heidegger claim that his "inauthenticity" was to some extent unavoidable for the individual? I think I know that Sartre's bad faith was a necessary feature of overcoming it. Is the ...
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What is Camus' criticism of Husserl's phenomology and of Kierkegaard's thought?

I have not been able to grasp these concepts. Specifically, I am referring to the third chapter of the Myth of Sisyphus: "The philosophical suicide". I have understood that Camus's critic on ...
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Can you choose the things you want?

As a person who is not well-versed in philosophy at all, I have no idea how to phrase this properly. But basically, we all want things. I want to read that book, you want to become (e.g.) an engineer, ...
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How to deal with nihilist approaches to live a productive life? [closed]

Right off the bat, I'm a high school science student with no academic background in philosophy, other than mere personal interest. I've read meditations (like everyone else), general articles and have ...
Saumya Chaturvedi's user avatar
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Is the existential "why" a question for philosophy or is it left to theology?

Please pardon me if this question does not make sense. My training is in history not philosophy - although philosophy has always been a passing interest. Are there philosophies/philosophers that/who ...
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Do Kierkegaard and Nietzsche have similar ideas about being and becoming?

I have not read much of Kierkegaard's philosophy, but this quote comes in mind when comparing his philosophy to Nietzsche's in terms of being and becoming: “To be human, is not a fact, but a task.” ...
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Why do we exist?

I have on several occasions, now-a-days often, thought about the purpose of our existence. It's frustrating. We are born and then proceed to die after some time performing actions that don't have any ...
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Is There a World That Exactly Mimics Our Own?

If parallel universes do indeed exist and if we are just viewing one tiny part of reality, is it possible that in an alternate universe there would appear an exact replica of our world? Note: I ...
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Is existentialism philosophy?

I believe that philosophy is defined by its method, which is based on logical analysis. It is not merely any discipline that investigates the world's conditions and the meaning of life. To be a ...
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