Existentialism is the philosophy that places emphasis on individual existence, freedom, and choice. Existentialism stresses the individuality of existence, and the problems that arise with said existence. Because there is so much diversity in the philosophy of existentialism, a concrete definition is hard to put down. Certain themes are common to almost all existential writing, which helps mark the writing as such. The term itself suggests one major theme, the stress on concrete, individual existence, and on subjectivity, individual freedom and choice.
The idea of the highest ehthical good can be found in philosophy since the days of Socrates and Plato. It was generally held that this good was the same for everybody; as a person approached this moral perfection, she/he became morally like the next person approaching this moral perfection. Kierkegaard reacted to this way of thinking by saying that it was up to the individual to find his or her own moral perfection and his or her own way there. "I must find the truth that is the truth for me. . .the idea for which I can live or die" he wrote. Other Existentialists have followed along this way of thinking, one must choose one's own way, make their own individual paths without the aid of univeral ideas or guidance.
Subjectivity is also important to Existentialism. Passionate choices and actions are important. Personal experiance and acting on one's own convictions are essential to arriving at personal truths. A better understanding of a situation is gained when one is in the middle then watching from the sidelines with a detached view. Systematic reasoning and acting is avoided at all costs in Existential thought. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are noted for their random, unsystematic way of exploring their ideas, using many different literary syles to express themselves.
Choice is also very important. One learns from making choices, and commiting to those choices. According to Existentialists, humanity's primary distinction is its freedom to choose. There is no fixed instinct that drives humanity to do what it does. Choice is inescapable, not making choices is choosing to not choose.
Existentialism is an extremely diverse and varied philosophy. Even though it is so varied, there are some themes that can be found throughout it. (1) Existence precedes essence, in other words, you need existence to have essence. There is no predetermined "true" thing, it has to already exist inorder to become what it is. (2) Anxiety and anguish. The fear or dread which is not directed at any specific object, it's just there. Anguish is the dread of the nothingness of human existence, the meaningless of it. According to Kierkegaard, anguish is the underlying, all-pervasive, universal condition of man's existence. (3) Absurdity. "Granted I am my own existence, but this existence is absurd." Everybody is here, everybody exists, but there is no reason as to why. We're just here, that's it, no excuses. (4) Nothingness. There is nothing that structures this world's existence, man's existence, or the existence of my computer. There is no essence that these things are drawn from, since existence preceeds essence, then that means there is nothing. (5) Death. The theme of death follows along with the theme of nothingness. Death is always there, there is no escaping from it. To think of death, as everybody does sooner or later, causes anxiety. The only sure way to end anxiety once and for all is death.
Existentialism allows for a lot of freedom in thinking that, to me, cannot be found in other philosophies. You can come up with your own conclusions, create your own answers.
I don't like the idea of "essence". A piece of wood is a peice of wood, it's not a table or chair until somebody makes it a table or chair. To me it sounds pre-determined, like there is some spiritual me floating around out there somewhere, and I'm going to end up just like that other me, no other way, it will happen and that's it. Life is random, stuff happens for no purpose. You make choices, and those choices effect what happens later on, good or bad.
While reading the book From Socrates To Sartre: The Philosophic Quest, by T.Z. Lavine, I came across a passage that describes why I like the philosophy of Existentialism.
"What then is Existentialism? There exists now a widely accepted definition of existentialism. It is that existentialism is the philosophic standpoint which gives priority to existence over essence. What is meant by this is that existentialism gives priority in signifigance to existence, in the sense of my existence as a conscious subject, rather than to any essence which may be assigned to me, any definition of me, any explination of me by science or philosophy or religion or politics. Existentialism affirms the ulitmate signifigance, the primacy of my existence as this flickering point of consciousness of myself and of objects of which I am aware, my existence as this conscious being against all efforts to define me, to reduce me to a Platonic essence, or to a Cartesian mental substance, or to a Hegelian carrier of the spirit of my culture, or to a scientific neurological mechanism, or to a social security number. Whereas classical and modern rationalism have regarded rational essences or self-evident ideas as having primacy over individual existence. Whereas rationalism claims that the individual existence can be comprehended by the concept or essence or by any conceptual system."
--T.Z. Lavine, From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest, page 328--
Existential Enigmas Existential Primer A Quick Guide to Existentialism The Society for Phenomenoogy and Existential Philosophy The Realm of Existentialism
Guide to Philosophy on the InternetThe Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy