Thursday, October 14, 2010
Five Themes of Existentialism
I think the five basic themes of existentialism are essential to understanding the foundations of the philosophy. Discussing point three of "humanism" specifically interested me. This is one of the first points in which man is the center of focus. The study of the individual is supported by the other theme that existence precedes essence, such that our essence or who we are, is constructed by our choices. Although the individual is highlighted, existentialism, when put into practice, often involves other humans and their own choices. I believe that our essences are somewhat dependent on the shaping of others' essences.
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As somewhat of a tangent to Satre's Existentialism, I researched a bit into the agrégation exam that was taken by Simone de Beauvoir. The exam is taken for a secondary education, leading to a position of professeur agrégé. The exam is made of a written part (admissibility) where most candidates are eliminated, followed by an oral part (admission) in which the test takers must show their ability to give lessons on any topic within the scope of his or her study.
I, too, found it interesting how humanism is one of the five primary themes of existentialism. It is especially fascinating to recall that humanism is also one of the primary ideals of Hellenic culture and art. This connection between a modern philosophy and Ancient Greek art reveals the interrelation of history.
Sartre wrote a lecture explaining his ideas of existentialism and it is titled "Existentialism is a Humanism." Clearly, humanism was one of the most important traits of existentialism. I read this lecture a while ago and revisited it when we started Sartre. He begins by explaining people's arguments against his philosophy and then negates them. He does a really good job of explaining his thoughts and it makes existentialism easy to understand. I recommend everyone read it; it's pretty sick.
I find there to be a somewhat "gray area" in existentialism when discussing humanism. Like Chloe previously stated, the individual is considered the center of this philosophy and is identified based on their own choices. However, there's also the idea that individual choices can be influenced/dependent on the decisions of others. These semi-contradicting ideas can be seen in the example of Garcin cheating on his wife. He made an individual choice to commit adultery; however, this contributed to the misery of his wife and therefore affected her actions. It seems like one cannot go through life without being affected by other people's actions and circumstances.
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