On Existentialism

To my fairly basic understanding of anything, and my views and interpretations, existentialism is the philosophy that one is entirely responsible for deciding one's course in life. It is imperative that one makes one's own decisions because if one doesn't, then they will lose their way. There are several key aspects of Existentialism, all of which are important to the philosophy.

Some of them are:
Existence precedes essence:

• Which means all individuals are born as blank slates so that they are able to make themselves into whatever image or being-thing they wish. It could easily be compared to the tabula rasa theory of John Locke. Jean-Paul Sartre said "man exists [first], encounters himself, then defines himself."

Dread (Angst):

• Using the classic example of one standing on a cliff, it is when one not only fears falling off, which is completely natural, but fears throwing oneself off, the realization that there is nothing holding one back is what defines this dread. (I used angst in a different context in my last post). The realization of one's innate freedom is what defines the dread, the realization that one can do things that are good, and that one can make decisions that are destructive.

Freedom:

• Quickly following (or before) that realization of dread, comes the true recognition of one's freedom and the ability to create oneself in any way possible. With this comes the fact that nothing pertaining to oneself is unchangeable, meaning that one is ultimately responsible for one's actions, as well as one's values. 

Subtopic: Facticity:

• Facticity is the events in one's life that are outside of one's own control (ex: birthplace, weather) and though one's facticity is "set in stone", it doesn't determine a person. It is an influence, yes, but it is not a determinant.

Authenticity:

• One must act as oneself, not as any other entity or essence requires (such as Oneself or one's genes). One must act as oneself and make decisions in accordance with one's freedom (which is indeed limited by one's facticity, but not to the extent where it can affect one's authenticity).

Despair:

• When one loses or suffers a breakdown in one or more of the "pillars" of their existence (an athlete suffering a crippling injury, for instance), this is a feeling of hopelessness. Even if one is not outwardly despairing, it can still be called that because one's "being-thing" (the thing they were striving to make themselves) is compromised, one can end up in a state of despair

The Other and the Gaze:

• The Other, with a capital 'o', is any other free subject who inhabits the same world as a person does. 

"[W]hen one experiences someone else, and this Other person experiences the world (the same world that a person experiences), only from "over there", the world itself is constituted as objective in that it is something that is "there" as identical for both of the subjects; a person experiences the other person as experiencing the same as them. This experience of the Other's look is what is termed the Look (sometimes the Gaze). " -Wikipedia

•  A key feature of the Gaze (or Look) is that no Other need be present.
• For example, if one is stranded on a desert island, and for 5 years one scrapes out a meaningful existence, building and farming and such, one can 'import' someone. One's family, friends whom one knows well, and can 'show' them the island and all the achievements that they have attained. By showing the Other this, one sees oneself through the eyes of the Other, and it gives the view that one needs to maintain their grip on themselves and allows them to maintain their self-view.

The Absurd:

• Nothing has meaning outside of that meaning which one gives to it. There is no meaning in the world unless one assigns some meaning to it. Since there is no such thing as a "good" person or a "bad" thing, "what happens happens", just as likely to a "bad" or "good" person.

Now that I've explained that to my satisfaction (and with some help from Wikipedia), it seems that existentialism is the most vital and sensible way to approach living.

One must make oneself, one cannot be shaped, or they will not be living, and then what will they be?

A point I'd like to make on existentialism: It still allows for spirituality and religion, it says that if you do what you must to become what you strive for, then you are allowed to be anything. Nothing takes on meaning until you assign it meaning, and then its meaning is concrete and definite, at least for oneself, which, in the end, is all that matters.

I wanted to write this description of existentialism to help myself come to terms with all it says and the many aspects of it, and to help me interpret it for myself. Do with this what you will, but I hope it helps in understanding existentialism and its quirks.

-Wolfram पहला प्रजना