What Is Existentialism? (1 Viewer)

[yennie B]

can someone explain to me what it is???

i've looked at sites and they've provided long long definitions...


just bluntly what it is and how it relates to the film 'THE HOURS'?


or just tell em what it is.... in the context of THEATRE OF ABSURD--, i get it. but if you ask me what is existentialist, i'll start mumbling..


thanks lads!

 

[stillwaters]

well my understanding of it is its the study of existence- how we should live, why we're living/ here, what's the point?
i could be miles miles off but it arose i nthe immediate years after the two world wars with the horros and carnage of the war, the holocaust- how can humans be so great if we;re able to kill each other without compunction? hence ppl start asking questions, questioning the point of human existence and beliefs surrounding our existence such as religious ideology.
to the hours? i dont know... i have not yet seen it... what module/ elective are you doing anyway?
i hope that helps...
maybe you should ask your teacher?
and right now im having an existential crisis because i have two assessments due next week... a 1745 word essay for english ext i havent started on frickin monday and an inclass for english on wednesday that i have to prepare...
i know iknow... i just gotta work.

 

[brigittaclare]

hey this is a really good question
and that girl is wrong^^^
well not 100% wrong, the idea of the holocaust has a lot to do with it.

i'll get back to you in about 20 minutes while i find my notes
=)

 

[brigittaclare]

ok. existentialism is the ideology that arose during the 20th century that infers that the life of an individual is completely purposeless and meaningless, and anything that we want done about this has to be done by OURSELVES.
without religion [existentialists are commonly associated with atheism] a person is not born with something BIG to do in life, and there are just so many people in the world that if you don't do anything, nothing really happens, and you are simply WAITING AROUND TO DIE, to put it crudely.
this view of the world arose in the beginning of the 20th century [or late 19th] with the 'discoveries' made by Charles Darwin concerning natural selection and the theory of evolution. this was a massive kick in the guts to the religious world, who believed that humans came from adam and eve. events throughout the rest of the 20th century emphasised the insignificance of human life even further, with the holocaust, and the bombing of hiroshima, etc.

i have not STUDIED the hours, but i have seen it, and i know that virginia woolfe lived during this era of realisation [not sure if its actually called the era of realisation, it just suits the idea i'm putting across], and that the reason for her suicide was justified on the hoplessness she felt due to the existentialist nature of this new world
(and particularly the events of the holocaust)
yeh i watched the extras on the DVD, its really interesting. did you like it?
i hope that kinda explains it for ya, i dunno if i'm being too vague.

 

[D.Buff]

Do you study Ros and Guil?
It might help to look in the transformation fact threads for theatre of the absurd and existentialism.

 

[brigittaclare]

Do you study Ros and Guil?
It might help to look in the transformation fact threads for theatre of the absurd and existentialism.

i studied ros and guil

but you aren't talking to me are you
lol

 

[D.Buff]

i studied ros and guil

but you aren't talking to me are you
lol

No.
But Ros and Guil is a pretty awesome text.

 

[brigittaclare]

No.
But Ros and Guil is a pretty awesome text.

haha yes

i liked it very much, stoppard is clever

 

[yennie B]

ok. existentialism is the ideology that arose during the 20th century that infers that the life of an individual is completely purposeless and meaningless, and anything that we want done about this has to be done by OURSELVES.
without religion [existentialists are commonly associated with atheism] a person is not born with something BIG to do in life, and there are just so many people in the world that if you don't do anything, nothing really happens, and you are simply WAITING AROUND TO DIE, to put it crudely.
this view of the world arose in the beginning of the 20th century [or late 19th] with the 'discoveries' made by Charles Darwin concerning natural selection and the theory of evolution. this was a massive kick in the guts to the religious world, who believed that humans came from adam and eve. events throughout the rest of the 20th century emphasised the insignificance of human life even further, with the holocaust, and the bombing of hiroshima, etc.

i have not STUDIED the hours, but i have seen it, and i know that virginia woolfe lived during this era of realisation [not sure if its actually called the era of realisation, it just suits the idea i'm putting across], and that the reason for her suicide was justified on the hoplessness she felt due to the existentialist nature of this new world
(and particularly the events of the holocaust)
yeh i watched the extras on the DVD, its really interesting. did you like it?
i hope that kinda explains it for ya, i dunno if i'm being too vague.

thanks alot dear.

your explanation has kind of clarified a few splotches of this notion in my mind.

i've use your explanation and applied it to philosophical BULk on existentialism but when i found this---- i began to have my doubts again

'EXISTIENCE IS MORE IMPORTANCE THAN ESSENCE'???

and The Hours is one of my favourite movies. lol. i still haven't figured it out.. i've been reading her essays and novels -- Mrs Dalloway. The most interesting yet BORING book ever.

 

[yennie B]

c'mon fellow borders help this kid out

 

[yennie B]

helllo

 

[veloc1ty]

ok. existentialism is the ideology that arose during the 20th century that infers that the life of an individual is completely purposeless and meaningless, and anything that we want done about this has to be done by OURSELVES.

It's not that life is purposeless and meaningless, it's that individuals create meaning for themselves rather than depending on pre-existing social structures, such as religion. However there can be theistic existentialists too, basically they think god created humans to create their own meaning rather than just giving it to them in religious doctrine.

this view of the world arose in the beginning of the 20th century [or late 19th] with the 'discoveries' made by Charles Darwin concerning natural selection and the theory of evolution.

No it didn't. It was around earlier than that, and I don't think Darwin had too much of an impact on it.

 

[ccc123]

It's not that life is purposeless and meaningless, it's that individuals create meaning for themselves rather than depending on pre-existing social structures, such as religion. However there can be theistic existentialists too, basically they think god created humans to create their own meaning rather than just giving it to them in religious doctrine..

True. I think the whole notion of futility/meaninglessness is more nihlism.

 

[Rickmurray]

True. I think the whole notion of futility/meaninglessness is more nihlism.

Nihlism? I'd say more Khenotrialism.

 

[jakus]

thanks alot dear.

your explanation has kind of clarified a few splotches of this notion in my mind.

i've use your explanation and applied it to philosophical BULk on existentialism but when i found this---- i began to have my doubts again

'EXISTIENCE IS MORE IMPORTANCE THAN ESSENCE'???

and The Hours is one of my favourite movies. lol. i still haven't figured it out.. i've been reading her essays and novels -- Mrs Dalloway. The most interesting yet BORING book ever.

'EXISTIENCE IS MORE IMPORTANCE THAN ESSENCE'???

This is also phrased as "existence is before essence".
This is the existential notion that meaning is not intrinsically linked to anything or does not come from established social structure (e.g. religion), but rather humanity give meaning to their lives, objects, etc.
A book I read by Satre used an example of a cupboard to explain this. If you consider the wood used to make a cupboard, it exists purely as wood before it is shaped into a cupboard and given essence (meaning).