Existential Philosophy - Origin and Principles

Many philosophical schools appeared in the past that had a significant impact on our lives, and one of the most important and famous of these schools is existential philosophy, which flourished in Europe in the twentieth century. Continue reading the article to learn more about the nature of existential philosophy, its principles, ideas, and trends.

Defining existential philosophy

Existential philosophy is a philosophical movement that has taken man as its subject, emphasizing the freedom of the individual and his ability to make reliable and meaningful choices for himself, the most important pioneers of which are Søren Kierkegaard and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in the nineteenth century, as well as Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus in the twentieth century.

Among its other definitions is that it is a modern philosophical movement that emphasizes the importance of personal experience and responsibility for the individual who is seen as a human being with completely free will in a meaningless deterministic universe. Existential philosophy opposes in its beliefs rational philosophy and empirical philosophy.

The genesis of existentialism

Existentialism emerged after World War I and became very influential after World War II, as society prevailed after the two world wars with a deep sense of despair and frustration due to the horrific events that occurred during them.

These events led to the suffering of the human soul, uncertainty about human existence, a feeling of anxiety and depression, as well as doubt in the existence of God, as man believed at the time that God no longer existed, or perhaps he did not exist in the first place due to the presence of man in such a chaotic world, as he realized that all the philosophies that have emerged as the rationalist philosophy that emphasizes the importance of reason is incapable of helping man to get out of his hindrances.

Therefore, existentialism focused on the issue of human existence and understanding its essence, and that man has the full will to make his rational decisions in an irrational world. This idea made man resort to exploring new values and meanings in life, and since his belief that there is no God, the only way to confront life is to try understanding human existence.

Many writers have contributed to the development and flourishing of existential philosophy at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, such as the famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, who is considered one of the most prominent pioneers of existential philosophy, and his novel Notes from Underground expressed existential thought.

The most important principles of existential philosophy

We note that each philosophy separately has its own ideas, principles and beliefs. Perhaps the most important principles of existential philosophy are the following:

• that existence precedes substance ; We find that the existential philosophy in conflict with the opinion of the philosopher Rene Descartes who believed in the primacy of awareness of the existence, while existentialists confirms that man was found first in a tangible and profound world, and thus precedes the presence (in this world) awareness and that is the absolute truth. So we conclude from this that existence precedes essence (essence here is the meaning that can be attributed to life).

• The inability of the mind to understand the depths of the human soul ; Whereas the philosopher Kierkegaard saw that rationality is a mechanism or a means used by humans to confront their existential anxiety, that is, their fear of being in such a world, and he also emphasized that individuals should choose their own path rather than relying on objective criteria.

• According to Camus: When a person's desire for order collides with the lack of order in the real world, the result is absurdity.
  
  
• The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche advocated that the individual must evaluate situations for himself, and so most existentialists believe that personal experience and one's own convictions are essential to arriving at the truth.
  
  
• Existential philosophy may be an atheistic or theological philosophy. Some existentialists such as Nietzsche have stated that God has died, and that the concept of God has become outdated, while other existentialists were deeply religious like Kierkegaard, but the most important factor in existentialism remains that the individual has the freedom to choose in his life. To believe or not to believe.

Existential literature

I have across many poets, philosophers and writers about the meaning of the existential in their literary, and perhaps the most prominent literary works that supports the existential philosophy is a play "Waiting for Godot", the famous playwright Samuel Beckett.

The play depicts two people named Estragon and Vladimir waiting for Godot to return, and through one of the excerpts of the play we find that Vladimir expresses a religious spiritual character as he believes in Godot's coming and guiding them. Whereas we find that Estragon expresses an existential personality; He believes that they should not wait, that they do not have enough time to wait for that spiritual guidance to come and enlighten their souls and their path, and instead, they should seize opportunities and make decisions on their own without relying on someone else, which is the meaning of Existentialism.