The Student Room Group

existentialism

i looked up dictionary.com
for existentialism
and it said it was
"A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts."

i dont really understand how it can stress freedom of choice/responsibility for the consequences of one's acts,if they find human existence unexplanable. it seems to me that if human existence us unexplanable, then reasons why we should be responsible for our acts should also be unexplanable.
Reply 1
Yeah - tell that to the existentialists though. They'll probably write a novel and throw it at your head.
Reply 2
Well, you can't provide an ultimate meaning of life but that isn't to say you shouldn't be responsible for your actions. There might not be a cosmic reason why you should, but that isn't to say there is no more mundane reason like Human happiness.
(I guess)
Reply 3
As far as I can remember, the responsibility is like free choice - it's seen as an inherent part of existence, something directly experienced.
candystrippa
i dont really understand how it can stress freedom of choice/responsibility for the consequences of one's acts,if they find human existence unexplanable. it seems to me that if human existence us unexplanable, then reasons why we should be responsible for our acts should also be unexplanable.

Human existence is 'unexplainable' (eugh) insofar as it is gratuitous and unnecessary, ie. there is no reason for us being here, no greater purpose and so on. (NB. I am obviously assuming the atheist existentialism of Sartre and co here).

Re: Your last sentence: Just because the basic fact of human existence is inexplicable or without reason does not mean that individual human acts are done without any identifiable reason. There may be no reason for me existing but the reason I am posting this here is because the topic interests me and I want to, and so on.

Also, I think we need to remember the 'existence precedes essence' slogan here. To quote Sartre on this: "man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world- and defines himself afterwards...to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself." The point being that if you reject the idea of a deity or creator then there is no 'designer' or whatever to have a conception of human nature before it begins, and so whatever a person becomes is down to them and not pre-destined. It is in this sense that we have such a huge responsibility.

On a more fundamental level, it links with the existentialist preoccupation with free choice. If, as they say, we have ultimate freedom in all of our decisions, then of course we are responsible for both our actions and the people we become through performing them.

To move on (backwards :rolleyes: ) to your first sentence, I think you've just confused the matter here. You say "i dont really understand how it can stress freedom of choice/responsibility for the consequences of one's acts,if they find human existence unexplanable", but it is precisely because of the inexplicability of human existence that they are able to claim that we have freedom of choice and responsibility. If there was some overarching 'reason' for our existence, our natures and basically the way we are, then we could attribute all of our actions to some external (ie. not proceeding from free-choice) cause: "couldn't help myself - humans are naturally selfish, you know...etc". Because there is no such reason, and no such inherent 'nature' to which we must conform, we must accept that we chose freely to be what we are, and take on board the responsibility that comes with this.

Well, according to (some) existentialists. :p:

I think that whether you agree with existentialism or not (and many here don't :wink:), your claims in the opening post are more of a misunderstanding than a criticism and do not threaten the position much. There are some great books on existentialism around if you want to branch out from dictionary.com :smile:

ZarathustraX
Reply 5
hold on-
i suppose human nature is "unexplanable" because it is contingent, and that there may or may not have been a designer.so then there may or may not have been a fixed set of divine rules / ethics for whether or not we need to take responsibility for our actions. to me, these 2 things seem equally uncertain, and my question was actually why the existentialists have left human nature as "unexplanable" when they have made such an emphasis on responsibility etc.

although, zarathustra... you definately are one great philosopher! ! ! ! =O im just a confused animal.
candystrippa
hold on-
i suppose human nature is "unexplanable" because it is contingent, and that there may or may not have been a designer.so then there may or may not have been a fixed set of divine rules / ethics for whether or not we need to take responsibility for our actions. to me, these 2 things seem equally uncertain, and my question was actually why the existentialists have left human nature as "unexplanable" when they have made such an emphasis on responsibility etc.

although, zarathustra... you definately are one great philosopher! ! ! ! =O im just a confused animal.


The point of existentialism is that regardless of the cause of your actions you are always held responsible for it. Not in the sense that there is a good or a bad thing to do, but that there are choices you make and how other people relate to you will be defined by your choices of actions. You always judge and are always judged. When we say responsibility for actions, I think that the argument is for a level of consistency. It is not thart one course of action is better than another but that you must back up how you act. There is, in existentialism, no excusing one's own actions. To suggest human nature would be to defer responsibility and wold possibly arrive at some sort of circularity.

MB
Reply 7
It all comes down to that very strong emphasis on pure, unadulterated human freedom.

Which of course is utter rubbish. :wink: