Reading Notes: Existentialism

Existentialism is not a school of thought so much as a trend that appears throughout philosophy during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Prior to this time, philosophical thought had grown to become increasingly more complex and abstract. In dealing with ideas of nature and truth, philosophers began to exclude the importance of human beings.

However, starting with Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche in the nineteenth century, several philosophers emerged placing a newfound focus on the human experience. Though there are significant differences between philosophers of existentialism (a term that would not be used until the twentieth century), the one common theme among all of them is the notion that philosophy should focus on the experience of human existence in this world. In other words, existentialism seeks out the meaning of life and finding oneself.

Though existentialist thought varies from philosopher to philosopher, there are several common themes. One of the key ideas of existentialism is that the meaning of life and discovering oneself can only be attained by free will, personal responsibility, and choice.

Paul Kleinman, Philosophy 101

Notes on Philosophy: Belief

Your beliefs are your map of reality. They guide you through the day. They are the lenses through which you perceive the world. They are also the deep well from which your actions, attitudes, and feelings flow.

There is nothing more important about you than what you believe. What you value is equally important. But some philosophers think that this is just because a value is nothing more than a special sort of belief. When you value something, you just believe that it is important and worthy of honor.

Your feelings are certainly an important part of who you are. And so are your desires, hopes, and dreams. But they are all either result of your beliefs, or else are in some other way dependent on those beliefs. You desire what you believe to be good or pleasant. You hope for something because you believe it will contribute to your personal happiness or your overall success. Repeatedly, belief is foundational to who you are.

Philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom. At some level, we all want wisdom for living. No one wants to wander this world like a fool, hobbled by false beliefs about important matters and misled by counterfeit values that can lead to nothing but misery. Because of this, philosophers have always suggested that it is important for us to examine our beliefs. Are those beliefs justified? Are they true? Are they capable of giving us good guidance in life? Do we have among our current beliefs a concrete knowledge about the world in which we live, as well as about ourselves, or are we all just stuck with nothing better than mere opinion? These are questions we all need to ask, and answer.

 Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know. — Montaigne

by Thomas Morris

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