Søren Kierkegaard

Jean-Paul Sartre is known for defending existentialism against challenges and giving further explanation regarding the meanings of existentialism’s claims. After reading the Stephen Colbert interview with GQ, I believe Sartre would promote Colbert’s way of living. Sartre has a very precise outlook on how the human should act and his beliefs are briefly summarized early in his book when he says, “not only is man what he conceives himself to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be…

An existential crisis occurs when an individual starts to question their existence and purpose in life. The individual may experience a sense of being lost and having no meaning while approaching what’s known as a state of “nothingness.” The state of nothingness is reached when an individual does not fulfill their purpose or live life to the fullest. Existentialists consider nothingness to be worse than death. A crisis arises when the individual doesn’t take any action to change the stasis they…

A psychosocial moratorium is when a person takes a break from real life to actively search for their identity. It is a period of active searching for one's occupational, religious, ethnic or other form of identity. While this period may feel confusing and difficult to endure, many psychologists believe that an individual must go through a moratorium before he or she can form a true sense of identity. Erik Erikson, noted that it is a period of time “during which the individual defined and yet…

“Waiting for Godot” uses stage direction, parallels, uncertainty, and a tragicomedy approach in order to show that Estragon and Vladimir’s lives are meaningless. This also extends to eventually convey Samuel Beckett’s larger commentary on the purpose of human existence. Beckett wants to show how every individual’s life has no purpose or meaning. Before any thorough analysis can be made, it is important to understand the larger, extended metaphor that is this play—a metaphor for humankind. This…

In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous author, Johannes de Silentio attempts to explain faith by examining the biblical story of Abraham who was told, by God, to sacrifice his son, Isaac. With this objective in mind, we quickly come to bear that this explanation cannot so evidently be made since faith cannot be verbally expressed. Through a close inspection of the role of silence in faith, I will provide the interpretation that one cannot speak when acting in faith because in faith…

According to Sartre, human decision-making that fails to recognize the necessity of making choices in the face of a lack of solid grounds for doing so fails to effectively take responsibility for choices. In order to make a properly Sartrean existentialist choices, you must understand that every action you undertake is not a product of external structures and cannot be justified by external codes but rather is an intentional personal choice that has no rationale outside of yourself. You must…

Matt Blair English 4, Ward Period 3 The Forlorn Path In life, individuals and generations set social norms which others follow. Existentialism is a philosophical idea that goes against many of these norms, and places emphasis on individual freedom and one's ability of free choice. The authors Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, and Steve McQueen attempt to reflect these existential ideas in their respective works of The Metamorphosis, The stranger, and Hunger. Main characters, Gregor Samsa, Meursault…

Kaylah Wood Mr. Z Feb. 28 2017 Title To embody the concept of one’s own freewill embodies the concept of existentialism. Individuals are solely responsible their choices; therefore, it is the responsibility of that single person to determine what is “good” and what is “bad”. Society has established a specific moral standard in which most people must abide, which then can encourage some to blame others, or lie about their choices. Morality as described by Sartre, “we define man only in relation…

Two of the greatest French existential writers were the colleagues and lovers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. The two existentialists had an open relationship for most of their lives. They would often read each other’s writings and were influenced by each other, helping them come to conclusions about different topics. Both writers were atheists, putting more power in man’s hands, than in the hands of higher beings. Jean-Paul Sartre writes about how existence precedes essence or…

Existentialism is a philosophical view that human beings are in a position to determine their destinies through choice. The philosophical theory puts the responsibility of determining the level of development in the hands of the person himself. Wonder Boys on the other hand is a film that was directed by Steve Kloves, basing his theme on a novel called Wonder Boys. In connection with existentialism, the movie director brought it out in different characters in the film, especially the male…