EXISTENTIALISM
It is difficult to pigeonhole existentialism as a singular thought because there are a variety of approaches to the issues relating to self-purpose. The Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, suggests that existentialism is an attitude that perceives the existentialist individual as contemplating the "philosophical realization of self-consciousness." (1) In an explicit portrait of the human predicament,
Solomon remarks
that existentialism's attitude recognizes the unresolvable confusion of the human world, yet resists the all-too-human temptation to resolve the confusion by grasping toward whatever appears or can be made to appear firm or familiar - reason, God, nation, authority, history, work, tradition, or the "other- worldly," whether of Plato, Christianity, or utopian fantasy . (2)
The human predicament evinced by existentialism is the "unresolvable confusion" bathed in a cornucopia of ideas and attempted resolutions. John Dewey would later address this pursuit as the quest for certainty. (3) Although existentialism recognizes the futility of solving the question of life's meaning, its endeavor is surely to engross oneself in the search.
There is a second element in the existential pursuit. This element is freedom. Existentialists, especially the notable Jean-Paul Sartre, have enunciated freedom as paramount for decisions of personal decision-making. Concerning the importance of freedom, Robert Solomon writes:
It is difficult to pigeonhole existentialism as a singular thought because there are a variety of approaches to the issues relating to self-purpose. The Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, suggests that existentialism is an attitude that perceives the existentialist individual as contemplating the "philosophical realization of self-consciousness." (1) In an explicit portrait of the human predicament,
Solomon remarks
that existentialism's attitude recognizes the unresolvable confusion of the human world, yet resists the all-too-human temptation to resolve the confusion by grasping toward whatever appears or can be made to appear firm or familiar - reason, God, nation, authority, history, work, tradition, or the "other- worldly," whether of Plato, Christianity, or utopian fantasy . (2)
The human predicament evinced by existentialism is the "unresolvable confusion" bathed in a cornucopia of ideas and attempted resolutions. John Dewey would later address this pursuit as the quest for certainty. (3) Although existentialism recognizes the futility of solving the question of life's meaning, its endeavor is surely to engross oneself in the search.
There is a second element in the existential pursuit. This element is freedom. Existentialists, especially the notable Jean-Paul Sartre, have enunciated freedom as paramount for decisions of personal decision-making. Concerning the importance of freedom, Robert Solomon writes:
According to many existentialists, every act and every attitude must
be considered a choice. Yet the existential attitude itself is apparently
not chosen. One finds oneself in it. (4)
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