PowerPoint on Existentialism by Taylor Schimbke

1. Existentialism
By: Karma French & Taylor Schimbke

2. What is Existentialism?
 There are many different forms of “existentialism”
 Each existentialist philosopher had his own definition, understanding, and
belief of the human existence
 “Existentialism is a catch-all term for those philosophers who consider the
nature of the human condition as a key philosophical problem and who
share the view that this problem is best addressed through ontology.”

3. Where did Existentialism
Come From?
 Seen throughout Europe in the 19th & 20th centuries
 Increasing popularity of scientific & industrial
revolutions led to a decline in spirituality
 With this disconnection from religion people began
to search elsewhere for the meaning of life
 The term was adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre
 Following WWII, literary and philosophical works of
Sartre and other existentialists sparked the
existentialist movement in Europe in the 1940s, this
movement lasted through the 1950s
http://www.ratdiary.com/2006/11/27/gods-assassin/

4. What do Existentialists Believe?
 As humans we should desire to live a full and authentic life
 Our lives should be rewarded and fulfilled by embracing our human dignity
 Existence precedes essence you are born with no God-given soul, it is your
job to create your own essence throughout your existence
 A brave, non-conformist existentialist will separate themselves from society
and maintain that separateness as a testament to their true independence

5. Key Themes of Existentialism
 Philosophy as a Way of Life  Situatedness
 Philosophy should be integrated into life  “Although my freedom is absolute, it always
takes place in a particular context”
 Anxiety & Authenticity  Existence
 Anxiety is the idea that human existence is  We should be concerned with human
in many ways “on its own” existence
 Authenticity refers to one being able to
recognize and confirm the nature of  Irrationality/Absurdity
existence  Human existence can be described as
“absurd”
 Freedom
 The Crowd
 Freedom is defined by the independence of
our decisions from a deity or pre-existing  By living an “authentic” life, others will
values become authentic as well
For more info visit: http://www.iep.utm.edu/existent/#H1

6. Famous
Existentialists
 Jean-Paul Sartre
Franz Kafka
 Albert Camus
 Franz Kafka
 Samuel Beckett
 Simone de Beauvoir
 Anne Rice
Simone de Beauvoir Albert Camus
 Charles Bukowski

7. Jean-Paul Sartre
 Born in Paris in 1905 and
lived until 1980
 Studied at École Normale
Supérieure from 1924 to
1929 and became a Professor
of Philosophy at Le Havre in
1931
 He studied the philosophies
of Edmund Husserl and
Martin Heidegger in Berlin
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/02/11/timestopics/topics_sartre_395.jpg

8. Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism
 Atheism is taken for granted and the “loss of God” should not be mourned
 Humans are condemned to freedom from all authority
 Man can make meaning of the world once this terrible freedom has been
acknowledged and accepted
 This attempt will not succeed without the “solidarity” of others

9. No Exit, a Play by
Jean-Paul Sartre
 Summary: Three people are in hell, which is simply a
furnished room. None of them will confess their
reason for being in hell. It is eventually concluded
that they have all been placed there to make each
other miserable. In the end after discovering the
characters’ reason for being condemned to hell, it is
concluded that “hell is other people”
 Theme: “People need and want validation from one
another, but are fundamentally separated and
incapable of getting it.”
 It relates to the existential ideas of Sartre because it
reveals that a person is the product of your own self-
creation
 You start as nothing and end up where your choices
have led you
http://www.chicagostagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/season01_noexit.jpg

10. Albert Camus and His Existentialist
Viewpoint
 Born on November 7, 1913 in the village of Mondovi
 Shared with other existentialists an interest in the active human
psyche
 Valued individualism, free choice, inner strength, authenticity,
personal responsibility, and self-determination
 He was different from other existentialists because he believed
in common human nature and that human existence has an
essential core element of dignity and value

11. The Stranger
Albert Camus
 Summary: A man who is detached from
most everything, kills a man for no clear
reason. He is sentenced to death. In prison
he tries to come to terms with his situation.
Eventually, he accepts that human existence
holds no great meaning, which makes him
feel happy.
 “Only when something dramatic happens
do people start to reevaluate things and see
them in a different way.”
 When you discover that there is no
meaning, you feel like a stranger, but once
you accept it, you can find peace.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2f/TheStranger_BookCover3.jpg/200px-TheStranger_BookCover3.jpg

12. Existentialism Influences in
Western Culture
 Existentialism has always been closely associated with narrative arts. Many
movies are filled with existential themes.
 The following movies are greatly influenced by existentialism
 Blade Runner
 Fight Club
 Stranger Than Fiction
 Superbad
http://www.reellifewisdom.com/files/images/fight-club_0.jpg

13. Relevance to
Course Content
 The Scientific & Industrial Revolutions eventually led to Existentialism
 “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy is considered a “pre-existentialist”
text – containing some of the existentialist ideas that appeared in the
1940s
 Jorge Luis Borges was known to have explored existentialist ideas – he
wrote “The Garden of Forking Paths”
 “Sartre's theoretical writings as well as his novels and plays constitute one
of the main inspirational sources of modern literature .” Nobel Prize

14. Works Cited
Burnham, Douglas. "Existentialism." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2011.
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/existent/>.
Crowell, Steven. "Existentialism." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2010.
<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/>.
"Jean-Paul Sartre - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 28 Oct 2012. <http://www.nobelprize.
org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1964/sartre-bio.html>.

15. Works Cited
Panza, Christopher, and Gregory Gale. Existentialism For Dummies. For Dummies,
2008. Print.
Simpson, David. "Albert Camus." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2005. <http://
www.iep.utm.edu/camus/>.