Question

3) Kierkegaard & Sartre Kierkegaard says: “The question is not what am I to believe, but what am I to do?” You should know that Sartre & Kierkegaard are both examples of existentialists. Thus, you should know what existentialism is; what its basic principle is (and also what it means); and how this principle relates to free choice, anguish/fear, self-definition, and subjective truth/value. I need a paragraph explaining these philosophers with the given questions answered.

Answer 1

• Existentialism refers to a philosophy that asserts that the most important philosophical matters involve fundamental questions of meaning and choice as they affect actual individuals.

• Existentialists point out that objective science and rationalistic philosophy cannot come to grips with the real problem of human existence. They believe that general answers, grand metaphysical systems, and objective theories cannot address the concrete concerns of living individuals.

• Sartre  was France’s most important philosopher and he was interested in the uniqueness of an individual life, not abstract theories about a shared human nature, the meaning of life from a subjective point of view and the freedom to choose one’s projects, meanings, and values. His work was influenced by Kierkegaard.

• Kierkegaard was considered one of the first existentionalists. He focused more on individuals and their choices.He believed that people chose from 3 basic attitudes i.e the search for pleasure, committment to family, work, and social responsibility or concentrate on religion and the divine. According to him, concentrating on god is the best choice. He turned away from objective truth to focus on subjective consciousness.

• For Kierkegaard, the religious stage of life is the highest. It is the only authentic way of living. The religious life acknowledges our dual nature and provides a way for the individual to transform the particular into the universal.It can only be achieved by a “leap of faith".Only faith allows individuals to be our authentic, existing selves.

• For him the major issue was "how am I to exist?" According to him,any choice, once made, rules out all other possibilities.The basic fact is the dilemma of lived choices.Kierkegaard denied all the objective, abstract knowledge,it could never provide a meaning for life for him. Truth is a subjective condition, not an objective one.