Existentialism

Posted: August 6th, 2013

Existentialism

Friedrich Nietzsche

View of man

Existentialism holds the idea that philosophical thinking is found in an individual through his or her thinking about one self. Thus, it states that a man spends life finding out about self using free will, personal responsibilities, and free choice. Thus, according to Friedrich Nietzsche, the goal of a man is finding out about oneself by being true to oneself through out and doing what one wills to do. He says, “Be a man and do not follow me, but yourself! Yourself! Our life too shall be justified before ourselves! We too shall fearlessly, in innocent selfishness, grow and blossom from ourselves,” (Nietzsche, 90). He means that man is an individual who should not be influenced by others, but should follow his own will, and it is from this that one’s life and reason of existence is realized or blossoms. According to his terms, man has control over his own destiny and is responsible for controlling it through his own free will. According to Nietzsche, free will is the ability to be creative and live true to oneself without having to follow anybody else, and without caring about the other person’s ideas. This way, a man is free of anybody and can do as he or she wishes.

View of God

Sartre suggested that God did not exist. He suggested that by the fact that humans are supposed to make their own choices without any influence from outside forces, or the ability of resisting the external forces, neither God could influence man. Therefore, he suggests God does not exist since there is not way he influences man. According to his notion of the freedom of man and his theory that existence precedes essence, God could have influence on people’s freedom, which he believes he dose not (Sartre, 3). Thus, this proves God does not exist. Additionally, the fact that man has to rely on his own choices and freedom to exist means that God does not exist. It can be assumed from his idea that existence preceded essence that the same way the artisan had a purpose for the paper knife, God would have the same purpose, influencing human beings and everything they do. Thus, since he does not influence man as a man would influence objects he makes, God does not exist. Therefore, man makes himself and rules his own destiny through the choices he must make (Sartre 4).