s p r i n k l e d s t r e e t s

And would it have been worth it, after all, Would it have been worth while, After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets, After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor— And this, and so much more?— (ts eliot)

Thursday, January 13, 2005

What is an Existentialist? Part I

if you are unsure, or if you are curious to know what constitutes an existentialist, this list should help.

Existentialists affirm....

  • Finitude :: humans are limited
  • Contingency :: there is no eternal grammar to the order of the universe; things just are for no particular reason, and, therefore, could be otherwise, also for no particular reason
  • Situatedness :: we are always already in a situation that has structured and informed our perspective; we can never "reason" ourselves into an objective position
  • Lived Temporality :: who we are can never be reduced to a temporal "slice" of our biography; we are always becoming "other"
  • Mood and Will :: mood and will are not accidental or incidental; they are disclosive and have cognitive importance
  • Freedom is a Task :: freedom is not a possession, and is not given by mere consciousness; instead, it is something that we have to work at by pulling ourselves out of the social consciousness; humans make who they are
  • Cognitive Impenetrability of Existence :: we cannot "describe away" the unknown; there may be no answer to many of our questions
  • Responsibility :: we are without excuse; we have to own who we are; you are responsible for what you become
  • Mystery :: it will always exist as a result of our finitude
  • Singularity and Concreteness of Human Individuation :: there is no human nature that we all share; differences cannot be generalized
  • Intersubjectivity
  • Embodied and Engaged Self Understanding :: recognizes that who we are is somthing we are making through emmeshment in the situations we find ourselves in; you cannot pull yourself out and keep your identity
  • Life-World Meanings :: there are certain things that we associate together ie. a pencil and a piece of paper
  • Fact-Value Holism :: there are no "facts" that aren't already value-laden
  • Honest Realism :: emphasis on authenticity; does not approve of "easy optimism"

Essentially, existentialists reject much modernist thinking -- they reject the notion that through objective reason, we can know everything, and through education, we become better people. Existentialists believe that nothing can be completely objective because we cannot divorce ourselves from our situation (see "Situatedness") and we cannot know everything because we are finite (see "Finitude").

Comments? Thoughts?

Are you an Existentialist?

posted by kris @ 3:38 p.m.  

2 Comments:

  • At 10:38 p.m., January 19, 2005, Blogger Christo said…

    I fancy myself an existential huguenot, attending all churches as a simulationist. Don't poo, poo, me, Jude - you don't know me - I don't know me. Do you know you? Ah, yes, you're an existentialist? Fact or fancy?

     

  • At 11:17 p.m., January 22, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Ok, it's Sarah and I don't actual feel the need to be anonymous, I just don't have a blogger sign in name to sign in with, because, after all, I reject conformity.

    I think I agree with some of the things on this list, for example, under Lived Temporality it says we are always becoming which I think is true, but if I am always becoming, the moment I give my yay or nay to existentialism, I am becoming, and it could well be something else. I really don't know. I disagree with the statement that there is no human nature we all share, oh it is a tempting thought to celebrate all that is different, but I don't think it is right. I believe in the image of God we are all found.

    Freedom as a task-agree sort of. Ok, I think I would say more on this, but I this post is wearing me out, and I am getting kind of bored by my own ramblings, so surely you are as well.

    We should talk for real sometime soon. And then you can tell me what intersubjectivity is, because you didn't define it, and I am innocent of such jargon.

     

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