Existentialism

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Atheism

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Existentialism often demands the relinquishment of any faith in God, as the divine presence seems to clash with the core tenet of personal accountability that the philosophy champions. Jean-Paul Sartre, perhaps the most celebrated voice of existentialism, embraced atheism with zeal, a sentiment echoed by Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. Their literary creations often explore the human struggle to navigate morality and meaning in the void left by an absent deity.

Religious Existentialists

Yet, a compelling branch of existential thought marries spiritual yearning with existentialist ideals. Søren Kierkegaard was a luminary in this domain, skillfully weaving together faith and personal autonomy in his seminal works like Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, and The Concept of Dread. Kierkegaard found no discord in the coexistence of freedom and divinity, positing that true religious conviction arises from the conscious choice to believe. Similarly, Martin Buber, in his influential 1923 treatise I and Thou, harmonized Jewish, Christian, and humanist philosophies. His narrative delves into the profound connections we forge, likening human interactions (“Thou”) to the ultimate bond with God, the supreme “Thou.”

Freedom

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The Essence of Existentialism

Existentialism emerges from the profound notion that at the heart of human conduct lies an unbridled freedom of choice. It dismisses theories that attempt to anchor behavior to external forces such as economic dictates, societal pressures, or psychological frameworks. While existential thinkers might acknowledge these overarching ideologies, they refuse to accept them as valid justifications or alibis for human actions. Take Sartre, for instance; despite his unwavering belief in the Marxist theory of class struggle, he rebuffed the idea that any class had predetermined behaviors. Instead, he posited that individuals must own their actions without hiding behind divine edicts or psychological disturbances. This is liberty’s cost—standing accountable for every decision rests solely on the individual.

Hemingway's literary figures epitomize this ethos. They adhere to self-imposed guidelines of conduct, known as the "Hemingway code." Unlike characters penned by authors who portray them as fate's pawns, Hemingway’s creations—and those in existential literature—are depicted as the architects of their destinies. Examples abound, such as Sartre's play Dirty Hands, where the protagonist shoulders guilt for killing a perilous foe during war, and Beauvoir’s The Blood of Others, in which a student, haunted by the unintended death of a peer, steadfastly continues his involvement in radical political violence. This narrative flips the presumed innocence derived from unrestrained freedom, a theme deeply explored in Franz Kafka's works.

Free Will and Sinister Choices

This profound freedom occasionally drives existential protagonists to embark on actions branded as "evil," seemingly to prove that no cosmic justice waits to mete out retribution. Hence, characters like Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Meursault in Camus's The Stranger, and Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright's Native Son commit murder without a pang of remorse. In each narrative, divine justice does not intervene to deliver punishment—unlike other literary traditions where criminals might be struck by illness or misfortune. Instead, it is the earthly legal system that pursues them.

Guilt and Innocence

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The Burden of Freedom in Existential Thought

At the heart of existential philosophy lies an imposing truth: in a world devoid of divine mandates or biological diktats, individuals must shoulder the weight of their own actions. Freedom comes at a cost—without divine laws or psychological scars to account for one's deeds, the onus of responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of each person. Hemingway’s characters exemplify this notion vividly. They carve out personal codes of conduct, a self-devised "Hemingway code," guiding their lives. Unlike characters penned by other authors, who may appear as helpless puppets of...

(This entire section contains 290 words.)

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destiny, Hemingway’s creations, alongside figures in existential literature, shape their own destinies. Sartre’s playDirty Hands illustrates this with a protagonist who embraces culpability for wartime murder, boldly confronting the moral consequences. Similarly, in Beauvoir’s The Blood of Others, a student, shaken by a peer's accidental death, resolves to engage in revolutionary political violence, accepting the inherent responsibility.

Kafka's Subversion of Existential Freedom

Conversely, Franz Kafka’s works, most strikingly The Trial, turn existential notions on their head. Here, the presumption of innocence born from unfettered freedom is twisted. Joseph K., rather than embodying an existential hero who consciously chooses guilt, finds himself ensnared by an opaque and nonsensical legal system, labeled guilty without comprehension. Kafka shifts the lens away from the autonomous individual, highlighting instead an oppressive social machinery that blinds individuals to their inherent freedom to shape their paths. By portraying the bureaucracy condemning Joseph K. as impersonal and absurd, Kafka unveils its transparency. In this narrative, the legal system looms fearsome yet lacks true dominion over the individual. Through Joseph K.’s superficial indictment, readers discern the hollowness of any blanket system of guilt or innocence.

Identity and Self

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Existentialism and Human Identity

Existentialism, a profound philosophical journey, seeks to unravel the enigma of human identity. Unlike other ideologies, which tether identity to external influences, such as psychologists tracing its origins to past experiences or chemical brain processes, or Romanticism anchoring it to the bond between humanity and nature, Existentialism rejects any fixed reference point. In this worldview, identity emerges solely from an individual’s deeds. As Sartre poignantly articulated, existence precedes essence—no predefined essence dictates a person's identity until they live and act.

Existentialism and the American Civil Rights Movement

French Existentialism made its transatlantic journey to America in the vibrant 1950s, coinciding with the nascent stages of the Civil Rights movement, which was beginning to articulate and affirm the identity of black Americans. This philosophical import naturally resonated with a community long subjected to societal judgments based solely on skin color, ready to embrace the existential notion that identity is self-crafted. Ralph Ellison, one of the literary giants of the twentieth century, delved into existential ideas intertwined with racial issues in his seminal 1952 work, Invisible Man. This novel vividly portrays a black man's quest for identity amidst a society intent on rigidly defining him.

Alienation

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The Evolution of Alienation

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the concept of alienation captivated the minds of many intellectuals, becoming a poignant reflection of the human condition amid civilization's march forward. Alienation, that persistent sense of solitude, a stark feeling of disconnection, and a haunting awareness of standing apart, surged with the rise of the Industrial Age. Visionaries like Karl Marx illustrated how laborers became estranged from their own efforts, their bond with their work severed by economic forces. Meanwhile, psychologists probed deeper into the psyche, revealing alienation as a chasm between the conscious and unconscious realms of the self. Theologians lamented humanity's growing detachment from reality, as the towering significance of God gradually dwindled.

Existentialism's Response to Isolation

In the face of such pervasive isolation, existentialism emerged as a philosophical balm, addressing the social phenomenon of alienation. As society grew more estranged, existentialists contended that separation from society was an inherent state, asserting that the notion of belonging was merely an elaborate illusion. It's no surprise that Albert Camus's The Stranger, a cornerstone of the French existentialist movement, embodied this theme with its protagonist adrift from societal norms, a stranger even to his closest kin. Norman Mailer, in his 1955 novel The Deer Park, deftly applied existentialism to the unique form of alienation felt in postwar America, tinged with the pervasive dread of the atomic bomb and the specter of Communism. Mailer introduced the "hipster," an iconoclast who met the world's challenges with a sardonic smirk. Thus, the "existential hero" was born, epitomizing characters in literature and film who navigated life as solitary figures, unbound by societal ties, guided solely by their own moral compass.

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