Existentialism

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Existentialism

• The abridged version!

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The History of Existentialism

• Chief spokesman Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus,
  Simon de Beauvoir
• All French writers involved in the Resistance
  during Nazi occupied France in WWII.
• Found strength in the human spirit under the
  worst situations

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Major Themes of Existentialism

• Existence Before Essence a man lives, or merely
  exists, but he must find his essence.
• Every mans experience of life is unique, and
  different from anyone elses and can be
  understood only in terms each persons
  involvement in life.

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Existentialist question Who am I?

• Reason alone cannot deal with the depths of human
  life (life is absurd).
• Focus almost exclusively on the individual, not
  on social responsibility towards society or state
• Believe that life is difficult, but the
  individual must create value by living it (find
  their essence!)
• Existential choices and values are primarily
  demonstrated in ACT. (our actions define us)

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More Existentialist Themes

• Alienation from God, from nature, from other
  people and from ones own true self.
• Freedom freedom means human autonomy
  (independence). Freedom from societal rules,
  conformity, religion, government etc

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The Anti-hero

• In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central
  or supporting character that has some of the
  personality flaws traditionally assigned to
  villains but nonetheless also has enough heroic
  qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of
  readers or viewers. Anti-heroes can be awkward,
  obnoxious, passive, pitiful, or obtuse but they
  are always, in some fundamental way, flawed or
  failed heroes. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti_hero
  

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• "I am existentialist. For me only two things
  matter - freedom and passion."Shintaro Ishihara 
  
• Who Am I?

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How is Sisyphus an existentialist?