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Essentialism Argument Essay

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As a person who doesn’t believe in any inherent meaning of the universe, it was enlightening to indulge in the details of existentialism and explore the niched philosophical notions surrounding the previously-perplexing concept of “existence preceding essence”. Upon review of existentialism, there’s a certain sense of comfort in the unpredictability, freedom, and naturally unfolding scheme of the cosmos that was historically a crucial turning point in how the world’s population perceived the universe.
From the times of Plato and Aristotle until the late 19th century, the standard view of the universe centered on essentialism. Essentialism details one’s life purpose in the form of essences: certain sets of core properties that are necessary for a thing to be what it is. For example, a chair cannot be a chair unless it has a seat; the seat is an essential part of a chair. With essentialism, it is believed that humans are assigned essences before they are born and to adhere to your essence is to be a good human. A person’s essence—given by God—provides purpose to life as humans are born to be a certain thing. …show more content…

Nietzsche elaborated upon an inherent meaninglessness of life and embraced the concept of nihilism. Later, French thinker Jean-Paul Sartre returned to the question of essence and pondered if humans are born without any hard-wired purpose and thus, it’s up to us to figure out our own essences. This is the fundamental concept of existentialism: “existence precedes essence”. There is no predetermined path that we must follow, no rules given by God, and we must write our own essence. This notion was considered a radical idea at the time of its conception because it refuted the age-old belief of a God-chosen

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This idea is meant to answer the question of existence by basing its answer on extreme pessimism in a meaningless universe. According to Magnus (2014), Nietzche believed that in the age he lived, there was no awareness that religious and philosophical absolutes had dissolved in the emergence of the 19th century positivism. Nietzche thought that metaphysical and theological foundations and sanctions for traditional morality had collapsed, and only a pervasive sense of purposelessness and meaninglessness would remain. In questioning existence, nihilism (existential) stands with the idea that since the world is without purpose or meaning, existence itself- all action, suffering, and feeling – is ultimately senseless and empty (Pratt, 2017). Further, Nietzche thought that with the emergence of nationalism in the wake of triumph of meaninglessness - nihilism, the nation-state would be invested with transcendent value and

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Although Sartre agrees with Dostoevsky who says, “If God does not exist, then everything would be possible,” he tries to pull back from nihilism by saying that each human must act “for all humanity” and before the audience of all of humanity. Sartre claims that all humans have no nature or essence, he disqualifies himself from calling them “all humans.” First Sartre affirms that human beings lack a nature, but if we lack a nature, then the term “human being” has no reference at all. The descriptive term that applies to something with inherent qualities and do what is required of the qualities can be identified as “human being”.

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The philosophy of existential nihilism essentially states that life carries minimal value; Nietzsche elaborated greatly about the belief that the declination of meaning and purpose could prove to be catastrophic for humanity. This is depicted in Ecclesiastes, as the Teacher feels ambivalent regarding his own achievements and questions whether his strife was for the greater good or if it was futile. therefore, one must find meaning in life. The Teacher fosters this concept by declaring that, in spite of the inevitable death that awaits everyone, those who are living should enjoy their lives accordingly and that “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” This bears a great resemblance to the statement that Nietzsche uses in some of his works, “amor fati,” which essentially means that one should embrace life and what it brings, whether positive or negative; Ecclesiastes emphasizes the good and evil present in life, and states that God will ultimately cast judgment upon both the righteous and the

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763 Words | 4 Pages

In Sartre’s lecture at Club Maintenant “Existentialism is a Humanism” Sartre states that “What they (The existential atheists) have in common is simply the fact that they believe that existence comes before essence”1 which seems to mean that humans have no pre-destined purpose and nature in our lives, everything that we become is by our own means and by no higher being. Sartre’s response to criticism over how existentialism focuses on the choices of individuals centers mainly on the points of abandonment, anguish, and despair which is specifically the abandonment by God, which correlates with how the human has no pre-determined purpose, we choose to be who we are by free will. I will be arguing in favor of the way Sartre depicts the soul, human

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From the early begging the human race has tried to figure out the meaning of life. To understand our surroundings and ourself. Truth, morality, power, consciousness, and the meaning of existence are all aspects of life that Nietzsche studied throughout his philosophical career. He looked at these ‘problems’ with an open mind. Unlike other philosophers he did not believe in religion, government, or nationalism.

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150 Words | 1 Pages

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who became one of the most influential modern thinkers of time. Nietzsche produced great literary works such as “The Birth of Tragedy”, “Beyond Good and Evil”, and “The Genealogy of Morality”. His ideals were focused on existentialism, which is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and freedom of the human person as an individual (Mitchell, 2008). Nietzsche believed that he was a prophet of a concept called self-overcoming, in which a person he called the superman rises above their circumstances to embrace whatever life flings at them. Nietzsche was trying to teach us how to become the person we really are.

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In Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, there are scenes that trick the audience into thinking that it will give them the movie’s view on the meaning of life. The film, however, never actually gives the audience a real, serious answer to the questions that relate to life’s meaning; by doing this, the people who created the film probably wanted the audience to make up their own views and answers to life’s meanings and purposes (a loosely defined meaning of existentialism). In existentialism, existentialists reject proposed systems that have a definitive answer to the questions involving the meaning and purpose of life; they freely choose standards of values on the human condition, which asks questions, like “Why am I here,” “What does it mean to be human,” or “How should I live my life?” According to Mitchell’s Roots of Wisdom, the idea of existentialism “emphasizes the uniqueness and freedom of the human person as an individual (what makes each life a unique, personal experience) as opposed to the essence of a human being (what makes all of us alive).”

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However, if we read Nietzsche’s texts and his perspective critically, we realize that this idea just doesn’t have a theological aspect, in fact the main aspect to it is directed at the plight of western/modern world and its culture. In addition, to the great decline of religion in society, the absence of a higher moral authority and character of being. This statement has brought advancements to the concepts of existentialism and nihilism too, here we can also see how severely these notions have evolved in terms of their meaning and has brought the world into chaos. Now, many people think that their lives run through a divine intervention and they observe different positive signs for good things and negative signs for the bad deeds they have

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Furthermore, if we will describe essence in to our own perspective it is the importance of a certain things but Kierkegaard pointed out that the essence of a person is having a good relationship or being devoted to his or to her Divine Being. The idea of the movement from essence to existence arises when he actually challenged the idea of Hegel. He actually disagree to thought of Hegel that individual can achieve persistence and completion through involving themselves in the public where this accentuates on being entangled of that a whole can be related to secular or faithful life, for he believed that “faith is purely inward and private affair, and that everybody stands alone before God”. This means that achieving, fulfilling and having a good relationship to our demigod is impossible to be in groups as this is an innermost and personal affair of each one of us to our Supreme One. Kierkegaard also insinuates that it is not achievable by an individual to apprehend and converse with another individual.

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The existential

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Jean-Paul Sartre, born June 1905- April 1980, was a French philosopher who was one of the main figures of the 'philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology '. In 1930, Sartre met and eventually was in a romantic and open relationship with the well-established writer, feminist, and philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir. Later in his life Sartre came out with his major philosophical work, entitled ' 'Being and Nothingness". In 1945, he gave a lecture called, "Existentialism is a Humanism". This talk was where he really put an emphasis on his statement of "Man are condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

Existence Since the beginning of time, man has been haunted by a probing question. This question, although seemingly straightforward and purposely fundamental has baffled many a philosopher. The trouble lies in the fact that it is not one that is outside the realm of the human existence but is at the very root of being itself. This conundrum although elusive has been responsible for shaping thought and fueling conversation over the years. Fast-forward to the 21st century and we are still pondering over the very same question.

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The argument Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, presents on existentialism helps to prove the foundation which is “existence precedes essence”. Existentialism is normally understood as an ideology that involves evaluating existence itself and the way humans find themselves existing currently in the world. For the phrase existence precedes essence, existence’s etymology is exsistere or to stand out while the term Essence means “being” or “to be” therefore the fundamental of existentialism, literally means to stand out comes before being. This can be taken into many different ideas such as individuals having to take responsibility for their own actions and that in Sartre’s case the individual is the sole judge of his or her own actions. According to him, “men is condemned to be free,” therefore “the destiny of man is placed within himself.”

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Friedrich Nietzsche’s rejection of prior conservative accounts—preservations and adaptations of the Christian meaning of life— for the meaning of life marked the beginning of radicalism in searching for philosophical meaning. A need to find universal meaning, Nietzsche claims, is for the weak. Instead, the German philosopher calls for man to reject these universal worldviews and to embrace one’s own meaning in life. To craft a personal meaning of life - rather than blindly accepting the tenants of Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam - is, to Nietzsche, the way towards a good life. His recommendation is to become the novelist, screenwriter, director, or poet of one’s own life.

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1024 Words | 5 Pages

In everything you do, you find meaning and in everything you do, it’s your own choice because you have given the free will to choose. In Existentialism which states that, it is a philosophy disturbed with discovering self and the sense of life through free will, choice, and individual accountability. The certainty is that individuals are searching to discover who and what they are through life as they make choices based on their involvements, beliefs, and viewpoint. And individual choices develops unique without the need of an objective form of

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