The Existential Lexicon
One problem many students of philosophy encounter with
the works of the existential thinkers is an unfamiliar lexicon. Words
we think we understand, such as “amoral” or “dialectic,” take on new
meanings.
…they [existentialists] normally use a technical vocabulary. An introduction
to existentialism cannot… serve its purpose without reproducing the
arguments and introducing the terminology actually employed by members
of the movement.
- An Introduction to Existentialism; Olson,
p. vii
After answering many questions regarding this lexicon,
I decided to list some of the problematic terms. I also have additional
definitions of existentialism within the Exist
List FAQ.
This lexicon is based upon several
works. On 22 June 2003, I located a copy of the out-of-print text, The
New Dictionary of Existentialism, by St. Elmo Nauman, Jr. I want
to thank The Book Haven in Monterey, Calif., for being such a wonderful
store. Professor Nauman’s work was discontinued in 1972. It is the third
text I have purchased at Book Haven while on a vacation.
Use of NDE indicates definitions taken from
Professor Nauman’s work. As the work is unlikely to return to print,
I am being somewhat liberal in my interpretation of “fair use” while
giving credit to the author. Minor errors from the dictionary are recreated;
I minimized editing to preserve the text.
- A -
abandonment - The consequence of individualism. A metaphysical
isolation according to which each individual must ultimately fall back
upon his or her own resources.
abstraction - (from NDE) (Latin ab: from + trahere:
to remove; to remove from) Existentialists criticize idealistic philosophy
for its abstract character, for having abstracted thought from life.
Believing that no definition of reality can substitute reality for itself,
existentialists seek to avoid abstraction. Existential thinkers recommend
abstraction as a kind of synonym for “reflection,” that is, as the opposite
of an entirely unreflective life, a life lived on the sensual level of
pleasure.
Karl Jaspers writes that the correct degree
of abstraction is necessary to prevent blind attachment to hedonism or
utopianism. When the correct degree of abstraction is attained, the individual
will engage himself in the tasks of the world, accepting life without
illusion, accepting conflict, suffering, death, and be able to go forward
with hope. (NDE)
absurd - (from NDE) (Latin absurdus: unheard of)
The absurd is viewed either (as with Kierkegaard)
as the positive basis for the acceptance of authentic reality, or (as
with Sartre) as the negative basis for the
rejection of a religious view of the world.
God’s passion is to be found in the absurd; where this sign is to
be seen, there God is present… — Kierkegaard, The
Last Years
Combinations of logically compatible words become absurd when they
contradict the meaningful order of reality. — Paul
Tillich, Systemic Theology, II
Karl Jaspers rejects the absurd as defined
and celebrated by Kierkegaard. Such absurdity is an indication of the
bankruptcy of modern Christianity, Protestant and Catholic.
Albert Camus began with the declaration that
the world was absurd and meaningless. Refusing to be defeated by such
a reality, he celebrated the joy of what he called “the invincible summer”
within. (NDE)
absurdism - The belief nothing can explain or rationalize human
existence. There is no answer to “Why am I?” Human beings exist in a
meaningless, irrational universe and that any search for order by them
will bring them into direct conflict with this universe.
Actaeon Complex - (from NDE) (Greek Aktaion: mythological
character who watched Artemis bathe. He was changed into a stag, then
killed by his own dogs.) The term used by Sartre in Being
and Nothingness to indicate the totality of images which show
that knowing is a form of appropriative volition with overtones of sexuality.
aesthetical - (from NDE) (Greek aisthetikos: sensitive) Kierkegaard used
“aesthetical” in a technical way in his thought. The aesthetical is the
first “stage on life’s way,” or “sphere of existence.” The aesthetical
is that sphere of existence in which a person lives rather aimlessly,
seeking pleasure. (NDE)
Aesthetics, literature, poetics, drama, and music were important to
the existentialists. Drama is a common subject, thanks to Hegel (existentialists
critique Hegel frequently) and Nietzsche's The
Birth of Tragedy. Camus and Sartre were
playwrights, recognizing that art reaches more people than dry philosophy.
agnosticism - The uncertain beliefs of many existentialists,
agnostics claim one cannot prove or disprove the existence of a deity.
Existential agnostics tend to claim they do not care if there is or is
not a supreme deity.
alienation - A state of divided selfhood in which one is distanced
from one’s true being and confronts the self as an alien being.
anarchy - Absence of any form of political authority. Most existentialists
consider all individuals equal politically. Notice political equality
is not equated with any other form of measure. Inequities are inevitable,
but existentialists believe politics should not produce these differences.
Anarchy is not chaos, but the result of social evolution.
anguish - (from NDE) (Latin angere to tighten,
choke) One of the key terms in existential philosophy, anguish (or dread)
reveals the character of human life and illuminates the nature of the
world. In Kierkegaard’s conception, dread
(Angest) is not fear, caused by some external threat. Rather, dread is
an inward passion, either a continuous melancholy or a sudden and terrifying
emotion.
Sartre treats anguish (angoises) as the reflective
apprehension of the Self as freedom. Anguish is the realization that
a nothingness slips in between my Self and my past and future so that
nothing relieves me from the necessity of continually choosing myself
and nothing guarantees the validity of the values which I choose.
Jaspers, differing from Sartre,
defines anguish (Angst) as “the dizziness and shudder of freedom confronting
the necessity of making a choice.” As he develops his thought, anguish
is experienced in those ultimate situations, such as before death, in
which Existenz faces its most extreme limits.
As one of Dasein’s possibilities of Being, anxiety — together with
Dasein itself as disclosed in it — provides the phenomenal basis for
explicitly grasping Dasein’s primordial totality of Being. — Heidegger, Being
and Time
The normal, existential anxiety of guilt drives the person toward
attempts to avoid this anxiety (usually called the uneasy conscience)
by avoiding guilt. … The moralistic self-defense of the neurotic makes
him see guilt where there is no guilt or where one is guilty in a very
indirect way. — Tillich, The Courage
to Be
amoral - To reject the ethical system of a community; to develop
an independent ethical system. Do not confuse “amoral” in existentialism
for “without morality.” Much like anarchy, the concept is misunderstood
and misapplied to existentialists.
atheism - Possessing no belief in an omnipotent deity, or finding
no need to ponder the existence of a deity. For some, atheism implies
the denial a deity exists, as opposed to non-belief. Existential atheism
is an active debate, not to be confused with agnosticism.
authentic - To be true. If something is “authentic” it is exactly
as named or described. According to some thinkers, nothing is authentic.
Because people evolve and alter their essence, people cannot be authentic
for more than an instant, frozen in time.
- B -
Bad Faith - A lie, especially to the self. Self-deception, the
paradox of lying to the self, usually in an attempt to escape the responsibility
of being an individual. The extreme example cited by existentialists
is, “I was only following orders.” Any denial of free will is an example
of bad faith. Sartre believed all moments
of Bad Faith (Mauvaise Foi) were self-evident, contradicting many psychologists.
being (from NDE) In general philosophical usage, being
is that which “is,” without qualification. According to Spinoza, being
is both the source and the ultimate subject of all distinctions. According
to Hegel, being contains non-being within itself
and is the source of the cosmic process which leads to the synthetic
union of being and non-being in becoming.
If being… is understood as empirical being, truth is at once transformed
into a desideratum, and everything must be understood in terms of becoming;
for the empirical object is unfinished and the existing cognitive spirit
is itself in process of becoming. — Kierkegaard (Johannes
Climacus), Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical
Fragments
Being is not produced by us; it is not mere interpretation… Rather,
by its own impetus, it causes us to interpret and will not permit our
interpretation ever to be satisfied. — Jaspers, The
Philosophy of Karl Jaspers
Being, as the basic theme of philosophy, is no class or genus of entities;
yet it pertains to every entity. — Heidegger, Being
and Time
Being is. Being is in-itself. Being is what it is. — Sartre, Being
and Nothingness
Being has nonbeing “within” itself as that which is eternally present
and eternally overcome in the process of the divine life. — Tillich, The
Courage to Be
[CSW: I find these self-referencing definitions problematic. Definitions
should not form loops, otherwise dictionaries are useless.]
Being-for-Itself - Sartre’s terms for sentient existence, namely
human existence. A form of consciousness that entertains itself as possibility
rather than as terminal fact. The recognition that a being can change
itself.
Being-for-Others - The act of existing as an object external
to other beings. We all exist in a state of being-for-others at various
moments.
Being-in-Itself - Reality prior to human intervention. What is,
without mankind.
Being-in-Itself-for-Itself - An impossible form of being attributed
to God. A completely realized existence while at the same time a void
waiting to be filled… complete freedom.
Being-in-the-Midst - A form of bad faith in which one chooses
the self merely as an inert presence, as a thing. In other words, the
treatment of the self as without the ability to change freely.
Being-in-the-World - Choosing the self as a sentient, real being
as manifested by thoughts, actions, and meaning. This is the existential
existence, recognizing that at least in humans existence does precede
essence. Being-in-the-World is a contrast to Being-in-the-Midst.
- C -
collective - Any organized set of human relationship, however
temporary. According to Sartre, any collective exists only for brief
instants. “We” is not the natural state of humans, who think in terms
of individuality.
concepts - General ideas that represent a “class” of objects
with common traits. (Object-oriented thinking, in programming terms.)
Any descendent object inherits traits of previous members, therefore
a concept applying to previous members applies to the new object.
conscience - (from NDE) (Latin conscientia: feeling,
knowledge) Existentialists are divided in their view of conscience. Some
consider conscience to be the moral voice within the individual, helpful
and necessary. Others believe conscience to be the product of society
and thus completely relative.
You and conscience are one. It knows all that you know, and it knows
that you know it. — Kierkegaard, Purity
of the Heart Is to Will One Thing
If we train our conscience, it kisses us while it hurts us. — Nietzsche, Beyond
Good and Evil
conscious - All choices are conscious choices, according to Sartre.
In existentialism, every choice is made aware of the consequences. There
is no “subconscious” for in Sartre’s early works on psychology. Choices
are made and denying a memory is an act of Bad Faith — a lie to
the self.
- D -
Dasein - (from NDE) (German Dasein: being there)
Dasein literally means “Being there,” or, in other words, being in a
particular place. Hence Dasein is used to mean human existence.
In traditional German philosophy, Dasein was used in a general way to
stand for almost any kind of Being or existence which something has,
for example, the existence of God. In common usage, Dasein was used to
stand for the kind of existence which belongs to persons.
Understanding of Being is itself a definitive characteristic of Dasein’s
Being. Dasein is ontically distinctive in that it is ontological.
— Heidegger, Being and Time
death - (from NDE) (Indo-European dheu: to become
senseless) One of the preoccupations of existential philosophy, death
for Sartre proves the absurdity of life. Existential
thinkers on the whole are concerned to define and interpret death properly
so that man is encouraged to face death with reckless freedom, embracing
its absurdity yet not permitting death to rob life of all meaning and
freedom.
When death is the greatest danger, one hopes for life; but when one
becomes acquainted with an even more dreadful danger, one hopes for
death. — Kierkegaard, The Sickness
Unto Death
The thought of death can give rise to the fear of not living authentically.
One glimpse of the void within and without, and we take refuge in ceaseless
activity, eschewing reflection. But the secret restlessness remains.
The life force delivers us from it only in appearance; only the sheer
force of the thought of death itself frees us in truth. It affirms
that other than merely vital significance of man: the eternal weight
of his love. Peace in the face of death springs from the awareness
of what no death can take away. — Jaspers, Philosophy
Is for Everyman
When Heidegger speaks about the anticipation
of one’s own death it is not the question of immortality which concerns
him but the questions of what the anticipation of death means for the
human situation. — Tillich, The Courage
to Be
Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete. — Frankl, From
Death Camp to Existentialism
despair - (from NDE) (Latin de + spes: without
hope) For existential thinkers, particularly Kierkegaard,
despair is one of the most significant human emotions which provides
the spur to fruitful thought about the nature of the human condition. Tillich later
repeats the same estimate, adding the qualification that the emotion
of despair itself is not necessarily experienced by all or even the majority
of people.
Not to be one’s own self is despair. … To despair is to lose the eternal.
— Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto
Death
All human life can be interpreted as a continuous attempt to avoid
despair. And this attempt is mostly successful. Extreme situations
are not reached frequently and perhaps they are never reached by some
people. — Tillich, The Courage to
Be
dialectic - Process associated with Hegel of
discovering truth by stating a thesis, developing a contradictory antithesis,
and combining and resolving them into a coherent synthesis. The Marxian
process of change through the conflict of opposing forces, whereby a
given contradiction is characterized by a primary and a secondary aspect,
the secondary succumbing to the primary, which is then transformed into
an aspect of a new contradiction.
- E -
ego - Used by Sartre to describe self-acknowledgment. This is
not the Freudian ego, but rather a consciousness of self in the world.
epistemology - A branch of philosophy dedicated to scientific
studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations,
and its extent and validity.
epoché - The act of suspending interpretation and judgment in
order to better study the actual structure and content of an object or
phenomena. A term from phenomenology.
essence - The intrinsic or indispensable properties that serve
to characterize or identify something. The inherent, unchanging nature
of a thing or class of things. Phenomenology and existentialism aim to
observe the essence of objects. In existentialism, one’s essence is his
or her role in the universe. This essence changes constantly with each
decision made.
ethics - In existential works, ethics refers to a system, a formalized
method for determining “right and wrong” in any situation. Morals are
practices dictated by probability, producing a conformity of behavior
among a community.
existence - The state of being, usually in the material, scientific
sense. In existentialism, the existence of a person does not define the
individual; the individual is defined by his or her actions and thoughts.
(from NDE) (Latin existere: to stand forth) Existential
thinkers write of existence as it is in its factuality as opposed to
idealistic philosophy (such as Hegelianism) which equated essence with
existence to the detriment of existence. Passion and responsibility are
two of the most significant aspects of existence as viewed by Kierkegaard
and Sartre.
existentialism - (You skipped the introduction, didn’t you? Scroll
back and read this page completely.) The doctrine that among sentient
beings, especially humanity, existence takes precedence over essence
and holding that man is totally free and responsible for his acts. This
responsibility is the source of dread and anguish that encompass mankind.
An existential system is impossible. An existential system cannot
be formulated. Does this mean that no such system exists? By no means;
nor is this implied in our assertion. Reality itself is a system —
for God; but it cannot be a system for any existing spirit. System
and finality correspond to one another, but existence is precisely
the opposite of finality. — Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific
Postscript
Existential Vacuum - (from NDE) The psychological condition
in which a person doubts that life has any meaning. This new neurosis
is characterized by loss of interest and lack of initiative. According
to Viktor Frankl, the existential vacuum
is apparently a concomitant of industrialization. When neither instinct
nor social tradition direct man toward what he ought to do, soon he will
not even know what he wants to do, and the existential vacuum results.
Because of social pressure, individualism is rejected by most people
in favor of conformity. Thus the individual relies mainly upon the
actions of others and neglects the meaning of his own personal life.
Hence he sees his own life as meaningless and falls into the “existential
vacuum” feeling inner void. Progressive automation causes increasing
alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, and suicide. — Frankl speaking.
- F -
facticity - Those features of reality that cannot be transformed.
Many things are not controlled by anyone, especially in nature and science.
Sartre recognized these external factors, to which sentient beings can
only respond.
freedom - The condition leading to both human accomplishment
and anguish. I differ from existentialists in that I support the “freedom
to” while Sartre and his socialist colleagues supported a “freedom from”
certain conditions. I worry that we sacrifice our freedom to do things
and express thoughts in return for “freedoms from” various concerns.
(from NDE) (Anglo-Saxon freo: not in bondage, noble) Man
is essentially free and not determined by any external factor whatever,
according to existential thought. Jean-Paul Sartre has
formulated the most radical doctrine of freedom in the history of western
thought. Accordingly, no limit to human freedom is admitted, neither
temporal nor divine.
Sartre wants men to accept their own absolute responsibility for their
lives. Thus he opposes any reliance upon the divine. All of man’s alibis
are unacceptable: no gods are responsible for man’s condition, no original
sin, no heredity or environment, no race, no caste, no father, no mother,
no wrong-headed education, no impulse or disposition, no complex, no
childhood trauma. Man is completely free. Man is condemned to
be free.
Our description of freedom, since it does not distinguish between
choosing and doing, compels us to abandon at once the distinction between
the intention and the act. The intention can no more be separated from
the act than thought can be separated from the language which expresses
it. — Sartre, Being and Nothingness
How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand
those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom
of speech. — Kierkegaard (Victor Eremita), Either/Or
Freedom wills itself, because it already possesses a grasp of its
possibility. — Jaspers, The Philosophy
of Karl Jaspers
Freedom, however, is only in the choice of one possibility — that
is, in tolerating one’s not having chosen the others and one’s not
being able to choose them. — Heidegger, Being
and Time
[CSW: Can anyone untangle Heidegger? His writings are as clear as a
legal filing.]
fused group - A collective formed by a spontaneous common social
goal or aspiration. Unfortunately, most fused groups are merely mobs.
future - Existentialists focus their lives on the future, always
attempting to become more, to learn more, to experience more of life.
Life, being, is the process of becoming; this means the future is how
men define themselves. We act and think looking forward. The future is
why we do things.
- G -
god / God - (from NDE) (Unknown origin, goth or guth:
to call out) Existential philosophers are divided into atheistic and
theistic schools of thought, according to Sartre.
The atheistic existentialists are Nietzsche,
Sartre and the French school of existentialism, and Heidegger.
The theistic existentialists are Kierkegaard, Jaspers,
and Tillich. More important than this formal
division is each thinker’s conception of God and the place assigned to
God within his thought.
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote of the “death
of God,” by which he meant the loss of the culture’s base values.
Jean-Paul Sartre, who also speaks of the death of God, means that it
is necessary for man to invent his own values, to freely choose oneself
as an image of man for all men.
Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in
consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either
within or outside himself. He discovers forthwith, that he is without
excuse.
Existentialism is not atheistic in the sense that it would exhaust
itself in demonstrations of the non-existence of God. It declares,
rather, that even if God existed that it would make no difference from
its point of view. — Sartre, essay: “Existentialism”
The best proof of the soul’s immortality, that God exists, etc., actually
is the impression once received thereof in childhood, namely the proof
which, differing from the many learned and grandiloquent proofs, could
be summarized thus: It is absolutely true, because my father told me
so. — Kierkegaard, The Diary
God does not exist. He is being-itself beyond essence and existence.
Therefore, to argue that God exists is to deny him. — Tillich, Systematic
Theology
good - (from NDE) (Sanskrit gadh: to hold fast,
fit) The individual is the only center for the choice of the good. No
rules or commandments or laws have any ethical significance unless they
are chosen by the individual. This choice is completely free. Man is
free to choose his own nature. Man alone is responsible to choose what
he is to become, and this is his choice alone. Objective advice on moral
matters cannot be given, as choice and value are subjective.
Nobody, up to now, has doubted that the “good” man represents a higher
value than the “evil,” in terms of promoting and benefiting mankind
generally, even taking the long view. But suppose the exact opposite
were true. What if the “good” man represents not merely a retrogression
but even a danger, a temptation, a narcotic drug enabling the present
to live at the expense of the future? More comfortable, less hazardous,
perhaps, but also baser, more petty — so that morality itself would
be responsible for man, as a species, failing to reach the peak of
magnificence of which he is capable? What if morality should turn out
to be the danger of dangers? — Nietzsche, The
Genealogy of Morals
Sartre’s definition of the good vary with
his three major works. [CSW: What is good to Sartre and the French movement
is that which preserves freedom. Unfortunately, preserving freedom is
not a clear matter. Sartre was not bothered
by inconsistency. He shifted his beliefs and arguments throughout his
life.] In the first, Being and Nothingness (1943), he argues
that one man’s freedom represents a hopeless obstacle to another’s. In
the second, Existentialism is a Humanism (1946), he argues
that it is impossible for one to choose one’s own freedom without thereby
choosing freedom for others as well. In the third, Critique of
Dialectical Reason (1960), the viewpoint is that experience shows
each individual that he is capable of inventing the world in “praxis,”
which proceeds by means of a dialectical struggle to replace the present
by a future which is foreseen.
- H -
Historical Materialism - (from NDE) Jean-Paul
Sartre’s term explaining part of his attitude toward Marxism.
The only view of dialectical materialism which makes sense is historical
materialism, that is, materialism viewed from inside the history of
man’s relation with matter.
history - (from NDE) History, according to existential
thinking, is the precondition of human knowledge.
Sartre used the term historicize:
(from NDE) To have a history, in the sense of becoming involved
as a person in the actual world. Sartre seems to say that the individual
can choose to have a history.
All the Existential philosophers agree on the historical character
of immediate personal experience. But the fact that man has a fundamentally
“historical Existence” does not mean merely that he has a theoretical
interest in the past; his Existence is not directed toward the past
at all. It is the attitude not of the detached spectator, but of the
actor who must face the future and make personal decisions. — Tillich, Theology
of Culture
hope - (from NDE) Kierkegaard,
in recounting the Abraham story, says that it was necessary for Abraham
to have renounced everything, to have given up all hope that things were
going to turn out all right in the end, before anything divine could
happen to him.
[CSW: I’m sure Isaac would have appreciated a bit of hope. But hope
is not the same as loyalty and faith. What God asks of us, no matter
how odd, is what we must do in Kierkegaard’s
view.]
Human Nature - (from NDE) There is no settled human nature,
according to existentialism. Because the will is more basic than the
reason, the choice the individual makes of his own nature is more basic
than the rational analysis of that nature.
- I -
ideal - (from NDE) An important concept for Kierkegaard’s
later thought. As he sought to apply his concepts to social and religious
conditions, he made extensive use of the category of the ideal. Not defined,
it was considered a self-evident idea, the ideal being contrasted with
the actual.
The ideal means hatred of man. What man naturally loves is finitude.
To face him with the ideal is the most dreadful torture. Certainly,
when the ideal is produced in the most exalted poetic fashion, like
an enchanting vision of the imagination, he accepts this pleasure.
… (¶) But when the ideal is produces as the ethico-religious demand,
it is the most dreadful torture of man. — Kierkegaard, The
Last Years
All ideals of man are impossible, because man’s potentialities are infinite.
There can be no perfect man. This has important philosophical consequences.
Conscious of his freedom, man desires to become what he can and should
be. He conceives an ideal of his nature. As on the plane of cognition,
the idea of man as an object of scientific inquiry may lead to a falsely
definitive image of him, so on the plane of freedom he may falsely
choose a path leading to an absolute ideal. From helpless questioning
and bewilderment, he thus aspires to take refuge in a universal that
he can imitate in its concrete forms. — Jaspers, The
Perennial Scope of Philosophy
immortality - (from NDE) This topic, of tremendous interest
to the history of western philosophy in general, if of little interest
to Existentialism. … Most Existentialists prefer to discuss and analyze
the present and the immediate future rather than the transcendent reality
of a supernatural world-view.
The philosophical idea of the natural immortality of the soul deduced
from its substantiality leads nowhere. It ignores the fact of death
and denies the tragedy of it. — Nicolas Berdyaev, The Destiny
of Man
We are mortal as mere empirical beings, immortal when we appear in
time as that which is eternal. We are mortal when we are loveless,
immortal as lovers. We are mortal in indecision, immortal in resolution.
We are mortal as natural processes, immortal when given to ourselves
in freedom. — Jaspers, Philosophy
Is for Everyman
individual - (from NDE) One of the key Existential themes,
originating with Kierkegaard, expressing
the opposition to idealism, to any tyranny whether rational or legal
over the right of the existing person to choose the course and nature
of his own life.
The individual is opposed to universal laws, norms, necessities; untragically,
he represents mere willfulness opposing the law; tragically, he represents
the genuine exception which, though opposing the law, yet has truth
on his side. — Jaspers, Tragedy Is
Not Enough
The very term “individual” points to the interdependence of self-relatedness
and individualization. A self-centered being cannot be divided. It
can be destroyed, or it can be deprived of certain parts out of which
new self-centered beings emerge… Man not only is completely self-centered;
he also is completely individualized. — Tillich, Systematic
Theology
The first effect of existentialism is that it puts every man in possession
of himself as he is, and places the entire responsibility for his existence
squarely upon his own shoulders. — Sartre, Existentialism
is a Humanism
in-itself - (from NDE) (French en-soi) Sartre’s
term for non-conscious reality, as contrasted with conscious reality,
or the being of the human person (being-for-itself).
- K -
knowledge - (from NDE) For Kierkegaard,
the term knowledge was ambiguous. If it meant the Hegelian attempt
to understand the world and man in completely rational terms, then it
represented the idealistic system which Existential thinking completely
opposed.
Knowledge demolishes Jesus Christ. … From history one can learn nothing
about Christ. — Kierkegaard, Training
in Christianity
That is, Kierkegaard believed that it
is impossible to base faith upon knowledge, especially knowledge about
historical events. Knowledge cannot provide certainty, not for the existing
individual, and it is a fatal distraction for the individual to attempt
to ground his faith in knowledge.
Knowledge and Becoming exclude each other. Consequently knowledge
must signify something different. A “will to make recognizable” must
precede it; a special kind of becoming, man, must have created the
deception of Being. — Nietzsche, Will
to Power
Man… lost the power of knowing real being… lost access to reality
and was reduced to studying knowledge. One cannot arrive at being —
one can only start with it. — Nicolas Berdyaev, Solitude and
Society
Knowing is a form of union. In every act of knowledge the knower and
that which is known are united; the gap between subject and object
is overcome. The subject “grasps” the object, adapts it to itself,
and, at the same time, adapts itself to the object. But the union of
knowledge is a peculiar one; it is a union through separation. Detachment
is the condition of cognitive union. In order to know, one must “look”
at a thing, and, in order to look at a thing, one must be “at a distance.”
— Tillich, Systematic Theology
- L -
law - (from NDE) (Norman laq: due place) Every
law is a tyranny over the living man. As an objective and universal thing,
law seeks to control the individual and impair his freedom. The particular
view taken of law by the various Existential thinkers will depend on
their view of the more general term, “good.”
The ethics of law is the expression of herd morality. It organizes
the life of the average man, of the human herd, and leaves altogether
out of account the creative human personality which rises above the
common level. It deals with personality in the abstract; the concrete
person does not exist for it. — Nicolas Berdyaev, The Destiny
of Man
[CSW: Complying with laws is a choice. Ideally, the existentialist tries
to balance the need for individual freedom with order in a society.]
With us, law is no longer custom, it can only command and be
compulsion; none of us any longer possesses a traditional sense of
justice; we must therefore content ourselves with arbitrary laws,
which are the expressions of the necessity that there must be law.
The most logical is then in any case the most acceptable, because it
is the most impartial, granting even that in every case the
smallest unit of measure in the relation of crime and punishment is
arbitrarily fixed. — Nietzsche, Human,
All-Too-Human
Logotherapy - (from NDE) In Existential psychology, the
term for Dr. Viktor Frankl’s therapy. The
theory states that the spiritual aspects of the distressed individuals
require treatment rather than the physical symptoms. Thus it is names
Logotherapy, from the Greek word “logos,” which is “word,” “meanings,”
or “spiritual.”
“Logos” being the meaning — and, beyond that, something pertaining
to the noetic, and not the psychic, dimension of man. — Frankl, From
Death Camp to Existentialism
According to logotherapy, the striving to a meaning in one’s own life
is the primary motivational force in man. — Frankl, Man’s
Search for Meaning
It is, of course, not the aim of logotherapy to take the place of
existing psycho-therapy, but only to complement it… which includes
the spiritual dimension. — Frankl, Doctor
of the Soul
Thus, logotherapy is a personalistic psychotherapy which does not concern
itself primarily with symptoms, but rather tries to bring about a change
in orientation with respect to the symptoms. The therapeutic aim of logotherapy
is to make the individual aware of him purpose in life and to bring him
to a fuller understanding of it.
Logotherapy is based on the observation that uncertainty about life’s
meaning is one of the most important causes of emotional problems in
the world today.
love - (from NDE) (Old English lëof: dear,
or Latin lubere) Jaspers writes that
one of the elements of philosophical faith is “love as the fundamental
actualization of the eternal man.” To this end, a sympathy must be maintained
even for those forms of knowledge, such as myths, which have been rejected
by philosophy.
Mythological categories contain a truth that strikes us with irresistible
evidence when the chaff is separated from the grain. To ignore this
truth is to impoverish one’s soul, to create a vacuum. A man who has
lost his ear for such language seems no longer capable of love. For
if the transcendent has become entirely nonsensuous, it no longer holds
for him an object of love. — Jaspers, The
Perennial Scope of Philosophy
Love is always love; that is its static and absolute side. But love
is always dependent on that which is loved, and therefore it is unable
to force finite elements on finite existence in the name of an assumed
absolute. The absoluteness of love is its power to go into the concrete
situation, to discover what is demanded by the predicament of the concrete
to which it turns. Therefore, love can never become fanatical in a
fight with an absolute, or cynical under the impact of the relative.
— Tillich, Systematic Theology
Love is a conflict. … Why does the lover want to be loved? If Love
were in fact a pure desire for the physical possession, it could in
many ways be satisfied. — Sartre, Being
and Nothingness
- M -
man - (from NDE) (Sanscrit manu) Existentialists
form their view of man by beginning with the fact that the individual
is always the existent-in-the-world, already in encounter. Generally
speaking, they hold that there is no such thing as a pure subject. [CSW:
Man, in this view, is whatever he chooses to be, not merely a physical
entity, but a collection of actions and interactions.]
Kierkegaard’s view of man can be viewed
as similar to that of the classical Greek philosophers. Man is a unit
composed of three parts: the soul, the body, and the spirit, or self.
By “soul” he means the intellect or reason. By “body” he means sense-perceptions
or sensuousness, the Danish masking an ambiguity. By “spirit” or “self”
he means the self-consciousness or will.
To know what man is, is the only knowledge that is possible for us,
for we are men ourselves — and that alone is essential — for man is
the measure of all things. — Jaspers, The
Perennial Scope of Philosophy
Marxism - (from NDE) In his later thought, Sartre tends
to see the ethical and political completion of existentialism in Marxism.
This Marxism is a Marxism of a special
kind, namely one which is purged of such “nineteenth-century anachronisms”
as determinism, and one which incorporates the humanizing influences
of existentialism with its regard for the existing individual. The conflict
between individuals, rather than being due to the nature of the universe,
is instead due to economic scarcity. When scarcity is overcome, conflict
will also, in principle, be cured.
[CSW: Marxism is a return to German Idealism or even the Enlightenment
notion that mankind could achieve peace and some form of utopia. This
idealism is counter to existentialism, in that it removes the challenges
of life from existence.]
morality - Doing as the powerful in a society or social system
dictate. If one believes in a deity, that deity is the most powerful
entity in existence, so its rules must be followed in order to be moral.
- N -
nausea - (from NDE) (Greek nausia: illness) The
title of Sartre’s famous novel of solipsistic
despair, and the name Sartre uses for man’s reaction in experiencing
the absurd world. Both the physical world and the realization of their
own uselessness give men the feeling of revulsion which Sartre calls
nausea.
Necessary Being - The rationalistic explanation of a deity; a
being that cannot not exist due to the paradox created. Many existentialists
have faith, therefore they believe in a being or intellect preceding
all other existence. Sartre viewed the paradox as evidence there was
no Creator.
nihilism - Often viewed as "amoral" by some, nihilism
is amoral in the existential sense. Nihilism is the rejection of all
distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate
all previous theories of morality or religious belief. Politically, nihilism
is the belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions
is necessary for future improvement.
Nihilism is associated with Nietzsche,
who was not a nihilist according to most scholars.
- O -
objectivity - The ability to study events or objects dispassionately,
without any prejudice or bias. Existentialists consider claims of objectivity
bad faith, since human objectivity is impossible.
ontology - The theory of existence; the idea there is a reality.
original project - The fundamental choice of being that each
sentient being makes in every action performed.
- P -
Paradoxical Intention - (from NDE) Frankl’s
term for one of the procedural methods in treatment of mental illness
on existential-psychoanalytic principles. It refers to the paradoxical
wish which the patient may use to take the place of his fears
As soon as the patient stops fighting his obsessions and instead tries
to ridicule them by dealing with them in an ironical way, by applying
paradoxical intention, the vicious circle is out. — Frankl, Man’s
Search for Meaning
phenomenology - The long definitions are at the top of this web
page, so scroll on back if you want to read the long-winded discussion.
The simplified version: A movement originated by Edmund
Husserl, meaning the study of appearances. The study of all possible
appearances in human experience, during which considerations of objective
reality and of purely subjective response are left out of account. It
should be noted Hegel published essays on phenomenology,
but Husserl organized a formalized system
recognized as the “phenomenological method” of philosophical study.
Philosophical Anthropology - (from NDE) Sartre’s
term for the new science which he believes is needed to properly understand
man. The existing tools and methods of the sciences — natural science,
traditional sociology, anthropology — are not adequate for the task.
positivism - The philosophy contending that sense perceptions
are the only admissible basis of human knowledge and precise thought.
Phenomenology, epistemology, and other schools of thought reflect some
positivistic influences.
praxis - (from NDE) (Greek: deed or action) Sartre uses
this Greek word to refer to any purposeful human activity. The whole
structure of the Critique of Dialectical Reason depends
on the notion of praxis, that is, man’s action in the world, his work,
and his rational intention in the material universe.
[CSW: An action, as defined by Karl Marx,
leading to a definitive chain of events. Existentialists view every decision
as a “defining moment” but a praxis represents a revolution in the essence
of an individual or community.]
psychology - (from NDE) Existential interest in the theory
of man has led to its formulation of a psychological theory which is
distinctive. Sartre, Jaspers, and others of the philosophical Existentialists
have written a great deal on the topic.
In Europe there are four explicitly Existential psycho-therapists, who
are (1) Viktor Frankl, the Viennese neuropsychiatrist,
founder of “Logotherapy,” (2) Ludwig Binswanger, the Swiss psychiatrist,
founder of “Existential Analysis,” (3) Medard Boss, also a Swiss psychiatrist,
who calls his therapy “Daseinanalysis,” and (4) Hans Trüb, Swiss,
who calls his therapy “anthropological.”
Existential psychoanalysis is going to reveal to man the real goal
of his pursuit, which is being as a synthetic fusion of the in-itself
with the for-itself; existential psychoanalysis is going to acquaint
man with his passion. — Sartre, Being
and Nothingness
- R -
radical conversion - The responsibility and possibility that
each being has in each moment of life. At any moment a sentient being
can reject his or her original project and select another course
in life.
rationalism - The theory all events are logically linked.
reason - (from NDE) (Latin ratio: computation,
calculation) Kierkegaard uses reason
in two senses: (1) discursively, as in the normal, everyday type of reasoning,
reasoning for the sake of a definite conclusion, and (2) as it is in
a faith-philosophy, as a term for all the creative processes of the mind,
including imagination and esthetic judgment.
reflected consciousness - Thoughts about thoughts. Sartre found
thinking about how and why we think quite interesting. The moment one
ponders other thoughts, he or she is acting as a philosopher.
- S -
society - (from NDE) The reason for the existential rejection
of society lies in the failure of existential philosophy to provide for
a clearly non-repressive social organization, one which allows the individual
freedom to develop.
Freedom for the individual is possible only by becoming free from the
restrictions of society, which is the animal organization of man at any
rate — “the herd,” or “the crowd.” This is a theme which Nietzsche also
developed, in speaking of the “transvaluation of values,” by which the
true individual would be freed from the restrictions of society.
subjective - How everything is viewed by existentialism: nothing
is certain, it is all opinion, bias, and prejudice.
- T -
totalization - Sartre’s theory that
every historical moment is a product of and contains traces of all the
moments leading up to it.
transcendence - The mental act of projecting a consciousness
beyond itself, referring to and establishing new relations with entities
that are external to the self.
- U -
unreflected consciousness - Thoughts of external objects and
concepts, without any consideration as to the nature of the thoughts.
This form of consciousness is the “practical” mode of thought used at
most times by sentient beings, as compared to reflected consciousness.
