Existentialism

Mind Map: Father of Existentialism - Soren Kierkegaard

• Soren Kierkegaard: Father of Existentialism

1. Existentialism

   • Philosophy of the search for meaning

   • Movement and mental framework

   • Importance of the question over the answer

2. Difficulties in Existentialism

   • Challenges in defining existence

     1. Existentialism is not so much of a Philosophical system as a movement, an attitude, a frame of mind

     2. The question of what is the meaning of life is more important than the answer.2.

3. Currents of Existentialist Philosophers

   • Atheists

     • Jean Paul Sartre

     • Albert Camus

     • Maurice Merleau-Ponty

   • Theists

     • Karl Jaspers

     • Gabriel Marcel

     • Martin Buber

     • Martin Heidegger

4. 5 Common Characteristics of Existentialists

   • Actor vs. Viewer

   • Subjectivity vs. Objectivity

   • Freedom and Authenticity

   • Situatedness of Man

   • Freedom

   • Authenticity vs. Inauthenticity

• Soren Kierkegaard

  • Existence is a religious category

• Martin Heidegger

  • Man is a Dasein (there-being)

• Karl Jaspers

  • Existence as transcending oneself through limit situations

• Gabriel Marcel

  • To exist is to co-exist (esse est coesse)

• Jean Paul Sartre

  • Existence as condemned to freedom

• Maurice Merleau-Ponty

  • Man condemned to meaning

• Albert Camus

  • Existence as living the absurdity of life

5. Freedom

• Soren Kierkegaard

  • Aesthetic state to ethical; leap of faith

• Martin Heidegger

  • Man is a Dasein (there-being)

• Gabriel Marcel

  • Freedom is man’s ability to say “yes” to being.

• Jean Paul Sartre

  • Existence precedes Essence

• Maurice Merleau-Ponty

  • Freedom is situated in man’s body

6. Authentic vs. Inauthentic Existence

   • Values

     • Is that for which a person lives and dies for

     • That around which all my human activities revolve