Damascene Philosophy

Schools of thought

Existentialism

19th and 20th centuries

The movement that holds we are thrown into existence without a given nature or purpose, and must make ourselves through our choices.

The core idea

Existentialism begins with the individual, concrete human being, not with abstract systems. Søren Kierkegaard insisted that the most important truths must be lived by a particular person, and Friedrich Nietzsche asked what could give life value after the 'death of God'.

In mid-twentieth-century France, Jean-Paul Sartre gave the movement its slogan: Existence precedes essence. We have no fixed human nature; we exist first and define ourselves by what we do. This freedom brings total responsibility, and the anguish of knowing there is no excuse. Fleeing it is bad faith. Simone de Beauvoir showed how freedom is shaped and limited by our situation and by others.

Existentialism spread through novels and plays as much as treatises, and shaped psychology, theology and literature. Its themes, authenticity, anxiety, death and meaning, are at the heart of the meaning of life entry.

What they hold

  • Existence precedes essence: there is no fixed human nature that defines us in advance.
  • We are free, and responsible for what we make of ourselves.
  • Meaning is created through choice and commitment, not discovered ready-made.
  • Living authentically means owning our freedom rather than hiding from it.

The main criticisms

Critics argue that existentialism exaggerates freedom, ignoring the biological, social and economic forces that shape us, a point de Beauvoir partly conceded. Others say it offers no standard for choosing between commitments, so that it cannot condemn a life of cruelty chosen authentically. Some see in it a romantic individualism that neglects community.

Key figures

1813 – 1855

Søren Kierkegaard

The Danish writer often called the first existentialist, who insisted that truth must be lived by an individual, not just understood.

1844 – 1900

Friedrich Nietzsche

The philosopher who announced the death of God, attacked conventional morality, and asked whether you could will your life to recur forever.

1905 – 1980

Jean-Paul Sartre

The leading voice of existentialism, who argued that we are 'condemned to be free' and responsible for everything we make of ourselves.

1908 – 1986

Simone de Beauvoir

An existentialist philosopher and novelist who showed how freedom is shaped by situation, and wrote the founding text of modern feminism.

Where it comes up

Question

Are you born with a nature?

A knife is made for cutting before it exists. Sartre argued that people are the reverse: we exist first, and only then decide what we are.

Question

Does life have meaning without being given one?

If no one designed us for a purpose, is a human life meaningful anyway, or do we have to make meaning ourselves, or is the search itself the problem?

Thought experiment

Must we imagine Sisyphus happy?

Condemned by the gods to roll a boulder uphill forever, only to watch it roll back down. Camus saw in him an image of every human life, and concluded that he could be happy.

Thought experiment

Would you live your life again, forever?

A demon tells you that you will live this exact life again, every moment, infinitely many times. Would you curse him, or call it the most divine thing you ever heard?

Question

Is free will an illusion?

You feel like the author of your choices. The question is whether that feeling tracks anything real.

Question

Should we fear death?

Epicurus argued that death is nothing to us: when it comes, we are gone. Few have found the argument convincing, and fewer have refuted it.

Further reading