Existential Questions (w5 to w8) Flashcards
(26 cards)
Who is Martin Heidegger?
German philosopher (1889-1976) who revolutionized 20th century philosophy.
Key Contributions:
Against the traditional western philosophical canon of scientific enquiry, instead opting to focus on the central tenet of “Dasein” = “being there”. To this end, his central philosophical project was the question of Being (“Seinsfrage”). Used a phenomenological approach, focusing on the human experience of Being.
Core Concepts:
* “Being-in-the-world” (humans as always already engaged with their environment; practical engagement)
* Facticity
* Comportments
* Existential care (basic structure of Dasein)
* Anxiety (mortality, revealing our nature and possibiulities),
* Thrownness (we are “thrown” into existence without choice)
* Phenomenology
* Authenticity, “das Man” = “the they”
Legacy:
* Foundational to existentialism
* Influenced Sartre
Who is Jean-Paul Sartre?
French philosopher, playwright, and novelist (1905-1980) who popularized existentialism.
Key Contributions:
* Established existentialism as a major philosophical and cultural movement
* Developed a philosophy of radical freedom and responsibility in “Being and Nothingness” (1943)
Core Concepts:
* Existence precedes essence (humans have no predetermined nature)
* Radical freedom (we are “condemned to be free”)
* Bad faith (self-deception that denies one’s freedom)
* The Look/Gaze (how others objectify us and limit our freedom)
* Project (the ongoing creation of self through choices)
* Nothingness (consciousness as a kind of non-being)
Legacy:
* Major influence on post-war philosophy, literature, and political thought
* Refused the Nobel Prize for Literature (1964)
* Relationship with Simone de Beauvoir shaped feminist existentialism
Who is Albert Camus?
French-Algerian philosopher, author, and journalist (1913-1960) associated with existentialism and absurdism.
Key Contributions:
* Developed the philosophy of the absurd in “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942)
* Explored moral questions in novels like “The Stranger” (1942) and “The Plague” (1947)
Core Concepts:
* The Absurd (the conflict between human desire for meaning and the universe’s silence)
* Rebellion (the proper response to absurdity is to rebel against it)
* Refusal of suicide (both physical and philosophical)
* Lucidity (clear-eyed acceptance of life’s absurdity)
* Solidarity (ethical commitment to others despite absurdity)
* “One must imagine Sisyphus happy” (finding meaning in the struggle itself)
Legacy:
* Rejected the label of “existentialist”
* Complicated relationship with Sartre
* Influenced literature, philosophy, and revolutionary politics
* Died in a car accident at age 46
Concept
What is “Dasein”?
“Being there”. Basically human existence.
Martin Heidegger
Define
Ontology
The existence of things. The nature of being.
Define
Phenomoenlogy
The perception of things.
Concept
Existenialism
About the very nature of being.
Define
Intrinsic
Belonging naturally; essential.
Define
Epistemic
Relating to knowledge; to the degree of validation of knowledge
Define
Semantic
Relating to meaning in language and logic
Define
A priori
Denoting reasoning and knowledge from theoretical or logical deduction, instead of observation or experience
Define
A posteriori
Denoting probable causes from observation or experience, instead of through theoretical or logical deduction
An empirical claim that results from scientific enquiry
Define
Parsimonious
Very unwilling to spend money (or use resources)
You could say Berlin is a parsimonious state
Define
Cogent
A clear, logical and convincing argument
She presented a cogent study of the cohort
Define
Innocuous
Not harmful or offensive
An innocuous remark
Define
Hubris
Excessive confidence in onesself; pride
He was full of hubris
Define
Phenomenology
The study of consciousness
Define
Empirical
Based on observation or experience, instead of theory or logic
Define
Absurdity
Quote
“There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide”
Albert Camus
The Myth of Sisyphus
Define
Ad infitium
Forever; again and again in the same way
Quote
“Existence precedes essence”
Jean-Paul Sartre
1945 Public Lecture on Existentialism and Humanism
Concept
What is “bad faith”?
Self-deception. Hiding from decision making and responsibility.
Jean-Paul Sartre
What does the phrase “existence precedes essence” mean?
Fundamental concept in existentialism. Particularly associated with Jean-Paul Sartre (he coined the phrase).
Humans first come into existence without a premeditated purpose or meaning (an essence). Humans must create their own essence through choices and actions. Unlike objects (where essence precedes existence; note. example of objects whose shared characteristics are the essence of an object; a switch blade needs a blade otherwise it is not a switch blade; a light bulb needs a light, otherwise it is not a light bulb), humans must define themselves after already existing.
