The existentialist believes that we live in a world where there are two types of people. People that follow the ideals of society because that's the way they have been taught and have always been raised, and people that do not conform to societies ideals but live their life according to how they feel their actions benefit themselves best. The existentialist feels their actions lead to the greater good and their actions are self-righteous. They feel their actions are for no other good but self. The benefit of society is just a side benefit but it is great because if everyone followed these ideals people would.
think with the mindset that "what if everyone thought like this". .
Existentialism is not easily defined because one of, if not the most basic existential philosophy is that of individualism. The trouble with having this as one of the foremost principals of the existentialistic doctrine is that one could almost say it encourages individual interpretations. However confusing, having this as a fundamental philosophy allows its followers to more closely relate existential values to themselves; thus increasing their personal relevancy. So much of the existential beliefs revolve around the individual, for example they believe very strongly that we make our own decisions on life and the reactions, be them good or bad, are the results of our actions-not an outside force. The 19th-century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard was one of the first to express the existential way of thought; in fact he was the first person to refer to himself as an existentialist. A relevant statement he wrote in his journal goes as follows: "I must find a truth that is true for me the idea for which I can live or die." This statement defines the importance of Moral Individualism to the existential way of thought and defines the existentialist statement "existence precedes essence." .
There are a few basic themes of existentialism.
For a while now I've been going through a long thought process wondering not "What is man? " but "What am I?- and where I belong in the garden maze known as life. My philosophy on all the topics that we've had in this course and those that I've experienced in my life are rather optimistic, hypocriti...
