In this sense the human being is "response-able" to the existential predicament that is life and the necessary struggles that arise through negotiating these conditions in every lived moment. .
In this essay I will give a brief outline of the history of existential thinkers, then discuss how the existential challenge emphasises one's freedom of choice of being-in-the-world and how ultimately one must take responsibility for how one reacts to .
e givens of existence. I will outline how these predicaments of life can precipitate anxiety, guilt, inertia and the loss of will; that facing the responsibilities to the "givens" and choices in existence can cause ontological anxiety, a natural reactio.
to living authentically, and the problems incurred when one avoids tackling these predicaments and contradictions, thus living inauthentically or choosing to withdraw into a solitary world. The existential notion of pathology will be contrasted with tha.
of the positivist approach.
During the Second World War existentialism found it's zenith of popularity, a time when Europe was in crisis, faced with mass death and destruction. Existentialism provides a moving account of the agony of being thrown into the world, perhaps appealing .
the times of intense confusion, despair and rootlesssness caused by the War and it's aftermath. In the 19th century existential thought is found in the writings of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Friederich Neitzche (1844-1900), Fyodor Dostoyevoski (182.
1881) and later Jean-Paul Satre (1905-1980), all of whom were opposed to the predominant philosophies, and scientific dogmas, of their time and committed to exploring the experience of reality in a passionate and personal manner. .
The birth of modern existentialism can be attributed to Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), who's thinking was applied to psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychoanalysis by Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966) and Medard Boss (1903- 1990).
