Existentialism Notes Essay

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Existentialism
I. Happiness
A. Pleasure(Hedonism)
1. Low order, simple, or base enjoyment(emotional & physical)
2. Pleasure as the necessary and sufficient element of a good life
3. Hedonism without foresight(non-philosophical)
4. Psychological Hedonism(Freud/Epicurus)
B. Eudaimonia(Virtue of character)
1. Higher order enjoyment(intelligence & virtue)
2. Activity of the rational soul in accordance with virtue
3. Without autonomy and reason pleasure has little or no value
4. Aristotle
a. Only an end, never a mean
b. Golden mean
c. Virtuous life
d. Habit
II. Power(Nietzsche/Adler)
Nietzsche
A. Will to power & The Overman1. Master morality(Independent & professes love of Power)
2. Slave morality(Submission & professes no love of Power)
B. ‘God is dead’
1. Zarathustra
a. Power as a burden
b.
2. Atheism = freedom
3. No objective values means we make our own
4. Atheism forces man to find in himself the standard which is best
5. Belief in God destroys man
a. Takes away freedom
b. Generates a false morality

III. Divine mandate(Kierkegaard)
Kierkegaard: Individual relationship with God
I. The Individual
A. Universals destroy the individual
B. Authentic existence is in ones (individual) relationship with
God (self-actualization)
II. Three stages of self-actualization
A. Aesthetic (Don Juan)
1. Senses and pleasure(ego)
2. Live for the ‘now’
B. Ethical (Tragic hero)
1. Moral standards recognized (universals)
2. May apply to self but originates as universal
C. Religious (Knight of Faith)
1. Breaking through the universal
2. Individual answering to no one but God
a. Story of Abraham
b. ‘Thou shalt not kill’ vs. Abraham
c. Gospel of Judas
III. Knowledge of God
A. Can’t use a system of logic (universal), because it makes the infinite impossible (Gödel)
B. I, therefore, do not prove God exists
C. ‘A system of logic eventually reaches what is unknown and it is this that compels me to believe in God.’ (God is the unknown)
D. Must make a ‘Leap of Faith’ (absurdity)
1. Don’t know where the Leap will take you
2. Don’t know why you should make it
IV. Meaning(Frankl)
A. Logotherapy1. Life always has meaning, no matter the circumstances.
2. Our primary motivation in life is our search for meaning.
3. We always have freedom to find meaning, even if all other freedoms are taken away. We have the freedom in the stance we take, the attitude with which we approach any given circumstance.
B. Transcendental
Self-actualization can generically be defined as recognizing one’s full potential and attempting to make that potential a reality. This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested in fulfilling their potential
Frankl’s transcendental stage assumes that self-actualization can only be achieved through the denial of self. It is in the connection and love of others that we truly find our best and greatest selves.
.
V. Authenticity(Heidegger/Sartre)
Heidegger
A. The world
1. The world is not seen as part of us, as it should be
2. We treat the world as something to be consumed
3. Art vs. technology
4. We will find the truth of Being in our ‘Everydayness’
B. Authenticity
Dasein Accept ones role without question Undifferentiated | | Recognize the Make a choice about Inauthentic role/effect which life to
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