Existentialism :: essays research papers

ExistentialismIn our individual routines, each and every one of us strive to be thebest that we ar capable of being. How peculiar this is we aim for similargoals, yet the methods we enact are unique. Just as no two people have the samefingerprint, no two have indistinguishable theories on how to live life. While somefollow religious outlines to aspire to a level of incorrupt excellence, otherspursue unalike approaches. Toward the end of the Nineteenth-Century and onthrough the mid-Twentieth, a movement followed "existentialism," a philosophicaltheory of life, in order to achieve such a level. nevertheless though the idea ofexistentialism is complex, certain themes are common amongst philosophers andauthors moral individualism, exemption of choice, responsibility, alienation.Fundamental to understanding existentialism is the conception of moralindividualism. Existentialism rejects traditional honorable endeavors.Philosophers since the time of Aristotle, circa Third-Centu ry B.C.E. (before thecommon era), have held that everyone should aim for a common peak of ethicalachievement. Aristotle argued for the existence of a divine being, described asthe "Prime Mover," who is responsible for the unity and purposefulness of nature.In order for humanity to attain such a climax, everyone must imitate TheAlmightys perfect profile. Aristotles basic philosophy deduces that humanitystrives for an identical peak of moral excellence, as judged by a higher being(Aristotle).     Existentialism declares that the individual must choose his way thereis no predetermination. Since the humankind is meaningless and absurd, peoplemust set their own ethical standards. The universe does not predetermine moralrules. Each person strives toward a unique moral perfection. The Nineteenth-Century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who was the first writer to callhimself e)existential, reacted against tradition by insisting that the highestgood for th e individual is to find his uniqueness. His journal reads, I mustfind a truth that is true for me ... the idea for which I can live or die"(Existentialism). Existentialists believe that morality depends on theindividual, rather than a supreme being. following(a) to moral individualism, the inevitability of choice is the mostprominent existentialist theory. Existentialism assert that people do not havea fixed nature, as other animals and plants do. Our choices determine who weare. The Twentieth-Century French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre proclaimed thatthe most Important choice is the choice of ourselves. Each character makeschoices that create his nature. Existence suggests freedom where mankind isopen to a future that is determined by choice and action. Choice is inescapableand central to human existence the refusal to choose is a choice. Even when a