Existentialism College Essays Samples For Students

The ‘Power of myth’ is a six-part TV series and a book on six one-hour conversations between mythologist Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers. The series debuted on PBS in 1988. The discussions were based on universal and enduring themes which have featured in mankind’s oldest stories, and both men have tried spotting the relevance of the same in the modern world. According to Campbell, ancient myths are “clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life.” The talks in ‘Power of Myth’ include excerpts from Campbell’s other work ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces.’ Its central ...

Organization

Introduction
The subject of existentialism is not easy to define as it is impossible to explain the purpose of human existence in few sentences. However, according to American Heritage Dictionary (3rd edition), existentialism refers to a philosophy that lays emphasis on isolation and uniqueness of the individual in an indifferent or hostile environment. This can be seen as the underlying theme of the short story by Jack London where a man in solitude travels through unfriendly areas of Yukon which symbolizes indifferent and cruel cosmos. “To Build A Fire” is a short story by Jack London which centers around a man travelling ...

Introduction

Existentialism is one of the dominant philosophical movements that try to explain the existence, choice and freedom of a person. There exist several crucial philosophical propositions that are closely related to existentialism. The main one is and easily identifiable suggestion that states that existentialism is much more than essentiality. Basically, existentialism clearly indicates that human being exists. However, it stipulates that this existence defines him and that he meanders among choices, freedom as well as anguish of existence (Sartre 97). Different philosophers like Soren Kierkegaard and Jean Paul Sartre have different opinions and interpretations of existentialism. This essay intends to ...

Western philosophy of the XX century significantly differs from the philosophy of the previous centuries. The main and most common difference is due to the fact that at the turn of XIX and XX centuries, there was a transition from traditional classical to non-classical philosophy. This transition was largely due to the fact that in this period, the whole of Western culture underwent profound changes, in particular in science.
A new, non-classical science, which significantly differs from the classical one, started in the late nineteenth century as the result the second scientific revolution. It still has no claims to ...

The qualities that humans possess make them special from other living forms or objects. Yet, the studied stories suggest that there is a man – made form of existence that resembles humans in terms of reasoning, cognizing or even feeling human emotions, embodied into robots that possess artificial intelligence. The studied stories, “Tomorrow is Waiting” (Holli Mintzer), “EPICAC” (Kurt Vonnegut), “Robbie” (Isaac Asimov) or “Birth of A Robot” (Abigail Tucker) address the difference between humans and robots only to suggest that the difference is only a human – built concept. The robots presented in these stories show human features, such as ...

Two of the most important existential philosophers have been Albert Camus, well known for both his novels and his philosophy, and Jean Paul Sartre, who, is aligned with the ideas of existentialism more than any other philosopher. In addition to sharing some ideas about existentialism (although both men also developed very different systems of this philosophy), both thinkers were atheists, and developed their systems of philosophy, from their belief in a world, or a universe without god. For Camus, the absence of god was one of the reasons why man could find the nature of existence meaningless, and his ...

Introduction

Kneller (1958) defines existentialism as the philosophy that gives emphasis to the existence of an individual with choice and freedom whereby human beings decide on their paths and meaning of their lives as rational human beings with the capability of following unique directions in life. In essence, it is free will and each person has the responsibility of ethically making judgments and taking courses of action for which they are individually responsible. Chapter five gives an explanation of the philosophical view of existentialism and its relation to education.

Chapter Analysis

Existentialism primarily talks about the freedom to choose. According to this ...

Existentialism is a doctrine that states that every action means both an environment and a human subjectivity. There are two types of existentialists. The first ones are the Christians, such as Jaspers and Gabriel Marcel. The second ones are the existential atheists, namely the French existentialists.
Christians consider each person as the realization of a concrete conception that lives. On the other hand, atheistic existentialists state that is God does not exist, then there is someone whose existence comes before its essence. It means that a person first of all lives, examines himself and the world and determines himself.
The first ...

This here is a paper that aims to address, in a philosophical manner, the question on whether an individual’s ideologies oblige him to enjoy or sulk in happiness. Drawing on the conclusions made in the assigned readings and other significant philosophical texts, the author of this paper tries to answer the main question in a close ended but evidence-based manner.
In order to do this, a working definition of the term ideology must be provided first. There are numerous ways how one can define ideology. Within a philosophical framework, ideology can be defined as a collection of beliefs, ...

In this quote Sartre reveals the main ideas of the existentialism movement. According to the philosopher, a person has influence on what he or she will be in the future. This means that an individual is responsible for creating his own inner world. Existentialists believe that nurture is more important than nature for the personal development. Furthermore, existence comes before essence. A person should define essence by him or herself. Also, Sartre states that life is hard and a person would encounter pain and constant struggling with many obstacles. However, it is the only way of defining a person and his or ...

- Socrates takes this to mean that the Oracle meant that no man is wise because all men do not know that they do not know. Therefore, Socrates refuses to accept that he is the wisest because if he did, he would have implied that he was wise, whereas he knew that he was not. Socrates believes that his source of knowledge is self examination and introspective assessment of one’s thoughts, characteristics, emotions, and actions. Socrates believes in distributing of wisdom to others, making goodness come first while wealth follows it, which he advised the Citizens of Athens ...

This paper will look at love, sex and gender within the backdrop of postmodernism, existentialism and orientalism in the novels The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment by Assia Djebar, Foam of the Daze by Boris Vian and The Lover by Marguerite Duras. In the novels love/ and sex are shown as something that a woman has no control over, something that destroys due to its intensity, and something that forever changes a person, respectively. While gender is seen as being something that disenfranchises women in a male dominant, unequal society and something that can destroy a man if ...

This is a dialogue between two lecturers. Each of them teaches philosophy but in different schools. They have met at a local restaurant for lunch after having not seen each other for a long time. The two are philosophical fanatics having their own firm beliefs in varying matters. At meetings like this, they do not fail to disagree on a thing or two. On several occasions, the two professors invite each other to their classes to help give students opposing views. The restaurant is moderately occupied and the atmosphere is humid and warm. The two gentlemen have just completed ...

If death is really true, based upon the animistic quality of our five physical senses, then how do we know that we are truly alive and breathing and not in a dream? It has been proposed that people who are aware of the existence of their surroundings mostly rely on their five senses, which may cause illusions. The ethereal yet grounded theory of existentialism provides the landscape for a more positively-identified pathway which reaches across the separation that exists among humans.
           When thinking about the quote ‘existence precedes essence’, the concept lends room for credibility that Morrie was right ...

Exam

According to Sartre, what is his idea that “existence precedes essence”, how is it related to the concept of “anguish” and how, in turn, is that concept related to his notion of responsibility?
The literary and philosophical works of Jean-Paul Sartre, from his very first and defining novel “Nausea” (1938), are permeated with the ideas and notions of existentialism. Many a philosopher has tried to reason their own understanding of existentialism over the course of the 20th century and each of these reasoning was fairly unique, however, it was Sartre who provided the modern scholars with a number of ...

The search for a sense of self is one of the most important quests in the history of Western philosophy. Notably, it has been the main preoccupation of philosophers in the past few centuries. Before, people accepted people to have a certain nature, due to them being creatures made by and for God. They were all more or less alike, acknowledging a particular human nature given by this deity.
Nevertheless, with the decline of the power of the Catholic Church and its consequences, along with the end of philosophy that G. W. F. Hegel heralded, the systems of thought ...

Philosophy final

- What are Descartes’ arguments for Cartesian dualism? Do you find them persuasive? If you do not, do you endorse monism, or not? Explain your answer.

In the dualism, Descartes attempts to solve the problem of mind and body. Descartes contrast the mind and the body that the two exist separately. He believes that human beings have two properties, the physical and the mental properties (Stanford encyclopedias of philosophy, all). The physical properties are those that can be attributed to the physical sciences. For examples, size, height and weight, color, shape, and motion in space, among others. On ...

The Metaphorical Significance of The Plague

Albert Camus’ The Plague was first published in France and was an immediate best-seller. Its success and profundity were probably deciding factors in his winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Shortly after publication Roland Barthes, the French critic and philosopher, criticized Camus for what he described as “ignoring history (Maze, 53). Camus’ response is interesting for the way we interpret this novel. In an open letter responding to Barthes, Camus wrote that The Plague had “to be read on a number of levels.” (Maze, 54). This essay will explore these different levels and examine the plague in ...

Both Satre and Camus, important and famous French philosophers of the middle of the 20th century explored various facets of what may be called existentialist philosophy. Sartre grounded his work by focusing on the concept, and practice, of human freedom, While Camus approached existentialism from a tension between absurdity and the meaning of making choices and commitment. While both philosophers worked in very different areas of the wide branch of philosophy known as existentialism, both Camus and Sartre build their systems on the foundation of a life, or universe, without any divine force, and certainly without the idea of ...

Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the individual. It maintains that each individual makes choices and possesses the freedom to make those choices despite their environment. This freedom comes with personal responsibility for the choices the individual makes. The consequences of making these choices results in consequences that can be positive or negative (Burnham and Papandreopoulus 2015).
The existentialist movement is representative of a loosely knit group of philosophers and writers who emerged in the nineteenth century and twentieth century. Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), a Danish philosopher and writer promoted the idea that truth is personal. Truth is different for different people ( ...

Abstract

The essay is dedicated to the issue of existentialist philosophy developed by the well-known French writer Jean-Paul Sartre. This doctrine appeared during the World War II and explained how humanity should behave during hard times of war. It offers solutions for brave strong and responsible people, who could overcome the war. This philosophy is described using the example of the play No Exit, which was written in 1944 in Paris before the city deliberation. The paper includes the analysis the history circumstances under which the play was written, the analysis of the play as well as symbolical concepts included in ...

Originating in the middle of the twentieth century, the theory of existentialism is based on the principle that it is a person’s actions that determine the course of his mental, emotional and spiritual development. The focus of the theory is on the fact that each individual has the freedom to choose a course of action that would to reach their maximum potential .
More importantly, the theory states that in order to truly exist, a person has to be aware of his own hidden talent and it is this self-awareness that allows human beings to reach the stage of ...

The dictionary defines a stranger as “a person whom one does not know.” But what happens when the stranger is oneself? It seems like a contradiction, but this is the theme explored by Albert Camus in his novella “The Stranger.” Through the narrative of the protagonist Camus relates through his characters deep philosophical notions about identity and the self, and what we can fully know about ourselves in the world. The protagonist sees life as arbitrary. He attaches no emotion to the happenings in his life. As a result, he looses his self-identity, becoming a stranger to himself. The story is of importance because ...

Literature has the capacity to delve into varied themes and portraitures as per the perspective and vision of the literary artists. Thus, literary works can differ from one another in content and presentation only to enhance the scope and appeal of the field of art in general. As such, one can take into reckoning the short story, The Metamorphosis, penned by the stalwart literary artist, Franz Kafka that delves into the thematic content of existentialism. Again, the famous poem I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils) penned by the famous Romantic poet, William Wordsworth can be taken to be ...

Summary and Response

Sartre as teacher believes that doctrines should be based on the one truth. And the absolute truth, according to him, is rooted in the man. Through the mediation, one can get closer to the absolute truth. Sartre’s theory is about the dignity of man and he does not treat the man as an object. Contrary to materialists, existentialists value humans. For Sartre, humans are isolated from the material world but never isolated from other men. The subjectivity of the individual is significant. Moreover, he sees the world around us as intersubjective. The man’s existence in this world ...

The concept of freedom, one of the most important problems of Existentialism, has been discussed among philosophers for thousands of years. Because it is vital to understand whether a human being is free, why he is free and is he supposed to be free. This concept is exhaustively revealed in the various works of Jean-Paul Sartre who made an outstanding contribution to this philosophical doctrine. His extraordinary understanding of the notion of “freedom” is clearly represented in his short essay “Existentialism is a Humanism”.
The central idea of Sartre’s vision of human freedom is “We are left alone, without ...

Research Essay on the story "Behind the Law"

According to Jean-Paul Sartre, no God is responsible for creating human beings in tune with a conceptual divination. In his work on existentialism, Sartre wrote, “Existence precedes essence” (Jill, p.6). This basically means that each of us human beings has their philosophy about life. That what we are or become in life is due to the personal choices we make in our lives. We are wholly in charge of our lives, and we cannot just follow the choices and thoughts of others blindly and let them define our lives. Essentially, we define ourselves through our attitudes and perceptions we have ...

There are unique differences between Buddhism and existentialism. The uniqueness in differences mainly depends on the metaphysical traditions with unique phenomenological methodology. In the section of ethics, existentialism and Buddhism are different on how they influence the society. Proper understanding of the elements would mainly depend on the arguments by Nietzsche and The Buddha. There are controversial arguments by Nietzsche as he tries to argue against Buddhism. The influential arguments for the two are proper definition of Buddhism.
Nietzsche is the main pioneer of existentialism in the western world. He takes exclusive positions against Buddhism. He defends various ...

Someone must turn the hourglass over!

For somehow the grains of sand gently slide
through the tiny space.

Someone must watch the grains of sand.

And someone must see the gap that remains
As the young sand drops and nothingness remains
Until the glass is turned over once more;
Till life and love begin once more.
The old grains of sand, now newly replaced,
Can rest in peace, dream and hope
That someone is still turning the hourglass.
-- Roberta Israeloff.
Having walked the earth for roughly seventeen years, I have been able to create a rich palimpsest of experiences. Some recent, and conspicuous ...

This paper is about whether physician assisted suicide should be allowed. Euthanasia has always been a controversial issue all over the world. This paper will look at physician assisted suicide and the arguments against and the arguments for as brought out by some philosophers like Kant and Jean Paul Satre. We will start with the arguments against physician assisted suicide, the arguments for and also other elements like the Hippocratic Oath which plays a major role in this topic of physician assisted suicide.
There are many philosophers who do not support physician assisted suicide. One of these philosophers is Kant. ...

Existentialism can be explained as a philosophical theory that insists on the existence of an individual as; a person should be free as well as determine their own development and destiny through the actions of their will and feelings. According to the theory, a person begins with the feeling of confusion in a life that seems meaningless as well as hopelessness. It is confusion that an individual makes personal discovery and accepts life the way it is while working hard for their development. During the late ninetieth century, with the word war and other happenings of the time, philosophers tried to reflect in ...

While the medical description of death as a cessation of bodily functions that sustain life is rather simple, religious and philosophical traditions have extended their efforts to describe and experience the nature of death as a physical and spiritual event. All cultures in the world have been fascinated with the nature of death, and each culture has developed a set of beliefs related to death’s connection with life, its connection to the soul’s transition into the afterlife, and some religions have proposed the theory of reincarnation that considers death as a temporary event before the soul’s next birth in the ...

Introduction

The notion of "nothing" is one of the most important and controversial concepts in the history of humankind. Its etymology is quite interesting for the consideration, as it can discover many different mysteries associated with the most important knowledge. In addition, the perception of this idea may be absolutely controversial, if one talks about it in the framework of religion and philosophy of the Western and the Eastern worlds. Nothing is everything, and at the same time, it is a lack of everything. This notion has a negative connotation; it denies everything to what it is opposed; moreover, it ...

Introduction

Many philosophers have identified various branches of egalitarianism. One such branch is the luck egalitarianism philosophy, which recognizes distinctive interpretations and critiques. Elizabeth Anderson formulates a distinctive branch of egalitarianism that opposes luck egalitarianism, namely the democratic equality philosophy. This essay will first delineate the main points of Anderson’s opposition to luck egalitarianism and democratic equality. After this review, there will be applied an insightful analysis of the presented principles, which will be opposed. For a balanced presentation, there will also be provided a response to the identified objections.

Section 1

Elizabeth Anderson is one of the major critics of ...

1- Sheikh Zaabalawi

What does Sheikh Zaabalawi represent? Is he symbolic of anything in particular, or does he represent many things at once?  (Try and use specifics from the text to support your argument.)
Zaabalawi is not just a man who can perform miracles and cure the body. The narrator’s search for him also represents a search for the mystical, a search for religious discipline. In that way, Zaabalawi comes to represent God.
2 - "Zaabalawi"--thinking about illness

The narrator’s illness is never defined because it is not just a physical illness. It represents more an eponymous malaise that ...

Theater of the absurd is an idea that started gaining relevance in the 1950s. The concept is essentially informed by the ideas of absurdism and existentialism. Their prominent trait includes having irrational plots that feature characters who seem to lack peace with their existence. This new style in the playwrights came out as controversial and amazing. Authors embracing this style mainly present the human’s state as futile. This is in line with the philosophical perspectives such as the ones presented by Albert Camus that insisted human being can only be in the position of exploiting their full potential ...

Philosophy

Jean-Paul Sartre is the most recognized name of a philosopher of the 20th century. “His diligent striving towards the philosophical reflection, literary creativity and, in the second half of his life, active political commitment gained him worldwide renown, if not admiration” (Flynn 1). Many of his stories and plays have deserved critical praise that exceeds that of other contemporary philosophers. It is mostly because “he is commonly considered to be the father of the leading philosophy of Existentialism, and whose writings set the tone for intellectual life in the decade immediately after the Second World War” (Flynn 1). In ...

The novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus is one of the most important and popular of his works. It has a direct connection with the philosophy of existentialism and the absurd like most of the works of the author. The writer once again demonstrates the human and social relationships, as well as the internal conflict of the man himself by the example of the protagonist's life and feelings. The problem of the story touches upon many issues, but one of the main problems is the existence of God. The life of the protagonist Meursault is the way to truth ...

Jean-Paul Sartre is the most name-recognized philosopher of the 20th century. “His indefatigable pursuit of philosophical reflection, literary creativity and, in the second half of his life, active political commitment gained him worldwide renown, if not admiration” (Flynn 1). Many of his stories and plays have earned critical acclaim that far exceeds that of other contemporary philosophers. Thus, it is that “He is commonly considered the father of Existentialist philosophy, whose writings set the tone for intellectual life in the decade immediately following the Second World War” (Flynn 1). One of his finest short stories, The Wall, involves three ...

The curious case of Tala and Laila in the film Fire & I Can’t Think Straight by Sarif Shamim (2010) brings forth the question of the social construct of homophobia in relation to their different personal backgrounds. Whereas Tala, a Palestinian Christian with roots from Jordan and raised in England and Laila, a timid Muslim, are both initially depicted as being involved in heterosexual relationships, their innate attraction to women has brought them together as lovers later ...

The movie The Best Intentions by Ingmar Bergman and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai by Jim Jarmusch both involve complex relationships between characters with a code of honor such as Ghost Dog and Henrik Bergman, and other characters that try to influence the lives of these two men. Henrik becomes a Priest, while Ghost Dog follows the Samurai way. The Bergman film is semi-autobiographical and is based upon his parents’ marriage. Ghost Dog is completely fictional. Jarmusch tries to explore the balance of crime under the context of an eye for an eye. Bergman displays the struggles between social ...

Absurdism as a worldview theory is a part of the philosophy of existentialism; and as the fundamental philosophical concept it was firstly developed in the work of Albert Camus “The Myth of Sisyphus”. As a system of philosophical views, it claims the lack of meaning of human life (the absurdity of life existence). According to the absurdism, people have been trying to find the meaning of existence throughout their history. Traditionally, these attempts have ended in one of two ways: man has come to the conclusion that all life is senseless or he has started to understand that everything is predetermined by ...

Charles Baxter’s What Happens in Hell essay is effectively a progression of sadness and occurrence of an existential crisis for the narrator after being driven from the airport to his hotel, the discussions about hell, and finally the near death experience in a car accident. Alice Munro’s Train short story revolves around the relationship between Jackson, a man who jumped out of a moving train on the Ontario countryside after serving in World War II, and Belle, a woman around 15 years his senior, whom he meets in a small farm just off the tracks. In Train, the personal family life of Belle ...

The critical lens aspect in the most basic sense gives the human beings and society an avenue to view and gauge the behavior of others using the set philosophical aspects. It categorizes another human being using already established rules, spheres and fronts. It is to say and imply that the human beings have the impetus and insight to gauge human character and behavior on one of the most common principles of human existence. For the purpose of this essay, I will use the existential philosophy and critique to give insights on the subject. Given the existential aspects and philosophical ...

Philosophy is the study that entails the issues related to reality, value, reasons, language and mind (Kleiner, 1). Thus, philosophy seeks to make clear issues that regard beliefs, attitudes and concepts of individuals or groups. Literature contributed by Philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, Aquinas, Jean and Descartes have shaped philosophy to a great extent. Their views concerning matters of the world have formed a basis upon which several decisions have been made. This article compares and contrasts their perspectives in the field of philosophy.
Aristotle existed between the periods 322 to 384 BC. Plato, on the other hand, existed between the ...

There were many issues about equality between people, in the history of human civilisation. The sexual and gender equalities were the most difficult to identify. It was also difficult to achieve gender equality. In this regard, various philosophers and critical thinkers had diverse approaches and ways of their ideas realisation. The main relevance of exploring diversity in ideas on sexuality, gender equality and relationship between sexes is in an opportunity to achieve a systematic exploration of the subject. It can also help in finding new ways of problems resolution. The historical exploration of ideas development also provides an opportunity to ...

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a short story about a man who turns into a vermin. His family, the Samsas, instead of trying to help him, treats him cruelly and ostracizes him because of his uselessness and appearance. Kafka shows a dysfunctional family that exploits Gregor for its economic stability. The paper will try to analyze the text using the tenets of existentialism and how Kafka used them to portray Gregor and his society.
Gregor Samsas, the protagonist of the story is a travelling salesman, who wakes up in his bed to find that he has metamorphosized into a large insect. He is ...

Education philosophy is an individual statement of an education guiding principle in education related issues. This includes students’ learning potential and how to improve it, the role of the teacher in class, community, and society. There are four philosophical perspectives of education: essentialism, Perennialism, reconstruction, and existentialism. The objective of this research is to discuss the four education ideologies to use them to formulate an education philosophy.
Essentialists hold that there is a common core of knowledge that should be conveyed to students in an organized, disciplined way. The emphasis of this ideology is to give the students essential ...

1) Morris Braverman was a 39-year old social worker with a very serious and repressed demeanor. He gave the impression of being “intelligent and concerned” but with “enormous over control” as he went through the experiment, shocking the ‘learner’ up to the maximum voltage (Milgram 53). As he kept pushing the buttons, he started laughing, very softly at first but increasing in intensity until his laughter became very loud and disruptive. He asked the ‘experimenter’ if he had to continue to follow these instructions and was told that he had no choice, the experiment must be completed, even while the victim ...

The reason why I chose Humanistic theory is because it is based on two philosophies, existentialism and phenomenology. Existentialism focuses on what is believed to be subjective like beliefs and religion, feelings and emotions like freedom, pain, guilt and regret as opposed to analysing objective knowledge, science or language. Phenomenology emphasizes on the study of conscious experiences. It involves the systematic reflection and analysis of the structure of the consciousness and all the phenomena which appear in acts of consciousness. Basically, humanists hold that the present is the most significant aspect of an individual and mentally healthy people takes ...