Today’s Warm Up

10 minutes silent reading!

​

Grab a handout, “Tenets of Existentialism,” from the stool.

​

Read closely and underline or highlight ideas that stand out to you.

Game Plan & Learning Targets

• Warm up: tenets of existentialism
• Lecture/powerpoint: Existentialism & Absurdism
• Homework: Read The Stranger, chap. 1-4

• I can summarize the basic tenets of existentialism.
• I could describe existentialist philosophy to someone who has never heard of it before.

Existentialism & Absurdism

An Overview

Existentialism

A philosophy (some view it more as a philosophical movement or approach) that started to become popular following World War II in the 1940’s.

​

​

​

​

Existentialist

School of Thinkers

From left to right, top to bottom: Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, Sartre

Kierkgegaard (Danish, 1813-1855)

Kierkegaard is generally considered the first existentialist philosopher (though he didn’t use the term).

​

He proposed:

Each individual- not society or religion- is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely (authentically).

Sartre (French, 1905-1980)

Established the idea of “existence over essence.”

​

• Things (physical, tangible objects) exist and humans assign them meaning.

​

• Existentialists believe that meaning is arbitrary and artificial. This doesn’t mean that they don’t assign meaning, but they are aware they’re assigning it.

Woody Allen

on existentialism

What is this thing that I call “me”?

Sartre

(in-itself)------------------------------------(for-itself)

Sartre

Jean Paul Sartre calls the thing that is the “real” me the “in-itself.” The in-itself is pure individual existence.

​

The “for-itself” is the creation of the “in-itself.” The “for-itself” is the ongoing project that we call our identity. The stuff we throw out at the world to interact with.

Freedom & Responsibility

According to existentialists...

​

You are completely free to change who you are or do anything you want, given that there are consequences to your actions.

​

You are absolutely free and absolutely responsible.

Up For Debate...

What is our responsibility toward one another?

What is our responsibility in the larger world?

In your notebook...

​

Based on our conversation yesterday and your own personal beliefs, reflect on the following questions:

​

What is our responsibility toward one another?

What is our responsibility in the larger world?

​

​

What is existentialism???

Absurdism

The world is devoid of rational meaning.

​

There is no meaning in the world beyond what we give it.

​

No such thing as a “good” person or a “bad” person...things just happen. Anything can happen to anyone.

Absurdism

Identifies a conflict:

​

1)human tendency to seek meaning in life, and

​

2)the human inability to find any.

​

Any human efforts to find meaning will fail.

Ways of Resolving the Dilemma

• Suicide
• Camus states that it does not counter the Absurd, but only becomes more absurd, to end one's own existence.

​

Resolving the conflict

How do we resolve absurdism’s conflict???

​

Ideas???

Ways of Resolving the Dilemma

• Religious, spiritual, or abstract belief in a transcendent realm, being, or idea.
• A solution in which one believes in the existence of a reality that is beyond the Absurd, and, as such, has meaning.

Ways of Resolving the Dilemma

• Acceptance of the Absurd
• One accepts the Absurd and continues to live in spite of it.
• Camus believed that by accepting the Absurd, one can achieve absolute freedom.
• By recognizing no religious or other moral constraints and by revolting against the Absurd while simultaneously accepting it as unstoppable, one could possibly be content from the personal meaning constructed in the process.

​

​

Existentialism & Aburdism

Moving Forward

How does absurdism and the tenets of existentialism play out in The Stranger?

Resources

​

​