Man in Existential Phenomenology

MAN IN EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY

1. The father father of of existe existentia ntialism lism  The father of Existentialism is Soren Kierkegard, a Danish thinker who lived and worked in the last century.

2. What What is exi existe stent ntial ialism ism Existentialism is the reaction to the depersonalization, the dehumanization, the loss of the uniqueness of the individual during the Industrial Revolution. 3. Roger Troisfontaines Roger Troisfontaines defines the existentialism as philosophy of subjectivity or selfhood, whose fundamental doctrine proclaims man’s freedom in the accomplishment of his destiny, and whose principal method is consequently that of description of phenomenology. 4. Enumerate and explain the three remarks

First remark is from Paul Tillich, a leading German Protestant theologian, who found a haven in the United States from the Nazis. He clarifies the main issue between “existentialism “existentialism and essentialism” by saying that the quarrel between the two initiated the existentialism of the nineteenth and the twentieth century. It was the unacceptance of Hegel’s perfect essentialism by existentialists who saw what it had done to the concept of the society. Second remark is from John Wild, author of the authoritative book The Challenge of Existentialism. John Wild remarks

that Soren Kierkeegar was influenced in hi interest in practical or existential thinking by earl Greeks and in his insight into the individual person by Christianity.  Jean Paul Sartre is usually pitted against Gabriel Marcel – the atheistic versus the theistic existentialist. But Sartre and Marcel as well as Heidedder: all are empiricists. Man is being-in-the-world. John Wild says “ No world, no subjective existence” This is a formula they would accept.

 Third remark is: There are many existentialists, but not two of them are exactly alike. However, there are certain elements that seem common in their writings. These are given below. The first three are discussed by Troisfontaines in his article, “ What is Existentialism?” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Importance of subjectivity Freedom: a value Use of Phenomenology Interest in the individual person and his dignity Emphasis on immediate data of experience The preference for authentic over inauthentic is existence Awareness of mood and feeling: feeling that existence is hard; that life is alien and absurd; the feeling of dread. 8. The need for commitment or engagement 9. The need to be-with-others 10. The faith that man is responsible for his existence and the kind of being he will return out to be. 5.Troisfontaines’ what is existentialism discusses it in three parts. a. What is existentialism is not.  To him, existentialism is not 1. a sort of postwar dilettantism: Eccentric young men and women who frequented the night clubs near the café where Sartre wrote misunderstood him. They thought that being individuals meant they should be different and that they could do anything they liked.

2. identifiable with the philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre:  There were others, like Marcelo, who had written ahead of Sartre. Sartre himself admitted as much. But he was certainly the one who popularized the existentialism. b. What existentialism is involves the elements of; 1. Subjectivity Object refers to the thing, subject to a person. Objectivity indicates something that can be studied from all angles. Subjectivity indicates something more personal, more intimate something that can hardly put into the words. Gabriel calls it mystery, in contrast to problem his term for object . Subjectivity is the true interpretation of reality. 2. Freedom There are two aspects to be noted, according to  Transfoines: a. There are matters imposed on me, matter over which I have no control, like my birth, my family, my country, my physical features. Marcel calls his existence from the term exsistere, Latin for to be outside of, while Sartre calls this “facticity”, from the fact. b. There are matters I can choose, like my friends. This Marcel calls “project” or “commitment”, and Sartre calls “engagement”. Ultimately a man realizes he alone makes decisions for himself. He alone decides what kind a man he will be. He alone can say yes or no to God.

3. Phenomenology

Just what is phenomenology? Is it a method or an attitude or both? As method, it has the following characteristics: a. Description: In the traditional philosophy, there are many definitions. Here, there are still definitions, but a minimum. There is rather description of what is immediately given in experience (phenomenon). b. Circular description: It does not form a vicious circle. Different terms are used to describe the same phenomenon, with the end result of new insights grasped by the subject. The initial knowledge grows and grows until the person knows that now he knows. c. Use of examples as well as literary forms: such as the drama, poetry, short story, and the novel. Existentialists philosophers are empiricists and pragmatists. They distrust speculation and the abstract. They want their works to be read. They “sugar-coat” their philosophical insights. As an attitude it involves three steps: a. A bracketing of what one already knows. In so doing, one can approach the object of knowing with fresh unprejudiced eyes. b. A first, then a second reflection. c. The truth coming out of concealment. c. The two divergent tendencies of existentialism according to  Troisfoines:

1. Atheistic or inauthentic, as in the writings of Jean Paul Sartre. 2. Christian or Theistic or Authentic, as in the writing of  Gabriel Marcel.

6. The Christian existentialist viewpoint on man according to Engelbert  J Van Croonenberg.

1.Experience of one’s own existence: It is the only through his own being that man comes in contact with reality. The experience of self necessarily has many modalities, but there is one basic experience which makes all others possible and without which they could not be. It is the experience of one’s own existence. 2.To exist is to stand out: The word existence composed of  the Latin words, ex which means “out, beyond, above,” and sistere, which mean “to stand out”. 3. Man and his body: ‘Have” in “I have a body”, means possession. Now this is different from “ I have a book” although both statements refer to possession. First, because I cannot dispose of my body the way I can dispose of a book; second, “ I” is not equal to “my body,” I am more than my body. 4. Being-in-the-world: I am in contact with things and persons. I am part of the space structure and time constellation, which are inherent in this world. 5. Being-in-situation: Situations stands here for that zone reality which is influenced by me and influences me. Many elements of my situation are not my own making. I did not choose my parents, my country, the time of my birth. On the other hand, there are elements where my free action is decisive: choose of my friends, my interest, my activities. 6. I and my life: I am more than my life. “I live my life” is different from “ My life is lived”. The first means I am the master of my life. The second means I am a slave, dictated upon others, such as the media. 7. A value to be realized within ourselves: Our authentic growth takes place in the here and now of concrete situation. Our giving way to a driver during peak hours is such a value realized only within ourselves. 8. Values we have and values we are: Values we have are on the object level, while values we are on the subject level and, thus, enhance our existence.

9. The vocation of man: Simply put, the personal vocation of man is the perfecting of life and personality to the full measure to which he has been destined. 10. Creative Fidelity: It is the actual continuation of the original dedication to one’s personal vocation. Fidelity means loyalty to a given word and commitment in spite of adversities. This fidelity is dynamic and creative. “Creativity” refers to the man’s being a “homo viator and, therefore, in need of transforming his life to a continuous growth- to authenticity. Creative also means man’s ability to adapt to constantly varying circumstances. 11. Pain and suffering: Fidelity to vocation is severely tested when a man is faced with pain and suffering. The proper attitudes are: (a)accept them, for these also have existential value, and(b) try to find out their meaning in your life. 12. Being-unto-death: As an embodied being, man is also a being-for-death. The common man tries to avoid its very possibility, but the philosopher, who wants to come to the ultimate root of all, reality cannot leave it unconsidered. 13. Gain in Loss: The unfolding of the human personality is a mixture of joy and pain. It is characteristic of this unfolding that the higher can be reached by leaving behind the lower. This is due to the peculiar structure of  man, where materiality and spirituality are the two antipodes. 14. a super-temporal dimensions: When a man commits himself to his personal vacation, his decision is based upon that which is permanent in his being and, thus, he transcends the changing elements of time and space. He knows that with the emergence of his spirit his real self will find its highest expression. 7. The most Prominent Existentialist

1.Soren Kierkegard was born in Copenhagen in 1813 and died in 1855. This Danish thinker was about to become a minister in the Danish church when he realized there was a discrepancy between

the religion which was preached and the religion as it might really be lived. He became a loner, devoting his life to writing.  This Danish thinker, steeped in the knowledge of  greek philosophy, is accepted as the father of Existentialism. It does not mean though that he is the originator of all modern existentialist theme, but the claim is richly backed p by his works. The most important of these are: a. Either/Or- where he analyzes the aesthetic and the ethical modes of life. c. Fear and trembling – where he analyzes the biblical story of the sacrifice of Isaac, introducing us to the “absurd,” an existentialist. 3. Karl Jasper, born in 1883, was a german professor who produced Psychology of World Views (1919) Philosophy (1932), and Philosophical Logic (1947). He is the nearest to Kierkegaard in beliefs. He considers the individual as the “unique existent, the being who freely transcend what he already is and creates himself, as it were, through the exercise of his freedom. Indeed, from this point of view man is always in the making, his own making.  Though with an unstable essence, Jasper says man can be seen from the two inseparable phases of is being: Dasien and Existenz. Dasien refers to myself  as object and includes my reality. Existenz is very myself, purely subjective. It cannot analyzed nor defined. It is free. But my “existenz is in my dasien and all acts of the former are manifested in the latter. 4. Jean Paul Sartre, born in 1905 and died April 15, 1980, is the French philosopher mostly credited with the popularizing