Taking a leap: A Background of Religious Existentialism

Existentialism
A philosophical movement that emerged in the 20th century (1940 s and 1950 s), where human authorities and institutions were gradually losing both their legitimacy and control over the individual self. A protest against tyranny of universal

 As a result, human beings began to turn to themselves as the sole authority for their standards and values. The theme of existentialism can be elucidated to Sartre s Existence precedes Essence. It says that human beings are thrown into the world without meaning and subsequently fashion their own essences.

Human existence
Existentialism asserts that there is no general essence among individuals. Human beings require new categories not found in ancient categories or having fixed properties. Philosophical authenticity existence. movement having man s as means to grasp human

 The notion is that humans exist first and then each individual spends a lifetime changing their essence or nature. In simpler terms, existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. Personal choices become unique without the necessity of an objective form of truth.

 The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook. An existentialist believes that a person chooses and is responsible without the help of laws, ethnic rules, or traditions.

Characteristics of Existentialism 1. Against academic philosophy 2. Anti-system sensibility 3. Flight from iron cage of reason 4. Against objectivity

 Existentialistic ideas came out of a time in society when there was a deep sense of despair following the Great Depression and World War II. There was a spirit of optimism in society that was destroyed by World War I and its mid-century calamities. This despair has been articulated by existentialist philosophers well into the 1970s and continues on to this day as a popular way of thinking and reasoning (with the freedom to choose one s preferred moral belief system and lifestyle).

Soren Kierkegaard
Born in Copenhagen (1813) Death: 1855 at the age of 42 Negatively influenced by Hegel s thoughts which speak of absolutism and universality He called Hegel s thought as comic Comic- putting in a system and process of forgetting existence.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel- 1770-1973

Hegel s Philosophy
Hegel s philosophy plays a major role in Kierkegaard s existential view. Hegel s philosophy was aligned with German Idealism, having mind as ultimately the source and content of knowledge. Every reality is rational, and the rational is real.

Hegel s philosophy
Absolute Mind All objects of knowledge, all objects, indeed all universe, are products of absolute subject, Absolute Mind. Categories (universals) not only as mental processes, but as objective realities possessing existence independently of the thinking individual.

 Existence of categories is dependent on Absolute Mind. His view was different from Plato s which is dualistic. For him, existence of things is independent of person s mind or thought. Real world is more than the subjective conceptions of people s minds. Reality is Rationality, or Thought.

To the question, what is a chair?

 To the question, what is a chair? There can be no unknowable thing-in-itself, a chair must consist of the sum of ideas we can have about it. On this basis, the chair must consist of all the universals we find in it when we experience it. We say that the chair is brown, hard etc. These are universal ideas, and when they are related to each other, this way, they are chair. These universals have their being in the chair, universals or categories never exist independently. Since there is no unknowable aspect of the chair, nothing in addition to the qualities we experience, the chair is what we know about it, a combination of universals. They are independent of the knowing subject.

2 major argument
1. We must reject the notion of unknowable thing-in-itself 2. Reality is thought, rationality and ultimate reality is Absolute Idea

Nature of Reality In theology, the Absolute is God, Hegel is trying to say that he was not referring to a Being separate from our existence. Nothing is unrelated. If we experience unrelatedness, they will lead to relatedness. Dialectic- process leading to the Absolute.

 Absolute is also not the unity of separate things. Also did not accept that everything is One (single substance with various attributes) as viewed by Parmenides in ancient period. Absolute- the world viewed in special way. -can be reached through human reason.

Dialectic Process Certainty of knowledge would follow from the movement from one idea to the next. Logic and logical connections must be discovered in the actual and not in some empty ratiocination. Since Philosophy is exploration of rational, it is for that reason that we apprehend of present and the actual, not beyond.

Dialectic Process Process by which we deduce from our experiences of the actual, categories that describe the Absolute. Dialectic is triadic 1. Thesis 2. Antithesis 3. Synthesis (becomes new thesis)

Parts and the whole Single facts, for Hegel, are irrational. Only when such parts are seen as aspects of the whole do they become rational. E.g. parts of the engine -to discover the essence of the spark plug is to know other parts related to it.

 The human mind then moves dialectically, constantly embracing an ever increasing scope of reality, discovering truth of anything after discovering its relation to the whole. Subjectivity and Objectivity From subjectivity we can deduce the its opposite, objective. We make judgments, logical connections and from that we find the opposite. It is dark (there is non-dark).

...Kierkegaard
Existence- term Kierkegaard reserved to human beings.

To exist- means a certain kind of individual, who chooses, decides and makes commitment.

Feuerbach
Do not wish to be a philosopher in contrast to being man.... Do not think as thinker... Think as a living, real being.. Think in existence.

Kierkegaardian s existence
Existence- means a man facing personal choices (the I, my) Negated Hegel s view on reality- concrete individual to universal. Hegel s was to think than to be - to think in absolute than to make decisions of their own.

Against traditional philosophy that deals on: 1. Objective laws of nature 2. Conformity to universal standards of moral reason Greek philosophy permeated subsequent philo including Christian Philo

KIERKEGAARD S EXISTENTIAL VIEW Existence- quality of individual, his conscious participation in an act. Both the actor and spectator exist but it is only the actor who is involved in existence.

Actor- involved in existence Spectator- not involved in existence E.G. Men in wagon both holding the rein Existence focuses on the single individual. Singularity, individuality and not collective

Crowd existence
Crowd existence is untrue. Crowd- public, common opinion The crowd insinuates (indirectly implied) to one s individuality something which is universal.

 Being in a crowd dilutes ourselves and reduces our individuality. The solution to crowd existence is: to relate ourselves to God and to the crowd. To relate to God happens in three stages.

1. Aesthetic Stage The person behaves according to his own emotions and impulses. The person is sensuous (hedonist). The chief motivation is a desire to enjoy the pleasures of the senses. Does not consider others but only his self.

 One can be considered as selfish at this stage. He does not recognize rules of conduct but only his self. E.G. Don Juan engages his self to pleasure (a hedonist) Commitment (leap of faith)- a requirement to be able to proceed to the next stage.

2. Ethical stage
Recognize the rules that reason formulates. Accepts limitations that moral responsibility imposes on my life. focus from ourselves to other people. assuming social obligations, friendships and commitments. such as

 By accepting these responsibilities, we take a giant step toward personal freedom. E.g. Socrates who is firm in his conviction He committed himself not to the pursuit of temporary pleasures but to the universal, objective and timeless laws of morality Eventually he ll experience dread because of the recognition of sin.

3. Religious stage
The relationship between God and individual is subjective experience. Prior to actual relationship it is impossible to have prior knowledge. Approximation process-the term for attempt to give objective knowledge. Act of faith-can assure me of my personal relationship with God.

 Abraham is the model of religious stage. (God who is merciful and loving becomes a cruel God) In a contradictory of objective uncertainty, his faith accepted the absurd and acted upon it. He called Abraham, knight of faith.

Knight of faith
Cannot be judged according to universal laws of morality, which the tragic hero suffers. He defies the objective in order to fulfill the subjective. Parricide is objectively subjectively right. wrong but

Subjectivity of Truth
There is no prefabricated truth out there. There is objective uncertainty . In Abraham s case there is no certainty that it was God s voice that he heard.

 But he has leap of faith - something that is absurd, truth measured by attitude . Mental cultivation is not the only important or decisive thing in life.

A leap of faith
There is conflict between Ethics and religious faith. Suppose: Life becomes meaningful in doing God s will. In his book, Fear and Trembling, life becomes meaningful when I raise myself to the universal Doing what the norms says makes one meaningful. He was able to perform his telos- what I ought to be.

 But in doing so (conforming to universal norms), one loses his individuality. Is life only meaningful if one does what a universal norm says? E.g. Abraham s individuality manifested in his faith- meaningful existence Problem: What makes life meaningful if there is no norm? Answer: Subjectivity of truth

 It is important to understand that Kierkegaard felt a leap of faith was necessary in accepting Christianity due to the paradoxes that exist in Christianity. In his book Philosophical Fragments, Kierkegaard delves deep into the paradoxes that Christianity presents. One of such is Jesus as 100% man and God.

 Since neither logic nor reason can reconcile this, one would require faith to believe it in light of the paradox. So, when one decides to have faith that a being existed as both God and man, one makes a qualitative change from nonbelief to belief, and thus makes a 'leap of faith' that it is true.

 The implication of taking a leap of faith can, depending on the context, carry positive or negative connotations, as some feel it is a virtue to be able to believe in something without evidence while others feel it is foolishness. It is a hotly contested theological and philosophical concept. For instance, the association with "blind faith" and religion is disputed by those with deistic principles that argue reason and logic, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God.

Karl Theodor Jaspers

The will does not choose between good and evil; it is its choice, rather, that makes it good or evil. Birth: Oldenburg, Germany on February 23, 1883
He studied law and medicine and received his M.D. from the University of Heidelberg.

Karl Theodor Jaspers (1883-1969)

 He taught psychiatry at Heidelberg University from 1916, turned to philosophy, and held the chair of philosophy until 1937. During most of the Nazi period Jaspers, whose wife was Jewish and who refused to make any concessions to the Nazi authorities, was prevented from teaching. In 1948 he accepted a professorship in philosophy at Basel, Switzerland.

 He also believes that metaphysical problems can only be understood through human existence which is subjective. He describes being into three: Horizon-Jasper s term for mode of existence. 1. Dasein- plain givenness One is in state of givenness, when one is just there like objects, unconscious, unaware.

2. Existenz- being-for-itself Human beings remain to be in the horizon of dasein unless they become aware of their existence. But as they grasp their existence, they experience failure. This failure goes on and on unless one takes a leap into that horizon that is beyond all horizons, that which encompasses everything.

3. Transcendent Existence which transcends everything. Umgreifende- grasping around.

The leap of faith

The leap of faith is transformative. Everything we encounter in everyday life is yet to be interpreted, it is a cipher. Cipher- a sign that is yet to be interpreted. Nothing is now only literal.

 Nothing is absolutely negative or positive, but they are positive or negative depending on one s awareness of his/her situation. This is the mode where existential truth is encountered- a truth experienced, a truth that is subjectivity. Analogy: Sailing ship

 Subjectivity is not closed off or shut down. Existence is only in communication. Existenz realizes itself in relationships that are steeped in love, fidelity, goodness and responsibility.

Martin Buber
I-thou relationship Personal relationship individuals between authentic

Persons treat others as persons. Happens between two persons: subject and subject.

Martin Buber (1865-1978)

 It happens in dialogue that is genuine. One accepts the other as thou, as person I is another you from the point of view of the I. I-it relationship Person is treated as object.

Authentic existence
Like Jaspers, Buber believes that authentic existence is being aware of the signs that address one s being. It is through interpretation the signs that one enters into genuine religious communion with God, Absolute Thou. It is faith that work here and not logic, therefore, it is subjective.

 A genuine religion is not a form of collectivity. It is dialogical, relational, and an open communication between two persons, not monologue that is directed towards objects and closed off and cannot respond.

Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973)

Known as the laughing philosopher. Philosophy for him is extremely personal and must be done as if we are thinking aloud . Thus writing in a diary is more philosophical than writing a formal treatise.

Gabriel Marcel

 He observes that we live in a functional world, where everything seems to be in proper place and everyone functions in a role set for him. It seems everyone is in proper order where in fact the world is broken. Broken world- Marcel s term for impersonal, object-oriented way of life.

 It seems that the world must have had a heart at one time but, like a broken watch, the world stopped beating. But we are not aware of it because of functional way of life.

 Life is heartless, meaningless, routine but something could break the chain of unawareness. Primary reflection- breaks the routine. Destroys our unawareness of the brokenness Stop and retrace our steps and find out the cause of brokenness.

Secondary reflection- reparative process. Heals the brokenness of the world. Only the authentic relationship, connection can do this reflection. I-thou

In this part, the problem in primary reflection is no longer a problem but a mystery.

 Through fidelity, one can participate in this mystery through communion with others and with God. Genuine reflection must come in full circle. We do not stop in being aware, we do something. We become fully aware that there is mystery when we become open, available and responsible.

Conclusion
Theistic with relational freedom or atheistic with absolute freedom? Very crucial to existentialism is that it values personal, subjective truth and therefore does not prescribe any course of action as a better choice. Truth is experiential, and one s courage must be acted out and not only thought about. At certain situation, we decide what to define us.