Continental Philosophy: Existentialism and Phenomenology - Essay Example

Continental Philosophy In the aftermath of Hegelian philosophy which posits that absolute truth exists and that human beings can have knowledge of it through reason, philosophies attributed to Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer espoused ideas that refuted Hegel's assumptions. These thinkers were especially influential in laying the groundwork for existentialism, one of the schools of thought that arose under the banner of continental philosophy that became widespread in continental Europe in the 20th century. They focused on the reality that life or human existence is irrational; that human beings are confronted with dread, despair and suffering and that what matters are the choices that every human being must make. However, these three philosophers had different suggestions as to these choices. Kierkegaard believed in a "leap of faith" by committing oneself to God so that despair may be overcome. Nietzsche believed in the "superman" who rises above the slave mentality of the greater society by creating, instead of merely discovering values for himself. Schopenhauer looked to the consolation of art and the renunciation of the will to overcome the tragedies of life. Existentialism Existentialism as a philosophical movement was very influential in the fields of literature and the arts so much so that two of the foremost existential philosophers were literary writers themselves - Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Both also believed that man can confront the existential dilemma through active involvement in socio-political causes. Camus (1913-1960) believed that life is absurd and therefore can offer no explanation for why things are the way they are. In the Myth of Sisyphus the philosopher explained the limits of both natural science and art in making sense of reality outside of Continental Philosophy what the individual experiences. He wrote, "This heart within me I can feel, and I judge that exists. This world I can touch, and likewise judge that it exists. There ends all my knowledge and the rest is construction." He wrote that human needs (the two primary needs he identified were the need for understanding and the need for social warmth and contact) were always thwarted and they always tend to give way to misery and despair. As a result, he posed one of the most profound philosophical questions: "Is there any reason not to commit suicide" However, he answered the question himself that suicide is not an option and that there is a choice that can be made in a violent and senseless world - and that is to remain fighting to the very end for liberty and justice, even if the absurdity of life does not offer guarantees that such ends could ever be attained. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) believed God does not exist and therefore, human beings are abandoned. He wrote that existence precedes essence. Because God does not exist, it follows that we are what we make of ourselves; that there are no reasons for why things are what they should be and that human beings chart their own future; that human beings are utterly free ("condemned to be free"); and that following the third implication, we are alone yet free to create our own values. However, all these point to the fact that human beings are inescapably responsible for their fates. Even if God does not exist, it does not mean that man should resort to anguish for this abandonment or live in denial. Instead the key to living an "authentic" life is to embrace this responsibility - and this could be mainly accomplished by throwing one's efforts in a "fundamental project" in which one can be engaged. In action Sartre believed, man can chart his true essence and Continental Philosophy his reality, as Sartre himself showed by being active in political causes and movements all his life. Phenomenology Like the existentialists, phenomenologists looked to the subjective experience of man as the starting point of philosophy. However, in phenomenology especially in the works of Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) an attempt was made to make a basis for certainty that was lacking in the assumptions of existentialism. Husserl believed that a phenomenology could provide a system to study the commonality in human consciousness. His "transcendental phenomenology" developed a methodology for investigating phenomena ("the world-in experience" as opposed to the world observed by the natural sciences) without making assumptions as to their objective characteristics. Heidegger, one of the foremost Continental philosophers, believed that phenomenology offers a return to certainty by escaping the conditional assumptions of empirical science. However, Heidegger posited that the source of this certainty was neither phenomena nor subjective experience - but what he called "Being". Like Sartre, Heidegger was concerned with the concepts such as bad faith, inauthenticity and life's projects. However the main difference was that Sartre was concerned mainly with an individual's existence in which the absence of God made Being not at all necessary. In Heidegger's work, Being and Time, he identified the absence of meaning or sense as the problem for human existence. Thrown into the world, man experiences "everydayness" Continental Philosophy and meaningless "chatter" beyond which he must look for meaning in spite of appearances. Hope lies however in seeing oneself in totality as well as facing death where mortal limitations can be seen as a wake-up call that life is short and time must not be wasted. Moreover, Heidegger identified two ways in which one can have a glimpse and contemplate Being: one through poetry and the other, through Eastern philosophy. Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1965) developed a philosophy in marked contrast to Heidegger. Levinas believed that instead of Being, what man essentially encounters is the sense of the Other which exists prior to Being. True meaning can only being attained when the sense of this Other is confronted and this, according Levinas is the key human event. In the human face, we see the Other for which the sense of "I" has been alienated from. And yet by knowing the Other, man can have the key into the Infinite, God and His Law, giving way to a transcendental ethical philosophy. As a model, Levinas offered the Bible of the Judeo-Christian religion as an example for which the Absolute Other is represented by God. True freedom can be attained by knowing God and going beyond one's ego towards the obedience of His Law. Read More