The Existentialist Philosophers - Essay Example

# Philosophy # 22 March, Existentialism One of the main tenets among the existentialist philosophers is the view that existence precedes essence. On human nature, all the existentialist philosophers have the view that existence precedes essence. What this in essence means is that human beings are not born with predetermined purpose in life; human beings are the ones who fashion their lives and determines what they will be in future. For the existentialist philosophers, the essence of something is the purpose, the aim or the nature of something. The existentialists hold the view that human beings were not made with any particular nature or purpose, it is the responsibility of every person therefore to create their essence, or in other words to determine what they will be in life. For this reason, existentialist philosophers stress the point that human beings are free to fashion their lives and to determine what they will be in life; the existentialist philosophers therefore stress the need to live authentically, which means, facing human existential challenges genuinely and boldly in an effort to develop one’s potentials fully and to become the best that one can be. One of the existentialist philosophers who strongly support this view is Paul Sartre. According to Sartre, human beings are condemned to be free. By this Sartre meant that human beings are completely free to determine what they will be in life. Sartre also argued that existentialism is humanism, by this he meant that existentialist approach to life helps one to achieve his full potentials and to be the best that he/she can be. This paper is an application of Sartre’s existential approach to life, tersely summarized by the phrase; existentialism is humanism, to the work of an American art painted during the World War 11 period. The work of art interpreted existentially in this paper, through Sartre’s existentialist philosopher is the Sky’s the Limit! Poster authored by Allen Courtney in 1944 (World War 11 Poster: The Sky’s the Limit!, web). The interpretation will show how the poster exemplifies the existentialist themes of facticity or throwness,anxiety and despair. These existentialist themes are central in Sartre’s existentialism. The SKY’s the Limit! Poster consists of three mechanics building/repairing an aeroplane. Two of the mechanics in the poster are men, while one of them is a lady. The lady in the poster has a bandana on her head, and she is presented as a strongly built lady. Behind the working mechanics are military war planes, clearly visible on the background. On the right hand corner of the poster, a bomb which is about to strike a Japanese flag is clearly visible. Briefly, this is the description of Courtney’s Sky’s the Limit! Poster. An application of Sartre’s existentialism philosophy in the interpretation of this poster will clearly reveal how this poster exemplifies the themes of facticity, anxiety and despair that characterize Sartre’s existentialism. To begin with, Courtney’s Sky’s the Limit! Poster exemplifies the existential them of facticity in a very clear way. By the theme of facticity, Sartre meant that, in this world, human beings find themselves in an unfriendly world that is full of challenges. Sartre argued that human beings find themselves in a world that is not of their making, and that is indifferent to their needs. Sartre therefore was of the view that human beings have to take charge of their lives in the world and to confront the myriad challenges that surround them in an authentic way. The painting of the Sky’s the Limit! Poster was actually inspired by the need to confront live challenges occasioned by what Sartre termed as facticity. This is because the painting of this poster was inspired by the challenges that America was facing during World War 11. The main aim of this poster was to mobilize the American people to support the American government’s efforts in World War 11. During the World War 11 period, America was running out of manpower because many working men had gone into the war. For this reason, some of American women started working in professions hitherto regarded as the preserve of men. One of the professions considered as a preserve of men was mechanic work. In this poster therefore, the presence of a woman mechanic was meant to mobilize women to join men in all professions. Again, the presence of mighty military warplanes on the background of the poster coupled with the presence of a bomb about to strike a Japanese flag was meant to assure the Americans that, ultimately, American would definitely win the war. World War 11 was actually brought about by the existential challenges that Sartre refers to as Facticity or throwness. It was the result of competitions for newly discovered colonies in Africa that actually precipitated the World War 11. The cause of the competitions for colonies was the struggle for survival. Due to the fact that human beings find themselves in unfriendly world that is indifferent to their challenges, human beings have to struggle to survive, human beings have to struggle to shape their destiny, or as Sartre put it, human beings have to struggle to create their essence or their purpose (Sartre: Existentialism is humanism, web). It is in an effort to shape their destinies that people compete for the meagre world resources and this competition leads to wars. Courtney’s poster therefore exemplifies the existential theme of facticity in a very clear way. The second theme of Sartre’s existential Philosophy that is exemplified in Courtney’s poster The Sky’s the Limit! is the theme of Anxiety. On anxiety, Sartre argues that finding themelves in unfriendly world, human beings are engulfed in anxiety for lack of external source of value and determination. Sartre argues that in the world, human beings face enormous responsibility of choosing their nature, or in other words determining what they will be in life. For this reason, Sartre argues that human beings are faced with anxiety in making this enormous decision because the decision that they will make will not only affect them but will affect other people as well. Sartre therefore argued that human beings have to constantly grapple with this existential anxiety for life is always about making choices that will determine what we will be in the future, our essence. Courtney’s poster the SKY’S the Limit! poster exemplifies this existential theme of anxiety in a very powerful way. In the Sky’s the Limit! Poster, the picture of the woman mechanic as a call for women to embrace physically demanding work that were hitherto regarded as a preserve for men, is a strong call for women to make decision that would determine the future of the American people. This decision therefore is actually an existential decision and there is a lot of anxiety in making this kind of decision. Also, the image of military war planes on the background of the poster is meant to shore up the spirits of the Americans, and to assure them that America is mighty and that it would ultimately win the war. This presentation of America was meant to influence the American in making the hard existential decision that would determine the life of America, making the decision to support the American government in World War 11 was not an easy decision, and making the decision definitely involved a lot of existential anxiety. The Sky’s the Limit! Poster therefore exemplifies Sartre’s theme of existentialism in a very powerful way. Courtney’s The Sky’s is the Limit! Poster also exemplifies the theme of despair in a very precise manner. According to Sartre, human beings are confronted by despair when they realize that the unfriendly world that they were thrown into has no external values for guiding them in determining their future, and that they have to use the absolute freedom that they have in determining their future. Realizing that the world is unfriendly and has no external values to guide them, human beings despair and restrict themselves to what is under their control. In the Sky’s the Limit! poster, the title of the poster brings out the element of human despair in the poster. The title the sky’s the limit, was meant to motivate the Americans into being more creative and hopeful for the best in the World War 11. The need to motivate the Americans to be creative and hopeful was actually inspired by the fact that human beings have existential despair in realizing that they are limited in a number of ways. The title of the poster therefore was meant to encourage the Americans to overcome this existential despair, and to be infinitely hopeful for the best in the World War 11. This fact therefore shows that this poster exemplifies the theme of despair in a very precise way. In conclusion, an existential interpretation of Courtney’s Sky’s the Limit! Poster shows that this poster does indeed exemplify Sartre’s three main existential themes in a very powerful and precise way. Courtney’s poster therefore was actually meant to address human existential concerns. Works Cited Sartre: Existentialism is Humanism. Web World War 11 Poster: The Sky’s the Limit!. Web Read More