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Existentialism is perhaps one of the world’s oldest philosophies. It has
been dated back to nineteenth-century Danish and Greek philosophers. It is a
simple idea, yet it has so many different ideals within it that it is almost
impossible to define. There are many parts that make up one whole, basic idea.
The many parts have been defined by famous existentialist artists and writers
such as, Nietzsche, Chamfort, Sartre, and Kafka. These works have all proven
many points about existentialism; however, even the pros cannot decide on one
basic idea. That is why there are so many different interpretations of this
famous ideal. If there were a single definition it would have something to do
with having your own ideas and being free to choose any path.
If you were a believer in existentialistic ideals chances are you would not
participate in society and/or your own life very much. Albert Camus believed
that to be a true existentialist you had to remove yourself from society as
much as possible since a belief in the foundation of government was to conform.
Conforming to society norms is considered bad, it doesn’t allow the individual
to progress and reach his own decisions Camus realized, however, that
restricting himself from all social conformity was impossible. In his
award-winning book, The Stranger, Camus depicts a man with very little emotion.
Once in a while he shows a bit of heart, but for the most part, he is gives a
robotic appearance. This character is based on existentialistic views, he tries
to stay out of society as much as he can. He does the same thing from day to
day. The character expresses no feeling about anything except that light is a
sign of evil or annoyance, while the dark becomes a place of calm and
seriousness. In society, the common idea is that light is good and evil grows
in the darkest of places, but in Albert Camus’ novel, evil is good and the
light is bad. They’re many other parts of existentialism. Camus influenced many
of the writings on this subject although he did not stand unchallenged.
Many existentialists believed that man had no reason for life. In other words,
there was no God and no reason to live life with rules of any kind because
there is nothing in the end anyway. This thought did not gain the
existentialist popularity with many religions. Many people got excommunicated
from their homelands just for stating their views on the subject.
Strangely, however, most of these writers had poor childhood’s. They suffered
the loss of a parent and sometimes sickness. They were not strangers to
heartache and hard times may have influenced their choice of philosophies. This
is not to say, however, that if they came from a happy home they would not have
written what they did. It is to justify the negative attitude of existentialism
as a whole. This idea shakes the framework of all society by stating that man
has no reason for living and in turn should not care about morals and values.
Almost any existentialist would believe in a statement heralding the
advancement of the individual. The existentialists believe that every man must
decide for himself the way he should act and should not be bound by other
rules. These beliefs define the framework of existentialism. Though
philosophical in many ways, believers’ curiosity has lead to some of the
world’s most renown works of literature.