Fyodor Dostoevsky

November 11, 1821- February 9, 1881

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a brilliant writer and philosopher who expanded many theories which tremendously affected Russian society. He was born in Moscow, Russia, but would later move to Saint Petersburg in 1837. The time period where he was starting to become famous was near the end of the Age of the Enlightenment and in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. Alexander I, who was Emperor of Russia, passed away, as Nicholas I was next in line, while the army officers failed to abolish serfdom and have constitutionalism. ( A timeline of Russia,) Russia were involved in many wars/battles during Fyodor’s lifetime including: their second war against Persia over Georgia, defeated Egypt at the battle of Navarino, along with Britain and France, attacked/defeated the Ottomans, and helped Austria defeat a nationalist revolt in Hungary.( A timeline of Russia,) The Russian troops also defeated the Romanian revolution, Russia, and the Ottoman empire start the Crimean war, and lastly, Russia ending up defeating the Ottomans once again. (A timeline of Russia,) This all happened in a span from 1826-1878. Other important things happening in this time period were: Russia signing treaties of alliance with Austria and Prussia in 1833 and Alexander II eventually abolishing serfdom, and allowing freedom to 20 million serfs, and land for some of them as well in 1861. Fyodor was living in the era of the landowners and the serfs, multiple years before communism, as Russia unconstrained the serfs severely in 1861.(A timeline of Russia,)

The themes in Fyodor’s four novels, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, and The Brothers Karamazov, reflected what was happening in Russian society. Themes such as nihilism, existentialism, alienation, a human suffering from humour, and psychology. In Notes from the Underground, Dostoyevsky was talking about the issue of undereducated workers and peasants having such limited power and freedom during his time in jail in Siberia. He said that theorists of the 1860’s were to used to European culture, and were too disconnected from their Russian values. He says that we need to go back to follow the primary Russian values such as personal responsibility, brotherly love, family, and religion. In the book, money was also seen as a symbol of power. (“Notes from Underground.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,) Due to the Underground Man being poor, he could never be social or equal to others throughout the novel. He wasn’t seen as a peasant, but is still ashamed as he still borrows money on a daily basis from anyone he can.(“Notes from Underground.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,) 

In Crime and Punishment, The Possessed, and the Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor explains in his book the sudden change from being a socialist to a nihilist, right after he got out of jail in Siberia. A nihilist is a person who believes that life is meaningless and doesn’t believe in any religion. During the time Fyodor was alive, more and more people believed in nihilism, as was reflected in Crime and Punishment. (“Crime and Punishment.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,) He uses the main character Raskolnikov as a socialist, which was the “old Dostoevsky” and used another character named Lebeziatnikov as a nihilist, who wanted to use “new philosophies”. He also talked about how indigent most of the characters in the book, including the main character’s family, the Raskolnikov’s, as he approached his sister about marrying a man just because of his wealth. Dostoyevsky’s description of poverty authorizes him to talk about social issues to make situations, to which the only way to stay alive is through self-sacrifice.(“Crime and Punishment.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes,)   

Fyodor had a huge impact on Russian society, scholars, and philosophers, who came after he had died. He has been acknowledged all over the world as one of the greatest writers and philosophers for multiple years now. His last book, The Brothers Karamazov, was said to be the masterpiece of Western literature. He also influenced Friedrich Nietzsche and Leo Tolstoy. The most crucial years of Dostoevsky’s life were also the most active, as Russian history was changing so much. He became involved in political interests of controversial topics. Fyodor was lastly influenced by radical ideas entering Russia from the West. (“The Brothers Karamazov.” Fyodor Dostoevsky Biography, )

Tobi Osisanya

Works Cited: Bibliography

“Diagnosing Literary Genius.” Google Books,

Roberts, Peter. “EDUCATION AND THE LIMITS OF REASON: READING DOSTOEVSKY.” Educational Theory, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 15 Apr. 2012,

“Handbook of Social Capital.” Google Books,

“Dostoevsky’s Polyphonic Talent.” Google Books, “Introduction: Faith-Based Organisations and Urban Social Issues.” Introduction: Faith-Based Organisations and Urban Social IssuesUrban Studies – Justin Beaumont, 2008,

Other Relevant Readings

A timeline of Russia

“Existentialism.” AllAboutPhilosophy.org,

Rbth. “All you ever wanted to know about Dostoevsky.” Russia Beyond, 11 Nov. 2013,

Morson, Gary Saul. “Fyodor Dostoyevsky.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 27 Apr. 2017,

Frantz Fanon

July 25^th, 1925 – December 6^th, 1961

Frantz Fanon was a writer and political activist who invoked a revolutionary philosophy that had made him become an iconic figure since the 1960s to the 20th century. Growing up on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Fanon experienced difficulties as he possessed the darkest skin tone of his family in a very colour conscious society (Kuby, 2015). Maturing with this sensitivity, Fanon became aware of the discrimination present in his community and the colonialism that accompanied it. As a result, when Martinique had become occupied due to the Vichy Regime, Fanon left the island to fight for France in World War Two but realized that the discrimination present within the Free French movement was no different from the inequity he faced growing up (Zaller, 2017).

Fanon’s experiences pushed him to question the nature of racial identity, causing him to contribute to the critique of the self-identification ethnic movement. He published his first piece of literature named, “Black Skin, White Masks” in which he disclosed how acknowledging one’s racial identity perpetuates colonialism and racism, as well as utilizes existentialism to question the nature of one’s drives and identity (Zaller, 2017). Fanon states that those who indulge in the identification of race are driven by egoism, as they recognize their ethnicity in order to feed their drive to feel superior to one another. Fanon pursues this existentialist focus to explain that these values of superiority regarding racial identities are fueled by interactions, shaping cultures all over the world. He conveys the danger of this phenomenon, as the world will be led into desensitized discrimination from the integration of cultures incorporating this mindset. For example, Fanon argues that white men self-identify as powerful, therefore correlating this ideality with other white men. This perception of whiteness is maintained in order to achieve social control within society, creating a negative connotation projected on to the alternate race. Consequently, the idea of what it means to be black is a perception that is different from reality and races begin to compare themselves and build an aspiration to become like another or begin to form resentment for each another. This mindset creates division among races and begins to cause what Fanon feared: colonization aggravated by racism. As a result, in order to avoid such inequality among different racial categories, Fanon believed that populations should forbid from indulging in their own racial identity and seeing one another as equal regardless of appearance (Welcome, 2017). Even if one does not self-identify to put other racial categories down, the indulgence will cause division, as Fanon stated, “To us, the one who adores race is as sick as one who abominates” (Fanon, 1952).

Due to Frantz Fanon’s philosophy, an iconic standpoint has been etched in history regarding the critique of the self-identification movement. With his literature, Fanon was able to supply rich material used to decipher the struggle of independence racial groups have fought for overtime, as well as how to overcome such hardships perpetuated by colonialism and racism (Kuby, 2015). Whilst the world has not adapted to a complete lack of recognition of ethnicity, Fanon’s theory provides an outlook on humanity and their drives which aggravated the social divisions experienced today. As a result, society has grown to be more accepting towards others regardless of racial differences, which supports Frantz Fanon’s pursuits of a world that is less conscious of colour.

Rola Tuffaha

Works Cited

Kuby, Emma. “‘Our actions never cease to haunt us’: Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the

violence of the Algerian War.” Historical Reflections 41, no. 3 (2015): 60+. Academic OneFile (accessed November 12, 2017). http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA439109595&asid=31da12e566486045534e119dc74b559d.

Welcome H. Alexander. 2017. “Snow-blind in a Blizzard of Their Own Making: Bodies of

Structural Harmony and White Male Negrophobes in the Work of Frantz Fanon.” Critical Philosophy Of Raceno. 1: 91. JSTOR Journals, EBSCOhost (accessed November 9, 2017).

Zaller, Robert. 2017. “Frantz Fanon.” Salem Press Biographical EncyclopediaResearch Starters,

EBSCOhost (accessed November 9, 2017).

Other Relevant Reading

Fanon, Frantz. Black skin white masks. Translated by Richard Philcox. New York: Grove Press,

1952.

Simone de Beauvoir

January 9, 1908 – April 14, 1986

There are many words for which one could use to describe Simone de Beauvoir: she was, among many other things, a writer, an intellectual, a feminist and an existentialist philosopher. Her body of work, which includes “novels, essays, biographies, autobiography and monographs philosophy, politics and social issues” (World Heritage Encyclopedia) is credited with having a significant and lasting influence on feminist theory as well as feminist existentialism.

Simone de Beauvoir was born in the Paris district of Montparnasse to a bourgeois family who was, at the time, experiencing a decline in their fortunes. Despite this, de Beauvoir reported a happy childhood wherein “she learned to read at the age of three and enjoyed a boundless curiosity which the extended family was eager to satisfy” (Appignanesi, 11). Being born into a bourgeois family in France at that time meant that Beauvoir was born into a world of “propriety and ‘cultivated distinction’; an artificial politeness and taste that regulated every aspect of her family’s lives and set them apart from the great body of French society” (Bair, 22). It was world that hardly welcomed Simone’s father, who lost his fortune and therefore lost his status, leading many to “[pretend] we was a stranger and not related at all” (Bair, 22). It was a world that, as she got older, Beauvoir would seemingly disregard. Beauvoir’s takeaway from her early years for the most part was “an ingrained sense that power, the intellectual life and the potential for shaping one’s own destiny were the property of the male” (Appignanesi, 20). This understanding of the world is one she would combat through her work later in life.

Simone attended a Catholic institution as of 1913, which demonstrated a stark contrast between her upbringing and that of her extended family and social peers; whereas most girls were educated via a governess at home, Simone’s family could not handle the expense. Simone’s relationship with religion is a complex one; despite being taught in a Catholic environment in her younger years, and having a rather devoted Catholic for a mother, her views as she got older, such as her support of abortion rights and “condemnation of the oppressive nature of woman’s traditional role directly challenged a cornerstone of religious conservativism” (Simons, 7).

Simone de Beauvoir stands out from the plethora of intellectual women before her; whereas women like Virginia Woolf were “excluded from the major educational institutions of their day” (Moi, 23), Beauvoir found herself included in the “first generation of European women […] educated on par with men” (Moi, 23). Her scholarly accomplishments include being the ninth woman in France to complete and pass the agrégation exam in the field of philosophy. She was also “the youngest agrégée ever in that discipline, regardless of gender” (Moi, 23).

 

What is probably Beauvoir’s most notable work, The Second Sex (1949), is attributed as having been instrumental in forming the foundation of contemporary feminism.Within the text, she “placed existentialist ethics within a historical and political context and laid the philosophical foundations for radical feminism” (Simons, 5). The book is not only about women, as one might suspect, but rather it is about “humanity under patriarchy, about ‘gender’ as [society has] come to understand it” (Simons, 30). Her argument that sex is a distinct and separate entity from gender is one that has made itself an integral part in the “long-standing effort to debunk the claim that anatomy is destiny” (Butler, 35). While The Second Sex is not her only important contribution to the field of philosophy, it is possibly her most important philosophical texts as many of the arguments made in the book are those that feminists of all kind are continuing to use in contemporary contexts.

There are many words that could be used to describe Simone de Beauvoir, and provide a glimpse into who and what she was. She can be described simply as a writer, as an intellectual, as an existentialist philosopher. Of all the ways in which one could describe the great Simone de Beauvoir, though, the words that seems most fitting in this: feminist.

Brittany Loree-Stroeder

Works Cited:

Appignanesi, Lisa. Simone de Beauvoir. Haus Publishing, 2005.

Bair, Deirdre. Simone de Beauvoir: a biography. Vintage, 2003.

Butler, Judith. “Sex and Gender in Simone De Beauvoir’s Second Sex.” Yale French Studies, no. 72, 1986, pp. 35–49. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2930225.

Moi, Toril. Simone de Beauvoir: the making of an intellectual woman. Oxford University Press, 2008. Simons, Margaret A. Feminist interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir. The Pennsylvania State University

Press, 1996.

World Heritage Encyclopedia. “Simone de Beauvoir.” Project Gutenberg, central.gutenberg.org/articles/ eng/Simone_de_Beauvoir.

Other Relevant Reading:

Bauer, Nancy. Simone de Beauvoir, philosophy, & feminism. Columbia University Press, 2001. Beauvoir, Simone de. The second sex. Éditions Gallimard, 1949.
Card, Claudia. The Cambridge companion to Simone de Beauvoir. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Judith Butler

Judith Butler is an American philosopher best known for her stances on feminism, gender roles in society and lesbian and gay rights movements. She is highly educated with her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. all achieved from Yale University, and she has been a teaching professor at several academically appraised universities. On top of all this, Butler is the Hannah Arendt Professor of Philosophy at the European Graduate School located in Switzerland. She is an influence to all generations and is an important advocate for marginalized groups in society.

Historically speaking, Butler’s contributions are not very well known due to most of her work being done in the present and very recent past, however her work is still and always will be very relevant and important. The history surrounding women’s rights and individual sexuality is harmful, brutal and unjust, it is from the works of people like Butler that these platforms have transformed and improved dramatically in this modern era. So it is obvious to say that Butler’s efforts and views today have a huge impact on the future and how society changes over time, although it is also evident that she has already contributed and impacted the history of many movements.

Butler’s impacts on history are generated from her published work including several books written on the subjects of gender and sex. Her very first book was all about the idea of desire based on the opinion of Hegel and was titled Subjects of Desire: Hegelian Reflections in Twentieth-Century France. With this book she brought forth different interpretations and viewpoints that were seen in society in the 20th century. By introducing these different opinions in her published work, Butler was on the road to generating a more inclusive yet vastly opinionated environment surrounding all types of controversial topics. This type of environment had not been seen much at this time due to the fact that topics like this were taboo and thought of as unnatural to speak openly about, Butler helped crush that narrative.

Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, known to be one of Butler’s most well known books, was published in 1990. During this time, third wave feminism was practically in full swing and continued to grow into a massive global movement. It is obvious to see that Butler’s work had an influence on this, her book was written all about social creations and ideas, stereotyping and the injustice based on it. Third wave feminism is known as a more modern movement of feminism that is based on these same issues along with basic women’s rights and everything else feminists are fighting to change. Butler definitely sparked the flame of some individuals in the late 20th century who now call themselves proud feminists in 2017.

 

That same book, Gender Trouble, is also said to be the main influence on the creation of what is known as queer theory. Queer theory is an approach that studies gender as a nonessential part of one’s identity, since it is a social construct, gender and sexuality are looked at as non- correlating characteristics. Queer theory just shows how gender, sex and desire are not connected, how they differ and that they are individualistic. This entire body of thought did not even exist until Butler and other modern thinking individuals expressed their thoughts and published them into society. The creation of an entire way of thinking that was entirely new to the 20th century was generated by Butler, and that is her major historical impact.

Without her opinionated influence on this queer theory creation, Butler’s impact would be minimal and society would appear so different to what it is today. It would not be continuously working towards improving equal rights and freedoms for all no matter the gender or sexuality expressed by individuals, and it is so important that this continues to happen. The impact Judith Butler has had on the topics of gender, sexuality, feminism and social constructs will always be substantial to all individuals in society.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Hegel was a German philosopher known for his vast impact on philosophy, and for work that is famously difficult to understand.  This brief biography will explore the historical context surrounding his life, and the historical significance of his life.

Hegel was born in a Europe on the cusp of a great deal of change.  The Enlightenment movement was in full swing.  In the decades leading up to 1770, principles of reason, empiricism (knowledge supplied by experience) and the scientific method were being extolled by philosophers like Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, and Hume.  These Enlightenment thinkers were building on the contributions made by Bacon, Newton, Locke and other participants in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century.  An intellectual migration was taking place; the church and dynastic monarchy were being left behind in favour of science, reason, individual and human rights, progress, and economic globalization.  Along with these principles of modernity came revolutions.  At Hegel’s birth, the American Revolution was five years in, and would last another thirteen.  The French Revolution would begin when Hegel was eighteen.

The political upheaval was intriguing to Hegel, and as Europe began to realize its new identity, he was drawn to try to understand his modern environment (Pinkard x).  In 1789, Hegel was attending a seminary in Tübinger, which served as a sort of university for Hegel, because although the seminary trained young men to be clerics, Hegel had “no clerical aspirations,” (Baur, 4).  The summer of his first year is when the Bastille was stormed, igniting the French Revolution.  The fall of the French monarchy occasioned “joyful anticipation” in Hegel and his contemporaries (Moland 133).  The news that power was shifting to the lower  classes (or at least away from the monarchs) must have been seen as a victory for the enlightened spectators of south-west Germany.  However, the revolution proved more bloody than anticipated, leading Hegel to disapprove of the violence that resulted (133).  Hegel remarked that revolution had its roots in thought, namely the thought that we can create a society based on “a rational concept of human being,” (Rockmore 51).  Hegel was aware that the modern world was progressing as his predecessors had envisioned, but also that the concept of freedom would need to be applied to society in a way that made practical sense (53).  The strife that accompanied the revolutions in his early life lead him to question what freedom means in the context of modernity and history.

Hegel’s philosophy is commonly attributed to the school and period of “German idealism” (Baur 8)  The idealists put an emphasis on our experience as subjects when coming to know things about the world.  The idealists were in many ways a contrast to the realists, who would claim that the world exists as it does without our active participation in experiencing it.  This divide between the knowing subject, and knowable object, was a common thread for early modern philosophy (8).  Hegel took parts of this school a step further, and his work suggests that since human knowledge is limited by the faculties of perception, there must be an independent “something” (13) beyond ourselves.  This something manifests in Hegel’s idea of Geist, or Spirit, a popular view of Hegel’s in the philosophy of aesthetics.

Hegel’s vast influence begins with Karl Marx.  Marx was a student of Hegel, but he disagreed on some key points. He defends materialism over idealism (Buchwalter 159) which means he views the world as knowable by virtue of matter and objects, not any mystical Giest.

Hegel’s influence also stretches to the existentialist movement of the twentieth century, where his work is cited by many thinkers as beginning the discussion on the irrational aspects of human nature examined by existentialism (Ciavatta 169).  Like Marx, existentialist thinkers focused more on what they rejected about Hegel than on what they agreed.  Existential thought prioritizes existence over essence (meaning) in a similar way that Hegel sees experience as dependent on the knowing subject.

Hegel had further influence on thinkers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Royce, Merleau-Ponty, and Heidegger (Rockmore 159, 161, 164, 171).

Stephen Good

Works Cited

Baur, Michael. G.W.F. Hegel: Key Concepts. Routledge, 2015.

Buchwalter, Andrew. “Hegel and Marx.” G.W.F. Hegel: Key Concepts, edited by Michael Baur. Routledge, 2015, pp. 155-168.

Ciavatta, David. “Hegel and Existentialism.” G.W.F. Hegel: Key Concepts, edited by Michael Baur. Routledge, 2015, pp. 169-181.

Pinkard, Terry. Hegel: A Biography. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Rockmore, Tom. Before and After Hegel: A Historical Introduction to Hegel’s Thought. University of California Press, 1993.

Moland, Lydia. “Philosophy of History.” G.W.F. Hegel: Key Concepts, edited by Michael Baur. Routledge, 2015, pp. 128-139.

Søren Kierkegaard

1813 – 1855

Søren Kierkegaard (S.K.) was born in Copenhagen as the youngest of seven children, into a wealthy household (Gates, 12). His father, Michael P. Kierkegaard (M.P.), had a deep interest in religion (Gates, 12). His devotion to Christianity meant he expected the same of his son, Søren entered the “school of civic virtue” in Copenhagen in 1821 (Gates, 14), and was expected to pursue a theological education as an adult. Although Søren was devoted to the Christian religion like his father (Gates, 12), he dismissed his father’s wishes, instead pursuing history, philosophy and literature at the University of Copenhagen (Gates, 19). As a child, Søren spent much of his time with his father – M.P. would often hold discussions and dialectic arguments with his guests (Gates, 14), Søren picked up these traits from his father, later becoming “a great controversialist and a master of dialectic” (Gates, 14). However, M.P. was a “very melancholy man” (Gates, 12), and Søren “absorbed his father’s melancholy”. The chain of deaths in Søren’s family are likely to have contributed to his state of melancholy – he lost a sister and brother in 1833, then his mother and his favourite sister in the following year (Gates, 20). The pain of these deaths, combined with his interests conflicting with his father’s plans for him (to pursue theology), resulted in significant inner conflicts for S.K. (Gates, 20).

Kierkegaard as the Father of Existentialism

When defining Existentialism in relation to Kierkegaard, we refer to his emphasis on the individual, “the depths of human psychology”, and “his discovery of human freedom”. S.K. is refers to the individual as “the primary starting point of all knowledge and being” (Kurtz, 5).

S.K. believed that all human problems were rooted in human nature, and that “man is a sick soul, and there is no real solution for his problems except to find the cure for this sickness” (Gates, 93). He identifies man’s illnesses in his work The Concept of Dread – his view of mankind is that “every human individual lives in a state of dread” and that “no other creature can know such a state” besides humans, and that this was the result of “an individual’s awareness of himself”, as well as man’s freedom to choose, particularly between good and evil (Gates, 93, 94).

Views on the Enlightenment

Kierkegaard was a counter-Enlightenment philosopher (O’Hara, 9), writing in reaction to the problems that he believed had emerged as a result of the 17-18th century Enlightenment: the attempts by Enlightenment thinkers to “combine the prevailing concepts of God, nature, knowledge, and man into a cohesive worldview” as well as their emphasis on the individual’s capacity to use reason (O’Hara, 9). In contrast, Kierkegaard did not consider humans to primarily be creatures of reason, rather “caring, desiring, and feeling beings that act and make decisions based on this nature” – this sentiment is considered to be the heart of S.K.’s Existentialism (O’Hara, 10).

Kierkegaard and Religion

Kierkegaard’s main concern was with understanding how to be Christian and how to “develop inwardness of faith” (Kurtz, 472). S.K. feared that ideas relating to reason and rationality, as promoted by the Enlightenment, had “lost the true meaning of Christianity” (Kurt, 472). However, he was strongly opposed to the established Danish Church and condemned it as “sham and hypocrisy”, he was an enemy to institutionalized religion (Kurtz, 472).

Kierkegaard in reaction to Hegel 

Hegel sought to reconcile religion and reason, and “prove that all the fundamental beliefs of Christianity could be shown to be objectively true”, he attempted to prove the existence of universal truths that could be considered objective (O’Hara, 10). Kierkegaard rejects Hegel’s emphasis on rationality and his search for objective truths, he argues that “truths” should not be required to have any teleological basis, “…the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.” to Kierkegaard, truths were personal and had no roots in “reason and objectivity”, rather “passion and subjectivity” (Anderson, 25).

 

Kierkegaard on How Life Should be Lived

In his first work, Either/Or, Kierkegaard presents two lifestyles: aesthetic and ethical (O’Hara, 12). He defines aesthetic as referring to the individual who “values possibility over actuality” and one “whose main role in life is to avoid boredom” (O’Hara, 12, 13). In contrast, the ethical individual “feels a duty to God, country, and mankind…in making his decision, he applies moral codes” (O’Hara, 13). He thought that a person who lived their life according to aesthetic pleasures was bound to end up in misery (O’Hara, 13), individuals should therefore lead an ethical life.

Kierkegaard’s Influence

Contemporary Existentialism has been heavily influenced by Kierkegaard’s equation of subjectivity with truth (Kurtz, 478). Other Existentialists, including atheistic ones, also adopt this idea of truth being subjective – Sartre and Heidegger were influenced by this idea, with some modification from Husserl. S.K. directly influenced Heidegger’s work Being and Time, as well as the existentialist Camus (O’Hara, 21). Existentialism has had a clear influence over contemporary life, compelling us completely to re-examine our basic presuppositions – we admit that there are facts and values that may have been overlooked. (Kurtz, 487).

However, one potential problem with Kierkegaard’s existentialism is, following his logic that “truth is subjective”, one can certainly use their own subjective truths to push their own agendas or doctrines (e.g. Nazism, religious fundamentalism) (Kurtz, 479).

Fatima Al Setri 

Works Cited

1. Gates, John A. The Life and Thought of Kierkegaard For Everyman. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1961.
2. O’Hara, Shelley. Kierkegaard within your grasp. Wiley: Wiley Publishing, 2004.
3. Anderson, Susan Leigh. On Kierkegaard. Connecticut: Wadsworth, 2000.
4. Kurtz, Paul W. “Kierkegaard, Existentialism, and the Contemporary Scene.” The Antioch Review 21, no. 4 (1961): 471-87.
5. Kohn, Alfie. “Existentialism Here and Now.” The Georgia Review 38, no. 2 (1984): 381-97.

Existentialism

Identification:

The philosophy known as existentialism is believed to ponder the existence of human nature, the purpose, and the meaning behind the fundamental freedoms inherited from the consciousness of humans. This theory has most commonly been known due to the work of existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, whose philosophy grew following the end of World War 2 and the liberation of Paris. Sartre, a writer from France, had been acknowledged as an originator of the movement which enlightened the masses to be the conductor of one’s own life, by advocating existentialism as freedom. Sartre does this by communicating how people are ‘free organic individuals’ in order to defend intrinsic values against a world of mass destruction.

Historical Significance:

The movement known as existentialism stood for defending man’s human dignity and opposing all forms of determinism for oneself. This point of view has shaped contemporary society, as well as the 20^th century, to dismiss authoritarianism from those of autonomy, as well as in a religious perspective. From the growing of existentialism, individuals began to reject ideas such as figures of authority, the Church, and God. Such viewpoints were not uncommon in the Enlightenment period, in which influential leaders such as Voltaire aimed to crush the Catholic church, while Jean-Jacques Rousseau opposed the conformity of a state due to the presumption it would cause class divisions. Both famous points of view regarding the Enlightenment are derived from existentialism, as Voltaire and Rousseau advocate to oppose regularity and conformity within man’s surroundings, despite their contrasting views. In contemporary society, existentialism is much more common and accepted, as large amounts of the world’s population do not practice a religion. Many individuals identify as atheist and do not believe in a God, which contributes to Sartre’s philosophy that if man exists to be free, man must not be subjected to those who deprive him of his independence, therefore rejecting the existence of God.

Key Historical Proponents:

While Jean-Paul Sartre is most associated with the influential theory of existentialism, as well as Simone de Beauvoir, their philosophy has been heavily critiqued in the past. For example, in 1986, after Sartre’s time of living, David Detmer published a novel named ‘Freedom as a Value: A Critique of the Ethical Theory of Jean-Paul Sartre,’ which contributed to significant debates regarding Sartre’s philosophy. Although one of Sartre’s famous pieces such as ‘Is Existentialism a Humanism?’ was published near the end of World War 2, individuals later in the past have identified critiques of his work. An example of Detmer’s critique involves how he argued that Sartre advocates that ethical subjectivism follows from a value of anti-realism. This means that Sartre believed that ethical sentences express propositions that are a subject of an opinion and not based on external reality. Additionally, other views regarding existentialism include the idea that it is an alternate form of bourgeoise individualism, that brings upon social solidarity that hinders individual freedom rather than enhancing it. Another view conflicting existentialism is from David Roberts’s novel called ‘Existentialism and Religious Belief,’ published in 1959. He states that according to Sartre’s philosophy those who hinder man’s freedom should be dismissed, but God gave man freedom and should not be identified with the same properties of consciousness as those in society. Therefore, while existentialism was severely influential, many refute such beliefs.

Rola Tuffaha

 

Bibliography

Flynn, Thomas. Existentialism : A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, UK, 2006. ProQuest

Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mcmu/detail.action?docID=430845.

Smith, T. (2015). Existentialism. Research Starters: Education (Online Edition).

Smith, T., & Eshleman, M. C. (2015). A critique of freedom as a value: defending the early Sartre against

moral relativism. Sartre Studies International, 21(2), 108+ Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA448030754&asid=786e830af32a437d51e627f4efc25a40

Udokang, E. J. (2016). Implications of Sartre’s humanistic existentialism. Journal of Comparative 

Literature and Aesthetics, 39(1-2), 83+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA473922762&asid=5748bdebf1e8b2129105f32293e3d098

Wardle, D. (2016). A contemporary sense of existentialism. South African Journal of Philosophy, 35(3),

336-344. doi:10.1080/02580136.2016.1209932

Existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophical movement, not well accepted in its early stages, invented by Søren Kierkegaard and two professors of philosophy, Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger, in Germany after the First World War. Existentialism became increasingly prominent in the mid 20^th century, as the population began developing doubts about the traditional idea of a moral deity and an ordered world after witnessing the horrors of human during the years of the Second World War. Jean-Paul Sartre, a key figure in existentialism during the 20^th century, describes Existentialism as “existence precedes essence”, which means there is no predetermined way of life or being that we as people are obligated to adhere by, and that one is defined through their conscious authentic actions.

Because of this, the people have realized we’re not born morally compliant, nor are we born to eventually become morally compliant. In the past, people believed that what happened was predetermined, controlled by a mighty deity, rather than themselves. After the world wars, it becomes apparent that society is like a machine and there was a lack of human understanding. In search of this, existentialist find that there is no universal purpose or nature that define human life. No principle or rule we must live by. This induced a philosophical question we still ask today: is life worth living? According to Sartre and existentialism, we must creation that essence with our actions, to define ourselves with purpose and intent. Decisions and beliefs of the past of one who believed in existentialism lived life choosing his paths regardless of the mass opinion. Existentialism is a very humane kind of philosophy that applies greatly to a number of people in modern society. Existentialism is less about rationality or efficiency, but rather consideration and comradery towards fellow human beings, something that was greatly missing during the vulnerable times of the World Wars. Its importance lies with its encouragement of individuality rather than conforming to the larger less emotional machine and way of life.

Key figure Jean-Paul Sartre writes about existentialism in “Existentialism is Humanism” after the devastating events of World War Two left the whole world shaken and injured, because of this occurrence the surviving generations sought out cultural leaders and to forget the horrific memory. The increasing popularity and motivation of existentialism after World War Two was a direct result of the doubts in the traditional moral deity that supposedly oversees the ordered world and the urge for more humanity. After the deeds done by the participants in the war how can the people blindly believe that there is a God that has allowed such events to occur, this challenged the people to think. During the time where mutual human respect were low, Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism is Humanism that presented itself as an empowering ideology promoted a world centered around man, rather than a deity. Frederick Nietzsche also claimed that God has died in modern culture. In a time where faith is doubted, existentialism grew favourable as it disregarded God’s suggested power and his instilled human nature, man is who he makes of himself and his life being his own creation through action and behaviour. Life was more open when freed from God’s human nature and definition.

Kelvin Ma

 

Bibliography

1. Barret, William. “What Is Existentialism.” 1947. EBSCOhost, libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edshtl&AN=mdp.39015002194408&site=eds-live&scope=site.
2. “Existentialism.” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, vol. 26, no. 2, 2012, pp. 247–267. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/jspecphil.26.2.0247.
3. Udokang, Emmanuel Jerome. “Implications of Sartre’s humanistic existentialism.” Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 39, no. 1-2, 2016, p. 83+. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA473922762&asid=5748bdebf1e8b2129105f32293e3d098. Accessed 15 Oct. 2017
4. Hewitt, Nicholas. “The selling of Sartre: existentialism and public opinion, 1944-7.” Journal of Romance Studies, vol. 6, no. 1-2, 2006, p. 7+. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA166694653&asid=94e616c024f6e3dfd8b2429942a83e97. Accessed 15 Oct. 2017.
5. Strawser, Michael. “Aho, Kevin. Existentialism: An Introduction.” The Review of Metaphysics, vol. 69, no. 1, 2015, p. 115+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA428624448&sid=ebsco&asid=4f637b5ae25716343a455c11b5140698. Accessed 15 Oct. 2017.
6. Baert, Patrick. “The Sudden Rise of French Existentialism: a Case-Study in the Sociology of Intellectual Life.” Theory and Society, vol. 40, no. 6, 2011, pp. 619–644. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41475713.
7. English, John C. “Existentialism and the Study of History.” Social Science, vol. 41, no. 3, 1966, pp. 153–160. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41885183

APA

1. Barret, W. (1947). What is existentialism.
2. Existentialism. (2012). The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 26(2), 247-267. doi:10.5325/jspecphil.26.2.0247
3. Udokang, E. J. (2016). Implications of Sartre’s humanistic existentialism. Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 39(1-2), 83+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA473922762&asid=5748bdebf1e8b2129105f32293e3d098
4. Hewitt, N. (2006). The selling of Sartre: existentialism and public opinion, 1944-7. Journal of Romance Studies, 6(1-2), 7+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA166694653&asid=94e616c024f6e3dfd8b2429942a83e97
5. Strawser, M. (2015). Aho, Kevin. Existentialism: An Introduction. The Review of Metaphysics, 69(1), 115+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA428624448&sid=ebsco&asid=4f637b5ae25716343a455c11b5140698
6. Baert, P. (2011). The sudden rise of French existentialism: A case-study in the sociology of intellectual life. Theory and Society,40(6), 619-644. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41475713
7. English, J. (1966). Existentialism and the Study of History. Social Science, 41(3), 153-160. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41885183

Absurdism

Identification 

Absurdism is the philosophical school of thought that states that the human search for inherent meaning in life is absurd because it is impossible. The concept originates in the work of the 19^th century Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, but is famously associated with 20^th century French writer and philosopher, Albert Camus. The word, absurd, stems both from Middle French and Latin, bearing a closer relation in this context to the 16^th century Latin origin, absurdus, meaning “out of tune” and “discordant.” This aligns with Camus’ definition of the feeling of absurdity that he wrote on page 17 of his essay, The Myth of Sisyphus: “the divorce between the mind that desires and world that disappoints.” The disconnect between the human desire for meaning and order and the irrational world brings about the feeling of the absurd.

Historical Significance

Absurdism developed from and alongside 20^th century existentialism and nihilism, providing a sort of middle ground between the certainty of existentialism and the despair of nihilism. During and following the Second World War, wherein families had sent their young men into battles that they did not fully understand, the irrational nature of the world was revealed.  In addition, the cruelty of the world was illuminated in such events as the Holocaust and the torture of prisoners. It brought about a climate in which God felt far and it confronted the human craving for reason, allowing people to feel the absurd. This climate of absurdity can be seen in the Theatre of the Absurd, mid-century plays such as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, which expressed the feeling that the life was irrational and devoid of goodness. However, unlike nihilism, absurdism did not end in the despair that no meaning could be found nor called for overly brave calls to action to find meaning like existentialism. Absurdism befit the mood to simply live on, in spite of the terror of war and the devastation of its aftermath. In at least Camus’ version of absurdism, the individual, although they lack order or religion to comfort them, forges on courageously and even happily. It sheds light on the motivation that those emerging from the tragedy of the War faced. As well, it shows the way in which those, since the Enlightenment, who have departed from religion in an effort to modernize and thus secularize have lived. In knowing of a way of life wherein the world’s irrationality without God is embraced and lived through, today’s contemporary secularity and spreading atheism can thrive.

Key Historical Proponents

Kierkegaard and Camus are the key proponents of absurdism. Both rooted their work in Nietzsche’s pronouncement that “God is dead”–the absurd exists in the absence of God–but took different approaches in dealing with that. Kierkegaard lived in the “golden age” of intellectual and artistic activity, but he himself hardly left his hometown of Copenhagen and was concerned with revitalizing the Christian faith. He believed that we cannot have faith by virtue of reason but by virtue of the absurd; he writes in Fear and Trembling that Abraham does not have to sacrifice his son by virtue of the absurd (instead of on account of his faith). As such, his response to the absurd is taking a leap of faith. His figure of the knight of faith precedes Camus’ Sisyphus as one who indulges confidently and even happily in impossible and distressing tasks. However, Camus scorned Kierkegaard’s leap of faith. He moved to occupied Paris from Algeria in 1940 and there continued writing The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus, both of which were published in 1942. In this time and space, there existed for Camus’ writings on the absurdity of life a perfect and fitting audience. This led to Camus receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 for “illuminat[ing] the problem of the human conscience in our time.” He believed that the absurd should be met with a courageous embrace and joy in knowing that one is the master of their own fate.

Rya Buckley

 

Bibliography

“Absurd,” Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed October 11, 2017. http://www.etymonline.com/word/absurd.

Aronson, Ronald. “Albert Camus,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Last modified April 10, 2017. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/#SuiAbsHapMytSis.

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Translated by Justin O’Brien, 1-24. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.

McDonald, William. “Søren Kierkegaard”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Last modified July 8, 2016. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/.

Simpson, David. “Albert Camus (1913-1960).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed October 14, http://www.iep.utm.edu/camus/#SSH5ci.

Skrimshire, Stefan. “A Political Theology of the Absurd? Albert Camus and Simone Weil on Social Transformation.” Literature and Theology 20, no. 3 (September 2006) : 286-300, accessed October 14, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23927360.

Sringley, Ronald D. “Albert Camus’ Critique of Modernity.” Ph.D. thesis, McMaster University, 2008.