¶ … Existentialism is a philosophical movement that views human existence as having characteristics, such as anxiety, dread, freedom, awareness of death, and consciousness of existing, that are primary and that cannot be reduced to or explained by a natural-scientific approach or any approach that attempts to detach itself." For existentialism, human beings can be understood only from the inside and it emphasizes action, freedom, and decision as fundamental to human existence and is fundamentally opposed to the rationalist tradition and to positivism (Wikipedia). The Stranger reflects existentialism that our world is a universe that has no place for us, in which our life makes no sense. In the novel, Meursault is portrayed as aloof, detached and unemotional. He does not think about events and the possible consequences. He also fails to express any emotion in his relationship with his friends. Meursault's complete indifference to society and human relationships causes him to appear as the actual stranger. His strange opinions and unexpected remarks put him in this position, without ever really giving him an opportunity to be truly understood.
Meursault's life was full of existentialism, for he believed that life just happened, nothing you could do would change the future, and that everything happened by a chance. He seems to live in his own world, socializing with others, but not caring too deeply about what happens in his life. For example, when his mother died, his thoughts were, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know (3). He just accepted it and decided that is was what was supposed to happen without any extreme feelings about her death. Also he never cried at her funeral and he refused to look at his mother one last time after she had passed away. The funeral director viewed this as extremely odd.
Meursault's existentialism appears to be casual and indifferent about life events. After he kills an Arab, not once does he show any remorse or guilt feeling for what he did. Nothing seemed...
Of all the changes that I would feel if I were to embrace an existential philosophy, the most profound change would be that I would lose my empathy. Right now, I firmly believe in individual choice. However, I also believe that people's choices are shaped and changed by their histories. Therefore, I believe that people should be judged by their actions, but that those actions have to be taken in
One can try to react against social norms by, for example, refusing to conform to sexual norms of morality, but this reaction is in and of itself an acknowledgement of the pervasiveness of the social ideal that Heidegger called inauthentic. Perhaps the classic example of this is the teenager that reacts against his or her parents by doing everything the opposite of what they advise, and thus only shows
Existentialism: A History Existentialism is a philosophical school of thought that addresses the "problem of being" (Stanford Encyclopedia, 2010). Existentialist questions involve the nature of man in relation to the universe, the subjective nature of "I" versus the objective "we," the creation and measure of meaning in a world with no intrinsic meaning, standards of morality in the absence of Divine Law (God), and the creation and measure of success in
The concepts of behaviorism have been very important and infinitely significant for the psychological treatment and cure of human beings, and have therefore been accepted as the foundation for 'pharmacological therapy'. According to neo-behaviorism, free will, or the idea of a person being completely responsible for his own actions or behaviors, does not exist at all, and this is in complete contrast to the existentialist theory which holds man
In "Piaf," Pam Gems provides a view into the life of the great French singer and arguably the greatest singer of her generation -- Edith Piaf. (Fildier and Primack, 1981), the slices that the playwright provides, more than adequately trace her life. Edith was born a waif on the streets of Paris (literally under a lamp-post). Abandoned by her parents -- a drunken street singer for a mother and a
This work provided an intensive discussion historical forces that were to lead to modern humanism but also succeeds in placing these aspects into the context of the larger social, historical and political milieu. . Online sources and databases proved to be a valid and often insightful recourse area for this topic. Of particular note is a concise and well-written article by Stephen Weldon entitled Secular Humanism in the United States.
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