Existentialism & Nietzsche essays

Existentialism & Nietzsche essays Existentialism is the title of the set of philosophical ideals that emphasizes the existence of the human being, the lack of meaning and purpose in life, and the solitude of human existence. Existentialism maintains existence precedes essence: this implies that the human being has no essence, no essential self, and is no more than what he is. He is only the sum of life is so far he has created and achieved for himself. Existentialist thinkers are of the view that the metaphysical explanation of existence as given by the traditional schools of philosophy fails to produce satisfactory results. They also maintain that the problem of being ought to take precedence in all philosophical inquiry. Being cannot be made a topic of objective study. Being is revealed to and felt by the human being through his own experience and his situation. So it is maintained existence is the first and central problem. Existentialism stresses the risk, the void of human reality, and admits that the human being is thrown into the world. The world in which pain, frustration, sickness, contempt, and death dominates. It was during the 2nd world war, when Europe found itself in a crisis and faced with death and destruction, that existentialism began to flourish. Thrown into the world, the human being is condemned to be free. The human being must take its freedom of being and the responsibility and guilt of his actions. Each action negates the other possible courses of action and their consequences; so the human being must be accountable without excuse. He must make decisions. There is no significance in this world. One cannot find any purpose in life; his existence is only a contingent fact. His being does not emerge from necessity. If a human rejects the false pretensions, the illusions of his existence having a meaning, he encounters the absurdity and futility of life. The humans role in the world is not predetermined or fixed; ev...