...Existentialism emphasizes self-reliance and individualism. The philosophy encourages people to make their own decisions without accounting for societal trends or laws. Humans inherently have free will which is encroached by social structure and man-made laws. Similarly, the emphasis on freewill yield choices made only by an individual’s mind. These personal...
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...A list of sample questions in philosophy Metaphysics: questions concerning the nature of reality, being, or existence Ontology 0 Why is there something rather than nothing? 1 Is it possible that there was a time before now when absolutely NOTHING existed? 2 What is ultimately (or REALLY) real? [Appearance -v- Reality] 3 Is reality fundamentally one or many? [Monism -v- Pluralism] 4 What, if anything, endures through change? 5 Is reality primarily material or spiritual (or mental)? [“Materialism” -v- “Idealism”] 6 Is the “external world” objectively real, or is its existence mind-dependent? If the latter, what mind is it dependent on? My mind? Your mind? The divine mind? 7 Is there a “supernatural” reality, or is nature “all there really is”? [Naturalism -v- Supernaturalism] 8 What is the difference between necessary and contingent being? Is there a necessary being? Is there only one necessary being? Philosophical cosmology 9 What is the cosmos made of? How is it structured? 10 Did the cosmos come into being? If so, how? 11 Will the cosmos cease to be in the future? If so, what does that mean for us? 12 What are the philosophical implications of scientific answers to cosmological questions? Philosophical theology (and the philosophy of religion) 13 Does God exist? [Theism; Atheism; Agnosticism] 14 What is the nature of God? 15 What about the existence of evil (pain, suffering, and disorder)...
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...have a philosophy on life – what would be the point of living everyday without some absolute, underlying purpose to existence? When there is an unknown in life, man manifests a comfort for the sole purpose of security. This has been true throughout time whether it be philosophies about nature, religion, etc. The fact is that we do not like having unknowns in our life; we don’t like having variables. Man has been engaged in a relentless pursuit of knowledge of himself and his surroundings from day one; we have made some incredible advances in science because of it. However, beyond the realm of science, mostly composed of hard facts and theories, there lies spirituality – why are we here? Who or what created us? Is there a God? What is the universe? What exactly is the human condition? And once these questions are answered, how should we live our lives? I only wish constructing a life philosophy was that simple; these questions have tormented man interminably and without a shred of relief. It is an endless game, coming up with the answers, and is often comprised of one step forward and two steps back. It is also equally difficult for me to put together a life philosophy because I am only sixteen years old. Only after seventy or so years of experience, can one accurately assess what he has learned along the way. Life continues to present itself to me as ambiguous as an E.E. Cummings poem, as random as the ocean waves. However, in this essay I will attempt to assess life as I...
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...“Psychological Theories Represented In the Film – Waking Life” [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] [Name of the Subject] [Date] “Psychological Theories Represented In the Film – Waking Life” Introduction The movie, Waking Life, is a profound manifestation of the connection between the real world and the dream world. The whole movie is Rotoscoped i.e. filmed with real characters but remade into animated scenes. It is a movie that has several scenes that are interrelated in meaning with one another. The different scenes also serve a purpose of helping the protagonist accept the invitation of God through his own free will. Most parts of the movie are so deep that they are hardly comprehensible and give vast meanings that can be interpreted independently through the eyes of the observers. However, one can easily say that the movie is based on the psychological and philosophical norms, in fact, most of the characters are even directly referring to the different psychological theories like nihilism, free will, dream consciousness etc. In this paper, the different theories in the movie, Waking Life, are discussed as represented through the narrative, story, characterization, and cinematography of the film. Discussion The three most exquisite elements of the film are its cinematography, the stellar soundtrack and the philosophical scenes which add to the viewers’ interest in the movie. The director, Richard Linklater, has filmed this movie with the use of the...
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...How does Nihilism affect Hedonism? Farid Guzman BKvt.3 Hedonism and Nihilism are two incredibly interesting philosophies, especially when studied in contrast to each other. Although by the simplest definitions they are opposites, they actually have a lot in common. In fact, it s entirely possible for one to occur as a result of the other. Both are very common in modern Western society, although for the most part extreme hedonists or nihilists are almost unheard of. Even thought we don’t normally pay attention to it, we all have Nihilistic and Hedonistic tendencies at various times throughout our lives. Nihilism is the belief that nothing we do, own or believe is of any value. It is the belief that we are worthless and that life has no purpose. It comes across as a very dark, empty way of life, yet we all embrace it in small ways. For example, someone may deem voting worthless, arguing that their political choices won’t affect anything. This, on a small scale, is Nihilism. It's a common assumption that without religious moral codes people will behave in a dishonest, violent and otherwise anti-social manner. Yet, the most pious and devout believers still lie, cheat, steal and kill; an open non-believer could do no worse. And the dishonest and anti-social behavior of believers exploiting religious morality are all the more malevolent because they do it under the cover of “righteousness”. The fact is that religion, and the morality it attempts to conclude, is actually...
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...In the voyage of life, one seeks to find a sense of contentment or a simple purpose to live. Many search for it through the materialistic side or even the spiritual side of life, a philosophy by which one lives through, a religion or self-principles. As humans we may go through many experiences, whether challenges or joyful moments, to find that satisfaction of ourselves in our existences. The concept of being born for a purpose helps the soul feel a sense of complacency and one will do anything in it’s power to reach that Nirvana. Herman Hesse exhibits these examples in his novel Siddhartha. He reveals the journey of the protagonist, Siddhartha, in his expedition of his discovery of his very own contentment. Though Siddhartha undergoes many...
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...throughout life. Whenever giving praise or saying thanks can make a person believe he or she is wanted and know there is a reason to live. The humanistic theories focus on the individual and no one else. The humanistic theory is the psychological perception of good in every human. This theory follows steps for the individual to achieve self-actualization. For one to achieve this, he or she must fulfill his or her needs of the lower level. A strong believer of free will, the humanistic perspective has always argued that despite environmental and biological factors, people have the ability to act and change in ways that they themselves govern. Roger's also believed it was important for people to love themselves and accept themselves, because these were steps to solving problems. Existentialism is more of individual rather than social. They, Existentialist need to justify their existence. For them, they’re having their journey in life to know their purpose based on their own philosophy, according to EDU310 Foundations of Learning. A post second world war movement, mainly centered around artistic and creative intellectuals. A difficult concept to define if indeed concept is the correct term. Existentialism seems to come from the human nature and how individuals deal with there own existence, indeed one of the most famous questions which perhaps describes the movement is “if a tree falls but no one is there does it make a sound?” converting this to man kinds philosophy “if...
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...philosophical approach in which the aspect of one’s existence and meaning in life is brought into light by way of embracing experiences in the universe. In view of the fact that affirmation is not the same in all cases, this essay will discuss how atheist Nietzsche and Christian Paul Tillich take upon their unique existentialist perspectives to understand human existence with respect to the condition of existential crisis as respectively discussed in The Gay Science and The Courage to Be. Often on the edge of despairing disbelief, existential crisis may be deemed as the cultural condition in which one finds his or her self when questioned with the meaning of life. With a personal stance and mostly in reference to the texts, it is believed that individuals ought to strive for Tillich’s courage rather than seek to become Nietzsche’s...
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...‘Meaning in life is an important mediator of the relationship between everyday activities that involve religion and wellbeing, implying that individuals gather meaning in life from the religious activities’ (Hill 2010, p. 53). Religious activities can be seen as anything from rituals we preform to different ways we respond to situations based on our belief. From this we can see how “Meaning”, the significance of life and existence and “purpose”, the point of and goals to aim for in life would have been found through the supernatural world. For the Nordic people their supernatural world was deeply and totally ingrained in the physical world. This close connection that they held with the supernatural elements of their religion means that almost...
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...In life, you have choices. You can decided what you eat or who you are with but in many situations it seems like you don’t have any control over the situation at face value when you actually do. In David Foster Wallace’s speech, “This is Water,” he brings out the reality we live in day to day that people ignore preventing us from seeing what we control. James Baldwin comes to a conclusion similar to Wallace in his essay, “Notes of a Native Son” when he realizes it’s his choice on how to perceive and act in society to either make change or let society stagnate. Both these works show that people have control over social circumstances that seem like there is no choice but expresses this point in their respective points of view and examples. Both...
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...human endowed with good observation skills because of a well-nurtured brain. All is well in my world but still – something pulls and nags at me. An undefinable discontentment and anxious aloneness which no amount of reasoning with myself abates. Is this the human condition? Never to be content and safe deep in what we think of as the soul, when all outward influences are comfortable? Death and the fear of it are maybe what rule this quest for understanding the soul. All the philosophies and sciences are maybe created to help the aching soul to find some peace. These are my thoughts on why movements like Existentialism and sciences like psychology developed. Or maybe these thinkers were too well fed with too much time to think. To Be or Not to Be that is the question. All the way back to somewhere between 1564 and 1616 (Shakespeare’s lifetime) Hamlet struggled with this existential question. Sartre, Camus and Fanon were not the first thinkers to wonder, what it is all about. Severe conflict and chaos in one’s environment can give rise to feelings of loss of control over one’s life and destiny. I moved to France with my Mom, Dad and brother Andrew in 1986. Folks from different factions were running around Paris setting off bombs at the Eiffel Tower, in department stores, etc. causing conflict and chaos. Being an American with “God on my side” it wasn’t real. At the American School of Paris, which my brother and I attended for the first year we lived in France, there...
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...Discuss, illustrate and reflect on three main concepts of Existential psychotherapy and their application to practice. To illustrate my discussions and reflections I must use a case from a helping relationship in everyday life. * Existential therapy is based on philosophy (Deurzen, 2012). The techniques used in this type of therapy is not specific, it is based on our existence in life. The conflicts that are experienced in life are based on the givens of existence. The therapeutic relationship is between the client and the therapist and most importantly it highlights the client’s personal freedom in deciding their own direction. 0 Some of the key figures regarding existential psychotherapy are Rollo May, Irvin Yalom, Martin Heidegger, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Viktor Frankl, Jean-Paul Sartre (Van Deurzen, 2012, May, 1969, Cox, 2012) 0 Some of the basic concepts of extentialism are freedom and responsibility, isolation, meaninglessness, nothingness, uncertainty, death, anxiety, just to name a few (Cox, 2012). In this essay three of these concepts will be discussed and illustrated followed by a case study to illustrate how these concepts relate to existence. 0 Freedom and Responsibility 0 The fact that we are responsible for ourselves mean that we have to make choices and to take responsibilities for our actions. In this respect we have to make decisions where we have...
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...THE ABSURDITY OF LIFE Steven Luper, Trinity University In "The Absurd"[i] Nagel claims that self-conscious human beings are necessarily absurd, so that to escape absurdity while remaining human we would have to cease being self-conscious. Fifteen years later, in The View From Nowhere,[ii] he defends the same thesis, supplementing some of his old arguments with a battery of new ones. I want to suggest that Nagel has misdiagnosed, and exaggerated the inescapability of, our absurdity. He does so partly because the grounds on which he bases his conclusion are spurious, and partly because he does not acknowledge the extent to which we can eliminate absurdity by suitably redesigning our plans and modes of justification. Nonetheless, I do not mean to imply that we can easily eliminate absurdity from our lives. Life is not necessarily absurd, but unfortunately, in a world like ours, there are limits to what we can and should do to reduce the absurd elements of our affairs. The View of the Nowhere Man "In ordinary life a situation is absurd," Nagel says, "when it includes a conspicuous discrepancy between pretension or aspiration and reality: someone gives a complicated speech in support of a motion that has already been passed. . . ; as you are being knighted, your pants fall down."[iii] In this passage from "The Absurd" Nagel claims that absurdity is a particularly striking sort of incongruity, and the conception of absurdity he discusses in his book is the same. What...
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...Mission Mission represents the framework for the entire business , the values which drive the company and the belief that the company has in itself and what it can achieve. Mission has 2 diversities: strategic and philosophic. The strategy school views mission as a strategic tool, an intellectual discipline which defines the business’s commercial rationale and target market. It is perceived as first step in strategic management. It has to answer two fundamental questions: WHAT IS OUR BUSINESS and WHAT SHOULD IT BE? The second view that mission is a glue that enables to function as collective unity. This cultural glue consists of strong norms and values that influence the way people behave, how they work together and how they pursue the goals of the organization. Building a definition of mission Link between personal and corporate values is a crucial aspect of mission. Employees are clear what is important and are happy to follow the standards and behaviours their company ask of them. Their way of working is not only personal satisfaction but also superior to that of competitors. A strong mission exists when the 4 elements of mission link tightly together , resonating and reinforcing each other Purpose What is the company for? Many of the companies do not even attempt about the nature of their overall purpose. There are 3 categories of ideas of purpose. 1) Satisfy shareholders. The purpose of this companies is to maximize wealth for shareholders. ...
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...Week 3 – Case Study LAWS 420 Professor Melinda Whitman 09/22/2013 What are the moral issues in this case? What ideals, obligations, and consequences must Carla Lombard consider? What rights, if any, are at stake? Will it make a difference whether Carla adopts a Kantian approach or a utilitarian approach to this situation? Over the years, this country has been confronted with many legal and ethical issues that surround the AIDs epidemic, and the workplace has certainly found itself at the center of these legal and ethical questions. Carla must consider many things when dealing with her situation with Tom, and most certainly the first one would be, “how do I determine if this information is even true”? Carla came by this so called information second hand, from an ex-spouse of all people, so she should first find out if the information is even true, and to do this she must go to Tom and tell him what his ex-wife told her. Carla knows Tom to be a valuable employee, and out of respect for Tom she should make him aware of the fact this is being “reported” to her. What if this turns out to be malicious slander on the part of Tom’s ex-wife, and even if it’s true, Tom has the right to privacy on many levels. Whether or not Tom chooses to disclose this information to Carla is strictly up to him. By law, an individual has no legal obligation to tell an employer that he has AIDS unless his or her job could expose others to blood or bodily fluids, and even then, the employee should...
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