Lesson 3.10-EXISTENTIALISM

EXISTENTIALISM

• ·       Man has no fixed nature and he shapes his being as he lives.
• ·       The philosophy that places emphasis on individual existence, freedom, and choice.
• ·       Sees the world as a personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth and reality are individually defined.
• ·       Reality is a world of things, truth subjectivity chosen, and goodness comes from group decisions.
• ·       Existentialism is about being saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.
• ·       Existentialism, broadly defined, is a set of philosophical systems concerned with a free will, choice, and personal responsibility.
• ·       There are no “universal” guidelines for most  decisions.
• ·       Existentialism takes into consideration the underlying concepts:
• ·       Human free will
• ·       Human nature is chosen through life choices
• ·       A person is best when struggling against their individual nature, fighting for life
• ·       Decisions are not without stress and consequences.
• ·       There are things that are not rational
• ·       Personal responsibility and discipline is crucial.
• ·       Society is unnatural and its traditional religious and secular rules arbitrary
• ·       Worldly desire is futile

Existentialism is a broadly defined in a variety of concepts and there can be no one answer as to what it is, yet it does not support  the following:

Wealth, pleasure, or honor make the good life
Social values and structure control the individual
Accept what is and that is enough in life
Science can and will make everything better.
People are basically good but ruined by society or external forces.
“I want my way, now!” or “It is not my fault! mentality
Soren Kierkegaard-(1813-1855) – Father of Existentialism.
His philosophy can be seen in his doctrine that there are three stages of life experience:

• ·       Aesthetic
• ·       Ethical
• ·       Religious

NATURE

• Focuses on the experiences of the individuals.
• Offers individuals a way of thinking about the meaning of life.

EXISTENTIAL THEMES

1.Existence precedes essence
2. Anxiety and anguish
3. Absurdity
4. Nothingness
5. Death

ASSUMPTION

Existence precedes essence.
-in other words, you need existence to have essence. There is no predetermined “true” thing, it has to already exist in order to become what it is.

EDUCATIONAL AIM

• ·       To train individual for significant and
• ·       meaningful existence.
• ·       Synthesis and Implications to Education:
• ·       -The classroom is a free market of ideas and as such it must guarantee complete freedom of thought for the individual.
• ·       -The student is encouraged to make independent decisions to guarantee authentic existence.

CURRICULAR EMPHASIS

• ·       Subject-centered
• ·       Literature
• ·       History
• ·       Arts for Aesthetic expression
• ·       Humanities for ethical values

TEACHING METHODS

• ·       Inquiry Approach
• ·       Question-Answer Method
• ·       Experimentation
• ·       Self- expressive activities

ROLE OF TEACHERS

• ·       Good provider of experiences
• ·       Effective questioner
• ·       Mental disciplinarian

ROLE OF THE STUDENT

• ·       Determines own rule

ROLE OF SCHOOL

• ·       Create an atmosphere for active interaction.
• ·       Plan better solutions to their everyday problems
• ·       Discuss the different situations based by an individual