Phenomenology and Existentialism

Phenomenology and Existentialism
Phenomenology
- is the study of structures of consciousness as
experienced from the first-person point of view. Literally,
phenomenology is the study of phenomena: appearances of things,
or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we
experience things, thus the meaning things have in our
experience.
The term "phenomenology"

is
derived
from
the
Greek
"phainomenon", meaning "appearance".
The
historical
movement
of
phenomenology
is
the
philosophical tradition launched in the first half of the
20th century by Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, which is
based on the premise that reality consists of objects and
events ("phenomena") as they are perceived or understood in
the human consciousness, and not of anything independent of
human consciousness.
Basically, phenomenology studies the structure of various
types of experience ranging from perception, thought,
memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to bodily
awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including
linguistic activity.
Experience, in a phenomenological sense, includes not only
the relatively passive experiences of sensory perception,
but
also
imagination, thought, emotion, desire, volition and action.
In
short,
it
includes
everything
that
we live
through or perform. Thus, we may observe and engage with
other
things
in
the
world,
but
we
do
not
actually experience them in a first-person manner. What
makes an experience conscious is a certain awareness one has
of the experience while living through or performing it.
Edmund Husserl
Introduction to Philosophy
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He was a German philosopher who established the school

of phenomenology.
Born on April 8, 1859, into a Jewish family in the town of
Prossnitz in Moravia, then a part of the Austrian Empire and
now belongs to the Czech Republic.
At the University of Leipzig from 1876 to 1878, Husserl
studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy.
He was the
influencing
indirectly.
leading thinker in the Phenomenological Movement,

most future existentialists either directly or
His book, The Logical Investigations, with its fine

studies of Meaning, Intentionality, and Knowledge, is
undoubtedly
one
of
the
greatest
of
philosophical
masterpieces.
According to Husserl, the goal of philosophy was to describe
the data of consciousness without bias or prejudice,
ignoring all metaphysical and scientific theories in order
to accurately describe and analyze the data gathered by
human senses and the mind. The students of Husserl
summarized phenomenology as the study of the things
themselves.
Saying, I experience the world not as my own private world, but
as an intersubjective world.
Martin Heidegger
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Was a 20th Century German philosopher born on September 26,

1889 in Messkirch in rural southern Germany, to a poor
Catholic family.
His best known book, "Being and Time", is considered to be
one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th
Century.
In 1927, he published ("Being and Time"), which soon became
recognized as a truly epoch-making work of 20th Century
philosophy. The book made Heidegger famous almost overnight
and was widely read by educated men and women throughout
Germany.
In Being and Time, Heidegger approached phenomenology, in a
quasi-poetic idiom, through the root meanings of logos and
phenomena, so that phenomenology is defined as the art or
practice of letting things show themselves.
We and our activities are always in the world, our being
is being-in-the-world, so we do not study our activities by
bracketing the world, rather we interpret our activities and
the meaning things have for us by looking to our contextual
relations to things in the world.
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Daniel Clement Dennett III

Born: March 28, 1942 (age 74),
Buston, Massachusetts, U.S
Spouse: Susan Bell (m. 1962)

Education: University of Oxford (1965),
Research: philosophy of mind
Heterophenomenology ("phenomenology of another not oneself")
is a term coined by Daniel Dennett to describe an explicitly
third-person,
scientific
approach
to
the
study
of consciousness and other mental phenomena
Sayings, Not a single one of the cells that compose you
knows who you are, or cares.
Dennett
describes
his multiple
drafts
model of
consciousness. He states that, "all varieties of perception
indeed all varieties of thought or mental activityare
accomplished in the brain by parallel, multitrack processes
of interpretation and elaboration of sensory inputs.
Information entering the nervous system is under continuous
'editorial revision.
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John Searle
Born: July 31, 1932 (age 83), Denver, Colorado, United States
Areas of interest: Philosophy of mind, Social reality, Philosophy
of language, Intentionality
Influenced
by: J.
L.
Austin, Ludwig
Wittgenstein, Paul
Grice, more
Parents: Hester Beck Searle, G. W. Searle
Education: University of Oxford (1959), University of WisconsinMadison (19491952)
Searle has argued[38] that critics like Daniel Dennett, who
(he claims) insist that discussing subjectivity is
unscientific because science presupposes objectivity, are
making a category error. Perhaps the goal of science is to
establish and validate statements which
are epistemically objective, (i.e., whose truth can be
discovered and evaluated by any interested party), but are
not necessarily ontologically objective.
It has long been one of the most fundamental problems of
philosophy, and it is now, John Searle writes, "the most
important problem in the biological sciences": What is
consciousness? Is my inner awareness of myself something
separate from my body.
Searle says simply that both are true: consciousness is a
real subjective experience, caused by the physical
processes of the brain. (A view which he suggests might be
called biological naturalism.)
Searle goes on to affirm that "where consciousness is
concerned,
the
existence
of
the
appearance is the
reality". His view that the epistemic and ontological
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senses of objective/subjective are cleanly separable is

crucial to his self-proclaimed biological naturalism.
Existentialism
It is centered upon the analysis of existence and of the way

humans find themselves existing in the world
Concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through

free will, choice and personal responsibility
It is not another branch on the Philosophical tree but

rather a lens through which these topics can be viewed
The nature of reality and the limits of knowledge are

important, according to this approach to Philosophy, only in
so far as they enlighten us about the structure of our own
existence
The nature and significance of beauty and art cannot be

understood without reference to the sort of existence we had
According to existentialism:
1) Existence is always particular and individualalways my
existence, your existence, his existence.
2) Existence is primarily the problem of existence (of its
mode of being); it is, therefore, the investigation of the
meaning of being.
3) This investigation is continually faced with diverse
possibilities, from among which the existent (the human
individual) must make a selection, to which he must then
commit himself.
4) Because these possibilities are constituted by the
individual's relationships with things and with other
humans, existence is always a being-in-the-worldi.e., in a
concrete and historically determinate situation that limits
or conditions choice.
Humans are therefore called Dasein (there being) because

they are defined by the fact that they exist, or are in the
world and inhabit it
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Soren Kierkegaard
Philosopher,
religious
writer,
journalist and literary critic
Considered as the Father of Existentialism
Born in Copenhagen
Pseudonymous- His most important works
satirist,
psychologist
- written under fictional names
His work takes place against the background of an Academia

dominated by Hegelian Dialectics
For Kierkegaard, speculative philosophy remained at odds

with the demands of existencethe particular qualities and
requirements of an individual life
Kierkegaard found Hegel's influence in particular to be

baneful and irresponsible; it seemed characteristic of
German idealism in its Hegelian form to care more about
perfecting lifeless and convoluted ideational systems than
about the details of human existence.
Renouncing the metaphysical quest for certainty or Hegelian

absolute
knowledge,
Kierkegaard
advocate of subjectivity.
became
self-avowed
The task of the subjective thinker is to transform himself

into that which clearly and definitely expresses in
existence whatever is essentially human.
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Friedrich Nietzsche
German Classical scholar, philosopher and critic of culture
One of the most influential of all modern thinker

God is dead
Truth, regarded by the philosophers' guild as something

magical and sacred, claims Nietzsche, merely a series of
metaphors, or imprecise rhetorical approximations, mobilized
to achieve a certain effect or a set of desired ends.
Despite
his
questioning
of
traditional
philosophical
concepts such as truth, Nietzsche remained committed to the
goals of serious philosophical inquiry.
Indeed, his
prodigious philosophical musings are informed by two
precepts handed down by Socrates:
the unexamined life is not worth living
virtue is a kind of knowledge (that is, being virtuous

consists of knowing what virtue is in general and what
the virtues are in particular
Nietzsche's philosophy was motivated at every turn by

Aristotle's distinction between mere life and the good
lifea life lived in accordance with virtue.
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Albert Camus
French Intellectual, writer and journalist

A recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature primarily
for his novels, he is also known as a philosopher due to his
non-literary work and his non-literary work and his relation
with Jean Paul Sartre
I am not a Philosopher, because I dont believe in reason
enough to believe in a system. What interests me is knowing
how we must behave and more precisely, how to behave when
one does not believe in God or reason
Reason is absurd in that it believes that it can explain the
totality of the human experience whereas it is exactly its
inability for explanation that for example, a moment of fall
designates
For Camus, the acceptance of the absurd does not lead to
nihilism or to inertia but rather to their opposite: to
action and participation
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and
that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth
living amounts to answering the fundamental question of
philosophy. All the rest- whether or not the world has 3
dimensions, whether the mind has nine to twelve categoriescomes afterwards. These are games, one must first answer
The absurd is simultaneously awareness and rejection of
death
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Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre
(21 June 1905 15 April 1980), normally known simply

as Jean-Paul Sartre, was a French
existentialist philosopher, dramatist and screenwriter,
novelist, and critic.
Focused more sharply on the moral consequences of
existentialist thought. In literary texts as well as in
philosophical treatises, Sartre emphasized the vital
implications of human subjectivity.
He had an enduring personal relationship with fellow
philosopher Simone de Beauvoir.
Sartre is perhaps the most well-known, as well as one of the
few to have actually accepted being called an
"existentialist". "Being and Nothingness" (1943) is his most
important work, and his novels and plays, including
"Nausea" (1938) and "No Exit (1944), helped to popularize
the movement.
As an atheism, Sartre demands that we completely abandon the
traditional notion of human beings as the carefully designed
artifacts of a divine creator. There is no abstract nature
that one is destined to fill. Instead, each of us
simply is in the world; what we will be is then entirely up
to us.
The most fundamental doctrine of existentialism is the claim
thatfor human beings at leastexistence precedes essence.
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Philosophy: Being and Nothingness, Existentialism and

Humanism, Criticism (Sartres Thought)
Sartre's primary idea is that people, as humans, are
"condemned to be free". This theory relies upon his position
that there is no creator, and is illustrated using the
example of the paper cutter. Sartre says that if one
considered a paper cutter, one would assume that the creator
would have had a plan for it: an essence. Sartre said that
human beings have no essence before their existence because
there is no Creator.
"Existence precedes essence". This forms the basis for his
assertion that since one cannot explain one's own actions
and behaviour by referencing any specific human nature, they
are necessarily fully responsible for those actions.
EXISTENCE PRECEDES ESSENCE. "Freedom is existence, and in
its existence precedes essence." This means that what we
do, how we act in our life, determines our apparent
"qualities."
SUBJECT RATHER THAN OBJECT. Humans are not objects to be
used by God or a government or corporation or society.
FREEDOM is the central and unique potentiality which
constitutes us as human.
PASSION IS NO EXCUSE. "I was overwhelmed by strong feelings;
I couldn't help myself" is a falsehood. Despite my feelings,
I choose how to express them in action.
Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to
distinguish it from a defeat.
If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in bad
company.
Everything has been figured out, except how to live.
I hate victims who respect their executioners.
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir
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De Beauvoir in 1968
Early Years
January 1908 14 April 1986) was a French writer,
intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political
activist, feminist and social theorist. Though she did not
consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant
influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist
theory.
Simone de Beauvoir, an important existentialist who spent
much of her life alongside Sartre, wrote about feminist and
existential ethics in her works, including "The Second Sex"
(1949) and "The Ethics of Ambiguity" (1947).
De Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiography
and monographs on philosophy, politics and social issues.
She is known for her 1949 treatise The Second Sex, a
detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational
tract of contemporary feminism; and for her novels,
including She Came to Stay and The Mandarins. She is also
known for her open relationship with French
philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
Middle Years
During October 1929, Jean-Paul Sartre and De Beauvoir became
a couple and, after they were confronted by her father,
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Sartre asked her to marry him. One day while they were
sitting on a bench outside the Louvre, he said, "Let's sign
a two-year lease". Near the end of her life, de Beauvoir
said, "Marriage was impossible. I had no dowry." So they
entered a lifelong relationship. De Beauvoir chose never to
marry and did not set up a joint household with Sartre. She
never had children. This gave her time to earn an advanced
academic degree, to join political causes, to travel, to
write, to teach and to have lovers (both male and female
the latter often shared).
Personal Life
She and Jean-Paul Sartre developed a pattern, which they
called the trio, in which de Beauvoir would seduce her
students and then pass them on to Sartre. De Beauvoir and
Sartre would both take part in political campaigns to
abolish the age of consent laws for sexual relationships in
France.
Notable works of Simone (SHE CAME TO STAY)
De Beauvoir published her first novel She Came to Stay in
1943. It is a fictionalized chronicle of her and Sartre's
sexual relationship with Olga Kosakiewicz and Wanda
Kosakiewicz.
In the novel, set just before the outbreak of the Second
World War, de Beauvoir creates one character from the
complex relationships of Olga and Wanda
De Beauvoir's metaphysical novel She Came to Stay was
followed by many others, including The Blood of Others,
which explores the nature of individual responsibility,
telling a love story between two young French students
participating in the Resistance in World War II.
Philosophy: Sexuality, existentialist feminism and The
Second Sex
The Second Sex, published in French, sets out a
feminist existentialism which prescribes a moral revolution.
As an existentialist, de Beauvoir believed that existence
precedes essence; hence one is not born a woman, but becomes
one. Her analysis focuses on the Hegelian concept of the
Other. It is the (social) construction of Woman as the
quintessential other that de Beauvoir identifies as
fundamental to women's oppression.
The capitalized 'O' in "other" indicates the wholly other.
De Beauvoir asserted that women are as capable of choice as
men, and thus can choose to elevate themselves, moving
beyond the 'immanence' to which they were previously
resigned and reaching 'transcendence', a position in which
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one takes responsibility for oneself and the world, where

one chooses one's freedom.
In the chapter "Woman: Myth and Reality" of The Second Sex,
de Beauvoir argued that men had made women the "Other" in
society by application of a false aura of "mystery" around
them. She argued that men used this as an excuse not to
understand women or their problems and not to help them, and
that this stereotyping was always done in societies by the
group higher in the hierarchy to the group lower in the
hierarchy.
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