Loneliness, emptiness, and anxiety – these are the main complaints American existential psychologist Rollo May encountered over and over from his patients. In 1953, May published Man’s Search for Himself, in which he explores these problems – that are perhaps more relevant than ever in our modern age. When society can no longer give usContinue reading “Loneliness, Emptiness, Anxiety in Modern Society”
Category Archives: Existentialism
The Dark World of Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka is one of the major figures of 20th century literature who received little public attention during his lifetime. He dealt with existentialist themes such as alienation, anxiety, disorientation and the absurd. It is hard to put Kafka into a box. Many people have tried to read his work in the lens of psychoanalysis,Continue reading “The Dark World of Franz Kafka”
Nihilism | Encounter with Nothingness
Nothingness is generally considered to be analogous with death and extinction which every healthy living instinct wants to avoid. Many find the notion of nothingness unfathomable. The following thinker, however, was convinced that the way out of nihilism, that which renders meaningless the meaning of life, could only be reached by gazing into the abyssContinue reading “Nihilism | Encounter with Nothingness”
The Courage to Be: An Antidote to Meaninglessness
Paul Tillich was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher born in 1886 and is considered as one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. He is best known for his works The Courage to Be (1952), Dynamics of Faith (1957), and the three-volume work Systematic Theology (1951–63). At the age of 8, Tillich wouldContinue reading “The Courage to Be: An Antidote to Meaninglessness”
The Philosophy of Existential Despair
Many people criticise philosophy as being disconnected from our daily existence, however, this critique is not new, it is in fact as old as philosophy itself. In the ancient Greek fable, “The Astrologer who Fell into a Well”, Thales of Miletus, considered as the first philosopher, is said to have been so lost in thoughtContinue reading “The Philosophy of Existential Despair”
The Underground Man – Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Warning to the World
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote Notes from Underground in 1864 which is considered to be one of the first existentialist works, emphasising the importance of freedom, responsibility and individuality. It is an extraordinary piece of literature, social critique and satire of the Russian nihilist movement as well as a novel with deep psychological insights onContinue reading “The Underground Man – Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Warning to the World “
Nihilism – Friedrich Nietzsche’s Warning to The World
“What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the advent of nihilism… For some time now, our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is growing from decade to decade: restlessly, violently, headlong,Continue reading “Nihilism – Friedrich Nietzsche’s Warning to The World”
KIERKEGAARD: The Knight of Faith
The knight of faith is one of Kierkegaard’s most important concepts, which he discusses in Fear and Trembling in the “Preamble from the Heart”, written under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio. There are three spheres of existence in Kierkegaard’s philosophy: the aesthetic, the ethical and the religious. In Fear and Trembling he analyses the contradictionsContinue reading “KIERKEGAARD: The Knight of Faith”
What is the Meaning of Suffering?
“The fact that there was no answer to the question he screamed, “Why do I suffer?” Man, the bravest animal and most prone to suffer, does not deny suffering as such: he wills it, he even seeks it out, provided he is shown a meaning for it, a purpose of suffering. The meaninglessness of suffering,Continue reading “What is the Meaning of Suffering?”
KIERKEGAARD: How To Avoid Boredom and Maximise Happiness
Most of us strive for happiness in life, whether it be by seeking it directly through pleasures or by seeking it indirectly doing one’s duty, or a combination of both. In the first part of Either/Or, containing the papers of an anonymous aesthete, Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard dedicates a chapter on the problem of boredomContinue reading “KIERKEGAARD: How To Avoid Boredom and Maximise Happiness”