Continental Philosophy

The historical development of existentialism and phenomenology in Continental philosophy was in direct response to Hegel's philosophy of idealism, although, the roots can be traced all the way back to Pre-Socratic philosophies. Philosophers frequently disagree with the philosophies of others; however, Hegelian idealism faced tremendous opposition from the key contributors of existentialism and phenomenology, and this divergence was made quite clear in the written work of the subsequent philosophers. This deviation from Hegelian idealism in English-speaking countries became what is now known as Continental philosophy.

The core belief of existentialism are: traditional philosophy does not address the matters of real life; philosophy has to center on each individual's experience with the world; the world is not rational and is completely beyond understanding why it is the way it is; humanity is plagued with irrationality, emptiness, and poor communication leading to despair; and that each individual must decide how to live in such a world. Arthur Schopenhauer, Soren Kierkegaard, and Friedrich Nietzsche were three philosophers of the nineteenth century who opposed Hegel's idealism, believing that this optimistic philosophy did not address the true pickle of humanity and without dealing with the true nature of humanity the individual will never be able to find purpose in life.

Schopenhauer was famous for his attacks on Hegel's rationalism theories; however, Schopenhauer did not stop at disparaging Hegel's theories, but he also attacked Hegel's character and personage. Schopenhauer theorized that all phenomena were the physical manifestation of the will, that will accomplishes everything. Schopenhauer touted that humans are very rarely rational in intellect or action, rather humans are driven blindly by selfishness, and reason is only involved after an impulsive action, as a rationalization of his actions. Schopenhauer held very pessimistic views about life and humanity in general.

Kierkegaard was derisive of Hegel's ideas that the individual melded into a conceptual hollowness, and Kierkegaard stressed the individual's control over actions and choices. Kierkegaard believed the individual inevitably felt despair when facing any real ethical or religious decisions of any lasting import, and only an individual's commitment to the endlessness and to God can the individual find respite.

After reading Schopenhauer, Nietzsche was influenced to believe the world was ruled by "cosmic will" rather than by logic or intelligence, but Nietzsche did not concur with Schopenhauer as to the makeup of "cosmic will;" instead Nietzsche believed the world was decided by "will-to-power." However, Nietzsche thought that only the exceptional "Superman" can overcome the decadent herd-mentality of society to accept the "will-to-power" and escape the mediocrity of society. This "Superman," instead of turning to religious values and God, determines his own values. Nietzsche also held that there is no truth, only one's interpretations, and he subscribed to the theory that history repeats itself.

Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche were all adherents to the belief that nineteenth century European philosophy and civilization as a whole were disguised in single-mindedness, indifference, and self-indulgence. These beliefs quickly spread into the area of literature, creating and spreading the existentialist philosophy movement as a direct response to the social ills, and these existentialistic views were embraced by many authors, in addition to philosophers of the century. Two such novelists who were also considered great existentialist philosophers were Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre and were known for their contribution to the movement through their many philosophical tracts.

Perhaps because of his history of poverty, abuse and torment Camus' main philosophical query was: Is there a reason not to kill oneself? He believed this question would arise when one stopped fooling oneself and started to examine life void of illusions; Camus held that many people live without really understanding the true nature of life or the waste of life filled with artificial hope even though their life is bursting with despair. His feeling was that one is foreign to oneself without the ability to recognize one's own incapability to amass one's essential needs. Camus believed these essential needs were: the need for clear understanding and the need for social interaction, warmth, and contact.

Contrary to Camus, who was unsure whether there was a God, Sartre was an Atheist who believed the absence of God caused some serious repercussions in philosophy. He believed that since there is no God, there is no divine creator of humans or the ideal through which civilization was fashioned. Since man was not created by God, one needs to devise one's own fundamental nature. Therefore, life come before soul or spirit, basically one is what one makes of oneself. Since there is no God, there is a no decisive reason of why things are they way they are, or there is no reason that life exists on earth, and because there is no God, there is no ultimate plan determining the fate of man; therefore, man is condemned to freedom. Last, but not least, is Sartre's reasoning that because there is no God, there is no purpose for a standard of values such as the Ten Commandments.

Phenomenology concerns the essential organization of the stream of consciousness or phenomena; this organization displays itself free of any assumption or conjecture of science. Phenomenon is hard to define, but the closest meaning would be an occurrence, experience, event, or observable fact. The first phenomenologist was Edmund Husserl, who tried to reawaken Europe's faith by proposing a universal "science" that is consistent with every consciousness. Out of this, he developed transcendental phenomenology, the investigation of phenomena devoid of any preconceived notions about the world; Husserl called this phenomenological reduction, the ability to objectively view the world

Martin Heidegger was intrigued by Husserl's work, and he too was convinced that it was essential to look at one's world with fresh eyes. Heidegger also wanted the grounding provided from deep certainty, but for Heidegger it was Being, and not phenomena. According to Heidegger, Being is constantly showing itself, but humans are so self-absorbed they have forgotten Being, and it has been relegated to manipulation and exploitation by humans through logics, which is simply a method of controlling and using things. Heidegger believed humans to be conceited and disparaging to be so presumptuous to think humans can master nature, and that this was the cause of cultural misery and societal disbanding prevalent in the twentieth century. Heidegger believed that society would continue to disintegrate until society begins to listen to Being instead of manipulating things with no rhyme or reason.

Emmanuel Levinas traveled to Germany to study the philosophies of Husserl and Heidegger. Levinas is credited with introducing phenomenology to France. Levinas' main writings centered around Talmudic commentaries and ethic, understanding and being aware of what and how we humans exist in the world. He desired to break away from Heidegger's philosophy of Being. Lavinas' philosophical ideas were planted in the idea of drastic difference and unabridged separateness, and God equals Absolute Otherness.

The philosophers mentioned in this article were not given justice due to the short nature of this assignment, nor were all the philosophers mentioned who influenced and played a vital role in the formation and direction of Continental philosophy. The beliefs of these extraordinary philosophers challenged each philosopher that followed to think outside the box, to agree and expand on theories or disagree and attempt to disprove said theories. No doubt, the views expressed by such great minds as these will influence the direction of philosophy and all future philosophers for centuries to come..

References:

Moore, B. N. & Bruder, K. (2005). Philosophy: The power of ideas (6^th ed.) pp 146-186. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.