Atheistic existentialism - Wikipedia Atheistic existentialism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Atheistic existentialism" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Part of a series on Atheism Concepts History Antitheism Nontheism Atheism and religion (Criticism of atheism / of religion) History of atheism State atheism Outline Types Implicit and explicit Negative and positive Christian India Hindu (Adevism) Buddhist Jewish Muslim Feminist New Atheism Arguments for atheism Against God's existence Atheist's Wager Evil God Challenge Fate of the unlearned Free will God of the gaps Hitchens's razor Incompatible properties Inconsistent revelation Nonbelief Omnipotence paradox Poor design Problem of evil Problem of Hell Russell's teapot Theological noncognitivism Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit People Mikhail Bakunin Jean Baudrillard Albert Camus Richard Dawkins Daniel Dennett Ludwig Feuerbach Sam Harris Christopher Hitchens Baron d'Holbach Bertrand Russell Related stances Agnosticism Weak Strong Agnostic theism Agnostic atheism Ignosticism Apatheism Irreligion Anti-clericalism Antireligion Freethought Parody religion Post-theism Secular humanism Naturalism Humanistic Metaphysical Methodological Religious Secularism Category Religion portal WikiProject v t e Atheistic existentialism is a kind of existentialism which strongly diverged from the Christian existential works of Søren Kierkegaard and developed within the context of an atheistic world view.[1] The philosophies of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche provided existentialism's theoretical foundation in the 19th century, although their differing views on religion proved essential to the development of alternate types of existentialism. Atheistic existentialism was formally recognized after the 1943 publication of Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre and Sartre later explicitly alluded to it in Existentialism is a Humanism in 1946. Contents 1 Thought 2 Notable proponents 2.1 Jean-Paul Sartre 2.2 Albert Camus 2.3 Friedrich Nietzsche 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links Thought[edit] Atheistic existentialism is the exclusion of any transcendental, metaphysical, or religious beliefs from philosophical existentialist thought (e.g. anguish or rebellion in light of human finitude and limitations). Nevertheless, it shares elements with religious existentialism (e.g. the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard) and with metaphysical existentialism (e.g. through phenomenology and the works of Heidegger). Atheistic existentialism confronts death anxiety without appealing to a hope of somehow being saved by a god and often without any appeal to alternate forms of supernatural salvation such as reincarnation. For some thinkers, existential malaise is mostly theoretical (as it is with Jean-Paul Sartre) while others are quite affected by existential anguish (e.g. Albert Camus and his discussion of "the Absurd" and Friedrich Nietzsche who articulated the will to power). Notable proponents[edit] Jean-Paul Sartre[edit] Jean-Paul Sartre is a well-known French philosopher who was concerned with human authenticity and individuality. His novel Nausea is in some ways a manifesto of atheistic existentialism. It deals with a dejected researcher (Antoine Roquentin) in an anonymous French town, where Roquentin becomes conscious of the fact that nature as well as every inanimate object is indifferent towards him and his tormented existence. The existential angst experienced by the protagonist allows him to eventually understand that meaning exists only when he creates it for himself. Sartre once said "existence precedes essence". What he meant was "that, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself. If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be. Thus, there is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive it. Not only is man what he conceives himself to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be after this thrust toward existence" (Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism, trans. Bernard Frechtman (New York, 1947)). Sartre wrote other works in the spirit of atheistic existentialism (e.g. the short stories in his 1939 collection The Wall). Albert Camus[edit] Albert Camus writes of dualisms—between happiness and sadness—as well as life and death. In The Myth of Sisyphus, such dualism becomes paradoxical because humans greatly value their existence while at the same time being aware of their mortality. Camus believes it is human nature to have difficulty reconciling these paradoxes; and indeed, he believed humankind must accept what he called "the Absurd". On the other hand, Camus is not strictly an existential atheist because the acceptance of "the Absurd" implies neither the existence of God nor the nonexistence of God (compare agnosticism). Friedrich Nietzsche[edit] Considered one of the founding fathers of existentialism, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was a critic of Christian theology.[2] Arguing that morality itself is a human construct as opposed to the laws of nature, which are inherently morally neutral, Nietzsche divided morality into two types: slave morality and master morality.[3] It is this first type, slave morality, which he associates with religion, specifically, with Christianity.[3] In his book, The Gay Science, Nietzsche utters his famous statement "God is dead", which refers to his belief that morality can no longer be reasonably dictated by religion.[4] It is for this reason that many associate Nietzsche's philosophy with nihilism.[5] By contrast, others claim his assertion that nothing exists beyond this life merely requires us to rethink the tenets of morality, not to throw the concept of morality itself out the window. Indeed, they argue that while Nietzsche believed humanity was on track toward nihilism, he was not directly advocating it as the direction in which we should head.[6] See also[edit] Absurdism – Philosophical concept Antitheism – Opposition to theism, and usually to religion Christian existentialism – An existentialist approach to Christian theology Existence precedes essence – Central claim of existentialism formulated by Sartref Existentialist anarchism Existential nihilism – Theory that life has no inherent meaning Jewish existentialism Secularism – A position that religious belief should not influence public and governmental decisions Meaning (existential) Notes[edit] ^ Kline, Austin. "Christian Existentialism: Existentialist Thoughts and Christian Beliefs." http://atheism.about.com/od/typesofexistentialism/a/christian.htm ^ Wicks, Robert, "Friedrich Nietzsche", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) ^ a b Wildman, Wesley. "Profound Atheism: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)," Boston University ^ Samual, Adrian. "Nietzsche and God (Part 1)," Richmond Journal of Philosophy (Spring 2007 Edition) ^ Pratt, Alan. "Nihilism," The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy ^ Michels, Steven. "Nietzsche, Nihilism, and the Virtue of Nature", Dogma: Revue de Philosophie et de Sciences Humaines (Oct. 2004) External links[edit] Enc. Britannica, art. 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Portal Category Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atheistic_existentialism&oldid=993142151" Categories: Atheistic existentialism Types of existentialism Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from April 2009 All articles needing additional references Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Català Dansk Español فارسی Français हिन्दी Italiano Português Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 9 December 2020, at 00:56 (UTC). 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