Existentialist Ethics
Existentialism is a philosophy of being a person. It rejects, in general, abstract philosophical categories to get to the very ground of existence. Common terms in this approach often include dread, fear, anger, alienation, sadness and despair. The specific idea of existentialist ethics revolves around the specific problems of being an individual: being alone, being oneself, being free and being totally responsible. Existentialism works from a specific and technical vocabulary that encapsulates all these ideas.
Other People Are Reading
-
Freedom
-
All writers in the Existentialist tradition stress freedom over all things. The ego, the individual, the person are all defined by the existence of absolute freedom. "Absolute" in this case means that the ego or will can "abstract" itself from all external and internal reality. The will can make choices regardless of outside forces, even one's own sense of self. The claim that the will can be "forced" by some power, whether internal or external, is to run away from the dread and anxiety that comes from being truly free.
Authenticity
-
The chief idea of existentialist ethics is being yourself, being "authentic." This means that one's individuality is not dictated by outside forces of any kind. To be so dictated to is to be unfree and hence the tool of outside powers, including one's own reason. It, however, is easier to be unfree than free. Freedom demands complete isolation from outside existence to "build oneself." To be oneself in a world of mindless conformity is central to Existentialist ethics. It is a philosophy of dread and anxiety.
-
Self-Creation
-
Writers like F. Nietzsche and J.P. Sartre stress the central concept of freedom as the ability to create oneself anew, creating solely by one's internal resources. This requires, especially in Nietzsche's thought, to be alone and isolated. Only the few can create themselves totally, and these few will be continually persecuted for not following the herd. Self-creation implies total freedom, total isolation and total rejection of the outside world. Self-creation is immensely difficult and is truly a philosophy of sadness and rejection.
Responsibility
-
Since the human will is radically and absolutely free, the willing being, the person, is totally responsible for his actions. This is stressed in S. Kierkegaard as well as Sartre. One of the most insidious species of unfreedom is "rationalization." This is when the reason "masks" the true motives of the person. Claiming "mental illness," ignorance, or even self-interest are all means of deceiving one's self and hence, according to Sartre, falling into the worst of the existentialist sins: bad faith.
-
