"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.
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.
== Thought ==
Atheistic existentialism refers to 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 ==
=== Jean-Paul Sartre ===
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 are
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 ===
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 ===
Considered one of the founding fathers of
existentialism, German philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche was a critic of Christian theology.
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.
It is this first type, slave morality, which
he associates with religion, specifically,
with Christianity.
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.
It is for this reason that many associate
Nietzsche's philosophy with nihilism.
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.
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== External links ==
Enc.
Britannica, art.
"Atheistic Existentialism"
About Atheistic Existentialism
Atheistic existentialism
The absurd in atheistic existentialism
