Term Paper on "Existentialism Engagement: A Postmodern Answer"
Term Paper 3 pages (1008 words) Sources: 1
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ExistentialismEngagement: A Postmodern Answer to an Age-Old Dilemma
Enlightenment thinkers assumed that all human beings could be eventually inculcated in an ideology of perfect rationality. One example of classical Enlightenment optimism is Hegel's notion that, under ideal circumstances, all human beings could know everything. Hegel believed there was an objective standard of rationality visible to all who were willing to be trained in the process of critical, objective thinking and were intellectually engaged with the world. Through empirical observation, all would be revealed to the open mind. The optimism of this approach is perhaps best exemplified in Rousseau's ideal of the human mind as a tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which anything could be written. With the right external shaping and instruction, human beings would all come to the same, right, deductions about existence. Even some early modernist thinkers critical of Enlightenment rationality, such as Marx, still imagined an end of history, where there would be a final state of total agreement and engagement as to what was an objective 'truth,' the need for the end of private property.
Critical theorists of the Frankfurt School such as Heidegger, however, questioned the notion that all human beings could perceive the world according to the same standards of rationality, or that there was one, singular standard of rationality applicable to all human beings. To be human, for Heidegger, was not to be free, but to be limited, and quite often disengaged from one's authentic self. Every human being was to some degree trapped by his or her reality, a reality that involved the social constraints and
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Like the earlier Enlightenment thinkers, Heidegger did believe that human nature propelled human beings forward, to seek self-actualization, but this state of self-actualization, or authenticity, was not universal for all human beings "Not all human beings are continually oriented towards their own potential, among which are the possibilities of authentic and inauthentic existence. if, whilst moving forward, the standards and beliefs and prejudices of society are embraced, individuals may fail to differentiate themselves from the masses. This, Heidegger regarded as living an 'inauthentic' existence" (Hornsby, 2002). There was, for Heidegger, a constant tension between individual and society. The only way to resolve this tension was for the individual to unlearn some of the societal constraints placed upon his or her thinking, and find authenticity.
Postmodernism, in contrast to Heidegger, does not believe that there is an authentic self at all. Inauthenticity is not going along with social norms, for the postmodernist theorists, society produces the idea of 'the authentic self' in the first place. For a person to conceive of notions of their own individuality, the individual must be located in a particular language, historical moment, and conceptual framework. The very notion that there is an authentic self is a highly Protestant, modern… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Existentialism Engagement: A Postmodern Answer" Assignment:
“Paper Topic: Engagement
Enlightenment Humanism embodied the optimism that the transparency of the Subject could be illuminated. In other words, by using reason, we can fully know ourselves, and create a more humane society. This is the optimism that philosophy can one day be finished. Hegel expressed this with the idea of "totality":we can, one day, know evrything.
The Masters of Suspicion(Freud, Marx and Nietzche) were critical of such optimism, yet Marx and Freud maintained a certain Enlightenment hope that we can engage the world with reason and humanize our social institution. They both speak of mystery (as masters of suspicion), but they suggest ways to overcome this mystery. Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School, on the other hand, rejects the idea of "totality", thereby complicating the struggle of engagement.
Existentialism and Postmodernism develop new theories of engagement in this context. They warn agaisnt modes of disengagement. For example, Existentialists speak of Bad Faith (Sartre), or Inauthenticity (Heidegger), while Postmodernist reject of the modern subject, and the metaphysics of presence.
Begin your paper by explaining how Critical Theorists complicate the struggle of engagement. What are their thoughts on reason and totality? How can Enlightenment turn into its opposite? Then choose: A.) One Existential Theme-Sartrean bad Faith, OR *****ian Inauthenticity AND B.) One Postmodern Theme-the(rejection of the) modern subject OR the (rejection of the) metaphysics of presence.
Explain what these ideas mean and why they are illusions. How do they permit us to disengage with the world or our life? Explain why rejecting these illusions will help us to engage with life, "Being" (with capital B instead of being) or the world. What might this engagement look like?
Conclude with your own assessment of these two movements. Do they express your views on contemporary life? does Existential or Postmodern engagement speak to you? Which, if either, does so more?
How to Reference "Existentialism Engagement: A Postmodern Answer" Term Paper in a Bibliography
“Existentialism Engagement: A Postmodern Answer.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2007, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/existentialism-engagement-postmodern/1401015. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.
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