Philosophy of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Existentialism

To an ordinary consciousness, existence itself may seem self-evident, but for philosophy, the problem of existence has always been one of the most challenging and enigmatic. Historical assertions such as Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum," Vysotsky's "I love, therefore I live," and Tsoi's "Death is worth living for..." illustrate a continuous stream of attempts to dispel doubts about one's existence. Doubt arises from the awareness of the uncertainty of one's being, realizing that human existence in the world does not follow the clear-cut laws of nature. Unlike natural laws, which dictate nothing about love, duty, or morality, the existence of these concepts is a miracle that defies the normal flow of things and sustains human existence.

Existentialism, emerging in the 20th century, includes the works of Russian thinkers Lev Shestov and Nikolai Berdyaev, French philosophers Gabriel Marcel and Jean-Paul Sartre, and Germans Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Otto Bollnow. Existential tendencies are also evident in the literary works of Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Rainer Maria Rilke, Henri Malraux, and others. Forebears of existentialism include Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Edmund Husserl's phenomenology also influenced the development of existentialism. Some of these thinkers did not fully align themselves with existentialism: Heidegger referred to his work as fundamental ontology, Marcel as Christian neo-Socraticism, and Berdyaev as personalism. However, any serious philosophical concept may be considered existential, as it directly or indirectly addresses the problem of human existence. "Pure" existential philosophy does not exist in isolation but always transcends its limits, initiating a profound understanding of the essence of philosophy.

The primary concern of existentialism is the problem of existence. While essence may be abstract, existence is always concrete. Regardless of one's virtues, one must exist in the fullest sense for these virtues to have meaning. According to Otto Bollnow, life may be richer or poorer, nobler or cruder, and it can change and grow. Yet existence lies beyond these concepts. It can be either acquired or completely lost. Existence is indivisible and ceases only when a person dies or is mentally ill. Therefore, to exist means to be alive. Existence is not an automatic process but a continuous rebirth. Stopping at any given image causes a person to lose the thread of existence, causing the soul to stagnate and the world to become mundane and routine. Pure existence is not being in a particular image but simply the feeling of being alive. It involves being alive in the sense of having a living soul that resonates with the world, mysterious, colorful, and meaningful.

The central thesis of 20th-century existentialism, articulated by Jean-Paul Sartre, is that "existence precedes essence." This means that humans have no inherent nature; they have only the possibility to shape themselves into whatever they choose. People create their own identity, and nothing predetermined governs this creative process. From this perspective, existence is challenging because life is only in the present moment. Humans are constantly filled with emotions, memories, and hopes for the future, making the problem of existence a matter of overcoming an illusory life. People often imitate life, and when we feel virtuous, this virtue is already an imitation. All expressions of virtue or thought are merely imitations of our mind's originality. The world is full of simulacra—substitutes that are indistinguishable from the true image. Breaking through these simulacra involves entering into the realm of goodness, thought, love, and faith.

It is a naturalistic error to view personality as a substance and a rationalistic error to see it as a mere bearer of reason, as reason itself is impersonal and universal. Personality is not a given but a task, an ideal, and perhaps the very aspiration to be human. The problem of personality is of a different order than the soul-body relationship. Personality is not the soul but a holistic representation of a person where the spiritual essence encompasses all spiritual and physical faculties. Even the form of the human body is not merely a physical phenomenon but is pervaded by spiritual elements. According to Berdyaev, a person's face is the pinnacle of cosmic process, an extraordinary phenomenon in worldly existence, through which another world shines through.

A related issue to existence is human loneliness, which can be viewed not just as physical isolation but more as an inner, existential solitude. Each person is alone not only as a representative of a species but also in their subjectivity. Despite constant, daily (conscious or unconscious) interactions, every individual lives from birth to death in a state of profound and unchangeable loneliness. This solitude is inherent to everyone. Psychically, it manifests as individual inner life occurring in isolation, closed off from others. This means no one can fully understand our states as we understand them; no one can truly enter our soul. This state cannot be altered; a person will always remain subjective, individual, and alone. This is especially felt during illness, anger, unhappy love, jealousy, crime, repentance, mental depression, despair, or death. Even religious experience is a form of solitude, as it develops in the soul, isolated from earthly existence. Ultimately, a person always lives alone with themselves, left to their own spiritual judgment, understanding, purification, and enlightenment. Even those seeking salvation for others must reflect on their solitary self. Rejecting such solitude indicates human frivolity; accepting it shows spiritual courage, maturity, and a source of independence and integrity of character.

Another essential aspect of life is death, which is present in every moment of life. For the deceased, death does not exist because they are no longer living. Death exists only for the living, not only as an end but as a constant, transcendent test of life that involves its completion and the integrity of every act or deed. Viewing the world through the lens of death means seeing everything from the perspective of eternity. Only death frees us from the captivity of mundane life. Experiencing and contemplating death represents what is known in philosophy as a condition of freedom. A person who understands the existential dimension of their existence sees death as a transition to a different intensity of life.

Death should always be on the horizon of life, as it provides a sense of each person's unique individuality, including my own, as it concerns both my death and that of others. Death is one of the greatest mysteries of human life, revealing the uniqueness of each individual who has lived or is living.

Today, it is often said that the era of existentialism, which was highly popular in the 1930s to 1960s, has passed, that its most prominent figures have long since departed, and that no one engages with it anymore. However, such statements reflect a fundamental misunderstanding. Existential motifs are at the heart of any serious, profound philosophy and will remain so as long as there are human beings with their dramas, experiences, tragedies, and aspirations.