Existentialism

Existentialism is is the belief that thinking about life begins with the human subject, self or others as acting, feeling, living human individuals

In the view of an existentialist, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation, confusion, or dread in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.

It is proposed that each individual—not society or religion—is solely responsible for giving meaning to this chaos and living life passionately and sincerely, or "authentically", aiming for human betterment,

Existentialism really has two primary notions.

The first is that there is no inherent meaning in things. No essence or purpose which pre-exists. And further, that if you want to find purpose or meaning you can (and will have to) create it yourself.

The opposite of this would suggest that there IS a pre-existing purpose for all things. A plan and meaning. And to counter the other component, it would have to be one that a person were completely unable to affect or alter. Your desires and hopes would be irrelevant. This speakes fatalism.

Here are some characteristics of existentialists.

• they are very concerned with how to live one's life and believe that philosophical and psychological inquiry can be of practical help.
• they believe there are certain questions that everyone must deal with (if they are to take human life seriously. Questions such as death, the meaning of human existence, the place of God in human existence, the meaning of value, interpersonal relationship, the place of self-reflective conscious knowledge of one's self in existing.
• existentialists on this characterization don't pay much attention to "social" questions such as the politics of life and what "social" responsibility the society or state has. They focus almost exclusively on the state of the individual and how that can be improved mentally and physically.
• by and large Existentialists believe that life is very difficult and that it doesn't have an "objective" or universally known value, but that the individual must create value by affiriming it and living it, not by talking about it.
• Existential choices and values are primarily demonstrated in ACT not in words.

The message of Existentialism, unlike that of many more obscure and academic philosophical movements, is about as simple as can be. It is that every one of us, as an individual, is responsible for what we do, for who we are, for the way we face and deal with the world,and responsible, ultimately, for the way the world is.

The relavence of all this to the dilemma of the untouchables is that they are exixtentialists but dont know how to act on it.

I believe I am an extentialist.